CANTON, N.Y. — St. Lawrence improved to 7-3-2 in ECAC play this season with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Rensselaer at Appleton Arena on Friday night.
RPI dropped to 2-9-0 after the loss, but Engineers’ coach John Burke said the scoreboard was not indicative of his team’s play.
“Tonight, I thought we had a great effort and compete level,” said Burke.
Kennedy Marchment opened the scoring for St. Lawrence early in the first period. A scramble in front of the RPI resulted in a loose puck that Marchment forced past RPI netminder Kelly O’Brien to give the Saints the 1-0 lead at the 3:17 mark.
RPI tied the game with a power-play goal later in the first period as Hannah Behounek beat St. Lawrence goalie Brooke Wolejko with a shot from the slot at 9:44.
After that, Wolejko closed the door for St. Lawrence, finishing the contest with 15 saves to improve to 2-0-1 in her last three games.
St. Lawrence junior defender Megan Armstrong scored the game-winning goal for St. Lawrence on the power play late in the first period.
“We got a good shot on net, I crashed the net and the puck was right in front of me,” said Armstrong. “I was able to poke it in.”
Despite numerous power-play chances for both teams throughout the second and third periods, the lone goal in the final 40 minutes of play came with less than a minute remaining when Kayla Raniswky potted an empty-net goal for St. Lawrence to seal the win.
O’Brien finished the game with 37 saves for RPI.
“Kelly has been outstanding for us,” said Burke. “Goaltending is key and with good goaltending, you have a chance to win every game.”
Saints’ coach Chris Wells also praised his squad.
“This is a carbon copy game against RPI,” noted Wells. “They play hard, they play tough, and Wolejko made some great saves. Two points in this league is always important. It’s good to get this win.”
Wells made sure to emphasize that although St. Lawrence was missing some key players, most notably Carmen MacDonald and Jenna Marks, his team’s depth allowed them to get the win.
After their recent success, Armstrong said the Saints are feeling good heading into Union tomorrow and the rest of the season.
“We’re pretty pumped up,” said Armstrong. “It was a good win for us and hopefully, we can get the sweep tomorrow against Union.”
