TAYLOR TALLIES GAME-WINNER

AS SAINTS DOWN UNION, 3-2

SCHENECTADY—Senior center Max Taylor snapped a 2-2 tie with a power play goal at 6:31 of the third period and freshman goaltender Alex Petizian continued his spectacular play with 32 saves as St. Lawrence University won its third straight ECAC Hockey League game with a 3-2 win at Union College Friday night.

The Saints, ranked 19^th nationally, improve to 12-9-1 overall and 8-2-0 in the ECACHL, while a young Union club falls to 10-11-2 overall and 3-8-0 in the league. The Saints remain second in the ECACHL and moved to within three points of league-leading Quinnipiac, which has played four more league games than the Saints.

Petizian had a big second period as Union applied pressure and then came up with a couple of big third period saves to earn his sixth win in league play and eighth overall.

“Alex was tremendous again tonight, particularly in some unsettled situations,” said Saint coach Joe Marsh. “We did a good job on the penalty kill in critical situations, and Alex was again a big part of that with some key saves and some smart play with the puck. That was a win he definitely earned,” Marsh added.

The Dutchmen grabbed an early lead in the game when Josh Coyle scored his 10^th of the year as the Saints were scrambling on defense and Coyle picked up a loose puck in the center slot and snapped a shot past Petizian at 10:09.

The Saints came back to take a 2-1 lead with goals just under three minutes apart in the first. Shawn Fensel scored his second of the year on a power play, snapping a shot past a screened Justin Mrazek from the faceoff circle after taking a pass from Drew Bagnall. Sean Flanagan started the scoring play as he worked the puck out of a scrum in front and fed Bagnall at the center point at 14:24. Kyle Rank then put the Saints in front at 17:19 as he picked up a rebound of a shot by Mike McKenzie and tucked it through Mrazek with Flanagan picking up his second assist of the period.

Union tied it again with 1:46 to go in the period as ECACHL point scoring leader T.J. Fox was all alone in front of Petizian and took a pass from behind the net by Coyle, ramming home his tenth goal of the season.

The Dutchmen dominated the shots in the second period, helped along by three power plays including 41 seconds of five-on-three, but Petizian was outstanding, making 18 saves to keep it a 2-2 game.

Taylor netted the game winner as he found himself all alone at the side of the net and Kevin DeVergilio zipped a cross-crease pass that Taylor controlled and then snapped past a sprawiling Mrazek with Zach Miskovic also assisting on the play.

“I thought Zach Miskovic played a great game at both ends of the rink tonight,” said Marsh. “He made some excellent passes in the offensive zone and was very solid defensively. Union is a young team, but we saw tonight that they really have some talent and are a team that can do some damage. It was a great effort and a very good hockey game.”

Special teams again played a big role for the Saints as SLU was two for four on the power play and held Union scoreless on four power play chances. The Saints have killed off 24 consecutive opponent power play chances in the last three games while scoring seven times in their last 17 power play chances.

The Saints will continue their weekend road trip with a visit to the Houston Field House at RPI on Saturday as the visitors for RPI’s annual Big Red Freakout.