By Marty Joseph, QBSN Staff Writer

The St. Lawrence Saints knocked off the women’s ice hockey team 1-0 in overtime on Friday night. Kayla Raniwsky scored the lone goal of the contest in the first overtime to give the Saints the win and the lead in the best of three series. Jackie Wand chipped the puck to Raniwsky behind the opposing net where she pulled the puck out in front and tucked it under left pad of Victoria Vigilanti for the goal.

Carmen MacDonald was the story in this game stopping all 46 shots she faced between the pipes for the Saints. Vigilanti had 38 saves in the losing effort.

In a scoreless first period, the Bobcats controlled the offensive play for most of the period outshooting the Saints 17-7 and getting the better of scoring chances. MacDonald was key in the period to keep it scoreless. Her best save of the game came on Nicole Connery. Connery jumped on a rebound in the crease and tried to tuck it into the empty side of the goal but MacDonald sprawled out to knock the puck down with her arm.

The second period was more of the same, as the game remained scoreless through two periods. The teams traded scoring chances in the period and the offensive pressure was evenly matched with the Bobcats narrowly outshooting the Saints, 11-10.

The goaltenders continued to be the story of this game in the third period as both Vigilanti and MacDonald remained stellar in the final frame to send the game to overtime scoreless. The Saints best opportunities in the final period came late when Regan Boulton was penalized for tripping with a minute and 27 seconds to go in regulation. However, Vigilanti and the Bobcat defenders warded off a late flurry to send the game into overtime. The Saints outshot the Bobcats 13-11 in the final period of regulation.

Game two of the series will take place tomorrow at the High Point Solutions Arena when the Bobcats will look to bounce back at 4 p.m.