Suyeon Eom and Abby Hustler each scored in the first period to power the No. 11 St. Lawrence University women's hockey team to a 2-1 win over RIT on Thursday night at Appleton Arena.

With the win, the Saints improved to 6-1-0 on the season, while the Tigers fell to 4-3-2.

At 9:56 of the first period, an initial shot from Rachel Bjorgan was stopped by RIT goaltender Sarah Coe, but Eom was positioned by the left post and buried the rebound for her first goal of the season. 

Just about five minutes later, Aly McLeod picked the puck off a stick of an RIT defender and found Hustler in the left circle. Hustler beat Coe glove side for the 2-0 lead. 

After one period of play, the Scarlet and Brown held a 16-5 edge in shots and a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard.

The second period remained scoreless for both teams, with shots 28-11 in favor of the Saints.

A little over halfway through the third period, the Tigers would strike to bring the game back within one. Nicole Ness would capitalize on a deflection in the slot and beat Saints' goaltender Emma-Sofie Nordström over her glove-side shoulder, making it 2-1.

RIT pulled Coe twice throughout the dwindling minutes of the third period to try to find the equalizer, but penalties from both teams would force her back on the ice and the Saints were able to hold on for the win.

"We got off to a great start with good execution and energy," said head coach Chris Wells. "Getting those two early goals proved to be very valuable. We had chances to extend the lead, but we were unable to in the second and third periods. We found a way to win late and that is great way to head on a little mini break for our team."




Nordström made 18 saves for St. Lawrence, while Coe finished with 37 for the Tigers.

The Saints also finished with a 39-19 advantage in shots. Neither team was able to convert on their power-play opportunities.

"We've had a good start to the non-conference schedule and we will be back next weekend to open up the ECAC regular season," Wells added.

St. Lawrence has the weekend off and will be back in action next weekend, as they open ECAC Hockey play at Appleton Arena on October 27 against Princeton. Due to a set of double-headers at Appleton both Friday and Saturday's games for the women will be a 3 p.m. puck drop.