Chestnut Hill, Mass. - Boston College took the first lead of the game but could not recover from three consecutive St. Lawrence goals, and lost, 3-1, in the first game of a two-game series. The loss dropped the Eagles to 7-6-3 while the Saints improved to 14-5-0. Sophomore goalie Molly Schaus tallied 36 saves in the contest, which increased her career total to 1,259, moving her into fourth place on BC's all-time saves list.
The two teams battled to a scoreless first period. The Saints outshot the Eagles, 15-8, and both teams killed the others' two power-play opportunities.
It only took 10 seconds in the second stanza for the Eagles to take the 1-0 lead. Junior Maggie Taverna fed the puck to senior Deborah Spillane, who took off up the left side of the ice. Spillane nailed sophomore Kelli Stack, who was positioned on the right post and Stack pushed it back senior goalie Meaghan Guckian for her ninth goal of the season.
St. Lawrence evened the score on a breakaway goal in the 12th minute of the second period. Junior Alison Domenico passed to senior Chelsea Grills, who flew up the ice and took Schaus one-on-one. Grills hit the back of the net for her 10th goal of the season.
The Saints took the lead in the third period when junior Carson Duggan recorded her fifth assist of the year at the 3:10 mark. Duggan brought the puck around the back of the net and hit classmate Marianna Locke on the right side of the crease. Locke slapped it past Schaus for the go-ahead goal.
Senior Annie Guay netted the insurance goal on a 3x5 situation for SLU. Senior Lindsay Wright was called for hooking at the 9:47 mark and then junior line mate Stephanie Olchowski was whistled for interference 10 seconds later. One minute into the power play, Domenico took a hard shot which Schaus saved, but Guay managed to slip the puck over the line on the ensuing scramble in front of the net.
The Eagles pulled Schaus with one minute remaining in the game but could not capitalize and the Saints pulled out the 3-1 win. SLU outshot BC, 39-33, and killed all four BC power plays. The Eagles stopped the Saints four of the five times the Saints had the man-up advantage. Schaus recorded 36 saves while Guckian notched 32.
The two teams face off again on Friday, Jan. 4 at 4 p.m. at Kelley Rink.