Kennedy Emerson, Lilien Benakova and Ella Nancarrow scored, as the St. Lawrence University women's hockey team picked up their first ECAC Hockey win of the season, topping RPI 3-2 on Friday evening in Troy, N.Y.

Meghan Crowley pulled the puck off the boards, fed Emerson at the point, who then sent a laser shot under the blocker of RPI goaltender Reese Keating. Abby Hehl also picked up an assist on the action.

Just about two and a half minutes later, the Engineers found the equalizer, as a goal from Kendal Davidson took an unfortunate redirect to tie things up 1-1.

Less than a minute later, the Saints regained the lead, as Kennedy Wilson took the puck off the goal line and fed Benakova on the doorstep. Benakova's first shot was low, and Keating made the leg save, but the rebound popped right back to Benakova's stick and this time she went top shelf for the 2-1 advantage.

Saints' goaltender Kassidy Lawrence stopped a 2-on-1 break for RPI with just 10 seconds to play in the first, allowing SLU to hold their one-goal lead. After the first 20 minutes of play, both teams recorded 13 shots on goal.

The Saints were first to the back of the net again in the second, as Nancarrow fired a shot from the boards, that looked as if it may have been redirected off an RPI defender, but went top right corner for the 3-1 lead.

RPI responded once again, as Nina Christof waited for Taryn Rathwell, who was cruising into the Saints' zone. Rathwell sent a shot over the blocker of Lawrence making it 3-2.

Lawrence made another big stop near the end of the second, and the Saints held the Engineers in their own zone for nearly the final minute to hold a 3-2 lead and a 21-18 edge in shots on goal after a back-and-forth second period.

Both goaltenders were up to the task in the third. RPI pulled Keating with 1:37 to play for the extra attacker, and despite multiple chances for an empty netter, the Saints' shots were just a bit wide.

"As the college scoreboard indicates tonight, wins are hard to come by," said head coach Chris Wells. "We were fortunate to come out on top and made some good plays down the stretch to get the victory."

Lawrence picked up the win with 24 saves, while Keating made 27 for the Engineers.  

St. Lawrence led 30-26 in shots on goal, while RPI went 1-for-2 on the power play.

"Every little bit helps as we continue to find our stride. RPI did a nice job jamming things up and striking in transition. Kass made some very big stops after the game got to 3-2. We look forward to seeing Union's new arena tomorrow. We'll enjoy the wins when they come and get ready for the next one!"

SLU improved to 3-5-1 overall and 1-0-0 with their first conference win, as RPI fell to 1-7-0 and 0-1-0.

The Saints will head to Schenectady to take on the Union Garnet Chargers, tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m.