Canton, NY - After numerous near misses and some outstanding stops in net, the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team ran out of luck in an attempt to knock off second-seeded St. Lawrence as the Saints scored two goals in the final 1:15 to defeat the seventh-seeded Golden Knights 3-2 in Game 1 of the ECACHL Quarterfinals Friday night at Appleton Arena.
The Knights, who dropped to 18-14-3 on the season, have now lost all three meetings against St. Lawrence this year. The Saints, ranked fifth in the nation, improved to 26-6-3. Clarkson looks to hold off post-season elimination at 7 pm on Saturday, again at SLU's Appleton Arena.
Just 31 seconds into the contest it appeared as if the Knights would be on the defensive all night as St. Lawrence angled the puck into the back of the Clarkson net. However, the goal was ruled to be deflected in with by a Saints' player's hand and was waved off. Clarkson would then enjoy a greater amount of offensive chances for the remainder of the scoreless period, out shooting St. Lawrence 10-5. Senior goaltender Kira Hurley (Pickering, ONT) proved that she was on her game early, stopping a break away by Alison Domenico less than seven minutes into the game. Domenico controlled the puck just shy of the red line and then coasted in for a one-on-one with Hurley, but her attempt to the goalie's stick side came up short when the former All-American extended her leg pad to stop the shot.
Clarkson's second period began with promise as the team scored just 39 seconds into a power play following a hooking penalty to St. Lawrence's Kerri Wallace. With 1:53 expired, freshman Britney Selina (Thornhill, ONT) picked up a rebound from an attempted wrap around by classmate Genevieve Lavoie (St. Laurent, QUE) to put Clarkson up 1-0 with the power-play marker, her 12th goal of the season. St. Lawrence fell behind by another goal as the Knights continued to apply the pressure on the Saints' crease when junior Katie Morrison (Ridgefield, CT) scored at 10:13, her eighth goal of the season, on a rebound in front after a shot from Selina from the slot. The freshman wound up and fired a shot on goal from 20 feet away and the rebound bounced to the left-post side where Morrison was able to corral the bounding puck and flick it into the net for a 2-0 Clarkson lead.
St. Lawrence awoke from its haze for the final 10 minutes of the period and supplied plenty of pressure on Hurley, finishing with a 10-6 advantage in shots, while slashing the lead to one. A slapshot from Annie Guay found its way past Hurley at 13:18, with an assist going to Chelsea Grills.
The third period was controlled by St. Lawrence as the Saints enjoyed an 11-2 edge in shots on goal. It appeared as if Clarkson would hold off the Saints late charge, but a late penalty gave St. Lawrence a man-advantage opportunity, and when the home team pulled the goalie, suddenly the Knights were facing two extra skaters. Just 12 seconds into the power play, the third close shot attempt in front of the Clarkson net provided the Saints with the equalizer when Grills scored with 1:15 remaining. St. Lawrence's elation from the game-tying goal was evident in its continued pressure up front as Crystal Connors scored the game-winning goal with 28.3 seconds left on a pass from Sabrina Harbec. Harbec picked up the puck near the end line and sent a pass out to an open Connors who completed the play by flicking the puck over the shoulder of Hurley.
Hurley finished with 23 saves for Clarkson while Meaghan Guckian stopped 16 shots for St. Lawrence. Hurley needed to halt 18 shots in the final two period while Guckian was called on to make only six saves in the final 40 minutes. St. Lawrence ended the game with a 26-18 edge in shots and each team went 1-for-3 on the power play.
