Round one of the North Country home-and-home series between the Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team and St. Lawrence went to the Saints as the visitors gained a 3-1 victory on Friday before a crowd of 654 at Cheel Arena.
The two nationally-ranked foes will meet again in ECAC Hockey on Saturday in a 7:00 p.m. contest at Appleton Arena in Canton.
Ranked 6th in the country, St. Lawrence (20-7-0, 13-2-0) scored 89 seconds into the game, notched its second midway through the first and added a power-play marker midway through the second to hold a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes of play.
Marianna Locke took a pass from Michelle Zimmerman at the left of the Clarkson goal and flipped in her 12th goal of the season 1:29 after the opening faceoff to give St. Lawrence the early momentum. Zimmerman made it 2-0 at 13:22 with her second goal of the season when she connected on a shot from the blueline that found its way through a screen in front and into the back of the Knights’ net.
Boasting the nation’s fourth-best power-play, the Saints wasted little time on their second man advantage of the game. Chelsea Grills scored eight seconds into the opportunity at 12:08 of the second period, knocking in a rebound for her 12th goal of the season. She tied the St. Lawrence career-mark for power-play tallies with 24.
Clarkson (18-6-3, 9-5-1), ranked ninth in the country, came out strong in the third stanza, outshooting the Saints 9-5 over the final 20 minutes, but could not overcome the early deficit as it saw a four-game win streak come to an end.
At 4:57, the Knights’ points leader, sophomore Britney Selina (Thornhill, ONT) added to her totals with a power-play marker for the Green and Gold's lone score. Selina, who has a team-high 32 points, one-timed a pass from freshman standout Melissa Waldie (Newmarlet, ONT) for her 13th goal of the year. Sophomore Genevieve Lavoie (Delson, QUE) also assisted.
The Knights out shot the Saints 23-18. Freshman Eve Grandmont-Berube (Drummondville, QUE) posted 15 saves for Clarkson, while Meaghan Guckian had 22 stops for St. Lawrence.
Clarkson was 1-of-5 on the power, while the Saints went 1-of-4.
