CANTON, N.Y. - In their return to ECAC Hockey play after a trio of non-conference games to begin the new year, the Union College women's hockey team fell to #10 St. Lawrence by a score of 4-0 at Appleton Arena Friday night.
 
After a pair of early Union penalties allowed St. Lawrence an extended 5-on-3 in the opening half of the first period, a trio of Saints shots were saved by Union goalie Sophie Matsoukas before a deflection off a Union defender in front of the junior netminder gave the hosts the lead at 7:55 of the first.
 
Matsoukas was largely responsible for keeping the game where it was after the first 20 minutes, as St. Lawrence outshot Union 12-2 in the first period.
 
The Saints wasted no time adding some insurance in the second, potting a pair of goals within the first 7:09 of the period to extend their lead to three. Union would respond strongly over the final 12 and a half minutes of the middle period, outshooting St. Lawrence 16-8 in that time for a decisive 18-12 shots on net advantage throughout the frame, but were unable to solve Saints goaltender Emma-Sofie Nordström as the visitors trailed 3-0 heading to the third.
 
St. Lawrence added another early period goal in the third to take a 4-0 lead, and a fairly even final 20 minutes saw the Saints snap their mini-two game skid.
 
St. Lawrence would outshoot Union 32-26 in the contest and won the battle of the faceoff circle, 32-25. SLU went 1-for-3 on the power play while the Garnet Chargers went 0-for-4.
 
Senior Celeste Beaudoin went 50% from the dot, winning exactly half of the 22 draws she took to lead Union. First-year Maddie Leaney and sophomore Amanda Quan led the squad with seven shots a piece, while Matsoukas rejected 28 of the 32 shots she faced in Union's net.
 
Union will finish off their North Country swing on Saturday, when they make the trip to nearby Canton to take on #4 Clarkson at 3:00 p.m.