The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team clinched a spot in the 2011 ECAC Hockey Tournament on Friday night behind a 4-0 win over Union College in Schenectady, NY.  Sophomore Brooke Fernandez had a career-high four points on two goals and two assists, while Maxie Weisz and Nicolien Bongaerts combined for a 20-save shutout of the Dutchwomen.

The victory moves the Scarlet and Brown to 15-16-2 on the season and 10-11-0 in conference play.  St. Lawrence can finish as high as the No. 6 seed in the tournament or as low as the No. 8 based on the result of Saturday's regular season finale tomorrow against Rensselaer.  Union falls to 2-28-3 (1-18-2) on the season.

"We executed well in spots, and Brooke was able to finish off two great plays to put us on top," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells.  "These two points set up tomorrow's match-up with RPI in what will certainly be a playoff atmosphere."

Fernandez scored an unassisted goal in both the first and second periods on Union's Kate Gallagher.  The Bloomfield, CT native opened the game's scoring at 12:40 of the first period, then followed at 4:08 of the second to give her team a 2-0 cushion.  The goals were the sixth and seventh of the season for Fernandez.

First-year student Bailey Habscheid capped the second period scoring at 10:30 to give the Saints a 3-0 lead after two stanzas.  Classmate Mel Desrochers and Fernandez picked up their fourth and 17th assists of the season, respectively. 

Sophomore Kayla Sullivan would put the game out of reach with her ninth goal of the season at 13:38 of the third period.  Habscheid and Fernandez each had a helper on the insurance tally, which put St. Lawrence ahead by the game's final score of 4-0.

Weisz made 18 saves including eight in the third period before giving way to Bongaerts, who made two stops in just under 5:00 minutes of action.  Gallagher finished with 23 saves in the game, which did not have any penalties called on either team.  St. Lawrence finished with a 27-20 advantage in shots on goal.

The Saints will look to win their third straight game heading into the playoffs tomorrow, Saturday, February 19 in Troy, NY against the Engineers of Rensselaer, who need a win to lock up a playoff berth.  Game time is scheduled for 4:00pm.