SAINTS, WARRIORS TIE 2-2

Nov. 24: The Twilight Zone that has inhabited Appleton Arena came through with another strange twist Saturday night as Wayne State cashed in on a broken stick to tie the game in the third period as the Warriors tied St. Lawrence 2-2 to take a win and a tie out of Bill Wilkinson’s return to Canton.

 

Matt Krugg and Stavros Paskaris scored goals just 1:37 apart to overcome a 2-0 Saint lead, Krugg scoring on a five-on-three power play and Paskaris coming up with the tying goal just after the second penalty of the five-on-three had expired. Saint defenseman Matt Raley had the puck in the faceoff circle and attempted to slap it down the ice, but his stick snapped in half and the puck hopped to Derek Punches, who walked in with Jared Katz and Paskaris, with Katz setting up Paskaris right on the doorstep of Saint goalie John Hallas for the tying goal.

 

Wilkinson, a former Saint captain and assistant coach was presented a game jersey by the Saint coaching staff in recognition of his contributions to the sport as a coach at both Wayne State and Western Michigan. Wayne State has announced that it is dropping its men’s program at the end of the current season.

 

The Warriors, 3-7-2 overall and 3-1-1 in their last five, received a strong performance from freshman goaltender Kyle Funkenhauser, who came up big late in the game and in the overtime as the Saints pressured to try to snap a 0-5-2 slump on home ice since winning their first two of the season at Appleton. The Saints, now 4-7-3, will complete a five-game home stand with a ECAC Hockey game against arch-rival Clarkson on Saturday.

 

“ Wayne State played a very solid game defensively and blocked a lot of shots,” said Saint coach Joe Marsh. “They are really coming on and are a good young team. I thought we did a pretty good job for the most part and we received an outstanding night from the Travis Vermeulen, Alex Curran, Casey Parenteau line. It was also another solid performance by John Hallas and I thought we were going to get him the win the way we worked in the overtime.”

 

While St. Lawrence pressured in the overtime and had the puck in the Warrior end for the last two minutes of the extra period, Funkenhauser made three of his 37 saves in overtime to preserve the tie and give the Warriors a 1-0-1 weekend against the Saints.

 

The trio of Parenteau, Curran and Vermeulen supplied both Saint goals and had two outstanding chances in overtime turned back by Funkenhauser.

 

Parenteau opened the scoring for the Saints with his sixth of the year at 12:03 of the second as he took the puck from Vermeulen and snapped a shot into the upper corner from just outside the crease and Curran made it a 2-0 game at 7:47 of the third, wristing a hard shot past Funkenhauser right after a Saint power play had expired.

Hallas came up with a big save on Tylor Michel on a shorthanded bid and robbed Jordan Inglis late in the second to help the Saints earn the tie.

 

“We’ve got a real tough one coming up in Clarkson, but it can be one of those games when you throw the records out the window. We’ll just keep working hard and give it our best shot,” said Marsh.

 

 

Scoring Woes Continue as Wayne State Wins 3-2

It was an all-too-familiar story on Friday night for the Saint hockey team as they dominated another team on home ice, but came away on the wrong side of a 3-2 score.

 

Freshman Jordan Inglis snapped a shot just under the crossbar with 7:05 gone in the third period and sophomore goaltender Brett Bothwell made it stand up as the game winner as Wayne State turned the Saints 3-2 at Appleton on Friday.

 

The Saints are now 0-5-1 on home ice since starting the season 2-0 at Appleton and three of the losses were by a single goal. The Saints have outshot the opposition in all six of those games including a 44-15 margin on Friday. SLU went scoreless in seven power play opportunities including two five-on-three chances.

 

Wayne State improves to 3-7-1 on the season while St. Lawrence is now 4-7-2. The two teams will play a rematch Saturday evening.

 

We just have to keep plugging away at things and hopefully it will turn itself around,” said Saint coach Joe Marsh. “The guys are working hard, but it can be frustrating when you keep coming up just a little short.”

 

The Warriors opened the scoring 1:37 into the second period as Mike Forgie finished off a two-on-one rush with his fourth goal of the season right after the expiration of a Saint power play. It went to 2-0 at the 17:55 mark of the second when freshman Tyler Ruel scored his second collegiate goal from close range as his shot from right next to the post hit the shoulder of Saint goalie Kain Tisi and tumbled into the net.

 

Warrior defenseman Jeff Caister, a game-time decision as far as availability due to injury, had a big night for Wayne State as he assisted on all three goals and blocked several shots as Wayne State frustrated the Saints in their efforts to get second shots in close.

 

The Saints finally got on the board at 3:16 of the third period when junior Brock McBride buried his fourth of the year off a quick centering pass from Sean Flanagan with Mike McKenzie also assisting on the play.

 

The Saints outshot Wayne State 7-0 in the first seven minutes of the period, but the Warrior’s first shot of the final period ended up in the net when Inglis took a pass from Dylan Exton and gunned a shot which Tisi was helpless to stop.

 

SLU answered right back as Jeremiah Cunningham tipped a shot by Matt Generous for his second of the year, but that was the only other shot to get past Bothwell, who made 42 saves for the Warriors. The Saints had a late scramble with just under two minutes to go, but Bothwell was able to glove the puck out of the air just before it crossed the goal line while on his back and while the Saints pulled Tisi for an extra attacker in the final minute, they couldn’t tie it up.