Sarah Marchand scored and Emma-Sofie Nordström made 28 saves, as the ninth-ranked St. Lawrence University women's hockey team skated to a 1-1 tie with sixth-ranked Clarkson in non-conference action in front of 3,251 spectators for a school day game on Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday's crowd of 3,251, featuring schools from all around the North Country, set a new women's hockey attendance record at Appleton Arena.

A fast-paced game from the start, both goaltenders were up to the task, as the Golden Knights held a slight 10-9 edge in shots on goal after the first 20 minutes.

The same continued in the second, as the Saints and Golden Knights were locked at 0-0 and Clarkson led 21-15 in shots on goal.

Marchand broke the ice for the Saints, just 24 seconds into the third period. Taylor Lum fed Marchand, who skated into the Golden Knights zone, she passed it off to Kennedy Wilson from deep in the corner, but the original shot from Wilson was stopped by Julia Minotti. The rebound was corralled by Marchand, who lifted a high shot over Minott's shoulder for the 1-0 lead.

Just about four minutes later as the Saints attempted to clear, Shelby Laidlaw picked up the puck of the board and fired a shot from the point past Nordström to tie the game up 1-1.

Both teams had their fair share of chances in the remainder of the third, including a breakaway from Abby Hustler, but she wasn't able to get the shot off. With 20 seconds to play, Haley Winn also looked to net the game winner, but she'd get tied up as the clock expired.

Following a scoreless overtime period, the game moved to penalty shots. Marchand, the second skater for the Saints, put on the brakes and went top corner for the 1-0 shootout lead. Nordström stopped the next, but both Nicole Gosling and Sena Catterall found the back of the net to give the Golden Knights the 2-1 shootout win.

"What another fantastic day for North Country and women's hockey," said head coach Chris Wells. "The fans were excellent and engaged and both teams put on a very entertaining game for everyone in attendance. Both teams played fast and physically. It was a game where the result was exactly what it should have been. Both teams could have won on many occasions."



Nordström stopped 28 shots for the Saints, while Minotti finished with 26 for Clarkson.

The Golden Knights finished with a slight 29-27 edge in shots on goal.

Today's non-conference action moved the Saints to 8-4-3 on the season, while Clarkson moved to 9-3-1 overall.

"A tremendous amount of work went into putting on this game and we can't thank SLU enough for providing an experience that we will all remember. Clarkson administration set the standard last year with this game and were also lending a helping hand this year. We look forward to next year already!"

The Saints will head to Cheel Arena in Potsdam on Saturday, November 16 for the second game of the week. Puck drop is scheduled for 3 p.m.