RANK, PETIZIAN HELP SAINTS COMPLETE WEEKEND SWEEP  

Jan. 13: Senior captain Kyle Rank scored one goal and assisted on another and freshman goaltender Alex Petizian recorded his second career shutout with a 19-save night as St. Lawrence University completed a weekend ECAC Hockey League sweep with a 5-0 win over Colgate at Appleton Arena Saturday night.

 

The Saints, who beat Cornell 4-1 on Friday, had another big night on special teams with three power play goals and nine power play kills as they improve to 11-9-1 overall and 7-2-0 in the ECACHL. Colgate, which managed only six shots on goal on its nine power play chances, drops to 9-12-3 overall and 3-5-2 in league play.

 

The sweep put the Saints in the top 20 national rankings for the first time this season as SLU entered the USCHO/CSTV men's poll at number 19 on Monday afternoon.They also cracked the Inside College Hockey Power Rankings at number 17. Rank earned ECACHL Player of the Week honors for the second time this season and Petizian was the ECACHL Goalie of the Week, also for the second time after their performances in the sweep. Saint hockey players earned both ECACHL Player of the Week awards as Sabrina Harbec, who had six goals and three assists in a sweep of Yale and Brown, was the Women's Player of the Week.

 

St. Lawrence killed 20 opponent power play chances in the two weekend games including significant stretches of five-on-three power play in each game. The Saints also scored five power play goals in the two games after struggling on the power play through the month of December. It was the first four-point weekend against Cornell and Colgate since February of 2001, and the impressive special teams performance in the two games vaulted the Saints into the lead in league play in power play success at 23.5 percent and to third in penalty killing at 88.3 percent in league games.

 

“A lot of it is confidence,” said Saint coach Joe Marsh. “We actually have been moving the puck pretty well and playing pretty well on the power play, but the puck hasn’t ended up in the net. We scored some good power play goals against an outstanding goaltender tonight.”

 

The Saints jumped out to an early lead for the second straight night, cashing in on their first power play opportunity of the game. Senior captain Kyle Rank scored his third goal of the weekend and eighth of the year as he stationed himself in front of Colgate goalie Mark Dekanich and tipped a shot from the center slot by defenseman Shawn Fensel past the goaltender at 4:57. Freshman Mike McKenzie also assisted on the play which produced Fensel’s fourth assist of the weekend.

 

SLU made it a 2-0 game at 11:25 of the first as sophomore defenseman Matt Generous scored his second of the weekend. Brock McBride and Kevin DeVergilio worked the puck in deep and DeVergilio sent it back to Generous along the side boards. Generous snapped a wrist shot toward net and it caught the far upper corner from a severe angle.

 

Colgate, which managed only three shots on goal in the first period, increased the offensive pressure in the second with the help of 44 seconds of five-on-three power play, but Petizian kept them off the board and the Saints added to their lead on a power play of their own.

 

Rank started the scoring play as he sent a pass to defenseman Drew Bagnall at the point, and while Bagnall’s one-timer sailed wide of the net, the puck came off the end boards and right onto the stick of freshman Sean Flanagan, who buried his fourth of the year at 11:25 for a 3-0 lead.

 

Junior Mark Wallmann gave the Saints a 4-0 lead at 12:45 of the third period, scoring his first goal of the season on a tip-in of a shot by Jeremiah Cunningham. The Saints then greeted Colgate backup goalie Charles Long with a five-on-three power play and converted when junior Jordan Hack scored his first collegiate goal with rookie defenseman Derek Keller and goaltender Petizian assisting.

 

“It was an excellent weekend all the way around, with the possible exception of taking too many penalties. It is great to have an outstanding weekend penalty killing like that, but you want to be a little more disciplined and try to cut down on the trips to the box,” said Marsh. The Saints remain the second least penalized team a game at 15.3 minutes in league play.