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| Junior Lydia Grauer and the Saints are looking for an offensive breakout against two strong teams as ECAC play begins (Jack Lyons |
ECAC play begins today for the women, so this is as good a point as any to assess them. They face two top ECAC teams this weekend in Cornell and Colgate, and particularly Colgate is off to a great start this year, coming in at 6-0-0, so the tough stretch continues for a 2-2-2 team in St. Lawrence that is looking for a spark.
They started with two fairly straightforward opponents, Merrimack and Mercyhurst, and they gouged out two wins, both in the first game of the series, before settling for ties on Saturday. Then they face Clarkson, and despite losing 4-2 on Friday, SLU still looked pretty good. Saturday looks lopsided, and it was, but only because Tech capitalized on power play chances and SLU didn't. A few goals on the power play would have completely changed the dynamic of that game, which is the really a synopsis of the entire season.
Defensively, SLU has been pretty darn good despite graduating Padalis and Moore on defense, and the PK had been solid before Saturday, but the offense has been, at times, anemic. Marchment, Miller, and Reyes are pretty much doing all the scoring, but its not because the rest of the team is playing poorly. SLU, is shooting around 6.5%, and that's just not going to hold. To put it another way, Union is shooting 6% on the season. It sounds pretty simple, but SLU is just in a bit of a rut. They're adjusting to life without Padalis, Moore, and Webster, players the puck flowed through quite a bit, even if Webster appeared on the scoresheet far more than the other two.
SLU's mark a season ago was 9.5%. They might not get all the way back there, but I don't think it's out of the question. That's not a crazy high mark, and this team still has a lot of talent. Marchment and Miller still have their chemistry, and the depth scoring will come.
A better shooting percentage translates into more goals, and my guess is that the power play will come first. With one goal on 32 attempts, it simply hasn't been good. It's gotten tons of chances, 14 combined against Mercyhurst and 13 against Clarkson, but just hasn't found twine. Confidence on the power play can change an entire game, and SLU doesn't have it right now. But the goals will come, as long as they keep hitting the net, with pucks and bodies, and that should be a huge help.
Justine Reyes had a great start to the season, and hopefully she'll return to form after a down weekend. Lydia Grauer really impressed me on Friday, and I think Amanda McClure has always sort of flown under the radar, but she's getting a chance to show what she's got this season, and I thought she looked good on Friday as well. As one of four seniors on the team, she's the most experienced player on the defensive side of the puck for SLU, and even though she's not wearing a letter, she is a leader on the team, and her consistent play can allow players like Grauer and rookie Skylar Podvey carry the puck up ice a bit more, which allows SLU to complicate the offense, making it harder to defend. And then, more goals.
This SLU team lost some huge talent a season ago, even if it only was three players. It's forced players to step into new roles, and a number of rookies to play big minutes. Luckily, that happened a season ago too, so the returners know exactly what this is like. They still have Chris Wells, a coach who will go to incredible, and unusual, heights to inspire his team, and that can't be counted out. They want to play for this guy, and he wants to coach for them.
This is a big weekend. Colgate has risen to fifth in the country off their hot start, which included shutouts in three straight games to begin the year. The Saints will face them on Saturday, after the Raider face a stout test in Clarkson, so that's a bit of an advantage for SLU, until you consider Friday's opponent: ninth ranked Cornell, who knocked SLU out of the ECAC tournament a season ago.
The Big Red's losses are big too, with Hannah Bunton and Kaitlyn Doering, who combined for 45 points last season, having graduated. They also lost netminder Paula Voorheis, a remarkably consistent player, but her replacement was found before she even left in Marlene Boissonnault, who went 10-1-2 with a 1.52 GAA last year as a sophomore.
They aren't exactly the teams you want to face when your trying to break out of an offensive funk, but the hockey gods are cruel. However, SLU is no stranger to good teams, and sometimes, all you need to do is get your back against a wall. SLU is in a good spot, despite a slow start, and this weekend presents an opportunity to get some mojo.
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