Making the semifinals of the ECAC Hockey Tournament has become a tradition for the St. Lawrence University women's hockey team, which will compete in the event for a fifth-straight year when they play Dartmouth on Saturday in Boston.
Rival Clarkson University will make its first appearance in the event when it takes on Harvard University, the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.
But it wasn't that long ago that SLU was in Clarkson's position, as the newcomer among the league's elite.
The Saints (27-8-1) made their first appearance as an NCAA Division I team in the semifinals in 2001 and wound up reaching the NCAA championship game that season, losing 4-2 to Minnesota-Duluth.
The one person with ties to both the 2001 Saints and the 2008 Golden Knights (24-8-5) is Clarkson assistant coach Shannon (Smith) Desrosiers, who was a sophomore with the Saints in 2001.
"Our team reminds me of that team," Desrosiers said. "We weren't as talented, probably. We knew all we had to do was outwork (teams). We played like we had nothing to lose. When your team is the underdog, it pays off when your kids work hard."
Clarkson, the No. 4 seed, will play No. 1 Harvard (29-1) in the first semifinal at 1 p.m. at the Bright Hockey Center. No. 2 SLU will play No. 3 Dartmouth (18-7-6) in the second semifinal at approximately 4 p.m. The championship game will be at 2 p.m. Sunday.
SLU may have been the underdogs in 2001, but the program has proven over the past years that it belongs among the elite schools, having reached the Frozen Four the past four years.
Clarkson may wind up being a fixture in big events as well, with most of its top offensive players being either freshmen or sophomores.
The program is in its fifth year and that's when Clarkson head coach Rick Seeley predicted, at his initial press conference in 2002, that his team would begin to contend for championships.
If Clarkson is going to win a championship this year, it first has to get by a Harvard team that has lost just one game all season and went undefeated in ECAC Hockey contests.
"When you get to this point every team is going to be great," Seeley said. "Harvard is a team like SLU, you break down and they take advantage of it."
One thing in Clarkson's favor is the team averages the fewest penalty minutes in Division I hockey, 7.3 per game, and Harvard likes to take advantage of its power-play unit during games.
The Saints reached the semifinals for a fifth-straight year thanks, in part, to a standout weekend from Brasher Falls native Marianna Locke, who scored the game-winning goal against Yale in overtime on Friday and a game-tying goal on Saturday.
"It was just great to contribute to this team," Locke said. "I was just a fortunate beneficiary in the end there."
For all SLU has achieved since 2001, the Saints still have never won a postseason championship, something the squad thinks can happen this season.
"This is huge for us," Locke said. "The seniors have done a lot for the program and it would be great to get it for them and (coach Paul Flanagan) as well."
SLU has beaten Dartmouth twice this season and also beat the Big Green in Frozen Four games in 2001, 2004 and 2005.
Should the Saints wind up facing Harvard in the championship game, Locke says the team will have confidence, despite two losses to the Crimson this season.
"I wouldn't want to be (22-0)," Locke said. "The perfect season is enough pressure as it is. We've learned from our losses, and I like our position."
Should Clarkson be the team that upsets Harvard, the Saints also welcome a chance to play their neighbors for a championship. Several of SLU's players attended Clarkson's third game against Princeton.
"We're going to be cheering for our local rivals and for that north country showdown," Locke said.
