BIG THIRD PERIOD LIFTS CLARKSON TO 6-2 WIN, SEASON SERIES SWEEP

 

St. Lawrence got off to a good start in its game with arch-rival Clarkson on Tuesday night, but Clarkson had a better finish, scoring six straight goals en route a 6-2 win over the Saints and a sweep of the regular season series.

 

Freshman Matt Beca scored two goals and Clarkson scored four times in the first 8:58 of the third period to win the game between nationally ranked teams and sweep the regular season series between the two teams for the first time since 1997-98. Clarkson, ranked tenth nationally, improves to 15-6-3 overall and pulled to within a point of the Saints in the ECAC Hockey League at 7-3-2 in league play. The Saints, ranked 17 th nationally, fall to 12-10-2 overall and are 8-3-1 in the ECACHL.

 

“Clarkson is the most talented team in the league and it certainly showed out there tonight,” said Saint coach Joe Marsh. “We were back on our heels through much of the second period and then things really started going the wrong way in the third period. They created a lot of odd man rushes and finished them off.

 

“It was a very disappointing result for us, but its not something we can sulk about. We’re still in pretty good shape in the league race, but we’ve got to regroup very quickly because we have two real tough ones coming up Friday and Saturday in Harvard and Dartmouth,” Marsh added.

 

The Saints broke on top when Max Taylor turned a seemingly harmless one-on-three rush into the Clarkson zone into a 1-0 lead with a floating wrist shot which beat Clarkson goaltender David Leggio on the stick side at 7:08 of the first period. It was the third goal in as many games and seventh of the season for Taylor.

 

SLU made it a 2-0 game at 10:26 of the first when sophomore defenseman Jared Ross finished off a three-on-two Saint rush with a snap shot which caught the upper corner for his fourth of the year off Kevin DeVergilio’s feed. The Golden Knights cut the Saint led in half with 2:11 to play in the period as freshman Matt Beca caught the Saint defense leaning and rushed the net, tucking the puck inside the post for his sixth of the season just before colliding with Saint goalie Alex Petizian.

 

The Saints had a chance to regain a two-goal lead early in the second period, but Leggio came up with a glove stop on freshman Travis Vermeulen’s shorthanded breakaway with 1:50 gone in the period and the Knights tied the game when Shawn Weller got behind the Saint defense as SLU was attempting a line change. Grant Clitsome hit Weller with a long pass at the Saint defensive blue line and Weller broke toward net. Beca charged up the right side and Weller hit him in stride, Beca finding the wide open net at 6:13 for his second of the night.

 

Clarkson senior captain Nick Dodge put away his own rebound 40 seconds into the third period for his 12 th of the year and the eventual game winner, and that opened the floodgates for the Knights. Tyrell Mason scored at 2:26 as his shot deflected past Petizian after hitting the stick of a Saint defender to make it a 4-2 game. Chris D’Alvise then rifled one just under the crossbar at 8:43 for his eighth of the year and Weller greeted Saint relief goaltender Justin Pesony with a tuck-in just 15 seconds later for the 6-2 final.

 

Leggio finished the game with 40 saves for the Golden Knights, but many of the Saint shots were from long distance. Petizian had 22 saves for the Saints and Pesony added two.