The 4-0 victory may have belonged to St. Lawrence on Saturday in the Saints’ game against Union, but both coaches saw signs of progress from their teams, albeit in entirely different situations.
Union, which failed to win a single game last year, has already notched two wins in the 2015-16 season, but as first-year coach Josh Sciba said following the loss, “We’re seeing growth in a lot of areas. We might be 2-12, and that’s painful at times, but there’s areas of growth for us. We’ve been really positive with the group and I think they’re starting to respond.”
Meanwhile, Saints coach Chris Wells is starting to see his forward depth come into play, after the top line of Hannah Miller, Brooke Webster, and Kennedy Marchment carried much of the scoring in the early season.
“We have all three lines score tonight, we had some balanced scoring, and we have some defensemen score this year, and usually you’re in a good spot if your D is scoring,” said Wells. “The freshmen are starting to adjust to the pace, and the lines have remained the same for all 12 games, and when you know you’re going out to play with the same two kids for a month and half, you start to develop some chemistry.”
One of the rookies Wells mentioned is Kalie Grant, who’s second goal of the year stood up as the game-winner, and Wells praised her ability to play in all three zones.
“Grant does a lot of things well. She plays positionally well, she has really good feet, which allows her to adjust in tight areas. She works hard in everything she does, and she was rewarded tonight.”
Grant cashed in around the midpoint of the first period, forcing a turnover in the neutral zone before skating in one-on-one and beating Kate Spooner on the glove side.
“I forechecked the defenseman and caused her to turn over the puck,” said Grant of her goal. “I beat her wide, which turned into a breakaway and I saw an opening over the goaltender’s right shoulder
Brooke Webster got the Saints’ top line on the board just 1:22 later, tapping home a centering pass from Kennedy Marchment from below the goal line for her ninth goal of the season, which leads the Saints.
Kirsten Padalis put SLU up 3-0 with a power-play goal from the point 3:43 into the second, and Justine Reyes netted her fifth of the season with 2:18 left in the third, popping home the rebound of a Kayla Neilsen shot to give the Saints a 4-0 lead, which ended as the final score.
“The start of our season has truly exceeded my expectations, as well as the teams,” said Grant after the win, which saw the Saints improve the 11-0-1 overall and 6-0-0 in the ECAC. “However, our success has been the result of hard work and commitment to one another. Although it’s exciting for our team right now, we put a lot of emphasis on not letting our success get to our head and progressing our game.”
The Saints travel to Yale and Brown next weekend, while Union hosts Quinnipiac and Princeton.
