The women’s hockey team travels to St. Lawrence and then Clarkson this weekend for two crucial ECAC games. The Red (10-7-4 overall, 9-1-4 ECAC) currently sits in second place in the ECAC, one point behind leader Clarkson (17-5-3 overall, 11-1-1 ECAC).

Facing the Saints (11-8-6 overall, 7-4-2 ECAC), the Red will be taking on the only conference foe to have beaten them this season. The Saints came back from a 2-0 hole to shock the Red at Lynah Rink 3-2, serving them their first and only ECAC loss of the season. There is no question that that loss still lingers in the Red’s locker room heading into the weekend.

Hammer it home: The women’s hockey team has a chance to become the undisputed No. 1 team in the ECAC this weekend, as it faces close conference rivals Clarkson and St. Lawrence.

“We’re still approaching [the St. Lawrence game] just like any other,” said senior co-captain Liz Zorn. “We don’t want to do anything beyond our game plan; but yeah, we all remember [the 3-2 loss]. We’d love to send a message this weekend.”

The Red jumped out to a 2-0 lead against the Saints in November, but let it slip away. They are clearly focused on making sure that that does not happen again.

“You obviously always want to protect a lead, that’s something we need to do,” Zorn said. “But other than that we just want to play our game.”

On Saturday night, Clarkson will be the team out for revenge, as the Red remains the only ECAC team to defeat them the Golden Knights. Sophomore goalie Amanda Mazzotta preserved the shutout in a 2-0 win at Lynah back in November. The Golden Knights currently are ranked 3rd in the nation by USCHO.

“It’s definitely one of the biggest games of our season,” said sophomore forward Chelsea Karpenko. “We’re getting down to the wire. Every game is important, but beating them again would be huge.”

In their previous meeting, the Red had great success in shutting down the Golden Knights’ high-powered offense. The Red was 6-for-6 on the penalty kill and Mazzotta stopped all 33 shots that came her way. The Red will be looking to replicate that success again, this time on the road.

“Defense-first is very important,” Karpenko said. “Clarkson and St. Lawrence are both very good teams who can score goals. It’s important that we take care of business in our own end.”

“Defense has been our focus this whole year,” Zorn added. “We pride ourselves on it.”

This will be a season-defining road trip for the Red. Clarkson is within reach, yet several teams are close behind the Red in the ECAC standings, waiting for them to falter. Ultimately the Red control its own destiny, and with two wins this weekend, could find themselves atop the ECAC.