Saints Top No. 7 Clarkson in First Game at Appleton
Jacquie Diffley scored 11 minutes and 54 seconds into the game and Lucy Morgan made 25 saves to lead the St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team to a 1-0 win over seventh-ranked Clarkson in an ECAC game at Appleton Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The win capped a celebratory day for the Saints, who were playing their first game of the season at Appleton after playing their first eight games home games at SUNY Canton due to renovations at the historic arena.
“Wow,” said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells ’92. “What a day! So many people did so many things to make this day happen. People were doing jobs that were above and beyond what their job titles say! We were glad to pay them all back with the win. Certainly a day we will all remember; great crowd, atmosphere and both teams played hard and clean. I really liked our pace and we had a lot of quality chances that went wide and were saved.”
Diffley’s goal came on a wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle. It was her second goal of the season and her first career game-winning goal. Jessica Poirier picked up an assist on the play.
The shutout was the third of the season for Morgan; it was also the first for the Saints over the Golden Knights in more than 13 years and the first at Appleton. The only other time St. Lawrence has shut out Clarkson in the previous 55 meetings in program history was a 5-0 win on October 21, 2006, at Cheel Arena.
Clarkson goaltender Marie-Pier Coulombe stopped 17 of St. Lawrence’s 18 shots.
“We got a few bounces late in the game to get pucks out and pucks went by the post and Lucy made some great saves to keep the shutout,” Wells said.
The Saints improved to 9-9-5 on the season and the Golden Knights fell to 16-4-4.
The 1,363 fans in attendance, the second-highest total in program history, were the first to see Appleton Arena’s new lobby, widened concourses, new video and ribbon boards, new concession stands and the new video production room. Fans watching on ESPN+ or Stretch Internet enjoyed improved camera quality, multiple camera angles, on-screen graphics and instant replays.
The Saints will host Harvard and Dartmouth in ECAC Hockey contests next weekend.
