The St. Lawrence women’s hockey team came back twice with a goal apiece in the second and third periods to earn a 2-2 tie with No. 5/6 Clarkson Golden Knights at Cheel Arena in the final regular season meeting between the Route 11 rivals.
It’s the first time the Saints have taken Clarkson to overtime since January 21, 2012; a game that ended in a 1-1 tie.
“That is a monster point for us in a building that gas been tough to find points in,” Head Coach Chris Wells said. “We had some nice breaks on our goals and to come back twice versus them gives us a big boost.”
Jenna Marks and Lydia Grauer scored for the Saints, which Grauer’s marker coming on the power play late in the third. First-year netminder Grace Harrison was outstanding in goal for the Saints, stopping 29 shots, including three in overtime.
The Saints trailed 1-0 heading into the first intermission on a goal by Amanda Titus in the first two minutes of the game. Clarkson won the opening draw and had the Saints pinned in their defensive zone for much of that time and Titus cashed in a wide open look far post from the bottom of the circle with Lauren Lefler and Rhyen McGill assisting.
The Saints evened things up early in the middle frame with Alex Moore Jenna Marks connecting on a give-and-go to move the puck out of the Saints defensive zone. Moore, who started her career as a forward for St. Lawrence but has been a fixture on the blue line for the team this season, dangled through a trio of Clarkson defenders before putting a backhand high off the mask of netminder Shea Tiley. Kailee Heidersbach got a touch on the rebound, but it was Marks who snuck in the equalizer for her fifth of the year.
Clarkson regained the lead at the 7:27 mark of the third period with Titus’s second goal of the afternoon, after she collected a blocked shot on the right circle and beat Harrison inside the near post to make it 2-1 Clarkson.
But the Saints got a crucial power play opportunity when Renata Fast was whistled for hooking at 14:21 of the final frame after she hauled down Hannah Miller, who was streaking down the left wing looking for a quick one timer on a cross-ice feed.
Forty-seven seconds into the power play opportunity Kirsten Padalis moved the puck deep into the zone for the Saints and sent it around the end boards to Brooke Webster on the opposite side. Webster sent it to the front of the net for a crashing Grauer, who was able to work it under Tiley’s pads to bring the Saints back to even at 2-2 with just under five minutes to play in regulation.
The Saints penalty kill came up big late in the game, as they killed off a Hannah Miller hooking penalty in the final minute of regulation and opening 1:13 of overtime.
With time winding down in overtime, St. Lawrence had Clarkson pinned in its defensive zone and continue to battle in front of the net in the final five seconds, eventually best Tiley inside the far post but the puck found its way into the net a second after the final buzzer. Tiley finished with 18 saves for Clarkson.
The Saints, now 13-11-4 and 7-6-3 in conference play, will return to Appleton Arena next weekend and play host to RPI and Union.
