A pair of first collegiate goals from Meghan Crowley and Brooke Mulvihill, an empty netter from Alexa Davis and a shutout from junior goaltender Kassidy Lawrence powered the No. 14 St. Lawrence University women's hockey team to a 3-0 win over the RIT Tigers on Thursday night in Rochester, N.Y.

With the win, the Saints improved to 2-4-0, while the Tigers fell to 0-4-0.

A flurry of penalties plagued the first period, including four in the first 10 minutes of play and six total, but neither team was able to capitalize on the power play. However, the star of the first was Lawrence, holding RIT scoreless with 17 of her 35 saves in the first.  

After the first 20 minutes of play, the Tigers held a 17-4 advantage in shots on goal.

St. Lawrence came out of the locker room firing, as Lilien Benakova peppered Tigers' goaltender Brenna McNamara in the opening seconds, but the two teams would remain scoreless through the second, as RIT continued to lead 25-15 in shots on goal.

The Saints were rewarded for their offensive efforts in the third, as both Crowley and Mulvihill netted their first collegiate goals for the win.

First for the Saints, a shot from Hayden Summers was blocked, but Crowley scooped up a loose puck near the left circle, found her way into the slot and sent a low shot under the leg of McNamara for the 1-0 lead.

With nine minutes to play, Mulvihill added her first collegiate goal. After a scramble in front of McNamara and a few poke attempts from the Saints, Mulvihill cashed in on the rebound to make it 2-0.

With 3:01 to play in the third, the Saints were called for a five-minute major, and the Tigers pulled McNamara to create a 6-on-4 opportunity for RIT. However, Davis scored her first goal in Scarlet and Brown, as she sent a long-range shot down ice for the empty netter.

"Very happy for our group tonight," said head coach Chris Wells. "We were completely outplayed in first period by RIT, who showed up and worked and created a ton of chances. Kass was on point again. Between her and our penalty kill, we got through the first and started to find out game."

Lawrence logged her third 30+ save game of the season, stopping 35 shots for her first shutout of the season and the second of her career. McNamara finished with 27 for the Tigers.

RIT continued to hold an edge in shots on goal with a 35-30 advantage, and neither team was able to score on the power play, as RIT went 0-for-6 and the Saints were 0-for-4.

"This week we started to see some things come together and then we were able to apply them to the second half of the game, where we had great shifts and efforts. It's always fun to see players get their first in the SLU jersey and we had three tonight."

"Each game will be so close all year and tomorrow will be no different. It will be good to enjoy this one for a bit then get ready for another physical game tomorrow!"

The Saints and the Tigers will meet again tomorrow, as the two teams face off at 6 p.m. at the Gene Polisseni Center.