Box Score
CANTON, N.Y. – Fifth-ranked St. Lawrence University scored in the first and third periods and went on to defeat Rensselaer, 3-0, in ECAC Women’s Hockey action this afternoon. The Saints improve to 8-2-0 overall and remain undefeated in league play at 4-0-0. The Engineers are now 6-4-1 with a 1-2-1 conference mark.
Saints’ senior forward Chelsea Grills (Sittsville, ON/Ottawa Raiders) gave St. Lawrence the lead at 18:09 of the first period after intercepting a pass from sophomore Tara Akstull (Clifton Park, NY/Troy-Albany Ice Cats). Controlling the puck in the neutral zone, Akstull found a speeding Grills, who ducked between the RPI defense for a breakaway goal on freshman goalie Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros).
The score would remain the same through the second period as Rensselaer turned up the pressure, outshooting St. Lawrence, 12-4 in the frame. The Engineers had a 5 on 3 opportunity early but were unable to capitalize as Saints goaltender Meaghan Guckian (Victor, NY/ Buffalo Bisons) turned aside several hard shots to preserve the 1-0 lead.
St. Lawrence gained a two-goal advantage early in the final period as senior defenseman Kerri Wallace (Rocky Mountain House, AB/Minnesota State) capitalized on the power play at 1:24. Corralling a pass from freshman Michelle Zimmerman (Littleton, CO/National Sports Academy), junior Carson Duggan (Ma-Me-O Beach, AB/Edmonton Chimos) sent a crisp stick to stick pass from the left point to Wallace, who shot it through traffic for the extra-man tally.
Hoping to get onto the scoreboard, the Engineers pulled van der Bliek in favor of the extra-attacker, but Duggan made it 3-0 for the Saints at the 16:46 mark when she got the puck from junior Lisa Batchelor (Red Deer, AB/Edmonton Chimos) and sent it into the open-net for the tally. Senior Sabrina Harbec (St.Hubert, PQ/Montreal Axion) was also credited with an assist.
Sophomore Laura Gersten (Queensbury, NY/Troy-Albany Ice Cats) nearly got the Engineers on the board late in the period, but could not get past the solid play of the Saints goalie.
Rensselaer held a 23-15 shot advantage in the game, but Guckian earned the shutout victory, stopping all 23 shots she faced. RPI, which suffered its first shutout of the season, saw van der Bliek make 13 saves.
St. Lawrence returns to action on November 23 when it travels to Dartmouth (7pm). The Engineers are back on the ice on Friday and Saturday for a pair of games at Wayne State.
