Third period rally falls short, Union tops SLU

CANTON — St. Lawrence nearly pulled off another come-from-behind win. Nearly.

The Saints scored two goals in the final period before suffering a 4-3 men's ECAC Hockey loss to Union on Friday at Appleton Arena.

"We knew they were going to make a charge late," Union coach Nate Leaman said. "We kind of bent there, but we didn't break."

Union build a 4-1 lead with three goals in the second period, including two via the power play. Again, it was special teams that hurt the Saints.

"I think early on, we were working hard and skating lots and we were able to draw a few penalties," St. Lawrence defenseman Derek Keller said. "Then, in the second period, we got away from skating. They out-skated us a little bit, and it reflected in us taking more penalties than them."

St. Lawrence took seven consecutive penalties, spanning from the end of the first period through the middle of the third.

Union benefited.

Mario Valery-Trabucco started the scoring with a power-play goal at 3 minutes, 57 seconds of the second period.

St. Lawrence made it 2-1 when Alex Curran scored 1:10 later.

But the Dutchmen responded with back-to-back tallies. Brian Yanovitch gave Union a 3-1 edge with his fourth goal of the year at the 10:25 mark, and Kelly Zajac followed with a power-play goal at 15:36, which proved the be the game-winner.

"That was really important," Yanovitch said of the two power-play goals. "All it took was getting pucks to the net. We have very good shooters at the point, and when we get pucks down low, things happen."

St. Lawrence, meanwhile, struggled to keep up, and when starting forward and top point-scorer Kyle Flanagan left with a shoulder injury in the third period, the Saints had even fewer options.

"We just got away from our game a little bit," Keller said. "We weren't getting pucks deep and pucks in our zone. When we start turning pucks over like that and taking penalties, it takes us out of our rhythm."

The Saints played much of the third without Flanagan, relying on Mike McKenzie, Brandon Bollig and Jeremiah Cunningham for the offense.

Bollig answered with a goal at 13:00 of the third to get the Saints to 4-2. Then Keller scored the Saints' only power-play goal in five chances at 17:01 to get within a goal.

"We were trying to work extra hard," St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh said. "Did they over exert themselves? Quite possibly."

The final three minutes, which was skated even-strength, came down to endurance, legs and poise for Union.

"The last couple of games, we kind of struggled in the third period," Yanovitch said. "Tonight, we tried not to panic."

Leaman stepped in with two minutes left during a St. Lawrence timeout to make sure Union stayed calm.

"St. Lawrence clearly had the momentum," he said. "I think the big thing was the last minute and a half when we didn't panic. The guys knew what they were doing."

The Saints came within inches of squeezing a puck by Union goalie Keith Kinkaid in the final minute, but narrowly missed the right post.

"It was close," Keller said. "We just didn't get the bounces, and that happens."

Union picked up its first win at Appleton Arena in nearly two years, and earned a precious two league points on the road.

"It's good to get out of here with the win," Leaman said. "Not too many teams do."

Union travels to Clarkson tonight, while St. Lawrence home with RPI. Both games will start at 7 p.m.