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No. 10 Saints women's hockey head to Cornell for Quarterfinal Series

Posted 2/27/15

The No. 10 St. Lawrence women's hockey team travels to Ithaca, N.Y. to take on the Cornell Big Red in a best-of-three quarterfinal series to open the 2014-15 ECAC Hockey playoffs. The Saints and Big …

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No. 10 Saints women's hockey head to Cornell for Quarterfinal Series

Posted

The No. 10 St. Lawrence women's hockey team travels to Ithaca, N.Y. to take on the Cornell Big Red in a best-of-three quarterfinal series to open the 2014-15 ECAC Hockey playoffs. The Saints and Big Red finished in a tie for fourth place with 30 points at the conclusion of the regular season, but Cornell won the tiebreak and the right to host by virtue of a 1-0-1 record against the Saints this season.

"We always like to play in Ithaca," Head Coach Chris Wells said. "Games are always entertaining and fast paced. Cornell Women's program has done a fabulous job creating a fantastic hockey atmosphere for their team and for opposing teams. It promises to be fun weekend with plenty of energy and a season on the line!"

Friday's game is set for 7:00 p.m. while the Saturday and Sunday (if necessary) games will begin at 4:00 p.m.

About the No. 10 Saints...

St. Lawrence finished the regular season 19-10-5 and 13-5-4 against ECAC Hockey opponents and was 6-6-4 against nationally-ranked teams in 2014-15. Until February, the Saints were the only blemish on a near-perfect record top-ranked Boston College, having tied the Eagles in Appleton Arena on Oct. 11. The Saints have been led by senior Kayla Raniwsky and sophomore forward Brooke Webster, both of whom have 29 points entering the weekend series with Cornell. Webster finished with a team-high 16 goals, while senior defenseman Amanda Boulier led the team with 17 assists this season. In total, the Saints have ten players in double digits in points, with six players above 20 already this season. First-year student Kennedy Marchment, who finished the regular season on a four-game points streak, leads the team with four game-winning goals. Senior netminder Carmen MacDonald missed a string of games to start the second half with an injury, but is 7-2-3 since returning to the lineup for the Saints and 14-6-4 overall.

About The Big Red...

Cornell enters this season's tournament as the defending league champions, having defeated Clarkson 1-0 in the 2013-14 ECAC Hockey Championship at Cheel Arena. Not unlike the Saints, the Big Red has been in and out of the national rankings all season long; receiving votes in both major polls this week. After getting off to a bit of a slow start compared to past seasons, Cornell was 9-4-2 against ECAC opponents since the holiday break. Seniors Brianne Jenner leads the conference in goals (31) and points (45), while classmate Emily Fulton is tied for the league lead with 20 goals and second to Jenner in points (42). Fellow senior Jillian Saulnier also ranks among league leaders, entering the weekend fourth in points (37) and third in assists (22). Sophomore Paula Voorheis has been the primary netminder for Head Coach Doug Derraugh this season, starting 27 games and earning an overall record of 14-10-3. Against conference opponents she is 13-6-2 with a 2.01 goals against average and .930 save percentage.

Series History...

The Saints and Big Red first met in the 1976-77 season; two decades before the St. Lawrence program was elevated to Division I. Heading into the weekend, the Saints hold a slight edge in the series at 32-31-5; but have won just one game in the last 10 meetings, going 1-7-2 during that stretch. The lone victory came in the 2012 ECAC Championship and helped the Saints capture their first conference title. In a stretch of time for January 2001 to January 2010, St. Lawrence was unbeaten in 21 straight games against the Big Red.

Last time out...

On January 9, 2015 St. Lawrence and Cornell skated to a 3-3 tie at Lynah Rink. The Saints got goals from Jacqueline Wand, Kailee Heidersbach and Ellie Williams, while Cornell got a pair of power-play tallies from Brianne Jenner and a short-handed game-tying goal from Hanna Bunton to secure a point. First-year netminder Brooke Wolejko made 33 saves and earned her first collegiate tie.

Playoff History...

The Saints and Big Red have met two times prior to this weekend in the ECAC postseason since Coach Wells took over behind the bench in 2008-09, both at Lynah Rink. The Scarlet and Brown scored two goals in the final two minutes to bestCornell 3-1 in the ECAC Championship game in 2012 en route to the program's first conference title. Senior Jessica Hon - who was a freshman during the 2011-12 season - scored the first goal of that game for the Saints, while classmate Carmen MacDonald made 33 saves in the contest. In 2013, the Big Red used a hat trick by then-freshman Taylor Woods to earn a 4-2 victory over St. Lawrence in the ECAC semifinals.