St. Lawrence University Athletics

Senior Kennedy Emerson scored to tie the game in the first, but a goal in each period gave the University of New Hampshire Wildcats a 3-1 win in game one of this week's series on Thursday evening in Durham, N.H.

Just about five minutes into the first, Aurora Kahlert sent a cross-ice pass to Sofia Kari, who fired a one timer from the left circle, which beat a sliding Kassidy Lawrence, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead on the power play.

St. Lawrence had its first chance on the power play just a few minutes later and nearly evened the score as Mae Severn rang one off the pipe. The Saints peppered UNH goaltender Noemi Martinez, but the Wildcats were successful on their first kill of the game.

The Saints evened the score as the Scarlet and Brown won the faceoff and Kennedy Emerson fired a rocket over the shoulder of Martinez, knotting the game 1-1 at 11:52 of the first.

SLU led 11-5 in shots on goal after the first 20 minutes of play.

Addison Spitz put the Wildcats back in the lead as she capitalized on her own rebound at 4:24 of the second. Spitz originally looked for the tip on a shot from Kahlert, but she was stopped by Lawrence, she then snuck the rebound past Lawrence's leg for the 2-1 lead.

Martinez kept the Saints off the board late in the second, denying Jaylee MacKinnon on a stellar opportunity for the Scarlet and Brown.

UNH held onto their one-goal advantage and the Saints led 22-14 in shots on goal after the second period.

The first half of the third was a battle of the netminders, as Martinez made six saves and Lawrence made three to keep the game stalled at 2-1.

With two UNH players in the box, SLU went on the 5-on-3 for 29 seconds, but the Wildcats killed off both Saints'opportunities. Head coach Chris Wells pulled Lawrence with 1:20 to play, and the Saints continued to apply heavy pressure, but just couldn't get the bounce for the equalizer.

UNH's Charlie Rauch sealed it with an empty netter.

"They always say it's about the journey," said Wells. "Well, we are certainly on one at the moment. We poured our hearts out in the third and couldn't seem to get one across the line. A bounce here or there and the game takes on a different shape. UNH did a real good job blocking pucks and Martinez made some key stops to keep the game even."

Lawrence stopped 16 shots for SLU, while Martinex finished with 32 for UNH.

St. Lawrence led 72-25 in shots and 33-18 in shots on goal. The Wildcats went 1-for-3 on the power play and blocked 23 shots.

"We did plenty of good things in the game to come out on top, but unfortunately, we didn't. Being able to get a little more consistent will come with time."

SLU fell to 1-6-0 on the season, while UNH improved to 3-3-1.

Both teams will meet back at the Whittemore Center for an early faceoff tomorrow, October 16, as St. Lawrence plays their second of three-school day games this season at 11 a.m.