The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team dropped a tough 2-1 contest to nationally-ranked No. 2 Cornell University on Saturday at Appleton Arena. The Big Red used their outstanding special teams units and two fortunate bounces to score the victory and clinch the 2010-11 ECAC Hockey Regular Season title.

St. Lawrence falls to 13-14-2 (8-9-0) on the season, though graduate student Maxie Weisz was fantastic in goal for the home team, turning back 33 shots. Cornell improves to 23-1-1 (17-0-1) and will be the top seed in the 2011 ECAC Hockey Tournament later this month.

The Scarlet and Brown took it to Cornell in the opening 20:00 minutes, outshooting the Big Red by an impressive 15-5 margin. Though it was the largest disparity in shots Cornell has faced all season, they were able to escape the frame tied 0-0 thanks to solid goaltending by Lauren Slebodnick. The Big Red netminder robbed junior Alley Bero with a glove save on a wrist shot from the slot to keep it scoreless through one stanza.

St. Lawrence would crack the scoreboard first at 13:46 of the second period. Senior assistant captain Karell Emard flipped a pass to the right circle for rookie defenseman Mel Desrochers. The Welland, ON native ripped a slap shot over Slebodnick's right shoulder and under the cross bar for her fourth goal of the year to put the Saints on top, 1-0. Emard and sophomore Kelly Sabatine also picked up helpers on the tally.

Cornell, which boasts the nation's top power play and penalty killing units, would even the scoring later in the period to set up a dramatic third frame. The Big Red tied the score at 1-1 at 17:31 on the power play, as Lauriane Rougeau fired a slap shot towards Weisz from the blue line. Though Weisz was in solid position to make the save, the puck hit a St. Lawrence penalty killer and re-directed past the goalie and into the net for Rougeau's fourth goal of the year. Hayley Hughes and Chelsea Karpenko assisted on the game-tying goal.

Despite giving up the goal, Weisz was brilliant throughout the period, making 16 crucial saves to keep the game tied. Though Slebodnick didn't see as much action in the second, she did make a key save on a breakaway try from Bero, one of her six stops.

The Big Red would have their best period of the afternoon in the third, as they outshot St. Lawrence 13-4 and pressured the puck well in the offensive end. However, the game-winning goal would prove to be another good break for the visitors, as Laura Fortino's shot once again hit a Saint defender and bounced behind Weisz for a 2-1 lead. Fortino's seventh goal of the year came at 7:10 on the power play to give Cornell its first lead.

St. Lawrence would have a few top notch chances throughout the period, including a great bid from sophomore Kayla Sullivan that Slebodnick was able to turn away. The Saints' chances of tying the game diminished when the officials called back-to-back penalties on the home team in the final four minutes, giving Cornell a two-player advantage. The Big Red was able to run out the clock and remain unbeaten in ECAC Hockey play this season.

Slebodnick finished with 25 saves to earn the victory, while her team finished 2-of-7 on the power play. St. Lawrence was 0-for-4 with the extra skater.

The Saints will continue their five-game home stand next weekend, Friday and Saturday, February 11 and 12, when they take on Dartmouth and Harvard at Appleton Arena. The puck will drop on the Saints and Big Green on Friday at 3:30pm.