McKEE NETS OVERTIME GAME-WINNER

AS NO. 12 SAINTS SURVIVE RED HAWKS

April 13: Sophomore Will McKee took a crossing pass from senior Kevin Russell with under a minute to play in the first overtime and tallied his second goal of the game on Rensselaer netminder Ryan DeJordy, giving No. 12 St. Lawrence an exciting 7-6 win against the Red Hawks at North Country Field on Sunday afternoon.

The Saints improved to 6-2 (3-0) with the win, while RPI falls to 8-4 (2-2) on the season. Despite being out-shot 37-19, the Red Hawks were kept in the game by DeJordy, who was posted an outstanding 13-save performance.

Rensselaer was able to get the upper-hand on the Saints in the early going, taking a 3-1 lead in the first quarter. After Russell put St. Lawrence on top 1-0, the Red Hawks answered with goals from Nick Billy, Josh Secora and PJ McComb to take a two-goal advantage.

St. Lawrence would respond in the final two minutes of the opening stanza, though, as junior Alex Slauson scored at 12:59 and was followed by McKee with 33 seconds remaining in the quarter to level the score at 3-3.

The Saints, who held a 13-4 advantage in shots in the first frame, scored the only two goals of the second quarter to take a 5-3 lead into halftime. Junior Peter Carroll scored an unassisted goal at 3:45, while Slauson picked up his second of the day after a nice touch-pass by junior Kyle Benton at 12:39 of the quarter for the 5-3 advantage.

The two teams played to a scoreless third quarter thanks to solid goaltending performances by DeJordy and St. Lawrence’s junior Thomas Hollingsworth. The Saints would extend their advantage to 6-3 only a minute into the fourth quarter when senior Mike Long took a pass from Carroll and beat the RPI netminder with 14:00 minutes to play in regulation.

Though St. Lawrence’s defensive unit, including senior Brian Chamberlain, junior Nick Stefans and senior Ben Buskey, did a great job protecting Hollingsworth, Rensselaer began to chip away midway through the fourth quarter and got back into the game.

Rensselaer ’s Ryan Bigham took a pass from Conor Chocheles and buried a goal with 8:59 remaining in regulation, while Mike Sampson added his third point of the day with a goal only 1:27 later to cut the deficit to 6-5.

St. Lawrence did their best to run out the clock, but Rensselaer added constant pressure in the final minutes hoping to cause a key turnover. After killing of a 30-second penalty with under a minute remaining in regulation, Rensselaer intercepted a pass from Hollingsworth in the midfield and moved towards the cage. With 6.8 seconds on the clock, Alex MacDiarmid took a feed from Billy and fired it past Hollingsworth for the tying goal, 6-6, sending the game into the overtime session.

Each team had several early chances in overtime to earn the victory, but Rensselaer ’s defense was able to cause two turnovers while Hollingsworth made a clutch save for the Saints to keep the game knotted at

6-6.

As a Rensselaer midfielder looked to set up a play with just over a minute remaining in the first overtime, Stefans made a fantastic defensive play, knocking the ball away, scooping it up and leading the transition run for the Scarlet and Brown. As he got near DeJordy and the RPI cage, he dumped the ball off to Russell, who sent a crisp pass to the right post to a wide-open McKee who beat the goaltender and sent the entire Saints team storming on to the field with a 7-6 win.

“That was a great college lacrosse game today, and I give Rensselaer credit as they’re a well-coached and talented team,” said St. Lawrence head coach Mike Mahoney. “Thomas (Hollingsworth) came up with a big save in overtime, and I thought our guys did a nice job of keeping their focus after giving up the tying goal.”

Hollingsworth finished with seven saves in the victory, improving to 6-2 on the season, while DeJordy suffered the loss despite making 13 saves.

St. Lawrence will be in action again at North Country Field on Wednesday, April 16 when they welcome Clarkson University for a Liberty League contest beginning at 4:00pm .

RUSSELL AND BUSKEY COLLECT

WEEKLY CONFERENCE HONORS

April 8: Seniors Kevin Russell and Ben Buskey were honored by the Liberty League on Monday, as they earned two of the conference’s weekly awards. Russell was tagged the league’s “Co-Offensive Performer of the Week,” while Buskey was a “Co-Defensive Performer of the Week.”

Russell was honored as the conference’s top offensive player for the second consecutive week, as he totaled a team-high 17 points in the squad’s three games last week. The Madison, CT native had six points against Plattsburgh (1g,5a) and Potsdam (3g,3a) and followed with a five point showing versus Hamilton (2g,3a).

Meanwhile, Buskey was the first Saint to earn the defensive award this season, as he anchored a Saints' defensive unit that allowed only 16 goals in three games this week. The Hanover, NH native scooped up 13 ground balls in the contests, and added a goal and two assists in the team's 14-5 victory over Potsdam.

“We knew coming into the season that our senior class would be a staple for our team’s success, and I think Kevin and Ben are two of the key components,” said Saints’ head coach Mike Mahoney. “They certainly played a major role in our three victories last week against some tough competition.”

St. Lawrence will be in action again on Sunday, April 13 when they welcome the Rensselaer Red Hawks to North Country Field. Game time is set for 1:00pm.

RUSSELL AND McKEE SCORE FIVE POINTS

IN 10-4 WIN OVER HAMILTON

April 5: The No. 15 St. Lawrence University men’s lacrosse team got a pair of goals and three assists each out of senior Kevin Russell and sophomore Will McKee as the Saints won their fifth straight contest with a 10-4 victory over Hamilton College in Clinton, NY on Saturday afternoon.

The win moves St. Lawrence to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the Liberty League, while Hamilton falls to 4-4 (0-2).

Hamilton took a 1-0 lead midway through the opening quarter when Franke Holiber beat St. Lawrence goaltender Thomas Hollingsworth at 7:36 . The Scarlet and Brown would respond in style, however, tallying three straight goals to close the quarter and take a 3-1 lead.

Senior Ben Prime got the Saints on the board at 10:32 with an assist going to Russell, while McKee gave the visitors the lead only 1:15 later on a man-up opportunity. Junior Peter Carroll then tallied his first goal of the game with 1:09 remaining in the first frame for the 3-1 lead.

McKee exchanged goals with Hamilton ’s Stephen Lefebvre in the second quarter, as the Continentals remained within striking distance at 4-2 thanks to goaltender Christian Kunhardt, who made four stops in the period. However, sophomore Dillon Simpson would take a pass from Russell and score his eighth goal of the season with 3:30 left in the half for a 5-2 St. Lawrence cushion.

Hamilton pulled to within two goals at 5-3 when Frasher Kempe beat Hollingsworth with 8:53 left in the third quarter on a man-up chance. Head coach Mike Mahoney’s team, which improved to 19-9-0 all-time against the Continentals on Saturday, would answer with five straight goals to put the game out of reach.

Junior Alex Slauson scored a man-up goal with 3:30 remaining in the third, while Russell followed with his first goal of the contest only 24 seconds later for a 7-3 lead. Sophomore Scott Smith would tack on a goal with 1:38 remaining in the stanza to push the score to 8-3 after three.

Carroll and Russell added insurance goals in the fourth quarter to help the Saints ensure themselves of an important conference road win. Peter Gerrity completed the game’s scoring with 52 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to bring the score to its final of 10-4.

“Obviously any time you have to go on the road in the Liberty League, you’ll take any win you can get,” said Mahoney. “PJ Santora was solid for us, winning 14-of-17 face-offs, and we won the ground ball battle

39-18. Those are two important statistics for us as we move forward throughout the season.”

St. Lawrence finished with a 31-20 advantage in shots and successfully completed 14-of-15 clears. The Scarlet and Brown also finished 2-of-4 on extra man opportunities.

Hollingsworth made all four of his saves in the first half, and improved to 5-2 on the season, while Kunhardt suffered the loss despite making seven stops.

The Saints will have a week off before welcoming Rensselaer to North Country Field on Sunday, April 13 at 1:00pm.