NIAGARA TIPS SAINTS FOR WEEKEND SPLIT

Oct. 7: Junior center Matt Caruana snapped a 3-3 tie with 5:03 to play in regulation time to give Niagara University a 4-3 win over St. Lawrence University in college hockey Saturday night.

 

Niagara , 1-1, split its North Country series after a loss at Clarkson on Friday night, while St. Lawrence, also 1-1, had to settle for a split on its home opening weekend.

 

Caruana scored as he threw the puck in front of the net and it caught the inside of Saint freshman goalie Alex Petizian’s skate and deflected into the back of the net at 14:57 . It came nearly three minutes after Petizian had saved a penalty shot in a wild third period.

 

A total of 30 penalties were called in the game and Niagara cashed in on two of ten power play opportunities while the Saints were one for 11.

 

Niagara jumped on top on a early power play as Ted Cook tapped home a rebound after Saint starting goalie Kain Tisi, also a freshman, kicked out Les Reaney’s initial shot at 2:11 . SLU came back to tie at 12:53 when sophomore defenseman Jared Ross blasted a shot under the crossbar off a faceoff in the Niagara zone, but the tie lasted just 18 seconds as the Purple Eagles won the faceoff and rushed into the Saint zone with Vince Rocco putting his first of the year past Tisi.

 

The two teams traded power play goals in the second period with Cook scoring his second of the game at 1:10 and sophomore defenseman Zach Miskovic scoring his first of the season at 8:37 to make it a 3-2 game after two. The Saints turned up the pressure in the second period and Purple Eagle goalie Juliano Pagliero came up big with 17 saves including two on shorthanded bids by Saint captain Kyle Rank.

 

The Saints continued pressure in the third period and tied it up when Miskovic scored his second of the night with a bomb off a faceoff win by Brock McBride at 9:55 . SLU had several chances to take the lead, but Pagliero continued to come up big and the Saints missed some juicy rebounds.

 

Pagliero finished the night with 38 saves while Tisi and Petizian combined for 19 for the Saints, who had a 41-23 edge in shots on goal.

 

 

ROOKIES SCORE THREE IN 4-3 SEASON OPENING WIN

Oct. 6: Freshman Mike McKenzie scored his first collegiate goal on a deflection with 6:04 to play in the game and it stood as the game winner as St. Lawrence University held off the Rochester Institute of Technology 4-3 in the season opener for both teams.

 

The Saints, 1-0, received goals from three freshmen as they opened the season at home for just the third time in the last 12 years, making it 3-0 on home ice in those three games.

 

“It was a pretty good way to start the year,” said Saint coach Joe Marsh. “I thought the younger guys did a very good job their first time out, and obviously we are going to continue to grow as they gain experience.

 

“RIT is a very competitive team and they have a great goaltender, so it was a good test for us to open the year.”

RIT goalie Jocelyn Guimond, who made 66 saves in a 3-2 RIT upset in a game between the two teams in Rochester last year, kept the Tigers in the game with a 41-save night in the season opener.

 

Neither team scored in a fast-paced first period which featured eight power play chances between the two teams. Guimond stopped ten shots while Saint goalie Justin Pesony made four saves for the Saints and had a big poke check on a breakaway by Ricky Walton to take away the Tigers’ best chance of the period.

 

The Saints took the lead on their sixth power play of the game as senior center Max Taylor sent Charlie Giffin into the RIT zone just 25 seconds into the period and Giffin sent a behind-the-back pass to defenseman Drew Bagnall, who crashed the net from the point and tucked the puck past Guimond for the 1-0 lead.

 

The Tigers came back to tie on a power play goal of their own as Matt Smith was all alone at the post late in a RIT power play and Simon Lambert found him for a tip in at 6:54.

 

SLU regained the lead at 10:31 of the second as Brock McBride rushed the puck into the RIT zone and his snap shot from a tough angle hit freshman Travis Vermeulen in the back and deflected past Guimond for Vermeulen’s first collegiate goal.

 

The Saints grabbed a 3-1 lead on a shorthanded rush as Zach Miskovic sent Vermeulen away and Vermeulen found Jeremiah Cunningham at the side of the net for his first collegiate goal at 5:53 of the third.

 

RIT got that one back when Steve Pinizzotto scored from right in front on a power play at 7:36 , beating Pesony under the crossbar. McKenzie then gave the Saints a 4-2 lead when he tipped a shot by sophomore Kevin DeVergilio over Guimond’s shoulder and under the crossbar at 14:42 .

 

The Tigers made it interesting when Simon Lambert picked up his third assist of the net on a setup of Darrell Draper in front with 1:04 to play, but while the Tigers pulled Guimond for the extra attacker, they couldn’t get the equalizer.

 

Young Saint Team Opens 2006-07 Season

Oct 5: The curtain will rise on the 70 th season of intercollegiate hockey at St. Lawrence University with a weekend set at Appleton Arena featuring non-league opponents R.I.T. and Niagara.

 

The Saints will open at home for just the third time in the last 12 years when they host RIT, a team in its second year as a member of Division I, on Friday night at 7 p.m. It will be the third time in Saint hockey history that the team has opened at home against RIT and the Saints won the previous two games against then Division III RIT at Appleton in 1982 and 1983.

 

St. Lawrence is 32-35-2 all-time in opening games and 33-35-1 all-time in its first game on home ice.

RIT, the newest member of The Atlantic Hockey Association, upset the Saints in game one of a two-game set in Rochester last season as goaltender Jocelyn Guimond made 66 saves in a 3-2 Tiger win. The Saints came back to win the next night 6-3 and lead the all-time series between the two teams 4-1-0.

 

The Saints will meet Niagara in game two of the opening weekend on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Niagara’s first visit to Appleton Arena. The Saints and Purple Eagles have met twice since Niagara began its hockey program, the last meeting a 2-1 Saint win at Niagara in 1999-2000. The Purple Eagles won the first meeting between the two schools 7-0 at the Syracuse Invitational in 1998.

 

The Saints will take an all-time record of 870-748-74 into the 2006-07 season and are coming off the 12 th 20 or more win season in program history. The 21-17-2 2005-06 campaign was the tenth 20-plus win season in Joe Marsh’s 21 seasons behind the Saint bench and Marsh will take a 379-315-49 record into his 22 nd season as a head coach.

 

One of the most veteran teams in college hockey a year ago with five graduate students and four seniors on the roster, the Saints will be very young in 2006-07 with 19 freshmen and sophomores on the 30-man roster to start the season.

 

SLU graduated the leading scorer in the ECACHL and the league player of the year in T.J. Trevelyan and the ECACHL outstanding defensive defenseman in Mike Madill. Four of the top five scorers from last year’s team picked up diplomas in May and the Saint coaching staff is hoping that returnees can pick up the scoring pace with some help from the influx of new talent.

 

Senior captain Kyle Rank is the leading returning scorer and is coming off a 11-goal, 17-assist junior season. Forward Kevin DeVergilio had a big rookie season with 14 goals and 11 assists for 25 points while Brock McBride was also solid as a rookie with six goals and a dozen assists.

 

Other veteran returnees at forward include senior center Max Taylor ( 4-11-15), junior wing Charlie Giffin ( 4-7-11), junior center/wing Mark Wallmann ( 6-1-7) and senior wing Andrzej Sandrzyk ( 1-4-5). Senior Pat Muir, junior Jordan Hack and sophomore Chris Oetting will also contend for playing time up front.

 

Newcomers likely to see action early in the season include Mike McKenzie, the MVP and leading scorer in the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League’s southern Division for the St. Michael’s Buzzers last season, Casey Parenteau, a sophomore, and Travis Vermeulen, a freshman, who played for the Sioux Falls Stampede last season, Cushing Academy products Tom Bardis and Alex Curran, Canton native Sean Flanagan and Salisbury Prep standout Jeremiah Cunningham.

 

While the Saints will obviously miss Madill on defense, the defensive corps should be a Saint strength in 2006-07. Senior captain Drew Bagnall is back at 100 percent after missing a significant portion of last season with a hand injury and will lead a young, but talented group of defensemen. Sophomores Zach Miskovic, Matt Generous, Shawn Fensel and Jared Ross all had highly successful rookie seasons and were contributors on both ends of the ice. Miskovic had a goal and 14 assists, Generous, a member of the ECACHL All Rookie team, had four goals and 11 assists while Fensel had four goals and ten assist and Ross scored six goals and had four assists.

Paul Wallmann, who played in 10 games last season and is battling an early injury as a junior, will also contend for playing time on the blue line and Chris Smith and Dan Coughlin practiced with the team last season although they did not see game action. Newcomer Derek Keller, the Outstanding Defenseman Award winner for the North Battleford North Stars will also see action on defense for the Saints.

 

Junior Justin Pesony tied the single-season record for appearances last season with 37 and had the second most wins for a goaltender in a single season with 20. The Saints have added some goaltending depth to give Pesony (2.90, .888) a break with the arrival of rookie goaltenders Kain Tisi and Alex Petizian and the return of backup John Hallas.