Potsdam, NY – Evenly played throughout, a third-period goal from Princeton defenseman Sasha Sherry proved to be the difference as the Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team fell to the Tigers 2-1 in ECAC Hockey action Friday night in front of 221 fans at Cheel Arena.
The Golden Knights fell to 15-11-5 overall and 9-7-3 in conference games, while the Tigers pushed to 15-9-2 and 12-6-1 in ECAC games. Clarkson closes out the home schedule on Saturday afternoon when the Green and Gold face Quinnipiac.
Although the play was mostly in the Princeton defensive end to start the contest, it was the Tigers who would post the game’s first goal, scoring at 2:25. Laura Martindale took a sneaky shot that Clarkson goaltender Lauren Dahm (Baldwinsville, NY) initially stopped, but the puck didn’t get cleared out of the crease, and Martindale was able to put the puck past Dahm’s glove side for the opening score, her fourth of the season. Seniors Christine Foster and Annie Greenwood each assisted.
The Tigers would hold the one goal leader for another 12 minutes until senior Marie-Jo Gaudet (Sherbrooke, QUE) made a nifty play with the puck that will certainly end up on the post-season highlight reel to tie the game up 1-1. With junior Britney Selina (Thornhill, ONT) feeding her a pass, Gaudet danced around the Princeton defenders and finished off the play with a backhand at 14:42. It was her 18th score of the season and Selina’s 25th assist of the campaign.
After a scoreless second period in which Princeton held a 12-9 advantage, it took another eight-plus minutes before the two teams would break their tie. Receiving a pass between the top of the near circle and the blue line, junior defenseman Sasha Sherry wristed a shot that went over the left shoulder of Dahm, giving the Tigers a 2-1 advantage. Classmate Maddie Endicott and Greenwood each picked up assists on the goal.
Clarkson pulled Dahm for an extra attacker in the final minute and a half, but the Knights were unable to get the equalizer, despite a flurry of three shots up close in the final minute.
Dahm finished with 28 saves and Young made 26 saves for the Tigers. Princeton owned a narrow 30-27 edge in shots, and the Tigers were 0-for-3 on the power play while Clarkson went scoreless in four chances with the man-advantage.
In other news for Clarkson Women’s Hockey, two Golden Knights were nominated for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, presented annually to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey. Senior Marie-Jo Gaudet and sophomore Lauren Dahm are two of 15 players in ECAC Hockey and 43 players nationally who have been nominated for the award. Gaudet is the team’s leading scorer with 18 goals and 18 assists for 36 points. Dahm ranks fourth in the country in goals against average after leading the nation in that category as a freshman, and ranks eighth nationally in save percentage.
