The Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team (22-5-9, 11-4-7 ECAC) advanced onto the semifinal round of the ECAC playoffs after defeating St. Lawrence University (13-19-3, 12-7-3 ECAC) by a 2-1 final Saturday night in Hamden.

The Bobcats swept the weekend series against the Saints squad that had caused them trouble earlier in the season, as well as in the first round of last year’s ECAC playoffs.

Head coach Rick Seeley credits the different approach the team took in trying to get past Saints goaltender, Carmen MacDonald, who had previously been a brick wall against the Bobcats.

“The objective this week was to get her a little off balance, and I thought she was,” he said. “She was little bit shaky, even though she only gave up two, today she was giving up the rebounds and didn’t look comfortable in net.”

Team defense was key for the Quinnipiac squad that knew St. Lawrence would be working harder offensively after being shut out 5-0 by the Bobcats in their previous game. Junior goaltender Chelsea Laden credited their work in limiting the Saints to one goal in two games.

“Just showing that we had one goal in two games, it’s obviously not just me, it’s a team effort,” she said. “We had so many blocked shots today. If our defensive core stays the way it is, then it’s gonna be hard to score against us.”

The defensive effort was matched by the offensive power of junior forward Shiann Darkangelo, who scored her third goal of the weekend in the second period of the game.

Laden also said the 6-on-4 advantage the Saints had in the last minutes of the game did not faze her or her teammates.

“This whole weekend we knew it was going to come down to this situation,” Laden said. “We practiced it and we executed it pretty well. The girls knew what they were doing and it ended up working out for us.”

The Bobcats will travel next weekend for the semifinals, but their opponent will not be known until the end of the Harvard-Yale match. If Harvard wins, they will travel to face Clarkson. If Yale wins, they will face Cornell.