St. Lawrence has been hottest women's college hockey team in the country through the first two months of the season.
 
The Saints have yet to lose a game and have the top-ranked defense in the country, allowing just 13 goals in 16 games, and they have tied a school record with 12 straight wins. Over their last 10 games, the Saints have outscored their opponents 32-2, haven't allowed a goal in 23 opponent power play opportunities, have converted on their own power plays 21.2 percent of the time, and have shut out eight opponents.
 
The previous team record for shutouts was nine; the Saints were one shutout shy of tying that record a span of 26 days, from Oct. 28 through Nov. 22, including four shutouts in five days just prior to the Thanksgiving break. (With a 5-0 shutout win in the first game of the season, St. Lawrence has tied the program record at the halfway point of the season.)
 
While the run has been impressive, St. Lawrence will face its toughest test yet this week, as the Saints will play fifth-ranked Clarkson in a home-and-home series. The first game will be held at Cheel Arena in Potsdam on Thursday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m., with the second scheduled for a 3 p.m. opening faceoff at Appleton Arena on Saturday.
 
The fifth-ranked Golden Knights have been on a run of their own. Clarkson is 11-0-1 in their last 12 games, and they have averaged 4.6 goals per game over that stretch. The Golden Knights' only losses came at the hands of top-ranked Wisconsin and St. Lawrence. The Saints were 1-0-1 in a pair of non-conference games vs. Clarkson in early October.
 
"They've been putting a lot more pucks in the net than we have, so they're going to be a completely different team than what we faced in the first part of the year," said head coach Chris Wells '92. "I think it's just an awesome environment for both teams to be in, to be able to play two games here right before Christmas, with both teams at 8-0 in the league and in the top-five nationally. You don't see that happen a whole lot."
 
"I think this weekend will separate us to see where we are," said senior captain Kirsten Padalis. "It'll be good to see where we match up with them now that we've gotten deeper into the season and both our teams have played a lot more games."

If you aren't able to attend the games in person, live streaming video will be available (check the schedule page for more), and you can listen to both games on 95.3 The Wolf and 92.7 WQTK, with Greg Lapinski and Joe Marsh on the call.
 
Listen to the complete interview with Chris Wells
 
Listen to the complete interview with Kirsten Padalis