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Saint's Raniwsky sinks No. 4 Harvard in women's hockey overtime

Posted 11/16/14

The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team put an exclamation point on a critical ECAC Hockey weekend, as the Saints knocked off nationally-ranked No. 4 Harvard 5-4 in overtime to earn a weekend …

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Saint's Raniwsky sinks No. 4 Harvard in women's hockey overtime

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The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team put an exclamation point on a critical ECAC Hockey weekend, as the Saints knocked off nationally-ranked No. 4 Harvard 5-4 in overtime to earn a weekend sweep at Appleton Arena. Senior Kayla Raniwsky scored the game-winner at 1:06 of the extra session, snapping a loose puck past Crimson goalie Emerance Maschmeyer.

St. Lawrence improves to 3-2-0 in conference play and 6-5-1 overall after the back-to-back wins over nationally-ranked foes (defeated #10 Dartmouth 2-1 on Friday).

Meanwhile, Harvard falls to 2-1-1 (2-1-1) despite forcing overtime with a mere 1:55 remaining in regulation.

"It was certainly an exciting game today!" Head Coach Chris Wells said. "We were able to score on some opportunities in the second that gave us a bit of a cushion. Havard is always one of the hardest wokring teams that we play, and to get a win against them is a big two points."

Saturday's win was the first for St. Lawrence over Harvard since a 2-1 overtime victory in the ECAC Hockey Semifinals. Jenna Marks, who had a big game for the Scarlet and Brown, got the scoring started at 5:28 on the power play, drilling a one-timer past Maschmeyer after a perfect feed by Abbey McRae.

Though the Crimson responded with back-to-back goals from Samantha Reber and Sydney Daniels for a 2-1 advantage late in the first, Kennedy Marchment's sixth goal of the season tied it at 2-2 before intermission. The Courtice, ON native took a pass from Jacqueline Wand, circled in from the left and wristed a shot into the left side of the net for a 2-2 tie at 17:25.

St. Lawrence would build a 4-2 lead midway through the second period as Brooke Webster and Marks tallied their sixth goals of the year only 5:13 apart. Webster fluttered a shot that fooled Maschmeyer for the go-ahead goal, while Marks finished a centering pass from Raniwsky for an insurance goal at 11:29 of the second. Though Hillary Crowe would put her own rebound past Saints goalie Carmen MacDonald at 16:17 to cut into the deficit, Harvard still trailed 4-3 after two.

The Crimson was on the attack throughout most of the third period, and though MacDonald did well to keep her team in front, the pressure led to the tying goal late from Miye D'Oench. D'Oench skated up ice and used a defender as a screen, sniping a shot past MacDonald for the tying goal at 4-4 at the 18:05 mark, sending the game to overtime.

After both teams took the puck up ice early in the extra session, Marks collected the puck and fired it towards goal. Though the puck was knocked down by a Crimson defender, it found Raniwsky in the slot and she snapped it over Maschmeyer's glove for the overtime game-winning goal, sending the Saints flying on the ice to celebrate the upset victory.

MacDonald closed with 25 saves in the game, while Maschmeyer made 16 stop. St. Lawrence was 1-for-2 on the power play, while Harvard had no power play tries in the game. Kirsten Padalis had two assists for the home team, while Marchment and Webster also had helpers for the Saints.

St. Lawrence will look to build on their momentum next weekend when they visit Princeton and Quinnipiac. The Saints take on the Princeton Tigers at 7:00pm on Friday, November 21 in Princeton, NJ.