Freshman Jack Downing scored his second goal of the game on a power play with 1:28 left in overtime to lift the University of Vermont to a 4-3 win over St. Lawrence in a non-league game at Vermont on Saturday night.

           

It was the third overtime loss which involved a power play or with a extra attacker on the ice with a delayed penalty being called for the Saints this season, who will take a 6-9-3 overall record into a three-week layoff for holidays and exams.

           

“It’s a tough way to lose it, but it seems like that is the way things have gone for us this first half,” said Saint coach Joe Marsh. “I thought we did a good job in a lot of areas, but Vermont capitalized on a couple of breaks. I thought it was a very good hockey game, and while I was disappointed in the loss, I was very pleased with our energy and the way we competed. We seem to be teetering on that fine line between winning and losing.

           

“We’ll let the guys get a little rest and finish things up academically and then we’ll come back ready to go and try to get something rolling in the second half,” Marsh added.

           

The Saints rotated all three of the goaltenders on the trip as John Hallas played the first period, Kain Tisi made three saves in the second and Alex Petizian ended up the tough luck loser despite a solid showing in the third period and overtime.

           

The Catamounts opened the scoring 7:25 into the first period as Hallas made a toe save on an initial shot by  Downing and came up with a good second save, but couldn’t find the second rebound and Downing put it back into the net for his second of the year. The Saints killed off 1:05 of a five-on-three power play right after the first

Vermont goal, but the Catamounts cashed in on their third power play of the game as Colin Vock skated down the center slot and snapped a shot over Hallas’ glove at 13:27.

           

The Saints answered that goal quickly as they forced a faceoff in the Vermont end, which was won by Brock McBride. Mike McKenzie tipped the puck back to the point and Jared Ross took a shot from the point which deflected off a Vermont player in front and past goalie Mike Spillane at 13:37 to make it 2-1. The Saints nearly tied it on a power play in the final seconds of the period as a shot by Ross was stopped by Spillane and the Saints could not get to a big rebound before time ran out.           

 

The Saints turned in an outstanding second period at both ends of the ice and came out of it with a 3-2 lead. SLU outshot Vermont 9-3 and had chances to come away with an even bigger lead.           

 

Mike McKenzie tied the game with his third of the year on a power play at the 9:48 mark as he picked up a rebound of an initial shot by Brock McBride and tucked it past Spillane for his third of the year and third in the last four games. Matt Generous started the scoring play when he deliberately banked a shot from the point off the boards and the puck bounced right to McBride for the initial shot.           

 

A pretty passing play by the Saint rookie line of Jared Keller, Nick Pitsikoulis and Aaron Bogosian resulted in a Saint lead at 13:56. Keller send Pitsikoulis deep and Pitsikoulis made the perfect cross-crease pass to Bogosian, who was all alone at the far post and tucked his second in as many games past the goaltender to make it 3-2.           

 

The Catamounts tied it up at 6:34 of the third period when Corey Carlson blew past a Saint defender and snapped a shot past Alex Petizian from point blank range. Petizian made two big saves in a nine-save third period to keep it tied, but Vermont came up with the power play game winner when a Saint defender had the stick chopped out of his hand while trying to clear the puck and Vermont worked it down low where Downing scored his second of the game to win it 3:32 into the extra period.