Potsdam, NY – Sophomore goaltender Lauren Dahm (Baldwinsville, NY) made 23 saves and the Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team held off a 90-second rush as St. Lawrence skated with an extra attacker to claim a 2-1 victory over the Saints on Wednesday night in front of 845 fans, the second-largest crowd ever for a women’s hockey game at Cheel Arena.
The Golden Knights improved to 14-9-5 overall and 8-5-3 in ECAC Hockey, pushing to within a single point of fifth place in the league, while St. Lawrence fell to 18-7-3 and 12-3-1. The win for the Green and Gold was just their second in 12 tries against the Saints, currently ranked sixth in the country. Clarkson’s only other victory came in a 2-0 win on December 2, 2005 against a then top-ranked St. Lawrence University.
A pair of breakaways could have started the scoring for either team in the first period, but both Clarkson’s Lauren Dahm (Baldwinsville, NY) and St. Lawrence’s Brittony Chartier made outstanding saves to keep the game scoreless. Late in the period, however, Clarkson jumped on the scoreboard with a goal from junior Genevieve Lavoie (Delson, QUE). Sophomore Melissa Waldie (Newmarket, ONT) started the play near the bottom of the circle, sending a pass to freshman Gabrielle Kosziwka (Limehouse, ONT) behind the net to the goalie’s glove side. From there, Kosziwka centered a pass to Lavoie, who one-timed a shot for the goal at 15:28.
St. Lawrence took little time to knot the game back up at 1-1 as sophomore defenseman Michelle Zimmerman took a shot from the blue line that skidded its way through the defense and through the legs of Dahm. Zimmerman’s shot appeared to be redirected by the skate of a Clarkson player before finding its way to the back of the net. Vanessa Emond and Lisa Batchelor each assisted on the goal at 6:09. Just a minute later, the Saints were whistled for a penalty and the Knights took advantage by reclaiming the lead. Junior Britney Selina (Thornhill, ONT) shot the puck across the crease, eluding all defenders, and Waldie chipped in the shot from in close, on the goalie’s stick side. Kimberly McKenney (Smiths Falls, ONT) also assisted.
Both teams had a few scoring chances in the final period, but Clarkson could not gain an insurance score, nor could the Saints pick up the equalizer. For the final 90-plus seconds of the contest, St. Lawrence played with an extra skater, but Clarkson seemed to have the better of the chances, nearly picking up an insurance goal on two occasions. A timeout with just under 14 seconds to go slowed the pace, but Clarkson kept the puck buried and held off the Saints’ offense.
Dahm finished with 23 saves, including 17 over the final two periods, while Chartier made 23 saves as well. Clarkson went 1-for-3 on the power play and the Saints were held scoreless in four chances. The Knights held a narrow 25-24 edge in shots.
