Persistence produces Saints sweep

POTSDAM — How sweet of a sweep it was for the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team.

The Saints countered a workmanlike effort from Clarkson to edge the Golden Knights 2-1 on Sunday before 3,224 at Cheel Arena. St. Lawrence (10-9-1 overall) not only won both nonconference games on the weekend, but it's the Saints' first series sweep of the Golden Knights since the 2004-05 season.

But the Saints greeted their two wins with cautious optimism. The celebration in the locker room was subdued. St. Lawrence's toughest stretch of the season is still ahead with 14 ECAC Hockey games left on the schedule.

"It's something to build on, but we can't get too caught up in it," SLU coach Joe Marsh said. "It's a nonconference game. We did this to help ourselves out. Honestly, we were lucky to come out of here with a win."

The differences between Clarkson's performance in a four-goal loss Saturday and Sunday were stark. The Golden Knights (3-13-4) hit the Saints with fervor and force from the opening faceoff, and they took their shots at SLU starting goaltender Alex Petizian. But a resilient forecheck during a two-minute sequence allowed St. Lawrence to briefly keep the puck in its offensive end. The result was defenseman Matt Generous scoring the game's first goal nearly nine minutes in.

Clarkson pressured St. Lawrence with a two-man advantage later in the frame. While an initial hooking penalty by Generous was killed by the Saints, Golden Knights senior Chris D'Alvise connected on a one-timer to even the score at 14:07.

"I think we were embarrassed last night," said Clarkson coach George Roll. "I think we didn't show much down (in Canton). We needed to come out and get some momentum."

The Golden Knights continued to swarm around Petizian in the second period, but a hustle play from St. Lawrence's Jared Keller helped the Saints gain the definitive edge. The sophomore forward intercepted an attempted clear by Clarkson goalie Paul Karpowich and got the puck toward the net. After teammate Brock McBride couldn't get his shot to go, Keller swept in for the rebound and scored his third goal of the season.

"He's tough, he's smart and gives you everything he has," Marsh said. "He is the epitome of the type of players we want to have."

A combined seven players from both teams were put in the penalty box almost six minutes later. After McBride skated into Karpowich following a whistle, a quick scrum ensued, and the Golden Knights were given another two-man advantage. The Saints survived, however, as D'Alvise hit the post, and Clarkson let two pucks out of its offensive zone.

"They didn't get a couple breaks," Marsh said. "They hit a couple posts that were like bullets. You could probably hear them all the way back to Appleton (Arena)."

The penalty-killing units were instrumental in St. Lawrence's ability to close out the sweep. The Saints were dealt three infractions in the third period. But with consistent duress up front from SLU forwards Alex Curran, Aaron Bogosian, Travis Vermeulen and others, the Saints were able to repel the Golden Knights' final charge. Petizian also finished with 24 saves.

"It was just discipline," Curran said. "They got their chances, and we knew we had to get on the (defensive) side of things. Don't be fancy, just keep it simple, and we'll win. That's how we beat these guys tonight."

All Clarkson needed was one goal to forge one more tie, and perhaps, relieve itself from its current slump. For the ninth time this season, the Golden Knights were held to one goal or less. After beating second-ranked Miami on Jan. 2, Clarkson has dropped three straight games.

"Goals are hard to come by for us right now," Roll said. "I thought we did a better job getting to the net and creating down low. We just couldn't convert."