Clarkson Stymies Saints 4-1
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Wallyl JohnsonKyle Flanagan, Pete Child and Robby Moss defend as Brandon DeFazio works in front.
Sophomore goalie Paul Karpowich kept the St. Lawrence offense at bay and Clarkson scored two goals in a span of 1:28 late in the first to set the stage for a 4-1 win in a non-league game between the two North Country rivals at the Cheel Center Saturday night.
The Saints had a three-game win streak snapped while Clarkson won its third straight this season and its second straight in the series between the two North Country rivals. SLU will take a 3-2-0 record into a home set with Sacred Heart next weekend while Clarkson is also 3-2-0 on the season.
Three power play goals in nine tries for the Golden Knights proved to be the difference as the Saints went one for seven with the man advantage. The Saints had a tough last two minutes of the first period as Clarkson responded to the first Saint goal of the game with two in a span of 1:28 to take a 3-1 lead after the first period.
Clarkson scored on its first shot of the game, and its only shot in the first 11:30 of the first period, as Bryan Rufenach's shot along the ice on a power play snuck through Saint goalie Alex Petizian's pads at 3:43. The Saints came back to tie it on a power play of their own as Derek Keller's shot from the point hit the stick of a Clarkson defender and snuck past Golden Knight goalie Paul Karpowich at 17:54 with Mike McKenzie and Kyle Flanagan assisting.
"Karpowich was tremendous tonight," said Saint coach Joe Marsh. "He made some great saves and the one we got on him was deflected a couple of times. We made a couple of mistakes in our own end late in the first and Clarkson capitalized on them...and Karpowich came up big when we tried to get back into it."
The tie did not last long. Clarkson won the faceoff following the Saint goal and headed for the Saint net with Julien Cayer scoring from just outside the crease at 18:11. The Knights then cashed in on a power play as Nick Trembley finished off a three-on-one rush with a shot to the upper corner for his first of the year at 19:39.9.
Neither team scored in the second period, although both created several chances and each had power play opportunities. Robby Moss took over in goal for the Saints to start the second period and made 11 saves to keep Clarkson off the board while Karpowich made eight saves for the Golden Knights to keep it a 3-1 game.
The Saints had some great chances to cut into the Clarkson lead early in the third, but Karpowich robbed Jeremiah Cunningham on a power-play one timer early in the period which was the best opportunity of the period for SLU.
Clarkson increased its lead to 4-1 on a five-on-three power play at the 13:42 mark as Moss made a great blocker save on Louke Oakley, but Scott Freeman pounced on the rebound and put it back into the net for his second of the season.