Clarkson Women Handle Colgate; SLUFalls

POTSDAM - Whistles were frequent Friday night, but the Clarkson University women's hockey team was able to take advantage of its extra-skater opportunities against Colgate, downing the Raiders 4-1 in front of 144 fans in an ECAC contest at Cheel Arena.

The Golden Knights improved to 15-7-5 overall and 9-4-2 in ECAC Hockey, while Colgate dropped to 8-17-1 and 3-11-1. Clarkson will host Cornell University on Saturday, while the Raiders will travel to St. Lawrence.

Though Clarkson had a healthy shot advantage in the first period, it took some time for the Knights to get on the scoreboard. Midway through a power-play chance, Clarkson was struggling to keep the puck in the zone along the boards. Sophomore Jamie Lee Rattray (Kanata, ONT) gained possession near the blue line and put in a fine individual effort to get through. She kicked the puck out of the way of the defender and skated through traffic in front, putting a shot on net near Colgate goaltender Kimberly Sass' stickside. Sass stopped the initial shot, but the rebound went right back to the stick of Rattray, who flipped the puck in on a backhand at 16:28.

Clarkson took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission thanks to another solid effort from Juana Baribeau (Amos, QUE). In transition, Baribeau picked up the puck near the top of the circle and followed Rattray's lead by using a couple of solid stick moves before going to her backhand, picking up her 10th goal of the season at the 19:04 mark. SophomoreVanessa Gagnon (St. Constant, QUE) earned her seventh assists of the season on the score.

Clarkson continued its offensive splurge by scoring its third goal in less than eight minutes. Again on the power play, the Knights were able to gain a 3-0 lead. Hailey Wood (Lethbridge, ALB) took a shot from the point and after the puck changed course a few times, Rattray was able to deflect the shot past Sass at the 3:56 mark in the second period. Baribeau also gained an assist on the goal.

The remainder of the second period was quiet as the two teams combined for just nine shots, but the Raiders were able to take advantage of a Clarkson penalty in the early going of the third frame. After working the puck around to the top of the near-side circle, a shot was redirected by Rachel Walsh who stood just outside the crease. The goal at 6:27 of the third period brought the Raiders within two, but Colgate could not use the momentum as the team was whistled for two penalties shortly after the score. With Clarkson up a skater following three quick infractions by both teams, Baribeau sniped a shot from the top of the circle to return Clarkson's three-goal advantage at 11:04. Katelyn Ptolemy(Dinsmore, SASK) gained an assist on the power-play goal.

Sophomore Erika Howe (Kanata, ONT) made 14 saves in the Clarkson goal, while Sass made 29 stops.

SLU FALLS

Senior Rebecca Johnston scored two goals including an insurance empty netter with 11.0 seconds left, helping nationally-ranked No. 2 Cornell University hold on for a 6-4 victory over the St. Lawrence University women's hockey team at Appleton Arena.

The loss snaps a nine-game unbeaten streak for St. Lawrence (14-8-4, 8-5-2) that dated back to November 23, 2011. Meanwhile, the Big Red (19-2-0, 13-1-0) now owns the nation's longest winning and unbeaten streaks at nine games.

Though St. Lawrence held a 12-7 advantage in shots in the first, it was the Big Red that came away with a 2-0 lead thanks to goals by Jillian Saulnier and Johnston. However, Cornell goaltender Amanda Mazzotta, who made 11 saves, was injured near the end of the stanza and was replaced by Lauren Slebodnick.

The Cornell offense continued their attack early in the second period, as Lauriane Rougeau and Brianne Jenner scored back-to-back special teams goals only 53 seconds apart to push the visitor's lead to 4-0. Rougeau took a pass from Laura Fortino and sniped a wrist shot that beat St. Lawrence rookie goaltender Carmen MacDonald at 3:13.

Jenner then followed with her 10th goal of the season while her team was short-handed at 4:06. The sophomore picked up a loose puck in the Saints' zone and tucked a shot behind MacDonald for the four-goal cushion.

St. Lawrence would bounce back with a pair of goals in a span of 1:02, as sophomores Rylee Smith and Bailey Habscheid cut their team's deficit in half at 4-2. Smith scored on a two-on-one attack with a wrist shot inside the near post, while Habscheid ripped a slap shot on the power play at 10:10 to bring the Saints back to within two.

However, Alyssa Gagliardi would halt the home team's momentum with a goal at 16:31 of the second period to send Cornell to intermission with a 5-2 lead. Her long shot inside the blue line got through screens in front for her third goal of the year.

The Scarlet and Brown would own the third period, pour pressure on Slebodnick throughout the frame. Junior Jamie Goldsmith scored her first goal of the season on a breakaway, lifting a backhander past the goaltender at 1:58 of the third. Senior Vanessa Emond and sophomore Dayle Wilkinson assisted on the tally that made it 5-3.

St. Lawrence would pull to within a goal at 5-4 with 2:30 remaining thanks to an extra attacker goal by sophomore Mel Desrochers. The defenseman's slap shot from the blue line went off a Cornell defender and between Slebodnick's pads for her seventh goal, assisted by rookie Amanda Boulier and captain Karell Emard.

With MacDonald on the bench in the final minute, St. Lawrence controlled the play until Johnston blocked a shot out to center ice and scored from the red line to end the Saint comeback, bringing the game to its final of 6-4.

MacDonald made 23 stops including 11 in the second period.

The Saints will look to rebound this afternnoon at home against Colgate University at 4 p.m.