Late Deflection Gives St. Lawrence Life in Quarterfinal Series

Photo by Jim Meagher

Potsdam, NY - An unlucky ricochet with less than three minutes to go in the game helped St. Lawrence push the ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series to a third game as the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team was upended 2-1 Saturday afternoon at Cheel Arena.

Clarkson saw its record slip to 21-10-5 overall while St. Lawrence moved to 16-13-7. The two teams will settle the best of three-game quarterfinal series at 2:00 pm on Sunday at Cheel Arena.

Mirroring the previous day's game, the first period started off fairly even. St. Lawrence had the first true scoring chance six minutes into the contest when Clarkson keeper Lauren Dahm (Baldwinsville, NY) bobbled a shot, but was able to cover it up before the Saints could bat the puck out of the air. Six minutes later, Clarkson was luckier than the Saints, converting on a rebounded shot. Sophomore Katelyn Ptolemy (Dinsmore, SASK) took a shot from the blue line that was denied, and senior Britney Selina (Thornhill, ONT) similarly was stopped from in close, but Dominique Thibault (L'Orignal, ONT) was able to crash the net and finish off the play at 6:49 for her 21st goal of the season. Selina and Ptolemy earned their 24th and third assists of the season, respectively.

The Knights nearly had another score as well just a few moments later, but Clarkson was whistled for a penalty just a split second prior to the puck going into the net. St. Lawrence also nearly tied the score up at the close of the stanza, but Dahm once again stood tall in turning away a shot in the slot as time expired.

At the start of the second period, Clarkson's Genevieve Lavoie (Delson, QUE) had a one-on-one opportunity squashed as well when Maxie Weisz saved the wrist shot at 17:30. Just a few moments later, St. Lawrence had an outstanding chance on the power play when both Dahm and a Clarkson defender found themselves without their sticks, but the chance was nullified when a shot was deflected off the netting behind the goal.

The lost chance mattered little, however, as St. Lawrence ended a 125-minute scoreless streak at Cheel Arena just a minute later. Tara Akstull gathered in the puck behind the net near the board and found Alley Bero in the slot to tie the score at 1-1 at the 7:46 mark of the second period. The goal was Bero's eighth of the campaign.

From that point through the end of the period, some head-scratching calls made what appeared to be a 4-on-3 chance for Clarkson get turned into a 4-on-3 opportunity for St. Lawrence 30 seconds later when Clarkson was called for tripping. It mattered little, though, as all of the penalties were killed off without any further goal scoring in the second period.

In the third period, both teams had their chances, but St. Lawrence was finally able to take advantage of a misplaced stick. Dahm lost her stick and was provided a smaller version by one of her teammates. That teamwork, however, left a Clarkson defenseman without a stick and made it more difficult to clear the puck. The Saints were able to get the go-ahead goal just a minute later when the puck slid through the crease and bounced off the skate of a Clarkson defender, slowly trickling across the goal line at 17:04. Vanessa Emond was awarded the goal and Bero received the assist.

With the goaltender pulled for the final 1:52, Clarkson kept the puck in the St. Lawrence end as the Saints didn't get any shots on the empty goal, but the Knights were unable to get any quality chances with the extra skater.

Dahm made 20 saves for Clarkson, while Maxie Weisz played all of Saturday's game and stopped 17 shots. St. Lawrence held a 22-18 edge in shots, and both teams were scoreless in five chances on the power play.