Duggan Powers St. Lawrence Past McGill

CANTON, N.Y. -- It took the St. Lawrence University women's hockey team only 31 seconds to grab the lead in Wednesday night's exhibition game against McGill University, and the Saints never looked back, scoring a total of three first period goals en route to a 5-2 victory at Appleton Arena. Junior Carson Duggan was outstanding, as she scored a hat trick and added an assist in the win over the Martlets.

St. Lawrence, ranked No. 4 in the first USA Today poll and the preseason favorite to win ECAC Hockey, got the opening goal off the stick of first year student Karell Emard as she tucked Duggan's rebound behind McGill goaltender Charline Labonte from the right side of the net only 31 seconds into the affair. Senior Sabrina Harbec was also credited with an assist on the goal.

Though McGill was able to hold the Saints' offense for over fifteen minutes through the first period, the home team poured on the pressure, out-shooting their opponents 15-6 in the opening frame. St. Lawrence built their lead to 2-0 at 15:34 of the first, when junior Lisa Batchelor found classmate Marianna Locke in front of Labonte, and the Brasher Falls, NY native sniped a shot past the netminder for the goal.

Only 1:14 later, the Saints were celebrating again, this time thanks to Duggan. The Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta native received a heads-up centering pass at the top of the crease from Emard, and Duggan finished the play by tipping the puck to the near post for the 3-0 advantage.

Duggan struck again only 3:17 into the second period on the power play, giving the home team a 4-0 cushion. The Saints worked the puck inside the Martlets' zone, and eventually found senior Annie Guay at the blue line. The tri-captain launched a slap shot that found Labonte's pads, but the goaltender couldn't corral the rebound. Duggan, who was posted up in the slot, quickly pounced on the loose puck and scored her second of the game.

Though they were overmatched throughout the first half of the game, McGill began to battle back and their hard work paid off with 2:46 remaining in the second period, as Alexandra Wells scored the Martlets' first goal of the evening to make the score 4-1. Wells recovered a loose puck to St. Lawrence goaltender Maxie Weisz's left and snapped a wrist shot that beat the sophomore goalie glove side to end the second period scoring.

Through two periods, the Saints held a 26-15 advantage in shots, and were 1-of-3 on the power play compared to McGill's 0-for-1 mark. Saints' senior goaltender Meaghan Guckian played the opening half of the game, making nine saves in 29:47 minutes of action before being replaced by Weisz.

McGill clawed back into the game a mere 2:11 into the third period when Cathy Chartrand scored a power play goal to cut the deficit to 4-2. With her team skating with a player advantage, Chartrand found the puck behind the net to Weisz's right. The rookie fired a shot from behind the goal that banked off of Weisz's back and into the net for the Martlets' second goal of the night.

It would be Duggan that put the game away, as she completed the hat trick 6:28 into the third period, giving the Saints their three goal advantage back at 5-2. With the Scarlet and Brown on the power play, senior tri-captain Kerri Wallace ripped a slap shot towards Labonte. Before the puck reached the net, however, Duggan got her stick on it, re-directing the shot past Labonte for her third goal of the evening, which also completed the scoring.

Though McGill would have a 5-on-3 advantage for over 40 seconds later in the period, the Saints defensive corps buckled down and Weisz made several impressive saves to assure the home team of the victory.

Labonte finished with a game-high 27 saves, while Weisz and Guckian combined for 24 stops in the game.

St. Lawrence finished 2-of-4 on the power play, while McGill was 1-of-5.

The Saints will look to carry some momentum over from Wednesday's exhibition victory to their 2007-08 season opening against the No. 3 team in the nation, the University of New Hampshire, on Friday, October 5th. The Scarlet and Brown will meet the Wildcats in Appleton Arena at 7:00pm.