Power play goals from Abby Hustler, Tori Verbeek and Melissa Jefferies aided the Saints, as the No. 8 St. Lawrence University women's hockey team skated to a 3-3 tie with RPI on Friday evening at Appleton Arena.

The Engineers got off to a hot start scoring just two minutes and 29 seconds in, as Taylor Larsen sent a shot through traffic, for the 1-0 lead. With under five minutes to play, RPI increased their lead to 2-0, as Aylah Cioffi capitalized on a rebound off an initial shot from Natalie Tulchinsky.

As the first period creeped to an end, RPI's Andrea Trnkova was called for a two minute penalty for interference, but after a review, she was called for a five minute boarding penalty.

With 40 seconds left to play in the first, the Saints scored their first of three power play goals on the night, as Jefferies pulled the puck off the board to Verbeek. Verbeek sent the pass back to Hustler, who beat a sliding Reese Keating to bring the game back within one.

After the first period, RPI held onto their one-goal lead and an 11-9 edge in shots on goal.

Verbeek added another point to her total for the night, scoring the lone goal of the second period, as she redirected a shot from Hustler to tie things up 2-2.

After 40 minutes of play, SLU led 16-14 in shots on goal.

Two minutes and five seconds into the third, Jefferies gave the Saints a go-ahead goal, scoring the third power play goal of the game. Jefferies scored on a low shot from the left circle to make it 3-2 in favor of the Saints.

RPI's Georgia Bailey tied things up once more, as she went 2-on-1 with Maddy Papineau and beat Saints goaltender Emma-Sofie Nordström glove side for the 3-3 tie.

Both teams had their share of chances, but neither found the back of the net for the remainder of the third sending the game to overtime.

St. Lawrence got eight shots on goal to RPI's three in overtime, but the score was still tied 3-3. The Engineers won the shootout, 2-0.

"Tonight was just another example of how hard it is to win in this league each night," said head coach Chris Wells. "Our effort has been excellent and the scoring chances have been a plenty. To be able to comeback from 2-0 showed a lot of what this team is about. We keep growing each day. That's what a season is all about."



"Verbeek has been excellent with her tenacity and now is following it up with some nice plays that result in goals and scoring chances. We will be right back at it tomorrow, as Union has been off to a great start."

Nordström stopped 24 shots of the Saints, while Keating finished with 41 for the Engineers.

SLU finished with a 44-27 advantage in shots on goal, and outshot the Engineers 75-40. The Saints finished 3-for-6 on the power play, while RPI went 0-for-3.

The Saints moved to 7-4-2 on the season and 1-1-1 in ECAC play, while RPI moved to 6-5-2 and 2-2-1, respectively.

St. Lawrence hosts Union tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Appleton Arena.