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Emond, Desrochers lead Saints women in 6-2 upset over No. 3 Lakers

Posted 12/10/10

The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team scored three goals in a span of 2:49 in the first period en route to an impressive 6-2 upset of nationally-ranked #3 Mercyhurst College on Friday night …

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Emond, Desrochers lead Saints women in 6-2 upset over No. 3 Lakers

Posted

The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team scored three goals in a span of 2:49 in the first period en route to an impressive 6-2 upset of nationally-ranked #3 Mercyhurst College on Friday night at Appleton Arena. Junior Vanessa Emond had four points on a pair of goals and two assists, while first-year student Mel Desrochers added her first collegiate goal and a helper in the victory.

St. Lawrence, winners of five of its last six games, improves to 9-7-2 on the season. Meanwhile, the Lakers saw their five-game win streak come to an end and fall to 12-3-0 on the year.

"We had a few good bounces go our way and Maxie (Weisz) made some big saves on (Meghan) Agosta to keep the momentum in our favor," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells, who picked up his first career win against Mercyhurst. "They're such a dynamic team with great speed and depth, and Agosta is one of the premier women's hockey players in the world that we'll need to match our intensity tomorrow to get another positive result."

Agosta, who was a stand-out player for the gold-medal winning Team Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, finished with a goal and an assist in the loss on Friday.

The home team used a stunning three-goal blitz midway through the first period to build a 3-0 advantage at intermission. Emond scored the opening goal at 6:34 on the power play, while she skated through the slot and beat Mercyhurst goalie Hillary Pattenden for her fifth goal of the year. Desrochers and sophomore assistant captain Jamie Goldsmith assisted on the goal.

Desrochers would follow at 8:46 with a picturesque goal, the first of her St. Lawrence career, for a 2-0 lead. The Welland, ON native sniped a wrist shot over Pattenden's glove and under the cross bar, with helpers going to sophomore Michelle Ng and Emond. Senior Lauren Brozowski then wasted little time in tacking on her second goal of the season only 37 seconds later on the very next shift. The Concord, MA native crashed the net from the left side and pushed her own rebound across the goal line at 9:23. Sophomore Kelly Sabatine picked up the assist on the goal that gave the Saints a 3-0 cushion.

The St. Lawrence offense kept its foot on the gas pedal early in the second period, as the team took advantage of two Mercyhurst miscues to take a 5-0 lead. Emond moved in on a breakaway against Pattenden, and though the netminder made the initial save, Emond kept the puck loose and chipped it back into the crease. With Pattenden well out of her net, sophomore Kayla Sullivan collected the pass and fired a shot into the empty cage at 1:53 for a 4-0 lead.

Emond would then follow with her second goal of the contest at 4:02 to push the lead to 5-0. The Levis, QC native intercepted a Laker pass in the slot and ripped a wrist shot under the cross bar for her sixth goal of the season and fourth point of the game. The goal would chase Pattenden from the game, as she was relieved by Stephanie Ciampa after making 11 saves in 24:02.

The visitors would show signs of life late in the period, as they scored back-to-back goals of their own a mere 43 seconds apart to pull to within 5-2 after 40:00 minutes. Agosta got her team on the board with her 16th goal of the year on the power play, as she beat Weisz with a low blast at 18:16. Bailey Bram then used a one-timer off of a pass from Agosta to cap the second period scoring at 18:59, bringing the score to 5-2.

Weisz would turn in a solid 10-save period in the third, keeping Mercyhurst from climbing back into the game. The Severna Park, MD native's biggest stops both came on Agosta, including one on a breakaway and the other on a sliding save to the back post. Her play in net allowed the Saints to tack on an insurance goal at 15:55, when sophomore Brooke Fernandez blasted a shot through Ciampa's pads on the power play for her fourth goal of the year and a 6-2 lead. Sabatine and senior assistant captain Karell Emard picked up helpers on the game's final goal.

St. Lawrence closed with a 30-28 advantage in shots on goal, and was 2-of-9 on the power play. Mercyhurst was 1-of-4 with the extra skater. Weisz finished with 26 saves to earn the victory while Ciampa closed with 13 stops for the Lakers in 35:58 of action.

The two teams will meet again tomorrow, Saturday, December 11 at Appleton Arena in the Saints' final contest of the 2010 calendar year. The puck is set to drop on the Scarlet and Brown and the Lakers at 3:00pm.