A strong first period led Cornell to a 3-0 win over the St. Lawrence University women's hockey team in ECAC action on Tuesday night at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, N.Y.

The Big Red struck early, as Izzy Daniel knocked the puck down as the Saints attempted to clear and Gillis Frechette picked up the deflection and slid into the slot beating St. Lawrence goaltender Lucy Morgan on the blocker side for the 1-0 lead.

Frechette picked up her second of the night off the faceoff, she found an open lane and gave Cornell a 2-0 advantage with 8:19 remaining in the first frame. Daniel and Ashley Messier picked up assists on the play.

Kaitlin Cornell Jockims added a third goal for the Big Red, allowing Cornell to head into the first intermission with a 3-0 lead.

After a scoreless second period, the Big Red held a 27-13 advantage in shots on goal.

Skylar Podvey produced two solid opportunities with 13:30 to play in the third, but rang the pipe with a shot from the point on the first shot. Podvey looked to beat Lindsay Downing again, but the save was made.

With just over five minutes to play, head coach Chris Wells pulled Morgan.

After holding off the Big Red from an empty netter Morgan was sent back in for the faceoff with 1:32 to play, but headed back to the bench and Daniel recorded her third point of the night, with a power-play empty-goal with 24 seconds to play.  

"Cornell came out and really took the game to us and that was the difference in the game," said Wells. "They have a great top line and they proved their worth tonight. We settled in and had some chances then we found some pace in the third. This was a real good game for us to see where we are at heading into the final month. It exposed things we need to work on and allowed us to see things we continue to do well. Even though we didn't win we can move forward knowing we are right there."

Morgan finished with 29 saves between the pipes, while Browning earned the shutout with 20.

Cornell finished with a 33-20 advantage in shots and finished 1-for-3 on the power play.

St. Lawrence moved to 11-10-5 overall and 7-5-2 in conference play, while Cornell improved to 9-9-2 and 7-6-2.

The Saints will return to Appleton Arena for a three-game series this weekend. The Scarlet and Brown will host Princeton at 6 p.m. on Friday, and Quinnipiac on Saturday and Sunday. Puck drops at 3 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.