Saints, Golden Knights thrilled to be home

CANTON — St. Lawrence goalie Robby Moss didn't know he would start until the day before Friday night's game against the Rochester Institute of Technology at Appleton Arena.

"Coach told me yesterday in practice that I was going," Moss said. "I was able to get prepared yesterday and into today."

The sophomore made 42 saves as the Saints came from behind to beat RIT, 3-1, in s nonconference men's hockey game.

"You just try to prepare to play every game. Regardless of if you're not or if you are, you still have to prepare to be ready," Moss said. "I'm just glad I got the shot."

Moss's day didn't start so well. He allowed a goal to RIT's Adam Hartley 11 minutes, 32 seconds into the game.

"They got that goal, and I thought they really carried the play for a good portion of that first and into the second period," St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh said. "They broke the puck out real well and supported the puck really well."

St. Lawrence barely got shots away until midway through the second. In the first period alone, the Saints took only four shots. They mustered 20 for the game, while RIT fired 43 in at Moss.

"We did everything we could," RIT coach Wayne Wilson said. "I thought their goalie was tremendous. There was no second opportunities for us tonight."

The Tigers failed to capitalize on a crucial power-play opportunity that spanned from the end of the first period to 90 seconds into the second. RIT led 1-0 at the time.

"We were too rushed on the power play," Wilson said. "I would have liked to have seen better power plays. Sometimes the pucks have eyes and they go through different ways and find the back of the net, but tonight the goalie was real solid."

While Moss was stopping shots with his stick, snaring them with his glove, blocking them with his pads or even the odd skate-save, St. Lawrence worked for a break.

"They were playing well, so it was frustrating," SLU's Travis Vermeulen said. "We weren't playing how we could."

The Saints finally connected on a centering pass when Jared Keller found Mark Armstrong to tie it at 1-1, 15:35 into the second period.

"(The pressure) was starting to build up and when Mark Armstrong scored the first one, it was a big tension release," Vermeulen said.

Vermeulen took advantage of St. Lawrence's third-and-final power play 9:55 into the third period. His score proved to be the game-winner, giving the Saints a 2-1 lead.

"It was a good opportunity," Vermeulen said. "We got a good tip in front that came up to my stick, and I was lucky enough to put it away."

Then, with the lead, Moss really shined. He made 23 saves in the final period.

"He had a lot of big saves," Vermeulen said. "He did really well in the third period and kept us in there when we weren't helping him out too much."

Moss almost left with an injury after RIT desperately tried to squeeze a loose puck past him to knot it at 2-2.

"The guys were just jabbing at my pads," Moss said. "I thought I pulled something there for a second, but it turned out it was just them whacking it and I couldn't tell the difference."

He stayed in and made his biggest stop of the night shortly after.

"Right after I thought I got hurt. ... I thought (a shot) went through five-hole and went in," he said. "But I guess it hit my back skate. I just sprawled out and I guess it was underneath me, which was probably a big point in the game."

On top of stopping almost every shot in every way, Wilson said the defense moved the puck out of the zone quickly.

"Their defense did a great job around their own net not giving us any second whacks at it," he said. "And they capitalized on their power play. From a special teams standpoint, they got the one goal and that's the way it is."

Vermeulen netted his second goal on an empty net as the final horn sounded.

"That was a great hockey game," Marsh said. "I think it's important to win these types of games. We're not the type of team that's going to blow people out, but to know you're going to feel confident in games like this is important."

Moss, whose career performance was still setting in, said simply: "It's a big win."