Season Preview: Saints Preparing for Exciting Season
With an impressive blend of veterans and solid newcomers, the St. Lawrence Saints have set their hopes high for the upcoming year, as they look to compete against some of the best competition in the nation.
"There is a great energy around our program as we face another challenging schedule in 2011-12," said head coach Chris Wells, entering his fourth season behind the bench. "We fully expect our experiences in all of the close games over the past two seasons to benefit our veterans, and the newcomers will have an opportunity to make a significant impact as we strive to win a championship."
The Scarlet and Brown should offer a balanced attack with both a productive offense and a sound defensive corps. Leading an offense that returns its top-8 scorers from last season will be junior All-Conference honoree Kelly Sabatine, who led the Saints in scoring with 34 points (15g, 19a) in 2010-11. Graduate student Karell Emard and seniors Vanessa Emond and Alley Bero will also be called upon to anchor the offense in their final seasons.
Other valuable forwards that return to the roster this fall include juniors Kayla Sullivan and Michelle Ng, both of whom are poised to have excellent campaigns, along with sophomores Rylee Smith and Bailey Habscheid.
Coach Wells, Associate Head Coach Ted Wisner and assistant coach Mare MacDougall have added four forwards to the mix for the upcoming season, each of whom is expected to bring a certain element to the Saints' attack. Those players include Jessica Hon, Ellie Williams, Margo Lund and Jacqueline Wand.
"I expect that our returning forwards are going to be able to build off of the previous two seasons, where they've been in key situations in close games," said Coach Wells. "That experience should start to yield more results in our favor."
Defensively, St. Lawrence welcomes back five players including junior Brooke Fernandez. The Bloomfield, CT native had breakout season last year, as she was the second-leading scorer on the roster with 26 points on seven goals and 19 assists. Joining Fernandez on the blue line will be senior Josee Belanger, who emerged as a leader of the defense last year, junior Jamie Goldsmith and sophomores Mel Desrochers and Dayle Wilkinson.
First-year students Amanda Boulier and Jess McAuliffe round out a defensive unit that will be expected to quarterback the St. Lawrence attack throughout the 2011-12 season.
"With increased depth on the blue line from previous years, this will be an exciting and creative group to watch," said Coach Wells. "As always, our defense is going to dictate our style of play."
Sophomore Caitlyn Lahonen is the lone returning goaltender to the roster this fall. The Warman, SK native split time throughout her opening season, playing in 14 games while posting a 2.44 goals against average. Joining the team this season is Carmen MacDonald, the former goaltender for Team Canada's U-18 squad which won the world championship in 2010.
"As with our defense, we have good depth in the net," said Coach Wells. "I expect that (Caitlyn's and Carmen's) competitiveness and abilities will give our team confidence early in the season."
St. Lawrence has the advantage of opening the 2011-12 campaign with seven of its first eight games on its home ice. The team will face a rigorous ECAC Hockey schedule, along with non-conference opponents UConn, Providence, Niagara, UNH, Boston University, Mercyhurst, Boston College and Northeastern.
"As in previous years, Coach (Doug) Derraugh and his staff at Cornell have assembled a team that could compete stand-alone in Sochi 2014," added Coach Wells. "With our league having so much depth, competing for a top-8 spot is going to be as challenging as ever. It's always been beneficial for us to have such a talented travel partner in Clarkson University, as they've brought in another stellar recruiting class."
Following an exhibition game against McGill, St. Lawrence will have their first look at the Clarkson Golden Knights when the two teams square off in a non-conference game to open the regular season at Appleton Arena on Saturday, October 1 at 7:00pm. The contest will follow an alumnae game that will feature graduates from St. Lawrence taking on former Golden Knights.
"This is going to be a great weekend for both programs as well as the alumnae," said Coach Wells. "The returning players will get to see how women's hockey has grown, how the rivalry continues to help both programs and how it has increased in intensity each year."
Season tickets can be purchased for the 2011-12 season by calling (315) 229-5696. All of the St. Lawrence University women's hockey team's home games are scheduled to be broadcast on America One, with season passes and daily tickets will be available for purchase. Fans can also follow Coach Wells on Twitter and the Saints on Facebook.
