Saints Beat Raiders, Remain Perfect at Home

Photo by Tara Freeman

Final	1	2	3	Final
Colgate (8-8-1, 2-4-1)	1	0	0	1
St. Lawrence (11-2-2, 6-1-0)	1	1	1	3

Scoring Summary
1st - 12:12	PP - Clancy Todd (Colgate)
1st - 13:32	Lisa Batchelor (St. Lawrence)
2nd - 04:17	Carson Duggan (St. Lawrence)
3rd - 00:45	PP - Tara Akstull (St. Lawrence)

Colgate	St. Lawrence
G: Clancy Todd - 1 A: Marissa Dombovy - 1 Sh: 2 Players (#10, #17 - 5) Sv: Kimberly Sass - 23	G: 3 Players (#7, #10, #12 - 1) A: 6 Players (#7, #9, #17, #18, #22, #76 - 1) Sh: Tara Akstull - 5 Sv: Brittony Chartier - 27

TEAM STATISTICS	Colgate	St. Lawrence
Power Plays	1 for 3	1 for 5
Shorthanded Goals	0	0
Penalties (min)	5 (10)	3 (6)
Shots on Goal	28	26
Face Offs Won	20	31

full stats

Boxscore

CANTON, N.Y. -- The No. 3 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team kept their perfect record at Appleton Arena in tact on Friday night with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over ECAC Hockey foe Colgate. Junior goaltender Brittony Chartier made 27 saves including 11 in the third period, while senior Carson Duggan’s 13th goal of the season proved to be the game-winner.

The Saints (11-2-2, 6-1-0) and Raiders (8-8-1, 2-4-1) played a fast-paced, high-energy game that saw both goaltenders, Chartier and Colgate’s Kimberly Sass, make fantastic saves. Colgate, who has beaten the Scarlet and Brown at least once in four of the last five seasons, managed to outshoot St. Lawrence 28-25 but was unable to come up with a crucial goal late in the contest.

The visitors jumped out to a lead midway through the first period, as Colgate’s second-ranked power play gave them a 1-0 advantage at 12:12. After Marissa Dombovy’s shot bounced off of Chartier’s pads, Clancy Todd was just inside the right circle to snap a one-timer past the goaltender for her second goal of 2008-09.

St. Lawrence would take only 1:20 to respond, however, as the trio of senior Lisa Batchelor, junior Karell Emard and senior Alison Domenico worked a pretty three-on-two chance to pick up the tying goal. After Batchelor found Emard crossing the Colgate blue line, the Richelieu, QB native fed a soft pass to a wide-open Domenico skating through the slot. Though Sass appeared to stop Domenico’s wrist shot, the puck bounced up in the air and behind the goaltender for the assistant captain’s seventh goal of the season.

Despite being outshot 10-9 in the first period, St. Lawrence did have quality chances but narrowly missed, as both junior Tara Akstull and rookie Emma Clark hit posts.

The Saints would score the only goal in the second stanza at 4:17 thanks to a precise centering pass by first-year student Alley Bero. After Akstull fired a shot on Sass, the puck bounced behind the Colgate net to Bero. After a defender left the front of the net to defend her, the Akwesasne, NY native sent a crisp pass right on the tape of Duggan, who tapped the puck across the goal line for her 13th goal of the season. The assist extended Bero’s scoring streak to seven games and Duggan’s goal scoring streak to three.

In what proved to be one of the most exciting periods of hockey in Appleton Arena this season, the Saints grabbed a 3-1 lead only 45 seconds into the third period. While skating on a power play that carried over from the second period, Akstull lofted a wrist shot towards the net from just outside the right circle. Though Sass would’ve normally made the save with ease, she was clearly unable to see the shot through a great screen by senior Marianna Locke and the puck squeezed between the netminder and the near post for the two-goal lead.

The goal only seemed to motivate Colgate and senior forward Sam Hunt, who showed both great speed and stick-handling skills as she earned consecutive break-away chances against Chartier. However, the Saskatoon, SK native stood her ground and turned away both bids.

The Raiders’ best chance to claw back to within a goal came when St. Lawrence rookie Vanessa Emond was whistled for two minor penalties, giving the nation’s second-best power play four full minutes of a player advantage. Despite earning several close-range chances, Chartier was on top of her game and anchored the Saints’ defense in killing off a consistently driven offensive attack.

“That was one of the highlights of the game for certain, as they’re one of the best in the country in scoring on the power play,” said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells. “Brittony (Chartier) made some clutch saves for sure, and we got the timely goals when we needed them. But Colgate out-worked us at times, brought a ton of energy each and every shift and continued to prove that they are an incredibly dangerous team in our league.”

Chartier’s 11-save period put the game away for the Scarlet and Brown, who improved to 7-0-0 at Appleton Arena this season and to 11-0-0 when leading after the second period. She finished with 27 stops on the night to earn the win, while Sass made 22 saves, but fell to 6-2-1.

St. Lawrence will look to continue to play solid hockey on Saturday as they welcome Cornell University to Appleton Arena. The puck will drop on the Saints and Big Red at 4:00pm.