Box Score

HAMILTON, N.Y. (3/7/08) - The St. Lawrence men's hockey team took a 1-0 lead in its best-of-three ECAC Hockey first-round series with a 5-2 victory over Colgate on Friday, Mar. 7, at Starr Rink. With the win, the ninth-seeded Saints improve to 13-18-4 overall, while the eighth-seeded Raiders drop to 14-15-6 on the year.

The teams played a fairly even game for the opening ten minutes of the first period, before SLU began to generate more chances. With less than five minutes on the clock, senior Charlie Giffin rang a shot off the right post, and the Colgate defense immediately tried to clear the puck out of the zone. Junior Shawn Fensel corraled the puck at the right point, faked a shot, then passed it across to junior Jared Ross on the opposite side. Ross one-timed a shot low that beat Raider senior goaltender Mark Dekanich (North Vancouver, B.C.), five-hole.

The Saints added three more goals in the second period to take a 4-0 lead. SLU's first goal of the session came just seconds after the Saints had a goal called back on a crease violation, just over four minutes into the frame. After Dekanich made a save, sophomore Alex Curran collected the rebound and passed it out to junior Brock McBride. McBride found junior Zach Miskovic on the left point, and he skated it in, and used a wrist shot to get past Dekanich low on his stick side.

Following the goal, Colgate coach Don Vaughan put Dekanich on the bench to refocus. Senior Justin Kowalkoski (Young America, Minn.) made two saves over the next 2:49, until the Raiders went on the power play at the 7:17 mark, at which point Dekanich re-entered the contest.

Midway through the period, the Raiders turned the puck over and it was picked up by graduate student Pat Muir along the left boards. Muir tipped to to Giffin, who sent it to sophomore Sean Flanagan in the high slot. Flanagan shot from the slot, and beat Dekanich top-shelf, stick-side.

As time wound down in the second period, SLU tacked on a power-play goal to take a 4-0 lead. McBride battled for the puck along the left boards, and dug it out to junior Kevin DeVergilio. DeVergilio brought it out of the corner, and pased it to Miskovic in the high slot. Miskovic threaded a shot under Dekanich's glove and into the net for his second goal of the night.

Kowalkoski returned to the Colgate crease to start the third period. The Raiders broke up SLU senior John Hallas' shutout bid just 76 seconds into the final frame. Junior Mark Anderson (Hastings, Neb.) blocked a shot, and sophomore Jason Williams (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) tapped the puck to classmate Ethan Cox (Richmond, B.C.). Cox skated the length of the ice on the left side, and beat Hallas top-shelf, glove-side.

Kowalkoski and the Raiders kept the Saints at bay for much of the remainder of the game, with the senior back-up making several impressive stops, including two breakaways. The second SLU breakaway attempt came 12:40 into the third, when a Colgate turnover near their own blue line gave Giffin a prime scoring opportunity. As he skated in alone on the right side, Giffin deked stick-side, but Kowalkoski went down into a full split and made the save. Senior Jordan Hack, who was streaking in on the left, came in looking for the rebound, but Kowalkoski stymied him again.

St. Lawrence eventually broke through for its fifth goal of the night with 3:35 to play. After another Colgate turnover, SLU sophomore Travis Vermeulen raced down the ice and caught up to the puck at the right hashmark. He found McBride streaking into the zone, and McBride just got a stick on in time to tip it into the net, stick-side.

The Raiders had the last word of the game, as Williams and Cox combined for their second goal of the night at the 19:26 mark. Senior captain Jesse Winchester (Long Sault, Ont.) had the puck along the left boards, and he sent it up to classmate Matt Torti (Oxford, Mass.) at the right point. Torti's shot went off of Cox's leg in front of the crease before landing on Williams' stick on the right side of the net, and Williams swept it in for his ninth goal of the season.

Colgate has never lost a best-of-three playoff series at Starr Rink. The last two times the Raiders host SLU for ECAC post-season competition, in 2003 and 2004, the Saints won the first game before Colgate won the second two to advance.

The Raiders must win the second game of the series, which will take place Saturday, Mar. 8, at 7:00 p.m., in order to continue their season. Tickets to the game may be purchased through the Colgate ticket office by calling (315) 228-7600.