Saints Stunned in Home Opener
The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team had its 2010-11 home opener spoiled by North Country rival Clarkson on Saturday, as the Golden Knights scored two goals only 32 seconds apart in the final minutes of a wild third period at Appleton Arena before hanging on to win the game by the score of 3-2.
The win was the first of the season for Clarkson (1-4-1), and they only held the lead for the final 2:37 of regulation. The loss dropped St. Lawrence to 1-2-1 on the young season after suffering the first loss to Clarkson at Appleton Arena during head coach Chris Wells' tenure.
"Clarkson is such a talented team and they stuck to their game plan very well," said Coach Wells. "They caused two turnovers down low and made us pay. This was a very exciting weekend of hockey and sets the stage for two great conference games later in the season."
The two teams battled to scoreless first and second periods, with the Golden Knights holding a 23-14 advantage in shots on goal. Graduate student Maxie Weisz was sharp in net for the Saints, matching Clarkson goalie Lauren Dahm save-for-save to force a thrilling third period.
After going two full periods without a goal, St. Lawrence finally broke through with a power play goal only 13 seconds into the final stanza. Junior Vanessa Emond took a feed from sophomore Kelly Sabatine and tucked the puck inside the near post behind Dahm for her first goal of the season to put her team on top.
With Weisz playing well, the home team seemed poised to earn the victory as the game crept towards the final minutes. A turning point in the game came on a huge save by Dahm with just over five minutes to play, as the senior goalie stopped Alley Bero on a breakaway try that would've given the home team a 2-0 advantage.
Still trailing by only a single goal, however, Clarkson kept working hard in the offensive end and eventually forced a turnover to Weisz's right. Though the goalie was able to make the initial save on Brittany Mulligan's shot, Danielle Skirrow was on the door step waiting for the rebound and finished the play to help Clarkson draw even at 1-1 at 16:51 of the third period.
The goal clearly motivated the visitors, who carried the momentum over into the very next shift and took their first lead of both the game and the season when Melissa Waldie collected the puck off of a scrum in front of Weisz's net and lifted it into the goal. The tally was Waldie's first of the season and put Clarkson ahead 2-1 a mere 32 seconds after tying the game.
The bad news continued for St. Lawrence, as Emond was sent to the penalty box at 18:33 for interference, giving the Golden Knights a power play try in the closing minutes. Needing a goal, Coach Wells opted to pull Weisz for the extra skater, but Waldie's crisp outlet pass to Juana Baribeau in the neutral zone sprung Baribeau on a breakaway against the empty net for her second goal of the season and a 3-1 Clarkson lead with only 34 seconds remaining.
St. Lawrence pulled to within one when first-year student Rylee Smith scored her third goal of the season and second of the weekend series with 8.8 seconds left in regulation. However, the Saints were unable to work the puck into Clarkson's zone in the waning seconds, allowing the Knights to celebrate a dramatic come-from-behind effort.
Clarkson finished with a 36-24 advantage in shots on goal, and was 1-of-5 on the power play. St. Lawrence also had a power play goal (1-of-3). Dahm earned her first win of the year behind 22 saves, while Weisz stopped 33 shots but remained winless in 2010-11 (0-2).
St. Lawrence will be in action again next weekend when they travel to New England for a pair of non-conference games against nationally-ranked Boston University and New Hampshire. The Saints will face the No. 6 Terriers on Friday, October 22 at 7:00pm.
