Hannah Miller and Kennedy Marchment scored goals and Sonjia Shelly made 27 saves as the eighth-ranked St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team handed second-ranked Boston College their first loss of the season, 2-1, in a non-league game on Friday night at Appleton Arena.
The game was a rematch of the St. Lawrence’s last game of last season, when the Eagles defeated the Saints 6-0 to advance to the NCAA Frozen Four.
Miller gave the Saints a 1-0 lead with a power play goal halfway through the first period, taking a pass from Skylar Podvey in her own end and taking the puck all the way down the ice before beating Boston College goaltender Katie Burt with a tough-angle shot from the left side. Shelly started the play with a pass to Miller from behind her own net to pick up the second assist on the play.
Boston College outshot St. Lawrence 10-2 in the second period, but Marchment gave the Saints a 2-0 lead with just over four minutes to play in the frame. The 2017 Patty Kazmaier top-10 finalist took a pass from Jaimee Cooke at center ice and beat a defender with a toe drag before sending a wrist shot into the top right corner of the net. The play occurred less than 10 seconds after Shelly made a point-blank blocker save on BC rookie Daryl Watts, who leads the nation in scoring with 12 goals and 27 points.
“We were able to withstand BC’s second period by killing off three penalties and getting a few good bounces on our sticks,” said head coach Chris Wells ’92. “Shelly’s save turned into Marchment’s goal, and that turned out to be the big play of the game.”
The Eagles cut the lead to one goal on a shot from the slot by Makenna Newkirk in the early stages of the third period, but the Saints buckled down defensively for the rest of the period, winning battles for loose pucks along the boards and limiting the Eagles to just six shots after the goal.
“We did a real good job protecting the puck in the third and created a few chances as well,” said Wells. “BC is so talented and can turn nothing into something on almost every line rush. It was a good night for us in many ways, not just on the scoreboard.”
Katie Burt made 11 saves for BC, which outshot the Saints 28-13.
St. Lawrence improved to 6-3-2 with their fourth straight win, while BC fell to 8-1-1. The two teams will meet again at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
