In round one of a North Country battle, No. 17 Clarkson (10-5-1 overall, 4-2-0 ECACHL) defeated St. Lawrence (8-5-0 overall, 5-1-0 ECACHL) before 3525 fans at Cheel Arena by a score of 3-1.
“This was a high-energy game,” said Clarkson head coach George Roll. “I give St. Lawrence a lot of credit; they were a relentless group.”
The play was even until Shawn Weller started the Knights’ scoring with a power-play goal with seven seconds left in the first period. He stuffed a rebound past Saints goaltender Kain Tisi.
The Saints scored the equalizer at the 3:33 mark of the second period. Travis Vermeulen put in an odd-angled shorthanded goal, fooling Knights goaltender David Leggio.
“We had good focus — it was a good hard-fought game,” said St. Lawrence head coach Joe Marsh.
At the 11:05 mark of the second period, Weller appeared to have scored the go-ahead goal. However, that was not the case as referee Peter Feola went upstairs for review, resulting in the goal being nullified.
Just minutes later, Shea Guthrie netted Clarkson’s game winning goal off an assist by Mike Grenzy. Guthrie drove the puck to the net and let a wrist shot go from the top of the slot, beating Tisi stick-side.
At 19:35 of the third period, Weller ended the Saints’ run with an open-net goal, ensuring the Knights’ victory.
Leggio continued his strong showing in net with 31 saves.
“We have earned a well-deserved break; we have shown signs of fatigue,” said Roll.
