Weaver in Waiting

Drew Weaver has seen his first goal maybe 100 times. He waited four years for it, after all.

But was it really his goal against Niagara last weekend?

“It’s actually up for debate,” he said. “We’ve been video replaying it over and over and over to see it.”

Jeremiah Cunningham took the initial shot on St. Lawrence second goal in a 4-3 loss to the Purple Eagles on Saturday.

“At full speed, it looks like it hit and then I didn’t know it,” Weaver said. “I was just going to the net hard. It’s tough to tell.”

Weaver, a senior, has appeared in six games in his career at St. Lawrence. He hadn’t recorded so much as an assist.

“I feel like I’ve done the work and done it the hard way,” he said. “Nothing with this program comes easy.”

Last year was the most difficult. Weaver, a forward, saw the ice only from the bench.

“It was tough knowing that every guy in the room was better than me and knowing that your name wasn’t going to be on the board,” he said. “I knew that our team was so good last year and that I wouldn’t get into a game.”

Prior to this year, Weaver hadn’t seen game action since a 3-2 SLU win over Princeton on March 1, 2008.

“He’s a kid that’s really stuck with it,” SLU coach Joe Marsh said. “He’s a great kid in our program and away from the program. He’s a fabulous guy. You root for a guy like that.”

Weaver’s been rewarded for his improvement with a 500 percent increase in playing time. That number can only increase.

“We’re not just throwing him in there because he’s a nice kid,” Marsh said. “He’s played pretty well when he’s been in there.”

Last Saturday, his hockey career culminated with an admittedly ugly goal.

“It was pretty scrappy,” Weaver said. “As soon as it happened, (Jeff) Caister came running at me and said, ‘That was you, that was you, that was you.’”

Weaver, a Jamestown native, also did it in front of his family and many of his friends, who live near Niagara’s campus in Lewiston. His brother, Doug is St. Lawrence’s equipment manager and saved the puck.

“That was the best part, that Dougie was there,” Weaver said. “There was a lot of family there, too.”

They’ll all remember it, as will Weaver, even when he become a small statistic in the mass of numbers from the 2009-10 season. For him, it was one game, one deflection (maybe), and a red siren.

“I guess I have to take it,” he said.

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