SLU's goalie triumvirate competes for time

St. Lawrence hockey coach Joe Marsh has a decision to make: Alex Petizian, Robby Moss or Kain Tisi.

All three goalies have seen time in net for the Saints this season. Last week, all three gave up multiple goals to Maine in a 10-1 loss. This week, each said he loves the competition.

"There's always someone trying to be better than the other person," Moss said. "Having two or three other goalies on your team is good because it causes competition you want to have in practice. It always makes you work harder and makes you want it more when you have a chance to prove yourself."

Said Petizian, "I like it because we're always battling for time and pushing each other. It's good in-team competition, but whoever plays, I hope we win."

That's the decision Marsh has to make: Who gives St. Lawrence the best chance in two of the most important games early in conference play? The Saints start their home-and-home series with Clarkson today at Appleton Arena.

"I don't know yet," Marsh said of who would start. "Even if I did, I think I'd keep that to myself."

While it's likely not a game-time decision, Marsh won't let outsiders know exactly who will start. Petizian has been the go-to goalie, but a rough outing against Maine — where he gave up five goals in the first period — and a 4-1 nonconference loss earlier this season to Clarkson has his starting chances in question.

"If coach decides to go back with me (tonight), that's going to be a huge confidence boost," Petizian said. "My confidence is good. I had a good game against Harvard and Princeton. I'm not worried about it. I know we'll have a good game."

Moss looks at his starting opportunity as a chance to move the Saints up in the ECAC Hockey standings and out of a tie for fourth place.

"It's going to be huge because if we win this weekend, we forget about last weekend," he said. "It's going to be a huge step forward for us."

Tisi isn't out of the mix either. He's been the third choice, but has played in six of St. Lawrence's 14 games and amassed over 200 minutes in net this season.

"I'd be honored to play," he said. "A win (tonight) erases everything we did on Saturday."

St. Lawrence has lost two straight games and returns home for the first time since Nov. 14. The Saints haven't dropped three in a row yet this season.

The last two losses could be attributed to having two of its top goal scorers out. Kyle Flanagan suffered a Grade 1 separated shoulder and Jeremiah Cunningham broke a rib.

Moss said having them out may have been detrimental, but every team has its low points.

"For every team on the way, there's always adversity on the climb up the hill," he said. "It is tough, and it will be nice to have them back."

When each went down, the initial plan was to get them healthy for the Clarkson series.

Flanagan said he probably could have played against Maine, but what was the point in that?

"There was really no sense playing," he said. "It was a nonleague game. I could go there and play and risk getting injured again or try to be 100 percent for Clarkson."

He added that it was frustrating watching and not playing, but that, ultimately, it was the right decision to wait for Clarkson.

"This is where it matters," he said. "Four points on the line for the weekend is huge."

Flanagan returned to full practice this week, but said he had been skating with Cunningham all along to make sure their endurance and legs stayed strong.

Cunningham has had less time to recover from the broken rib he suffered against Rensselaer, but said he feels good to go today.

"It's pretty sore, but it's getting better every day," he said. "It was broken and there nothing you can do really. I feel pretty good about it now, and I'm planning on playing."

St. Lawrence and Clarkson are slated to start at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Appleton Arena in Canton.

Sportswriter Daniel J. Cassavaugh covers St. Lawrence University men's hockey for the Times. For more coverage, visit his "Casstle of the Saints" blog online at watertowndailytimes.com. You may reach him at dcassavaugh@wdt.net.