Box Score

CANTON, N.Y. - St. Lawrence University first-year student Alley Bero broke a 2-2 tie at 11:33 of the second period on Friday afternoon, giving the No. 6 Saints their first lead against a tough Rensselaer team. The goal would prove to be the game-winner, as junior goalie Brittony Chartier made 10 saves in the third period to help her team snap a two-game losing streak and remain atop the ECAC Hockey standings. 

St. Lawrence moves to 19-7-3 (13-3-1) on the year despite being outshot by the Engineers 21-16. Rensselaer falls to 12-13-3 (7-8-2) and remains winless against the Saints in the all-time series (0-7-0). 

Both goaltenders would have their struggles in the opening 20 minutes, as Chartier and Rensselaer's Sonja van der Bliek each allowed two goals in a span of 4:24 in the later stages of the stanza. Jamie-Lynn Stewart would score an unassisted goal at 13:45 to put RPI on top 1-0. Engineer captain Melissa Boik nailed a slap shot off the crossbar that came down behind Chartier, who failed to find the puck before Stewart was able to chip it across the goal line for her second of the season. 

St. Lawrence senior captain Marianna Locke would respond only 48 seconds later to even the game at 1-1. Sophomore Kyrsten Venasse got the play started by finding rookie defenseman Sarianne Lynn at the right point. Lynn fired a slap shot towards van der Bliek, but Locke re-directed the shot over the goalie's pads before she had a chance to make the play. The goal was Locke's ninth of the year, while Lynn and Venasse picked up their first helpers of 2008-09. 

The scoring continued at 17:53 when Alisa Harrison netted her 11th of the year by slipping the puck past Chartier from the top of the goal mouth off a nice feed from Allison Wright. Whitney Naslund was also credited with her 13th assist of the season on the goal that put RPI up 2-1. 

That lead stood for only 16 seconds, however, as junior Britni Smith hammered a slap shot by a screened van der Bliek at 18:09 to even the score at 2-2 after period number one. Locke and junior defenseman Courtney Sawchuk picked up helpers on Smith's seventh goal of the year. 

Though the first period proved to be one for both team's offenses, the goalies began to steal the show in the final 40 minutes, as both Chartier and van der Bliek showed their resiliency by making several key stops. A bit of misfortune hurt Rensselaer's bid of an upset when sophomore Kirsten Roach found Bero cutting up the ice to van der Bliek's left. As Bero worked her way to the goal line, she tried to find a fellow St. Lawrence player at the crease. However, her pass went off of an RPI defender and behind the goalie to give the home team their first lead at 3-2.

Despite being outshot 13-11 through two periods, Rensselaer would storm back in the third by outshooting the Saints by a wide 10-3 margin. The Engineers played an outstanding frame of hockey, but Chartier proved to be up to the task, turning back each of the visiting team's bids. The Engineers would pull van der Bliek with one minute left in regulation, but the Saints did a fabulous job of pinning the puck along the boards and blocking shots to protect a 3-2 victory.

Neither team was able to get much going on their power play chances, as Rensselaer finished 0-for-5 to St. Lawrence's 0-for-2 mark. Chartier made 19 saves to pick up the victory, while van der Bliek suffered the loss having made 13 stops. 

St. Lawrence will look to earn two more points in the conference standings on Saturday afternoon when the Union Dutchwomen visit Appleton Arena. The puck will drop on the ECAC Hockey contest at 2:00pm.
Rensselaer returns to action tomorrow afternoon when it travels to Clarkson for a 2pm face-off.