The nationally-ranked No. 10 St. Lawrence University women's hockey team pulled back to within a single goal in the third period, but saw its rally fall short against nationally-ranked No. 3 Cornell on Saturday by the score of 3-2 in Ithaca, NY.

The win moves Cornell to 26-3-0 on the season, having won 16 of its last 17 games, and sets up a showdown in the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals with Brown University. The Saints, who lost for only the second time since November 23, fall to 20-9-4 and will travel to Dartmouth for a best-of-three series with the Big Green next weekend.

"We gave a great effort tonight and had many opportunities to tie the game, but Amanda (Mazzotta) was able to keep it 3-2," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells. "Our team played until the end and gained some valuable experience in a great environment."

Cornell would take a 1-0 lead on the only goal of the first period when Brianne Jenner scored her 16th goal of the season at 5:48 on St. Lawrence rookie goalie Carmen MacDonald. However, the Big Red would extend its cushion to 3-0 with back-to-back goals in the second. Catherine White's 13th of the year only 57 seconds into the stanza made it 2-0, while Erin Barley-Maloney pushed the lead to 3-0 at 7:47.

Despite being outshot 17-11 through two periods, the Saints would mount a furious rally in the third period to get back in the game. First-year student Jacqueline Wand scored her third goal of the season at 13:16, with assists going to sophomore Dayle Wilkinson and Bailey Habscheid. The Saints would then score an extra-attacker goal at 15:53, skating 6-on-3 with a pair of Cornell players in the penalty box. Senior Vanessa Emond, who earned her 100th point on Friday, pulled the Saints to within one at 3-2, with assists going to sophomore Rylee Smith and senior Alley Bero.

Though St. Lawrence was able to get MacDonald off the ice again for the final 1:12, the Big Red's defense did its job, not allowing a shot on goal.

Cornell closed with a 32-26 advantage in shots, while St. Lawrence scored the only power play goal of the game (1-for-5). The Big Red closed with a 0-for-5 mark. MacDonald made 29 saves for the Scarlet and Brown, while Mazzotta made 24 stops including 13 in the third period to secure the win.

Due to tiebreakers, the Saints will head to Hanover, NH for a series at Dartmouth, with game one scheduled to start at 3:30pm on Friday, February 18 and game two at 2:00pm on Saturday. If necessary, game three will be played at 2:00pm on Sunday.