Thursday night’s women’s hockey game between St. Lawrence and Clarkson at Cheel Arena in Potsdam was billed as a game between the two best teams in the East, and it certainly lived up to its billing.
Kennedy Marchment scored two goals, and Brooke Webster assisted on three, but the third-ranked Saints were forced to settle for a tie as fifth-ranked Clarkson scored an extra attacker goal with 29.1 seconds remaining for a 3-3 final in the battle for first place in the ECAC Hockey standings.
The two teams also played to a 3-3 tie in a non-league game on Oct. 8. Clarkson also scored an extra attacker goal in the final 30 seconds in that game.
The Saints, now 15-0-2 overall and 8-0-1 in ECAC Hockey games, remain the only unbeaten team in the nation. Clarkson moved to 13-3-3, 8-0-1. The two teams will square off again at Appleton Arena on Saturday at 3 p.m.
“We’re both good hockey teams and there’s going to be ebbs and flows both ways,” said head coach Chris Wells ’92. “Probably they’re happy with the tie because they had to score with an extra attacker, and we’re probably pretty happy with the tie the way the first period went.”
The Scarlet and Brown, who hadn’t played since beating Penn State last Tuesday, were outplayed in the first period, with Clarkson holding a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal and a 20-4 edge in shots attempted, but Saints’ goaltender Grace Harrison stopped all seven shots Clarkson sent her way, and the teams were scoreless in the first frame.
Early in the second period, with the teams playing 4-on-4 early in the second period, Savannah Harmon skated in one-on-one with a St. Lawrence defender and beat Harrison with a shot from the right circle to the glove side to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead.
The Saints, however, tied the score just 22 seconds later, as Hannah Miller caused a turnover at the left side boards and fed Marchment in the slot, and Marchment lifted the puck over Clarkson goaltender Shea Tiley’s glove for her 10th goal of the season.
Justine Reyes gave the Saints a 2-1 lead five minutes later, snapping a wrist shot top shelf for her eighth goal of the season. Webster, who had an 18-game point streak snapped in the Saints’ last game, picked up her second assist on the play, winning a battle with two Clarkson defenders to gain control of the puck in the corner before finding Reyes in the left circle.
“Quite honestly probably the best thing that happened was they scored,” said Wells. “That kind of changed the way the game was going.”
Clarkson’s Cayley Mercer tied the game, finishing a shorthanded 2-on-1 break less than two minutes into the third period, but the Saints once again responded quickly, retaking the lead just 34 seconds later. Webster sent a shot toward the net from the right side, and Marchment tipped it just inside the far post to give the Saints a 3-2 lead.
“We got two goals right on the heels of their goals to keep momentum at a standstill,” said Wells.
Tiley went to the bench for an extra attacker with less than two minutes to play, and Nadine Edney almost put the game away with a long shot from inside the Saints’ blue line that slid through the crease just wide of the empty net. Less than a minute later, Ella Shelton fired a wrist shot high to tie the game for the Golden Knights.
Neither team was able to score in overtime despite a number of scoring chances, leaving the teams tied atop the conference standings heading into Saturday’s rematch at Appleton.
Tiley made 13 saves for Clarkson, while Harrison stopped 22 shots for the Saints. St. Lawrence was 0-for-2 on the power play and held the Golden Knights scoreless in four power play opportunities.
NOTES: Clarkson’s first goal snapped a streak of 347 minutes, 42 seconds of shutout hockey for the Saints, the longest such streak in program history. It also snapped a personal shutout streak of 227:42 for Harrison, who broke her own program record of 226:15 set earlier this season … The Saints penalty kill improved to 56-for-59 on the season. The Scarlet and Brown have killed off their opponents’ last 32 power play opportunities … The tie snapped a 12-game winning streak for the Saints, which tied the program record. The 17-game unbeaten streak to start the 2016-17 season is the longest in program history … Clarkson’s short-lived 22 second lead marked just the fourth time this season the Saints have trailed in a game. St. Lawrence has played from behind for just 25:30 this season, or 2.5 percent of minutes played.
