Aly McLeod scored the game opener and Abby Hustler notched a short-handed goal, but an early third period goal from the Tigers tied things up as the sixth-ranked St. Lawrence University women's hockey team skated to a 2-2 tie with RIT on Saturday afternoon in Rochester, N.Y.

McLeod put the Saints on the board first with her sixth of the season and second goal of the weekend. Anna Segedi played the puck up to Abby Hustler from behind the RIT goal line, Hustler fed McLeod, who came flying into the slot for the 1-0 lead.

A little over six minutes later, the Tigers responded with a goal of their own to knot the game 1-1.

The first period stayed tied 1-1 and the Saints held a slight 10-9 advantage in shots on goal.

Early in the second frame, Kennedy Wilson was sent to the box for roughing and the Saints prepped for the penalty kill. Off the RIT faceoff win, Abby Hustler forced a turnover near the Saints blueline and went the length of the ice, going one-on-one with RIT's Sophia Bellina for the short-handed tally and the 2-1 lead, just 41 seconds into the second.

After two periods of play, the Saints led 2-1 and 23-13 in shots on goal.

The Tigers evened the score once again, as Nicole Ness got the unassisted tally at 3:01 of the third period to tie things up 2-2.

Both goalies were up to the task for the remainder of the third, as the score remained locked. RIT looked to take advantage of a breakaway of their own with minutes remaining, but Saints netminder Emma-Sofie Nordström combined with strong defense from Melissa Jefferies kept the Tigers off the board to send the game to overtime.

The Saints pinned the Tigers in their own zone for the majority of the 3-on-3 overtime, with multiple chances on goal, but just couldn't get the right bounce to find the game winner.

The game officially ends in a 2-2 tie, but rule changes for the women this season bring the game to a shootout. Sarah Marchand and Kennedy Emerson scored on the shootout, and Nordström stopped 2-of-3 shots from the Tigers for SLU to win the shootout, 2-1.

"Just what we expected today from RIT and how resilient they have been this year," said head coach Chris Wells. "It was another entertaining hockey game with both teams giving all they had."

"We played one of our best start-to-finish games of the year and we are happy to come out of today with a shootout win! We had close to 100 attempted shots today and really created some plays and pressure all day long. With each passing weekend we can see our team start to take shape. We took some steps forward in the third and OT today. Next week we get into league play and the intensity ramps up even more."

Nordström finished with 21 saves for the Scarlet and Brown, while Bellina stopped 40 for the Tigers.

The Saints finished with a 42-23 advantage in shots on goal and a total of 95 shots to RIT's 42.

With the tie, the Saints moved to 6-3-1 on the season, while RIT moved to 5-3-2.

"The amount of games this year that are going to be decided by one goal is going to the most the game has ever seen. Plenty of good players and coaching staff's that make each night fun to be a part of! Wells added."

St. Lawrence will continue their string of road games, as they open ECAC Hockey play next weekend at Princeton and Quinnipiac. Game times are scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturday.