Women's college hockey series of the week: Clarkson vs. St. Lawrence

This weekend, the Golden Knights head over to St. Lawrence to take on the Saints. Clarkson has a current record of 23-1-2 while St. Lawrence has a record of 18-8-0.

The Saints are ranked No. 9 and they are 12-1 while they play at home while the Golden Knights are No. 3 and 12-1-1 when away. Both of these teams have a win streak of five going into the series.

Not only is this a big game because of the conference, but there is also a family affair taking place. Julia Gosling of St. Lawrence is welcoming her cousin Nicole Gosling onto her home ice to play against each other. These two have gotten to be teammates on Team Canada together but now they face off.

In the history between these teams, Clarkson has the overall record of 40-24-9. The last time they played, the Golden Knights shut out the Saints, 3-0.

The stand-out players for St. Lawrence include Abby Hustler, Julia Gosling and Katina Duscio. Hustler leads the team in points as she has 39 currently. Her points are made up of 16 goals and 23 assists. She is also producing on the powerplay with eight goals.

Gosling is right behind Hustler in points as she has 38 and she leads the team in goals with 17. She is tied at eight powerplay goals with Hustler and she leads the team with a total of six game-winning goals.

Duscio has proven to be a force on the defensive side as she leads the team in blocks with 48. She has 11 points so far on the season as well as a +/- of +8.

The players to watch for Clarkson include Darcie Lappan, Haley Winn and Nicole Gosling. Lappan has the most points on her team with 29 made up of 12 goals and 17 assists. She also has three game-winning goals and a +/- of +15.

Winn leads the team in assists with 21. She also has 36 blocks and a +/- of +22. Gosling has 25 points and six powerplay goals. Along with that, she also has 37 blocks and three game-winning goals.

The main goaltender for the Saints is Emma-Sofie Nordström. She has played in and started 25 games. She averages 49 goals against and she has a save percentage of .924. Nordström has a record of 17-8 and she also has five shutouts.

The goaltender for Clarkson is Michelle Pasiechnyk. She has played in and started 19 games. She has an average of 21 goals against and she has a save percentage of .946. Pasiechnyk has a record of 16-1-1 and six shutouts this season.

Chris Wells is the head coach of the Saints. Wells is in his fifteenth season with this team and he has a career record of 242-183-64. He won the 2012 AHCA National Coach of the Year and ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year. Wells led the team to the NCAA tournament in 2017 where they had a second-place finish in the ECAC hockey standings and set a program record with a 17-game unbeaten streak. Wells looks to keep up the momentum and lead this team to more success this season.

The Golden Knights head coach is Matt Desrosiers. Desrosiers has been the head coach of this team since 2014 and has won the Coach of the Year award a few times. He has a record of 370-139-55. The past two seasons have been really successful for this team as they have earned NCAA tournament bids and have been highly competitive in the ECAC. Desrosiers hopes to keep up the success this season in hopes for postseason play.

This looks to be a competitive series between these two teams as they are both coming in hot and it even has a fun family affair to look out for.

Kassie Vasellas is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email kmv5506@psu.edu