Saints Win Fourth Straight, Top 7th-Ranked Huskies
Jan. 6: The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team picked
up its second consecutive win over a nationally-ranked opponent on
Friday, as the Scarlet and Brown handed No. 7 Northeastern
University a 3-2 loss in Boston, MA. Junior Brooke Fernandez
had a goal and an assist in the win, while classmate Kelly Sabatine
scored the game-winner.
The Saints, now 10-7-3 on the year, won their fourth straight
contest thanks to solid special teams play (insert numbers).
Meanwhile, the Huskies fall to 14-5-1 and lost for the first time
since November 30.
"We gave another great team effort against a very talented
Northeastern team," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells.
"Our penalty killing group came through late in the game to get us
another quality win."
Though the Huskies owned the play throughout much of the first
period, it was St. Lawrence that came away with a 1-0 advantage at
intermission. Despite being outshot 13-8, first-year student
Ellie Williams' fourth goal of the year at 8:19 put the visitors on
top. Fernandez started the play, getting the puck to junior
Jamie Goldsmith who swung a pass behind Northeastern's net to
Williams. The Pryor, OK native quickly flipped a shot that
ricocheted off of goaltender Chloe Desjardin and into the goal for
a 1-0 cushion.
St. Lawrence rookie goaltender Carmen MacDonald had a brilliant
first period, turning in a game-high 13 stops to keep the potent
Huskie attack off the scoreboard.
The Saints would build their lead to 2-0 late in the second period,
as Fernandez's sixth goal of the year came on the power play.
First-year student Amanda Boulier set up the goal with a slick pass
to the near post, and Fernandez lifted a beautiful backhanded shot
under the cross bar for the 2-0 lead.
Northeastern battled back early in the third period, scoring a pair
of goals in a 6:00 minute span to knot the game at 2-2. Clair
Santostefano's third goal of the season got the home team on the
scoreboard at 1:25 of the third, while Brittany Esposito's seventh
goal tied the score at 7:32.
However, St. Lawrence showed its resilience by rebounding with the
game-winning goal only 1:46 later. Captain Karell Emard
centered a pass to Sabatine in the slot, and the Hamilton, ON
native buried her ninth goal of the season for a 3-2 lead.
The Saints appeared to push the lead to 4-2 less than 2:00 minutes
later, but an apparent goal was reviewed and disallowed due to a
high stick. However, MacDonald shut the door on the Huskies,
protecting her team's lead and giving the Scarlet and Brown the 3-2
victory despite three minor penalties in the final 3:10 of
regulation.
Special teams proved to be crucial for the visitors, as the Saints
scored the lone power play goal of the day (1-for-5) while keeping
Northeastern quiet with the extra skater (0-for-6). MacDonald
earned the win with a 28-save performance, while Desjardins
suffered the loss after making 23 stops.
St. Lawrence will be in action again on Tuesday, January 10 when
the team hosts Vermont at Appleton Arena in its final
non-conference game of the season. The puck will drop on the
Saints and Catamounts at 7:00pm.












