No. 1 St. Lawrence extended its best start in school history this afternoon with a convincing 6-1 victory over No. 9 Providence.
The Saints (6-0-0) took it to the Friars (3-2-1) right from the gates, as freshman Lisa Batchelor found the back of the net just 1:17 into the game. The Friars never got into an offensive rhythm and what opportunities they mustered were well-handled by St. Lawrence netminder Jess Moffat.
Fresh off receiving the player of the game award for the ECACHL All-Star team’s exhibition against Team USA, Saint sophomore Sabrina Harbec wasted no time getting her name in the box score. On her first shift of the game Harbec drove the puck into the zone and fired a wrist shot from the left face off circle that Friar goalie Jana Bugden could not handle cleanly. The rebound found the stick of Batchelor, who put the puck away for her first career goal.
Halfway through the first period the Saints added to their lead on an extraordinary play set up by Emilie Berlinguette. As she was being taken down by a Brown defender, Berlinguette managed a pass across the crease to Crystal Connors at the backdoor for a finish into an empty net.
The Saints’ 2-0 first intermission lead was all Moffat needed, as she surrendered only one goal on 24 shots. The Friars’ lone tally came on the powerplay, as Kristin Gigliotti’s slapshot from the point beat a heavily screened Moffat at 17:29.
St. Lawrence extended its lead to 4-0 prior to Gigliotti’s goal on captain Kate Michael’s first goal of the season, and Carson Duggan’s sixth in as many games. Annie Guay and Casey Hughes each added third period goals as the Saints cruised to victory.
“It was nice to see a balanced attack today,” said St. Lawrence coach Paul Flanagan. “Four of the six goals were the first of the season for that player. It’s nice not to always have to rely on Sabrina or Emilie. This team has some great senior leadership keeping the team mentally focused, and with a young team leadership is so vital.”
The Saints will face Northeastern Sunday at 2 p.m. in their last game before starting ECACHL play at Dartmouth and Harvard next weekend.
