Two first-period goals propelled the No. 7 St. Lawrence Saints to a 3-1 victory over the University of Vermont on Friday. The Saints remained unbeaten at 4-0-1 while UVM dropped to 2-2-1.
“I think we played well off each other, and made a lot of plays coming off the bye,” said Saints coach Chris Wells of the team’s performance after a weekend off. “We were lucky to get a good bounce on the first goal, I think it went off the defender and in, and I think that kind of settled us in a little bit.”
That first goal came off the stick of Brooke Webster, who notched her sixth goal of the year off a shot from the high slot after Kennedy Marchment forced a turnover at the blue line.
Rookie Jacquie Diffley scored her first collegiate goal for the Saints at the 13:45 mark of the first to give the Saints a 2-0 lead. She jumped off the bench after the Saints completed a penalty kill, took a stretch pass from Marchment, and skated in on Melissa Black, deking to the backhand to beat the Catamounts’ netminder.
“We had just come off a good kill, and I recognized that the two UVM defenders were still in, so I called for it from [Marchment], and she hit me with a nice pass, and I kind of just did my best to get it in,” said Diffley with a smile. “It was really exciting; I didn’t think it went in, but it was nice to see my teammates come over and congratulate me.”
The Saints struck again early in the second period when Justine Reyes flung a puck on net from the wall and it careened past Black off of Kayla Neilsen, giving SLU a 3-0 lead.
Vermont got on the board early in the third period when Eve-Audrey Picard netted a power-play goal for the Catamounts. Just over three minutes into the third, Picard spun off the wall with the puck and cut to the middle before guiding a backhand off the far post and past Grace Harrison to narrow the Saints’ lead to two goals.
“She’s vital,” said Vermont bench boss Jim Plumer of Picard. “She’s a 200-foot player, she’s very hungry for the puck all the time, and even the goal that she scored today, all of her goals have been gritty plays around the net. She has a high skill level as well, but she’s as hungry for the puck as any player I’ve seen.”
Harrison came up big for the Saints in the third period, finishing with 25 saves for the win, including nine saves in the third and five in the last 90 seconds.
“Just stop the puck,” said Harrison about her focus in the waning moments. “There were a lot of bodies on the ground, so it was a little harder to find, but nothing much more than take it shot by shot.”
“Our team was resilient, and certainly a better second half than first half,” said Plumer. “Credit St. Lawrence, they jumped on us quickly, and momentum is such a huge part of a hockey game, and we had a great chance in the first couple of minutes, didn’t put it in, they put theirs in, and that gets them going.”
The Saints, who were picked to finish seventh in the ECAC, having been exceeding expectations early, but ahead of the rematch with UVM tomorrow in Burlington, the Saints aren’t getting too far ahead of themselves.
“I think we’re just really happy with how things are going, how everyone’s progressing, and the work ethic everyone is bringing to practice has been excellent,” said Harrison. “Keep it steady and keep the team chemistry going.”
