Women’s Hockey Beats Yale to Advance to ECAC Semifinals

By Mathew Taylor Last updated Mar 8, 2024

SLU Women’s Hockey beat Yale 4-1 in game one and 3-1 in game two to advance to the semifinals where they will play Clarkson. PHOTO CREDIT: C A HILL PHOTO, SAINTS ATHLETICS

The 7th ranked St. Lawrence University Saints Women’s Hockey team defeated the #13 Yale Bulldogs two games to zero in their best-of-three ECAC quarterfinal series.

After earning a first-round bye, the Saints faced a formidable opponent in their first ECAC playoff matchup of the year, given that Yale is the 13th-ranked team in the nation.

The Saints made quick work of the Bulldogs, winning the first game by a score of 4-1 and the second game 3-1 to cruise into the ECAC semifinal round.

In game one, after a scoreless first period, Julia Gosling ’24 struck first for the Saints, scoring 3:15 into the second period. She was assisted by Mae Batherson and Sarah Marchand ’25 on the goal.

The rest of the second period was scoreless, and early in the third period, Katina Duscio ’26 scored a goal to double the Saints’ lead, with this goal being assisted by Abby Hustler ’25 along with Anna Segedi ’24.

Around five minutes later, it was Segedi’s turn to score, with Hustler and Kennedy Emerson ’27 assisting this goal. The Bulldogs kept it from being a shutout with a goal of their own, making it 3-1 11:03 into the third period.

There were no other goals until the final minute when Gosling scored her second goal of the game, this one an unassisted empty netter to give the Saints a 4-1 win.

Emma-Sofie Nordstrom ’26 was very impressive in goal for the Saints, only allowing one goal and having 31 saves.

In game two, St. Lawrence looked to close out Yale and make sure there wouldn’t be a decisive three. They picked up where they left off, with Sarah Marchand ’25 scoring an unassisted goal late in the first period to give the Saints a 1-0 lead.

Then, early in the second period, Aly McLeod ’24 scored to make it 2-0, with Hustler and Segedi teaming up again for the assist. Around six minutes into the third period, Gosling scored her third goal of the series for the Saints to make it 3-0, with Marchand and Batherson notching the assist. Yale added a third-period goal to make it 3-1, which is the score the game ended at.

Sofie-Nordstrom was outstanding in goal yet again, having 41 saves in game two and only giving up a single goal. This means that in this series, she saved 72 out of 74 shots for a 0.973 save percentage.

With this win, the Saints improved their record to 27-9-0 and advanced to the ECAC semifinals for the first time since the 2017- 2018 season. They will face off against their Route 11 Rivals, the Clarkson Golden Knights, for a spot in the ECAC championship game.

The game will be played this Friday, March 8, at 6 p.m. at Colgate University. If the Saints win, they will play in the final the next day at 5 p.m. This game will also be played at Colgate.