Photo credit: Jack Lyons ’17
The St. Lawrence men’s hockey team started off the second half of the season on the road for seven straight games. Ending their non-conference campaign by playing Vermont and Canisius, the Saints looked to get off to a good start. Vermont, however, had a different plan. After trailing 3-2 in the third period, the Catamounts scored two unanswered goals to win 4-3. The Saints were outshot 37-22 for the game but tallied two power play goals. The team looked to put the game behind them as they traveled to Buffalo, New York to face off against the Canisius Griffins. Nolan Gluchowski ’18 scored 2:05 into the first period, and five minutes later Carson Gicewicz ’20 followed suit. They brought the lead into the second period but gave up a goal eight seconds in. Gicewicz scored his second goal of the night off a pass from Alex Gilmour ’20, who joined the team in December. The Griffins scored the last two goals of the game in the second period, and the game ended in a 3-3 tie. The following night, the Saints won 2-1, with Gilmour scoring his first two collegiate goals. The team finished with a non-conference record of 4-5-3.
The following weekend, the Saints began conference play again by facing off against Brown and Yale. Brown opened the scoring late in the second period. Ryan Lough ’18 scored his third goal of the year 6:16 into the third period, and exactly two minutes later Eric Sweetman ’17 scored the game winner on a power play to put the Saints up 2-1. St. Lawrence outshot the Bears 29-27. The next night, the Saints traveled to Yale to face the Bulldogs and battled from behind for a 2-2 tie.
For the final two games on the seven-game road trip, St. Lawrence headed to Hamilton, New York to play the Colgate Raiders. For most of the first period, the Saints and Raiders were evenly matched. It wasn’t until Ben Finkelstein ’20 scored off a rebound in the slot with six seconds left that the scoring began. After a scoreless second, the Saints scored 10:42 in the third period on the power play. Gilmour deflected a Sweetman shot from the point, putting the Saints up 2-0. Jacob Pritchard ’19 scored two minutes later on a breakaway, tucking the puck in the top corner to score against Colgate goalie Charlie Finn. Goalie Kyle Hayton ’18 finished the game with 24 saves, shutting out the Raiders.
Following the win in Hamilton, the Saints looked to keep their momentum going against the Cornell Big Red. Playing sluggishly in the first period, the Saints went into the intermission down 2-0. 8:54 into the second, Finkelstein got St. Lawrence on the board by scoring top shelf from the right face-off dot. Woody Hudson ’17 tied the game with five minutes left after deflecting a shot from the point. The tie was short-lived; Cornell’s Brenden Smith scored two minutes after Hudson to put the Big Red up 3-2. St. Lawrence couldn’t find the tying tally, and their seven-game road trip ended with a loss.
The Saints have seen a lot of success at home, and they will welcome RPI and Union January 27th and 28th. Union will be the tougher test of the two Capital Region teams, considering that the new poll ranks them 5th in the country. They also have two of the best players in the country. St. Lawrence skated against the Dutchmen for a 2-2 tie earlier in the season. They are tied for first place in the ECAC standings. Union has a 10-1-1 record, while the Saints have a 9-2-3 record, so Saturday’s game will potentially be a fight for first.
The game against RPI will be a white out game, and there will be rally towels handed out, so fans are encouraged to wear white and get to the game early.