Junior Kirsten Padalis notched her second goal of the season midway through the third period and first-year goaltender Grace Harrison made 29 saves to record her first career playoff shutout, as the St. Lawrence women's hockey team edged No. 8 Princeton 1-0 in the first game of their ECAC quarterfinal series.

"That was one of our better efforts of the year," Head Coach Chris Wells said. "We played hard and had some really good chances. Kimberly Newell and the Princeton defense did a great job in front of their not to allow just the one goal."

The Saints finished with 46-29 shot advantage in the game and had a number of second and third chances in front of Newell, while also blocking 24 shots on defense in the shutout effort.

Both teams had chances to pull in front early in the first, but after a pair of goal reviews – one for each team – in the first five minutes, the teams went into the locker room for the first intermission still scoreless.

With just under 30 seconds left on the Saints first power play opportunity, senior captain Amanda Boulier took a slapshot that sailed high and ricocheted off the dasher behind the Princeton net, popping back out in front where it was redirected at the side of the net by Brooke Webster, off of netminder Kimberly Newell's back and in. Officials waved it off immediately, saying Webster had played the puck with her hand and after review, confirmed the call.

Less than two minutes later, the Tigers broke out on an odd-man rush into the St. Lawrence zone and pulled the defenders and goaltender Grace Harrison to the right side before sending a cross ice feed to the open winger in the left circle trailing the play. Harrison reach back across the crease with her stick, making a stop on the line and the Saints were able to scramble and clear the puck out of the crease to avoid further trouble. The officials reviewed the play at the next stoppage, but the call on the ice stood: no goal.

After 50-plus minutes of scoreless hockey, Padalis snapped the tie with a bouncing shot from the right point that deflected off the skate of a Princeton defender in the slot and beat Newell inside the far post for the game-winning tally at the 10:12 mark of the third. First-years Lydia Grauer and Nadine Edney assisted on the play.

One minute and 15 seconds after the goal, Boulier was assessed a minor penalty for tripping, giving Princeton a crucial power play opportunity down a goal late in the game.

At the 7:10 mark with 30 seconds to go on the man advantage, Kelsey Koelzer rang a slapshot off the inside of the far post, but it kicked back into play and the threat was cleared by the Saints kill unit.

The Scarlet and Brown blocked three shots in the final 1:30 of regulation with an extra attacker on the ice for the Tigers to preserve the win.

"We did a solid job late in the game," Wells added. "Kelsey Koelzer and Karlie Lund are special players who don't need much space to make a play and both had good chances late. We had a nice bounce on our goal and we'll rest up and be ready for tomorrow."

The Saints will return to Hobey Baker Rink for a 3:00 p.m. rematch with the No. 8 Tigers in the second game of the best-of-three series on Saturday afternoon.