Saints Hang on to Beat Rival Clarkson

Photo by Tara Freeman

Final	1	2	3	Final
Clarkson (12-7-4, 6-3-2)	0	0	1	1
St. Lawrence (15-5-3, 9-1-1)	1	0	1	2

Scoring Summary
1st - 06:22	PP - Emma Clark (St. Lawrence)
3rd - 13:39	Carson Duggan (St. Lawrence)
3rd - 18:42	PP - Britney Selina (Clarkson)

Clarkson	St. Lawrence
G: Britney Selina - 1 A: 2 Players (#8, #23 - 1) Sh: 4 Players (#8, #12, #23, #27 - 3) Sv: Lauren Dahm - 26	G: 2 Players (#11, #12 - 1) A: Michelle Zimmerman - 2 Sh: Carson Duggan - 4 Sv: Brittony Chartier - 21

TEAM STATISTICS	Clarkson	St. Lawrence
Power Plays	1 for 3	1 for 3
Shorthanded Goals	0	0
Penalties (min)	3 (6)	3 (6)
Shots on Goal	22	28
Face Offs Won	22	34

full stats

Boxscore

CANTON, NY - The No. 4 St. Lawrence University women's hockey team held on for a dramatic 2-1 win over their cross-town rival, Clarkson University, on Wednesday night at Appleton Arena.  With the victory, the Saints are in sole possession of second place in the ECAC Hockey standings while improving to 8-1-2 all time against the Golden Knights.

St. Lawrence (15-5-3, 9-1-1) remained perfect while leading after the second period, improving to 14-0-0.  Meanwhile, Clarkson falls to 12-7-4 (6-3-2) with the loss despite have several great chances to tie the game in the final minute.

"I thought it was a good, hard, clean hockey game between two of the least penalized teams in the country," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells.  "We tried to get some traffic in front of (Lauren) Dahm, but she made some really nice saves.  Getting the second goal late in the third period obviously proved to be huge."

In her first career game against Clarkson, rookie Emma Clark launched herself into the rivalry with a power play goal 6:22 into the opening period.  With the Saints' first power play try about to run out, senior assistant captain Lisa Batchelor sent a centering pass into the slot where Clark was waiting for a clean try on Clarkson netminder Lauren Dahm.  The East Barre, VT native sniped a low wrist shot that sailed over Dahm's right pad for her third goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.

Though Clark's goal came in the early-going, there were few offensive chances for either side in the first period.  Much of the action came in the neutral zone, with Dahm making four saves to St. Lawrence goaltender Brittony Chartier's six.

Both teams had their share of chances in the second period, but each goaltender held their ground and set the stage for a wild third period finish with the game still at 1-0.  Chartier showed her talents with a pair of sharp breakaway saves on Clarkson's Juana Baribeau and Genevieve Lavoie, while Dahm answered with a slick shoulder-save on a high wrist shot off the stick of junior Britni Smith that seemed to be headed for the corner of the net.

St. Lawrence began to assert themselves in the final 20 minutes, as hard work in the corners by several players including Batchelor, senior assistant captain Alison Domenico and junior Tara Akstull gave the team some quality opportunities.  On the tail end of a solid shift, sophomore Karell Emard skated the puck into the Clarkson zone and behind Dahm's net.  Emard centered a pass right on the tape of classmate Michelle Zimmerman, who blasted a slap shot towards the goal.  However, before the puck could reach Dahm, senior assistant captain Carson Duggan re-directed the puck under the crossbar for her 16th of the campaign to put St. Lawrence on top 2-0 at 13:39 of the third period. 

Clarkson continued to work hard, and would draw a penalty with 1:33 to play in the game.  After a timeout by the Golden Knights, the visitors took only 15 seconds before cutting their deficit in half at 2-1.  With Dahm on the bench for the extra attacker, the puck came to Britney Selina just inside the St. Lawrence blue line.  Selina ripped a one-timer, and with a nice screen blocking Chartier's view, the puck trickled between the goalie's pads for Selina's fifth of the year.  Kimberly McKenney and Melissa Waldie assisted on the goal.

After winning the ensuing faceoff, Dahm again went to the bench in favor of another Knight forward.  As the clock ticked down to 15 seconds remaining, a bouncing puck slid across the crease and caught Chartier out of position.  Clarkson's Melissa Waldie appeared to have an open net, but before she could get her stick on the puck, Domenico quickly lifted her stick and allowed the puck to reach the near boards.  Clarkson would be unable to come up with the tying goal, allowing the home team to celebrate a hard-earned 2-1 win on their home ice.

"They're certainly a well-coached group and they'll be ready for us when we head to Cheel Arena in a few weeks," added Coach Wells.  "They were about a half-centimeter away from tying this one up, but we're certainly excited to come away with two points in the standings."

St. Lawrence finished with a 28-22 advantage in shots on goal, while each team closed with a 1-for-3 mark on the power play.  Chartier finished with 21 stops to improve to 15-5-3 on the year while Dahm made 26 saves in a losing effort, falling to 9-5-3.

The Scarlet and Brown will play their fourth game in seven days on Friday, January 23 as the team heads to Schenectady, NY to take on Union before facing an improved Rensselaer squad on Saturday in Troy, NY.  The puck will drop on the Saints and Dutchwomen at 7:00pm.