Despite a hard-working effort on the road, the Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team fell just short in its bid to knock off archrival St. Lawrence, falling to the Saints 3-2 at Appleton Arena in Canton on Friday night.
With the loss, the Golden Knights saw their five-game league winning streak come to an end, while St. Lawrence extends the nation’s longest winning streak to eight games. Clarkson, at 14-7-4 overall and 8-4-1 in ECAC Hockey, will host the Saints (14-7-3, 8-4-1) on Saturday afternoon in a 3:00 p.m. game at Cheel Arena to close out the regular-season series between the North Country foes.
St. Lawrence pulled out the victory at home, scoring on the power play late in regulation. At 16:20 of the third, Rylee Smith knocked in a rebound off a shot by Brooke Fernandez at the side of the net with 21 seconds left in the man-advantage.
Clarkson came out with a strong first-period effort against the Saints, holding an 11-7 shot advantage, but was unable to find the back of the net in the scoreless period.
Both teams got on the scoreboard in the middle frame to make it a 1-1 game through 40 minutes. After killing off back-to-back power plays by St. Lawrence, the Knights struck first when sophomore Shelby Nisbet (Wiseton, SASK) wristed a shot from the slot just under the crossbar for her third goal of the season at 6:30. Classmate Carly Mercer (Exeter, ONT) earned the assist after picking up a loose puck at the side of the net.
The Saints came back with their first goal to tie late in the stanza, capitalizing on a Clarkson turnover in its own end as Brooke Fernandez scored at 14:45.
St. Lawrence took its first lead at the 11:00 mark of the final frame with a shorthanded goal by Kelly Sabatine. Just 61 seconds later, however, the Knights made it 2-2, when junior Danielle Skirrow (Trenton, ONT) tipped in a pass at the top of the crease from sophomore Jamie Lee Rattray (Kanata, ONT) for her 12th goal of the year.
Clarkson outshot the St. Lawrence 34-31. Sophomore Eric Howe (Ottawa, ONT) posted 28 saves for the Green and Gold. The Knights were 1-of-5 on the power play and killed off five off the Saints’ six man-advantage opportunities.
