COLGATE ENDS SAINT SEASON WITH 3-1 WIN

 

Mar. 9: The numbers were all wrong for St. Lawrence University’s hockey team in game three of its ECAC Hockey first-round series at Colgate Sunday night and Colgate continued a string of game-three home wins, ending the Saint season with a 3-1 victory.

 

The Saints went into Sunday’s game battling history and numbers in post-season games, although Sunday had been the best day of the year for the Saints this season. SLU was 1-4 in game three situations, including 0-4 in game-three road games, but 3-0 on Sunday this season with two of its most productive outings in wins at New Hampshire and Dartmouth. Add in Colgate’s 4-1 record in game-threes, including 4-0 at Starr Rink, and the deck seemed stacked.

 

St. Lawrence, which finishes its season 13-20-4, had its chances, but missed opportunities on the power play and several other good shots which sailed wide were costly in the game.

 

“That was kind of the way our year has gone,” said Saint coach Joe Marsh. “Special teams have been a thorn in our side much of the season, and they hurt us tonight. We got a great weekend from John Hallas in goal, but we needed to give him some offensive support.”

 

Hallas had a big first period for the Saints, making a dozen saves including two on a two-on-one break and subsequent rebound with eight minutes to play. The first was fairly even until the final six mintues when Colgate turned up the pressure and finally got one past Hallas on a play which drew argument from the Saint staff and plenty of discussion among the officials.

 

The Saints were caught in a line change and two players tangled along the side boards. That allowed Ben Camper to cut toward net and take a shot. Video replay showed that the puck stayed on the goal line, but the red light went on. The Saint players stopped playing on the red light and Camper tapped it over the line. The goal was awarded after considerable discussion with Camper credited with his fifth of the season at 18:08.

 

It stayed a 1-0 game through two periods although the Saints dominated the second period and outshot Colgate 9-0 through the first 12 minutes. They couldn’t come up with the equalizer however, coming up empty on 55 seconds of five-on-three power play and spending much of the period in the Colgate end.

 

A great individual effort by Tyler Burton gave Colgate a 2-0 lead just 29 seconds into the third period. Burton collected the puck on a Saint offensive zone draw and went coast-to-coast, snapping a shot past Hallas for his 21 st of the season and third of the series. The Raiders made it a 3-0 game on a power play at 5:17 as Wade Poplawski snuck one inside the post with Hallas being screened.

 

The Saints got one back when Charlie Giffin tipped Brock McBride’s shot from the center slot past Colgate goalie Mark Dekanich for his eighth of the year at 7:47 on a power play, but they could get no closer despite some hard work in the Colgate end in the last ten minutes of the game.

 

Hallas finished with 23 saves for the Saints and Dekanich had 30 for the Raiders, who will advance to play Clarkson in the quarterfinals in Potsdam next weekend.

 

COLGATE WINS 3-2 TO FORCE GAME THREE

Mar. 8: Colgate senior center Tyler Burton scored two goals and senior goaltender Mark Dekanich made 13 of his 31 saves in the third period as the Raiders held off St. Lawrence for a 3-2 ECAC Hockey playoff victory, tying the best-of-three series at a game each and forcing a deciding third game Sunday night.

 

The series follows the pattern of the previous two playoff series meetings in Hamilton between the two teams. St. Lawrence won the first game in both 2003 and 2004, but Colgate came back to win the series in each case.

 

“It is really difficult to end someone’s season in a situation like this,” said St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh. “Colgate came out with a lot of energy, and while I thought we handled it pretty well, they were able to cash in with a goal. It was a pretty good game both ways, and we certainly had some chances to pull even in the third period.”

 

The Raiders came out flying to start Saturday’s game and Saint goalie John Hallas came up big in the first five minutes with several key saves to keep it a scoreless game. The Saints battled their way back into it midway through the period and evened up the play, but Colgate broke through for the first goal of the game as defenseman Kevin McNamara took a shot through traffic and senior wing Ben Camper tipped it past Hallas at 13:50 for his fourth goal of the year.

 

The Saints tied the game just 48 seconds into the second period as defenseman Matt Generous controlled the puck behind the Colgate net and then walked out in front. While Raider goalie Mark Dekanich stopped Generous’ shot, Travis Vermeulen pounced on the rebound and put it back in for his second goal of the weekend and eighth of the year. The tie did not last long, however, as the Raiders won the faceoff after the Saint goal, came into the Saint zone and Peter Bogdanich snapped a shot toward net. Hallas made two saves in a flurry, but Tyler Burton took the third rebound and put it back past Hallas for his 19 th of the year at 1:11.

 

Colgate took a 3-1 lead on a power play at 10:15 as Burton was all alone at the side of the net when a pass wended its way through defenders sticks and Burton buried his second of the night.

 

The Saints got right back into it just over five minutes later when Jared Ross shrugged off the defensive attentions of a pair of Colgate defenders along the side boards and sent a pass to Casey Parenteau, who broke in all alone on Dekanich and tucked his 11 th of the year home at 15:31 to make it 3-2 after two.

 

St. Lawrence came on strong in the third period, but Dekanich, who had allowed the Saints just one goal per game in three games prior to Friday’s 5-2 series opener, kept them off the board with several scrambling saves.

Hallas finished with 30 saves for the Saints in another solid effort in goal.

 

 

SAINTS WIN GAME ONE, 5-2

Mar 7: St. Lawrence University’s men’s hockey team finally managed to get more than one puck past Colgate goalie Mark Dekanich in a game, scoring three against the Raider standout in the second period, and the Saints went on to a 5-2 win over Colgate in game one of a best of three ECAC Hockey playoff series at Colgate Friday night.

 

Defenseman Zach Miskovic scored two goals and goaltender John Hallas made 30 saves in his first post-season start as the Saints won their third in a row and won a playoff series opener at Colgate for the third time in three series between the two teams at Starr Rink.

 

“That was a great way for us to start things off, but it is just one step on a difficult trail,” said Saint coach Joe Marsh. “We have been in this situation before and we know it isn’t easy to finish it off. Hopefully we can build on the momentum we have from three really good outings in a row and finish it off Saturday night, but we know it is not going to be easy.”

 

While Colgate had some grade-A scoring chances turned back by Hallas early in the first period, the Saints broke the scoring ice and outplayed Colgate in the final six minutes of a fast-paced first period.

 

Jared Ross scored his fifth post-season goal and sixth goal of the current season as he slapped a hard shot along the ice from the left point which sizzled its way inside the far post before a screened Dekanich could react. Shawn Fensel and Charlie Giffin assisted on the goal at the 15:44 mark. That goal seemed to ignite the Saint offense, which had been limited to some long-range shots on Dekanich prior to that point. Mike McKenzie had a great chance turned back by the Colgate goalie and the Saints snapped a couple of shots just wide in the final minutes.

 

The Saints had a goal waved off as Aaron Bogosian came out of the corner and snapped one past Dekanich early in the second period, but scored one that counted just seconds later. Miskovic scored his seventh of the year, snapping the puck past Dekanich on the short side after a big rebound off a save on a shot by Brock McBride. Alex Curran also assisted on the goal at 4:28 of the second.

 

Colgate coach Don Vaughan pulled his star goalie to give him a chance to refocus after the second Saint goal, but he returned after a three minute rest and Sean Flanagan greeted his return with a rocket just under the crossbar with Charlie Giffin and Pat Muir assisting at 10:47. It was the second goal in the last three games and third of the year for Flanagan, stretching his scoring streak to three games.

 

The Saints had an excellent opportunity to add to their lead when Jeremiah Cunningham broke away shorthanded, but Dekanich made the save with his pad to keep it a 3-0 game at 12:57 of the second.

 

It went to 4-0 when Miskovic, the leading goal-scorer among ECAC Hockey defensemen overall, scored his second of the game on a power play shot from the center point with McBride and Kevin DeVergilio assisting with just 18 seconds to go in the period, capping an excellent second period for the Saints.

 

SLU outshot Colgate 14-5 in the second period and paid close attention to Colgate scoring standouts Jesse Winchester and Tyler Burton throughout the game. “I was very pleased with our defensive effort throughout,” said Marsh. “Winchester and Burton are two players who put a lot of pressure on you, but our guys were excellent against them tonight and “H” made a couple of big saves when they did work their way free.”

 

Colgate got on the board just 1:16 into the third period when Ethan Cox broke in on a wing and snapped a wrist shot inside the far post to make it a 4-1 game. Justin Kowalkoski, who took over in goal for Colgate in the third, kept it a three-goal game when he stuffed Giffin on a shorthanded rush with 7:20 to play, but a great play by McBride gave the Saints their four-goal lead back at 16:25.

 

McBride picked up his third assist of the game when he worked the puck away from a Colgate defender and snapped a pass right onto the stick of Travis Vermeulen, who was all alone in front of Kowalkoski and redirected the puck into the net for his seventh of the year.

 

The Raiders did add a second goal with 34 seconds to go when Jason Williams put away a big rebound to make it a 5-2 final.