Junior goaltender Kassidy Lawrence stopped a career-high 40 shots and Kennedy Emerson scored, but the St. Lawrence University women's hockey team fell to the ninth-ranked Yale Bulldogs 4-1 on Saturday afternoon in New Haven, Conn.

In the opening minutes of the first period, Yale struck early for a 1-0 lead. Cami Bell beat Kassidy Lawrence, as her and Stephanie Stainton created a 2-on-0 rush just three minutes into the game. Lawrence stopped the initial shot from Stainton, but the rebound was sent in by Bell.

The Bulldogs held down strong offensive pressure in the first, outshooting the Saints 12-3.

Cheyenne Degeer was inches away from tying the game with 9:30 to play in the second, but rang a shot off the post, just as the matching minors ended and the game returned to full strength.  

With 4:59 to play Carina DiAntonio redirected a shot from Stainton on the doorstep to increase the Bulldogs lead to 2-0 over the Saints on the power play.

Emerson cut the lead to one, as she fired a rocket from the blue line, that slipped through the pads of Samson Frey, 5:34 into the third period to make it 2-1.

Yale answered just about two minutes later, putting the Bulldogs lead back to two with a goal from Stainton.

With 3:30 remaining in the third and the Saints on the power play, Lawrence headed to the bench to create a 6-on-4 opportunity for SLU. Mulvihill rang the crossbar for the Saints, but with 1:30 to play, Jordan Ray intercepted the puck at the blue line and scored the empty netter for the 4-1 final.

"Yale has been unbeatable since the break and tonight they showed why," said head coach Chris Wells. "I felt we had some good pace to our game and again created enough chances to be dangerous. Finishing was the difference this weekend in our two games."

Lawrence made her career-high 40 saves, while Frey finished with 24 for the Bulldogs.

Yale outshot the Saints 67-44 and led 44-25 in shots on goal. The Bulldogs also finished 1-for-2 on the power play, while the Saints were 0-for-3.

St. Lawrence moved to 11-18-3 on the season and 8-11-1 in ECAC play, while Yale extended their win streak to 13 games at 21-7-0 and 15-5-0.

"With the standing the way they are. It looks like Harvard will be our matchup for sure in a few weeks," Wells added. "We will spend a good weekend honoring our senior class and then get ourselves ready for the second season!"

The Saints return home for the final weekend of the regular season, as they host Cornell on Friday, February 13 at 6 p.m. and Colgate on senior day, Saturday, February 14 at 3 p.m. The current ECAC standings show the Saints taking on Harvard in the opening round of the playoffs.