Chartier Anchors Saints Over Crimson

Photo by Tara Freeman

Final	1	2	3	Final
Harvard (3-2-1, 3-2-1)	0	0	1	1
St. Lawrence (7-1-2, 4-0-0)	0	1	2	3

Scoring Summary
2nd - 11:37	Carson Duggan (St. Lawrence)
3rd - 07:11	Tara Akstull (St. Lawrence)
3rd - 10:18	Emma Clark (St. Lawrence)
3rd - 15:29	PP - Cori Bassett (Harvard)

Harvard	St. Lawrence
G: Cori Bassett - 1 A: 2 Players (#3, #26 - 1) Sh: Jenny Brine - 5 Sv: Christina Kessler - 20	G: 3 Players (#7, #11, #12 - 1) A: 4 Players (#2, #13, #14, #76 - 1) Sh: Carson Duggan - 4 Sv: Brittony Chartier - 28

TEAM STATISTICS	Harvard	St. Lawrence
Power Plays	1 for 4	0 for 3
Shorthanded Goals	0	0
Penalties (min)	3 (6)	4 (8)
Shots on Goal	29	23
Face Offs Won	28	29

full stats

Boxscore

CANTON, NY -- Junior goaltender Brittony Chartier continued to shine on Saturday afternoon, as the Saskatoon, SK native piled up 28 saves and paved the way for the No. 8 St. Lawrence University women's hockey team to victory against national powerhouse, No. 4 Harvard at Appleton Arena by the score of 3-1.

St. Lawrence (7-1-2, 4-0-0) earned a weekend sweep against Harvard (3-2-1, 3-2-1) and Dartmouth for the first time since February of 2006, despite being outshot by the Crimson 29-23 on Saturday.  Harvard was swept in ECAC Hockey play for the first time since January of 2004.

"We continued to focus and work together as a team, which is a formula that has worked for us so far," said

St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells, whose team won their sixth straight game.  "We scored some timely goals that really helped us keep the momentum against one of the best teams I've seen."

The game's format was distorted by a zamboni malfunction, forcing the rivals to play a full 20 minute first period, followed by half of the second period before the ice was resurfaced.  After the resurfacing, the two teams finished the second period then played a full 20 minute third stanza.

Chartier was tested early and often in the first period, as Harvard held a 12-7 advantage on shots on goal.  However, she and her counterpart Christina Kessler stopped each of the shots they faced in the opening frame to keep it 0-0 after twenty minutes.

After the ice was cleaned at the 10 minute mark of the second period, St. Lawrence quickly snagged a 1-0 lead at 11:37.  Senior assistant captain Carson Duggan, who set the University career goals record on Friday night, added to her total with her eighth goal of the season for the game's opening tally.  Classmate Jordan Pyers tipped the puck behind Kessler's goal to Duggan, whose wrap-around try slipped between the goalie's pads for a 1-0 advantage.

The goal would prove to be the only scoring in a period that saw the Crimson edge out the Saints in shots, 8-7. 
The home team would pick up a pretty insurance goal at 7:11 of the third period thanks to a great play by sophomore Karell Emard.  The Richelieu, QC native dangled a defenseman behind the Harvard net, then centered a pass right on the stick of junior Tara Akstull, who ripped a wrist shot over Kessler's blocker for her fifth of the season and a 2-0 lead.

With the momentum clearly on their side, the Saints continued to pour on the offense and took a 3-0 lead only 3:07 later.  After Chartier turned away Katharine Chute on a breakaway chance, the Scarlet and Brown took the puck up ice in transition.  Senior captain Marianna Locke fed rookie Vanessa Emond in the offensive zone, and she quickly slid a pass through the slot to classmate Emma Clark who one-timed a shot behind Kessler at 10:18 for a 3-0 cushion.

Harvard continued to play hard and earned a 5-on-3 chance when Akstull and junior Courtney Sawchuk were each given minor penalties only 40 seconds apart.  The Crimson took advantage as Cori Bassett blasted a slap shot that just crept inside the near post before Chartier could get across the crease.  The goal was Bassett's third of the season, with assists going to Sarah Vaillancourt and Liza Ryabkina. 

That would be all of the Crimson's offense, though, as they were merely able to spoil Chartier's shutout bid, not rally past the Scarlet and Brown.

"Harvard has a ton of talent and there's no doubt they'll be ready to battle again come the last weekend of the season," added Coach Wells.  "I really like the way they play the game.  We were simply able to take advantage of a few chances and that was the difference."

Harvard scored the only power play goal in the contest, finishing 1-for-4 while St. Lawrence was 0-for-3 with the extra skater.  Chartier earned the win with the 28-save showing to improve to 7-1-2, while Kessler suffered the loss after stopping 20 shots, falling to 2-2-1.

St. Lawrence will look to extend their current win streak and continue to collect ECAC Hockey points next weekend when they visit Princeton and Quinnipiac.