CANTON, N.Y. — In their regular season opener, St. Lawrence and Northeastern skated to a 2-2 tie on Saturday. The game was fast paced and the overtime saw only two stoppages of play.
Sophomore Kennedy Marchment scored twice for the Saints.
St. Lawrence coach Chris Wells conceded that Northeastern took it to his team in the first period, but the Saints opened the scoring early on the power play.
Junior Brooke Webster fired a stretch pass from deep in her own zone to linemate Marchment. Skating just ahead of the Northeastern defender, Marchment took a shot from the low slot that was initially stopped but she tapped the rebound over Brittany Bugalski’s right pad.
“It was a great pass to me from Brooke, and even though the defender lifted my stick I just wanted to get the puck on net,” Marchment said. “It was a lucky bounce.”
It didn’t take long for Northeastern to even the score, as Kendall Coyne teamed up with Jordan Krause to score about 10 minutes later.
“It was a great shot from the point. It hit one our player’s elbows and I was left alone on the doorstep and was able to bang it home,” Coyne said of her first goal of the year.
The first period ended with the score 1-1, but that stat changed quickly with the start of the second. Just 56 seconds into the middle frame, Shelby Herrington released a quick snap shot from the left faceoff circle that beat Saints goalie Grace Harrison high to the blocker side, giving Northeastern a 2-1 lead on the power play.
Similar to the first period, the game got tied around the 13-minute mark of the second period when Marchment scored her second goal of the game, a performance that earned her the game’s first star.
On a power play, Saints captain Amanda Boulier shuttled the puck to Jenna Marks on the blue line. Marks’ slap shot was deflected by Marchment past Bugalski.
“It was a great pass from Marks and an easy deflection,” Marchment said. “A great pass and it worked out well.”
After Marchment’s goal, the game turned into a goaltender’s duel. Bugalski, who started after the projected starter for the Huskies was injured in warmups, finished with 27 saves.
For Northeastern coach David Flint, Bugalski was key to keeping the Huskies in the game.
“We got tired in the third and the end of the second and I think Brittany played great,” Flint said. “She held the fort and denied some good looks at the net.”
Overall, Flint said he felt his team played well, despite today being its first game. St. Lawrence beat McGill on Wednesday in an exhibition.
“We need to clean up our special teams a bit but I liked the way we played without having any exhibition games,” Flint said.
Meanwhile, the Saints played a trio of goalies in Brooke Wolejko, Harrison and Sonja Shelly, who played the first, second and third periods in that order.
“It felt amazing to be in net with the game on the line,” said Shelly, who made 11 saves in the third period and two more in overtime. “I tried not to think about it being overtime because then you tense up. I just wanted to make the saves to keep the team in the game.”
Wells said he was pleased with the way his team played.
“As the game went on, our kids started to find some pace,” he said. “That was a fantastic opening game, and that’s the reason we play the kind of opening schedule we do, to get us ready.”
Wells also said his goalies all played well given the unusual situation, in which no one goalie has distinguished herself as the starter.
“I’m happy for all the goalies,” he said. “We had a great meeting yesterday, they all have a great mindset. It starts with their leader, the one who doesn’t dress, Mikaela Thompson. She has set the culture for the goalies. Their attitudes are great.”
The teams will face off again at noon EDT Sunday.
