Simon Watson jumped on a rebound at 7:12 of the third period to notch a game-winning goal for St. Lawrence as the Saints held on to defeat Princeton Saturday at Appleton Arena.
St. Lawrence came out of the gates strong and took the lead 10:18 into the game when a Tiger turnover and a bad line change sprung the Saints on a three-on-one. Brock McBride, who stole the Princeton clear, fed a pass to Kevin DeVergilio who scored on the shortside to make the score 1-0.
Princeton responded well with pressure of its own and knotted the game at 1-1 at 12:24 on the power play. Freshmen Lee Jubinville and Brett Wilson worked the puck deep in the St. Lawrence end and eventually fed the puck to Westgarth on the point. Westgarth let go a slapshot that changed direction in front of the net off of a St. Lawrence stick and went up and over the shoulder of Saints goaltender Kevin Ackley to tie the game at 1-1. Westgarth’s goal was his first of the season.
The Tigers then made the score 2-1 with 1:55 remaining in the opening period. This time it was Princeton pouncing on a St. Lawrence turnover. Junior Darroll Powe pried the puck away from St. Lawrence forward Kyle Rank and muscled a shot that was headed wide of the St. Lawrence goal, but Goeckner-Zoeller tipped it in behind Ackley for his fifth goal of the season. Princeton took the 2-1 lead to the locker room for intermission despite being outshot 11-9 in the period.
St. Lawrence scored the only goal of the second period on the power play. Mike Madill created the goal as he carried the puck out of his end. He stickhandled through the neutral zone around the Tiger players and, once in the zone, pulled up and fed John Zeiler who swiped the pass by Princeton goaltender Eric Leroux to make the score 2-2. St. Lawrence outshot Princeton, 10-9, in the period as the Tigers entered the third tied for the third-straight game.
St. Lawrence broke that tie at 7:12 when Simon Watson knocked a rebound of a Jamie Parker shot past Leroux. Parker carried the puck the length of the ice and took a shot from the top of the circle. Leroux made the initial save, but Watson won the race to the rebound and tallied his first goal of the season.
The Saints tightened up their defense from there and held off the Tigers for a 3-2 win. Princeton had one last chance as time expired but Ackley gloved Jubinville’s shot as the horn sounded at the game’s end.
Leroux finished the night with 27 saves while Ackley made 25 in the St. Lawrence goal.
Princeton fell to 2-6-0 overall with the loss and is now 1-5-0 in ECAC Hockey League play. St. Lawrence improved to 9-3-0 with the win and is 5-1-0 in league play.
