The Saints' power play continued to perform well, as both Abby Hustler and Kristina Bahl scored with the advantage, powering the seventh-ranked St. Lawrence University women's hockey team to a 3-1 win over No. 12 Princeton on Saturday afternoon at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink.

An evenly paced first period of play was the story to start in Princeton, as both teams saw quality changes, sustained pressure in each zone, and both Saints' goaltender Emma-Sofie Nordström and the Tigers' Jennifer Olnowich were strong early.

Both penalty kill units were on point as well, as the Saints went 0-for-1 and the Tigers finished 0-for-2. Princeton finished with a 27-24 shot advantage, including 18-9 in shots on goal.

The Saints nearly struck first, as Julia Gosling fired a shot that hit Olnowich in the chest and rebounded to a trailing Katina Duscio. Duscio attempted to cash in on the rebound, but the second shot was also turned away.

Sarah Fillier put the Tigers on the board first, as she picked up the puck by the right-hand circle and beat Nordström with a high-shot over her blocker for the 1-0 lead.

Princeton's lead wouldn't last long, as just 36 seconds after Fillier's goal, Maggie Johnson was called for interference to put the Saints on the power play. St. Lawrence's high-scoring power play unit quickly capitalized, as Hustler scored her 22nd of the season and fourth-consecutive goal, as she deflected a one timer from Julia Gosling to knot the game 1-1

With just over five minutes to play, the Saints were back on the power play, but Emma Kee was persistent and looked for the short-handed tally, but Nordström was up to the task, stopping back-to-back shots from Kee.

The Saints capitalized on their second of three power play opportunities, as Taylor Lum pulled the puck off the boards and sent it to Bahl at the top of the point. Bahl corralled the puck and fired a shot high in the slot to put the Scarlet and Brown up 2-1.

After two periods of play, the Saints held a 2-1 lead on the scoreboard and Princeton held a 47-44 edge in shots, including 30-21 in shots on goal.

With 12:33 remaining in the third period, Kennedy Wilson gave the Saints an insurance goal with her fifth of the season. Wilson beat Olnowich five-hole after poking in the rebound off an initial shot from Lum.

The Tigers applied heavy pressure in the latter part of the third after pulling Olnowich and peppered Nordström with shots, but she held strong and kept Princeton with just one goal on the game.

"This group really dug deep today to get the win," said head coach Chris Wells. "Emma made some great saves early to keep it level. We had some great chances and plays up until Princeton scored. Fillier is such a dynamic player and scored a beauty on us."
 
"Our power play has been so reliable all year and they did another great job getting us back in the game. Gabi had a real nice screen on Bahl's goal and Hustler found it again tonight on a tip. Wilson and Lum both had real good efforts all night and were rewarded with their goal to get us to 3-1. This has always been a tough road trip and we worked hard to get the points this weekend."

Nordström made 34 saves in the win, while Olnowich finished with 24 in the loss. 

St. Lawrence went 2-for-3 on the power play and had a stellar penalty kill stand, as the Tigers went 0-for-5. Princeton finished with a 72-54 advantage in shots, leading 35-27 in shots on goal.

"Our penalty kill was excellent today getting in loose pucks, getting clears when needed,  and blocking shots to keep their power play off the board."

SLU improved to 23-9-0 on the season and 16-4-0 in ECAC play, while Princeton fell to 12-10-5 and 5-10-5, respectively.

St. Lawrence will return home for the regular-season finale next weekend, as they host Harvard on Friday, February 16 at 6 p.m. and Dartmouth on Saturday, February 17 for senior day.