SAINTS FINISH 2006 WITH WINNING RECORD; PREPARE FOR OFF-SEASON

Nov. 12: The Saints might not have been on their home field to celebrate their first winning season since 1991, but that didn't stop them from carrying out the tradition of singing the alma mater after a win.

Just ask the folks in downtown Worcester, Mass. who watched the Saints bus, carrying 55 singing Saints, roll out of town. The echo of the St. Lawrence alma mater was not far behind them. The 31-7 victory over WPI was celebrated all the way back to Canton.

"I think the players took the winning season to heart," head coach Chris Phelps said. "After our two disappointing losses to Hobart and Union the guys could have gone one way or the other and they really set their goals on a winning season. We worked hard and the seniors showed excellent leadership and we got it done."

Sure, the winning season sets a new benchmark for the St. Lawrence program, but the way the Saints catapulted themselves about the .500 mark was thrilling.

After opening the season with a 17-13 victory over Norwich, the Saints dropped a heartbreaker to Alfred, losing in the games final minutes. St. Lawrence responded however, with a 21-20 come-from-behind victory over Johns Hopkins. The Saints seized the victory with an 15 play, 88 yard drive, scoring the winning touchdown with just 28 second left in the game.

After dropping their first league game, another disappointing loss to Rochester, the Saints showed tremendous heart, rebounding from the loss with their best game of the season, a 42-38 come-from-behind rally over Rensselaer. The win over the 2005 ECAC Northeast Bowl Champion Engineers gave the Saints a 3-2 record going into their bye-week.

A two-loss skid to the top two teams in the Liberty League set the Saints back to 3-4, but St. Lawrence didn't get frustrated. Instead, the Saints set their sights on winning back-to-back games to finish with a winning season.The Saints persevered, sending the 2006 season out in style.

Led by senior quarterback Matt Bezio, who collected 11 touchdowns, nine through the air and two rushing, in the Saints final two games, St. Lawrence rolled over league opponents Merchant Marine and WPI. Their 49-7 victory over Merchant Marine also gave the Saints their first Hoffman Cup victory.

It was the Saints 31-7 season-ending victory over WPI however, that put the Saints in the win column.

Phelps said the win not only sent the seniors off on the right note, but it changed the direction of St. Lawrence football.

"It was important for the young guys to send the seniors off with a win but its also important for us to continue the momentum of where we want to go," Phelps said. "We want to ultimately be in the playoffs and that is a strong goal that we are taking into the off-season."

The freshman, sophomore and juniors met Sunday afternoon to celebrate the season and refocus their attention to off-season duties. The team will take a couple of weeks off before Thanksgiving, but when they return on campus after the holiday, they will begin off-season workouts.

"No rest for the wicked," Phelps said with a laugh. "Right now the guys should, like always, focus on their academics with finals coming up, but when we get back from Thanksgiving we will start off-season strength and conditioning and recruiting."

The St. Lawrence coaching staff will not get much rest either as they hit the recruiting trail for the rest of November and into December. The Saints hope they can add another strong class for the 2007 season.

"We believe that our coaching staff did a great job of getting us three strong classes that are already here," Phelps. "We are looking to bring in another strong class to challenge our current guys and help us next season."

SAINTS STEAMROLL WPI, 31-7