Nadine Edney scored halfway through the third period to get the St. Lawrence University women's hockey team within one goal of Clarkson, but Golden Knight goaltender Shea Tiley shut the door on the comeback attempt as the Saints fell to Clarkson, 2-1, on Thursday night at Cheel Arena in Potsdam.

After two scoreless periods, Clarkson took a 1-0 lead when Rhyen McGill crashed the net after a shot from the point by Savannah Harmon. St. Lawrence goaltender Sonjia Shelly knocked the initial shot down with her glove, then went down to cover it when McGill knocked it free and slapped it into the net just over four minutes into the final frame.

The fourth-ranked Golden Knights extended the lead to two goals less than three minutes later, as Michaela Pejzolva fed a pass through the neutral zone to create open space for Elizabeth Giguere, who sent a wrist shot from the right circle past Shelly's blocker side.

Edney scored her third of the season just over three minutes later, as Potsdam native Kalie Grant wrestled the puck away from a Clarkson defender at the side of the net. Grant fed Edney a pass behind the goal, and Edney skated around the back side of the cage and lifted a backhand over Tiley's leg pad as the goaltender moved from left to right.

The Saints, ranked eighth nationally, had several chances to tie the game, but Tiley finished with 11 third-period saves for a game total of 26. Justine Reyes, who leads St. Lawrence with eight goals this season, had the best opportunity to knot the score as Kennedy Marchment found the junior from Chino Hills, California, skating on her right on a 2-on-1, but Tiley moved from right to left to deny Reyes. The Saints also had a number of excellent chances with an extra attacker in the final two minutes.

"Shea Tiley was the player of the game, no question," said Saints' head coach Chris Wells '92. "We had a number of scoring chances, especially in the second period, and she kept us from getting the lead. After Edney's goal made it 2-1, we played some of our best hockey and just couldn't get one by her to even the score."

The third-period action followed 40 minutes of scoreless hockey that proved to be just as entertaining. Clarkson had a 10-7 edge in shots on goal in the first period and had long stretches of possession in the Saints' zone, but St. Lawrence blocked eight shots and Shelly was perfect to keep the game scoreless.

The Scarlet and Brown had a number of scoring chances in the second period, thanks in large part to over seven minutes of power plays. Hannah Miller appeared to score the game's first goal less than a minute into the frame, but the officials immediately ruled that Miller kicked the puck into the net and after a long review, the play stood as called.

"I had a nice conversation with the official after that play and he said that he initially ruled that she kicked it into the net and that there wasn't anything in the video replay to overturn that ruling," said Wells. "We have instant replay capability for a reason, and I wish that he had reviewed Clarkson's first goal because to me that looked like goaltender interference. This is a big game between two top-10 teams. Why not take a look? And if it is still a goal after looking at it then there isn't any confusion or question."

Miller had another great scoring chance with two point-blank shots with the Saints skating on a power play a little more than six minutes into the period, but Tiley turned both shots aside. Rachael Smith created a 1-on-1 opportunity late in the second period but Tiley was once again up to the task. Less than a minute later, Smith once again had two great scoring chances right in front of the crease, and Nadine Edney followed with a shot on the rebound, but Tiley turned aside all three shots to keep the game scoreless.

Clarkson surged with less than a minute to play in the period and Shelly matched Tiley's play with a pair of saves, one with her blocker on Pejzlova, the other with her glove on Kristy Pidgeon.

Shelly finished the game with a season high 28 saves, and the Saints blocked 16 shots, including five by Amanda Butterfield.

St. Lawrence fell to 7-5-3 overall, 4-2-1 in ECAC Hockey play, while Clarkson improved to 13-3-1, 5-2-0. The two teams will face each other again at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Appleton Arena.