The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team advanced to the ECAC Hockey tournament's semifinal round after completing a sweep of Yale in the quarterfinal round with a 4-0 win on Saturday afternoon at Appleton Arena.

St. Lawrence, the tournament's No. 2 seed, will face No. 3 seed Cornell, which swept Colgate by 2-1 and 1-0 scores. The semifinal and championship games will be hosted by top-seeded Clarkson, which swept Rensselaer by 4-1 and 5-2 scores.

"This wasn't as easy as the scoreboard made it look," said head coach Chris Wells '92. "These kids worked hard over the summer and came into the season in great shape. We hit the ground running at the beginning of the season and that helped put us in a position to host a quarterfinal series this year. It feels good to be able to play this series here at home and not have to get on the bus for an eight-hour ride home."

Kennedy Marchment scored the first two goals of the game on Saturday, and Grace Harrison made 18 saves to improve on her school record with her ninth shutout of the year. The shutout is the 11th in 34 games for the Saints (26-4-4), which is also a school record. Brooke Webster added a goal and two assists, and Kirsten Padalis had two assists from the blue line.

Marchment gave the Saints a 1-0 lead with a power play goal 15 minutes into the game, taking a pass from Webster at center ice and skating around a defender before beating Yale goaltender Kyra O'Brien with a top-shelf-shot to the glove side.

Marchment gave St. Lawrence a 2-0 lead five minutes into the second period, beating O'Brien high on the blocker side with a wrist shot from between the faceoff circles.

Webster and Justine Reyes put the game away with two goals in a span of 13 seconds halfway through the second period, with Webster carrying the puck from the right corner all the way to the left faceoff circle before snapping a high shot to the far side for her 22nd of the season. Reyes scored off the ensuing faceoff, taking a lead pass from Alex Moore up the left side of the ice and beating Tera Hofmann, who came into the game after the Saints' third goal, with a shot to the near post.

"Next weekend is going to be a great hockey tournament," said Wells. "Cornell has played us tough in both games this year, and while we'd certainly rather be playing in Appleton, we're excited to be playing for a spot in the ECAC championship in the North Country."

O'Brien allowed three goals and made 10 saves, while Hofmann stopped 14 shots and allowed one goal for the seventh-seeded Bulldogs, who finished the season 10-17-4.