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Harvard women slip past Saints, 2-1

Posted 1/14/11

The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team was deadlocked in a scoreless game with Harvard University through two periods in Cambridge, MA. However, the Crimson scored two goals in the first …

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Harvard women slip past Saints, 2-1

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The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team was deadlocked in a scoreless game with Harvard University through two periods in Cambridge, MA. However, the Crimson scored two goals in the first 2:51 of the third period en route to a 2-1 ECAC Hockey victory on Friday night over the Saints, who have now lost four consecutive games.

Josephine Pucci broke the 0-0 game only 45 seconds into the third, while teammate Ashley Wheeler followed 2:06 later to give Harvard a 2-0 cushion. Though senior assistant captain Karell Emard cut St. Lawrence's deficit in half with a goal at 5:44 of the stanza, the Scarlet and Brown failed to score the equalizer on Crimson goalie Laura Bellamy.

The win moves Harvard to 7-7-2 (6-3-0), while the Saints fall to 9-11-2 (4-6-0) on the season. The loss spoiled a solid effort between the pipes by rookie goaltender Caitlyn Lahonen, who made a career-high 35 saves.

"We had a great effort in net from Caitlyn, but we were simply unable to use it to our advantage," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells. "We will take a better effort up to Dartmouth tomorrow."

The opening 40:00 minutes of Friday's game belonged to Lahonen and Bellamy, who dazzled the opposing offenses and kept the game scoreless heading to the third. Harvard's Katharine Chute made a key play in the opening minute of the final stanza, as she sent a perfect pass to Pucci at the face-off circle which allowed the defenseman to beat Lahonen for the game's opening goal.

With momentum on its side, Harvard cashed in again 2:51 when Wheeler made it 2-0. Wheeler pounced on a rebound off a shot by Kate Buesser and scored to give the home team a crucial insurance goal.

Emard would complete a pretty "tic-tac-toe" sequence with her sixth goal of the season with 14:16 remaining in regulation to keep St. Lawrence within striking distance. Sophomore Kelly Sabatine fed junior Vanessa Emond, who quickly slid a cross-ice pass to Emard for the Saints' lone score of the game.

Lahonen continued to keep her team in the game with 12 saves in the third period including a break-away stop on Kate Buesser, but her team failed to score the equalizer, falling 2-1 in the Bright Hockey Center.

Harvard closed with a 37-19 advantage in shots on goal, including a 14-4 edge in the pivotal third period. Lahonen's 35 saves nearly doubled her counterpart, but Bellamy earned the win with an 18-save performance. Both teams finished without a power play goal (SLU 0-for-4, Harvard 0-for-3).

The Saints will look to snap their winless streak in 2011 tomorrow in Hanover, NH when the team squares off with Dartmouth College. The game is scheduled to begin at 4:00pm.