St. Lawrence University senior goaltender Paige Powell made 16 saves, backstopping the women's lacrosse team to a 12-7 victory over Skidmore College in the 2012 Liberty League opener in Saratoga Springs, NY.

St. Lawrence (4-3, 1-0) owned the first half and took a 9-5 lead into intermission. However, Skidmore (6-3, 1-2) had a 21-8 advantage in shots in the second stanza, but scored only two goals thanks to Powell's play between the pipes.

"Paige did a great job today to hold off Skidmore in a key road game," said St. Lawrence head coach Jodi Canfield. "We had very balanced scoring and earned a big win to start the conference season."

Senior co-captain Kendall Harty and juniors Brigid Hurley and Hanne Bailey each scored three for the Scarlet and Brown, while co-captain Alanna Piroli added two tallies. Sophomore Carly VanTassel had a goal and two assists.

Leslie Stebbins was the leading scorer for the Thoroughbreds with three goals, while Lexi Melville had two goals and an assist. The home team struggled to convert several outstanding chances, including a disappointing 1-for-8 mark in free-position shots.

St. Lawrence took control of the first half by opening the scoring with four straight goals, as Hurley, Bailey, Harty and Piroli each picked up tallies in the first 7:00 minutes.

Skidmore would answer with two goals to cut the deficit in half, but Hurley and VanTassel followed to retake a four-goal lead at 6-2. Though the home team got within three at 8-5 with 1:15 remaining in the first, Hurley gave the Saints momentum with her 22nd goal of the year with a mere :28 seconds left in the half to push the score to 9-5.

After Melville opened the second half scoring for Skidmore to make it 9-6, St. Lawrence would answer with three straight goals to take a 12-6 lead. Harty scored back-to-back goals only 2:08 apart, while Bailey capped the team's scoring with 22:48 to play.

Though the Thoroughbreds applied consistent pressure on Powell and the Saints' defense, they were only able to score one goal in the final 28:00 minutes of the second half. Their inability to capitalize allowed the visitors to walk away with a 12-7 win.

Powell's 16 saves matches her career-high, while her counterpart, Rachel Klein, made eight saves for Skidmore.

St. Lawrence will be in action again tomorrow, Saturday, April 7 when it faces Rensselaer in Troy, NY at 2:00pm.