Kayla Nielsen sparked a second-period rally with a goal and an assist to lead the seventh-ranked St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team to a 4-2 win over Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon at Appleton Arena.
With the scored tied 1-1 after the first intermission, Nielsen got the Saints’ offense going early in the second, winning a faceoff in the defensive zone and skating hard to create a 2-on-1 opportunity with Nadine Edney. Edney, skating down the left wing, fed Nielsen a pass and the junior from Laguna Hills, California, hit a wide open net for her third goal of the season.
Then, with less than two minutes to play in the period and the Saints on a power play, Neilsen fed Rachael Smith on a give-and-go in the slot, and Smith redirected the pass low past Quinnipiac goaltender Abby Ives to give St. Lawrence a 3-1 lead heading into the final frame.
St. Lawrence outshot Quinnipiac 11-1 in the second period.
Justine Reyes gave the Saints even more breathing room near the halfway point of the third period, creating a turnover in the Quinnipiac zone and beating Ives with a shot high to the glove side.
Kennedy Marchment got the Saints on the scoreboard first with a power play goal with less than five minutes to play in the first period, finally cashing in from the doorstop after both Reyes and Hannah Miller had been denied on shots from in close.
But Quinnipiac’s Melissa Samoskevich tied the game just over a minute later with a shot from the right faceoff dot.
Samoskevich added another goal late with less than five minutes to play in the third period with a high wrist shot through a screen.
“That was a good way to finish the weekend as we head into a bit of a break,” said head coach Chris Wells ’92. We capitalized on a few power play chances and a quick 2-on-1 to get some separation at 3-1. At that point we really started to get some nice bounces to keep the lead.”
Grace Harrison made 13 saves to earn the victory for the Saints, who outshot Quinnipiac 23-15. Ives stopped 19 shots for Quinnipiac, which fell to 8-7-0, 4-4-0 ECAC Hockey.
St. Lawrence (7-4-3, 4-1-1) will take next weekend off before facing Clarkson in a rare Thursday/Saturday home-and-home series on November 30 and December 2.
