After splitting their season-opener series against North Country rival and defending national champion Clarkson, St. Lawrence welcomed Hockey East power and No. 3 Boston College to Appleton Arena. A fast-paced and entertaining game saw the Eagles win a nail-biter against St. Lawrence, defeating the Saints, 2-1. Kristyn Capizzano’s third period goal proved to be the difference.
BC dominated puck possession for the majority of the game, most notably in the first period, where it outshot St. Lawrence, 18-3. Thanks in large part to the efforts of Saints goalie Carmen MacDonald, the score was all square at zero after 20 minutes.
The second period brought much of the same, with BC dominating possession but MacDonald holding firm for SLU in net. The game got progressively more chippy as time wore on. The second and third periods saw four penalties each, including a three period total eight minor penalties on SLU, seven of which resulted in BC power plays.
St. Lawrence coach Chris Wells liked his team’s effort on the penalty kill, especially their willingness to block shots and effort to get sticks in the passing lanes, but also said great penalty killing “starts with your goalie.”
MacDonald made 41 saves in the loss for St. Lawrence as the Saints went killed six of the penalties, but a checking penalty on Kayla Raniwsky of St. Lawrence gave the Eagles the chance they needed.
With 52 seconds remaining in the middle frame, Alex Carpenter found a rebound in front of the St. Lawrence net and lifted it over MacDonald to give BC the 1-0 lead.
The third period saw the defensive struggle continue, but both teams’ offenses became more involved. SLU outshot BC, 12-11, in the final period, something Wells wants his team to build on moving toward tomorrow’s game, saying he wants his team to “just try and capitalize on what happened in the third period” while trying to get more pucks to the net.
Boston College coach Katie King Crowley echoed this sentiment, citing a need to shoot quicker and get shots through in order to be more effective, especially with the extra skater.
As the teams warmed to the task in the third, the Eagles added to their lead with a goal from Capizzano, who rifled a rebound off a Carpenter shot past MacDonald at 6:33 of the third.
The Saints responded, getting a goal from junior Jenna Marks at 10:25 of the period to bring the Saints within one. Marks got a shot from down low past Katie Burt, with the assist going to Kailee Heidersbach.
While the Saints kept the pressure up, they were unable to even the score. At the end, Wells was pleased with his team’s efforts.
“Nobody was backing down, and that was great to see out of our team,” said Wells.
Crowley was happy with the resilience of her team.
“You can get down after taking that many shots and not scoring,” she said.
The teams resume play against each other tomorrow at 3 p.m.
