Mike Madill scored two goals and one assist and led a solid defensive effort for St. Lawrence as the Saints defeated arch-rival Clarkson, 7-2, before the eighth-largest crowd ever at Cheel Arena (3,755) on Saturday night. St. Lawrence, which won its fifth straight, improves to 12-9-1 overall and to 6-4 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League (ECACHL). The Golden Knights, who dropped their second consecutive game, fall to 6-14-2 overall and to 2-7-1 in the ECACHL.
St. Lawrence, benefiting from three power plays in the first period dominated the opening 20 minutes and grabbed a 3-0 lead. Senior Stace Page started the Saints’ run when he picked up a loose puck in the Saints end and skated in on a 2-on-1 where he choose to keep the puck and fired in a shot from the right circle for his eighth goal of the season at 7:12. Madill connected off an assist from blueline partner, sophomore Drew Bagnall for his fifth goal of the year, a power-play marker at 10:54. With just 49 seconds remaining in the first, sophomore Kyle Rank tallied on a quick shot in front for his third goal of the season. Linemates, juniors John Zeiler and T.J. Trevelyan assisted.
Clarkson got on the scoreboard at 5:24 of the second when senior Chris Blight picked up a rebound off a shot by classmate Jay Latulippe at the top of the crease and lifted in his fifth goal of the season. With 1:50 remaining in the second, the Saints regained their three-goal lead as junior T.J. Trevelyan scored on a breakaway for his team-high 14th goal of the year, giving SLU a 4-1 advantage.
The Saints padded their lead in the third by out scoring the Knights 3-1 over the final 20 minutes. Madill tallied his second of the game at 1:54 of the third. Latulippe netted a power-play marker for Clarkson at 6:40, but St. Lawrence answered back with power-play goals by Bagnall at 12:43 and senior Josh Anderson at 16:02 to complete its third straight win over its North Country neighbor.
Clarkson held a 42-33 shot advantage, but St. Lawrence’s senior goaltender Mike McKenna was up to the task with a 40-save effort. Sophomore Kyle McNulty (9) and junior Dustin Traylen (17) combined for 26 saves in the Knights’ net. The Saints were 3-of-8 on the power play, while Clarkson was 1-of-6 with the man advantage.
