Second period noets

Saints fail to score on the PP. Petizian made a nice save on a potential Brown shorthanded goal.

SLU goes on the PP. Their third of the game. Sean McMonagle to the box for elbow to the head.

Brown's power play continues to be atrocious. They aren't getting shots and SLU is getting pretty good bids.

Hughes to the box for hooking.

Still skating about even. Not a whole lot of hard checks. It has the feel of one of the those baseball games down in Florida.

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First period impressions

There isn't a whole lot of atmosphere and a light crowd might have something to do with it. These consolations games are for the seniors and for the fans. Last year, it mattered for the Saints and a win would have sent them to the NCAA Tournament. Not this year. The players seem to be having fun. Pat Kelliher has whiffed on a couple pass attempts, drawing chuckles from the guys on the bench.

Petizian is playing well. We'll see how the mood is after the game.

Brown doesn't seem to be playing with any fire. They've played four scoreless periods in Albany this weekend and there doesn't seem to be an immediate end to that.

First period notes

Flanagan couldn't get his stick on a spinning puck in the crease. If he did, it's 1-0. 3:16 to play in the first.

Brown goes on the PP again. Raley to the box for hooking.

Bollig missed a shot from the slot after a nice feed. Rosen, the senior goalie, saved it with the blocker.

Another SLU power play coming as Carden was cross checked.

Unless Petizian gives up around 5 goals, he'll have the school's career GAA record.

Saints don't score on a return power play and goalie Alex Petizian makes a couple nice saves as Brown returns to full strength.

On Brown's first PP, the Saints had better scoring chances. They came to play, especially the seniors for whom this is their last game.

Should be a fun game. Neither team has anything to play for, so this will be a game of pride and fun for the fans.

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The Saints and Bears start play at 4 p.m. For the first time in SLU seniors' careers, the consolation game will have no bearing on their season. This year, the Saints do not have a chance at the NCAA Tournament. However, it can get a 20-win season for the 14th time in school history. Coach Joe Marsh has had 12 of them.

Starters

SLU: This will be the last career game for all the St. Lawrence starters.

Forwards: Mike McKenzie, Travis Vermeulen, Alex Curran.

Defense: Jeff Caister, Derek Keller

Goalie: Alex Petizian.

Brown:

Forwards: Aaron Volpatti, Devin Timberlake, Jordan Pietrus.

Defense: Sean McMonagle, Jeff Buvinow.

Goalie: Dan Rosen.

Third Period notes

Goal Union 4.9 seconds left on an empty net. Game over.

2:27 left... when to pull Tisi

St. Lawrence failed to score on a power play and are still down 2-1 with 7:13 remaining.

Goal Union A weak roller deflected in the crease by Adam Presizniuk gives Union a 2-1 lead with 10:34 to play.

SLU hits the pipe. Refs not going to review it.

Saints fail to score on the power play.

PP SLU coming.

Kinkaid makes a nice stop, but St. Lawrence is controlling the pace early in the third with the score knotted at 1-1.

I will be taping much of the third, so my comments will be limited. I'll be sure to give score updates.

Second period impressions

See what happens when you pick up the intensity? Not a bad result. Derek Keller scores his 10th of the season with a beautiful move in the slot. Kinkaid is standing on his head tonight, but that one he had no chance. Now to the third, where emotions will be high for both teams.

St. Lawrence notched dagger No. 1 in this one, however. Keller scored with just 25 seconds left in the period.

Looking ahead to the third and I think this is now SLU's to win. The momentum is their way, they've woken up offensively. The last five minutes of the second period was exactly how they played against Clarkson in Game 3 and Colgate in both wins. Big 20 minutes ahead for both teams. Cornell awaits the winner tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

Second period notes

Goal SLU Derek Keller - awesome move in the slot, went top-shelf on Kinkaid.

The Saints are starting to pick up the intensity, perhaps feeling that without a goal their season is over in 20 minutes.

Saints don't get it. They barely get a shot. Awesome PK for Union.

SLU finally goes on the PP. Big chance here with 5 minutes left in the second period.

Bogosian missed a shot in the slot and Kinkaid turns the Saints aside on the rebound effort.

Kinkaid is playing out of his mind. He just made another stop on Caister's attempted pass to McKenzie through the crease.

Tisi got caught out of position but somehow Union doesn't get the second goal.

I'm not sure if SLU is just feeling the pressure of Albany or what, but the Saints aren't looking themselves in the second period.

A lot of little mistakes are hurting the Saints right now. It's not necessarily ending in a goal, but it's preventing SLU from getting zone time.

Keller goes coast-to-coast but Kinkaid stones him at the other end.

Saints are still sitting back too much in my opinion. They're letting Union do what they want.

Saints back to full strength. A bad no-call should have SLU on the PP. Bogosian was dragged down right in front of one of the officials. Still no penalties on Union.

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First period impressions

St. Lawrence came out with a lot of fire, but that died off quickly once Union scored first. The Saints started to sit back and play defensive hockey instead of attacking like they have all season. I would imagine Joe Marsh will say the same thing to them. This period was fairly even on the ice, and if it wasn't for a failed clear, Union wouldn't have a goal.

That said, Kinkaid has been awesome in net for Union. The Saints have to come out more aggressive and taking more shots on net instead of wild shots near Kinkaid. He's not covering up and rebounds are there.

For a team that's never been to Albany, Union is playing sensationally.

First period notes

Bollig to the box. PP Union. The Dutchmen have yet to pick up a penalty.

The Saints seem to be playing more on the defensive than really attacking Union.

Vermeulen goes offsides with SLU on a 3-on-2 rush. Maybe a missed opportunity to get some momentum back.

St. Lawrence is starting to get more extended zone time but they still can't figure out Kinkaid.

Two great saves from Kain Tisi keeps it 1-0. Union has the crowd and the momentum. St. Lawrence needs an answer before the end of the period.

Goal Union St. Lawrence didn't clear it right as the PP ended and Luke Cain put it away.

Union goes on the PP with McKenzie whistled for hooking.

Hughes nearly deflected a shot in, but it skidded just wide-right.

The Saints are getting much better scoring opportunities, but it appears that Kinkaid came to play tonight. Should be a good one with both goalies playing well.

Tisi is playing well for the Saints. He's already made several nice saves. St. Lawrence is getting their chances as Union seems to be a little slow to the puck.

The Saints are starting to gain some control of the puck but still can't get a score. Bollig rifled a one-timer right into Kinkaid's chest.

The Dutchmen are coming after the Saints here hard early, but St. Lawrence is standing tough.

St. Lawrence has a few fans here, but it's obvious the crowd is heavily on Union's side.

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Albany is buzzing this weekend and Cornell just ended Brown's playoff run with a 3-0 victory. The Big Red will be watching St. Lawrence and Union play to see who will challenge for the ECAC Tournament championship.

Game time will be 7:15 p.m.

Here are your starters:

SLU:

Forwards: Mike McKenzie, Travis Vermeulen, Alex Curran

Defense: Jeff Caister, Derek Keller

Goalie: Kain Tisi.

Union:

Forwards: Adam Presizniuk, Jason Walters, Mario Valery-Trabucco

Defense: Brock Matheson, Ryan Forgaard.

Goalie: Keith Kinkaid.

Jeff Caister, Derek Keller and Jared Keller took issue with Pat Kelliher's interview last week. I suggest watching that before you watch this.

St. Lawrence University senior forward Travis Vermeulen won the ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Forward award, the conference announced on Wednesday.

Vermeulen beat out Cornell's Joe Scali and Aaron Volpatti from Brown. For the Saints this season, Vermeulen recorded career highs in points (41), goals (17) and assists (24) all while leading the team in face off percentage and playing a major role on penalty kills and power plays.

Earlier this year, head coach Joe Marsh called him "the best defensive forward he's ever coached." He is the fifth St. Lawrence player to win the award.

With Brown's stunning win over Yale and Union's triumph over Quinnipiac in a record-setting series, St. Lawrence will face Union in the night game Friday in Albany.

Brown will be up against Cornell in hopes of continuing its remarkable run in the ECAC Hockey tournament. The Bears finished the regular season 11th and knocked off RPI and Yale to advance to the semifinals.

St. Lawrence, meanwhile, toppled Clarkson in round one and swept Colgate in the quarterfinals.

Now, the Saints have one game to avenge two regular-season losses to Union. The Dutchmen, under ECAC Coach of the Year Nate Leaman, beat the Saints 4-3 and 4-2.

The teams have not met in the playoffs since 2001 when St. Lawrence swept Union.

A full preview will come later in the week. The puck drops at 7 p.m. pending the conclusion time of the afternoon game between Cornell and Brown.

St. Lawrence can take an easy Sunday while Yale and Union each face a Game 3 tonight to decide the final two teams into the ECAC Hockey semifinals. The tournament will reseed tonight once the winners are decided. Here is what St. Lawrence is looking at for opponents.

If Yale and Union win: St. Lawrence will face Yale. The Saints are 1-1 against the Bulldogs this season. SLU won, 4-2, at home and lost, 7-5, at Yale.

If Yale and Quinnipiac win: St. Lawrence will face Cornell. The Saints lost and tied the Big Red this season. SLU tied, 1-1, at home and lost, 2-1, on the road.

If Brown and Union win: St. Lawrence will play Union. This is possibly the worst matchup for the Saints. They gave up four goals in each game against the Dutchmen in both regular season games. St. Lawrence lost both. The first was 4-3 and then 4-2.

If Brown and Quinnipiac win: St. Lawrence will play Quinnipiac. The Saints also lost both regular season games and were shutout in one. Quinnipiac won the first 5-2 and then 5-0.

Yale vs. Brown and Quinnipiac vs. Union start tonight at 7 p.m.

Here are the video highlights and interviews from St. Lawrence's 4-3 win over Colgate to advance to the ECAC Hockey semifinals in Albany.

Matt Raley

Mike McKenzie (I apologize for confusion Colgate with Union twice in this. Apparently my ESP thinks Union's the next opponent)

Game Highlights (In chronological order)

McKenzie makes it 2-1

Drewiske makes it 3-3

Raley's game-winner

SLU celebrates heading to the lockerroom.

Third period notes

Goal SLU - Matt Raley.

Goal SLU - Drewiske

8 minutes to go...

Goal Colgate - Thomas Larkin on the PP

Now D. Keller goes to the box for obstruction/tripping.

Just an awesome PK for St. Lawrence. SLU back to full strength.

Gate goes on the PP... big PK here for the saints.

GoalSLU Nick Pitsikoulis off a rebound.

Caister is back in the game. Good news for Sainst fans.

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Second period impressions

St. Lawrence has much to be pleased about. They outskated the Raiders that period. Although they didn't tie the game, they did get back within one. Tisi continues to play well.

The Saints need to keep up their aggression and pressure the Raiders if they want to tie it up or win. They also have to stay out of the box. They gave two penalties -- 5 for the game -- this period. Colgate has taken a lot of penalties (6 last night, 5 tonight). If SLU can stay out of the penalty, Colgate will pick up at least one this period and possibly open the door. Check McKenzie's goal vid below.

Second period notes

SLU goes on the PP again. Fourth of the period. Just like last night.

St. Lawrence is starting to play like they did to end last night's game. I expect a tying score inside of three minutes here in the second.

Saints fail to score on the PP. Bollig had a decent look but couldn't pull the trigger. 4:30 to play.

Power play SLU - Caister was railed into the boards. He got up slow. We'll see if he returns.

Penalty on SLU - Jeff Caister.

Goal SLU Who else but Mike McKenzie?

Penalty on Ethan Cox. SLU on the PP

St. Lawrence appears to have finally gotten rid of its penalty problems. Too bad they've already given up two PP goals.

Gate back to full strength. St. Lawrence is losing a lot of battles but slowly getting more zone time. Need to score the next goal.

SLU goes on the PP finally.

Goal Colgate - Price again... this one off a rebound.

And now Flanagan heads to the box for two minutes for a hold. Not sure about that one. Colgate goes to a 4-on-3.

Matching minors to both teams on a face off. 4-on-4 for two minutes.

Alex Evin needed only four saves that period. Tisi had 12. Shows you what those penalties do to a team.

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First period impressions

St. Lawrence didn't match Colgate's intensity early on and took some uncharacteristic penalties. Two hooking calls and an interference. All of them in the neutral zone or COLGATE'S own zone. Not good at all.

The Saints need to find the fire and stop taking penalties. I suspect Marsh is telling them the same thing. The energy just wasn't there and Colgate finally ended it's long drought on the PP against SLU.

Saints aren't attacking enough and are sitting back, letting Colgate control the tempo and zone time. Part of that is the penalties and part of that is just playing carelessly.

A lot of hockey left, but Marsh has to be concerned with t he lack of urgency felt amongst the Saints. I guarantee you St. Lawrence does not want to come back tomorrow.

The did, after all, check out of their hotel this morning.

First period notes

The Saints are simply taking too many penalties... and close together. Tisi has made some incredible saves, but one finally got through on a shot from the blue line.

Goal Colgate - Jeremy Price and SLU picks up another penalty.

SLU goes back on the PK. Klancher to the box for hooking. Easy call after an unforced Gate turnover in their own end.

The Saints looked really good on the PK. Colgate, although they moved the puck well, only got one shot on Tisi.

Colgate goes on the PP as Raley heads to the box for interference.

The Saints are getting a ton of zone time, but aren't getting a lot of shots to the net.

Both teams are skating fairly even as we skate 7 minutes into the first period.

Bollig missed a good chance as he skated by a defender but a nice save by Evin.

A bad start to the power play and St. Lawrence fails to score on it. That wasn't a result of a good PK by Colgate. The Saints look a little out of sync. Tisi is playing well though.

Penalty just 36 seconds into the game against Colgate.

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No real changes from last night. The guys spent the morning in Syracuse, where they're staying in a hotel, touring the Carmelo Anthony Basketball Center on the Syracuse University campus. Everyone was thoroughly impressed.

Here are your starters

Officials: Scott Whittlemore (R); Tim Kotyra (R); William Lyons (L); Matt Brolsma (L).

SLU:

Forwards: Mike McKenzie, Travis Vermeulen, Alex Curran

Defensemen: Jeff Ciaster, Derek Keller

Goalie: Kain Tisi

Colgate

Forwards: Matt Firman, Ethan Cox, Jason Williams

Defensemen: Wade Poplawski, Thomas Larkin

Goalie: Alex Evin

Here are the video highlights and interviews from St. Lawrence's 2-1 win over Colgate.

Mike McKenzie

Kain Tisi

Aaron Bogosian

GOALS

BOGO's

Third period notes

Penalty SLu with a minute left

Goal SLU Mike McKenzie

Colgate picks up another penalty.

Saints looked a little better on the power play but still aren't getting the chances they needed. 6 minutes to play.

Saints go on the PP with 9 minutes to play.

Saints kill the penalty. Nice job again. That is at least working in an otherwise weak effort tonight.

Penalty SLU Klancher again.

Saints are looking good about five minutes into the period. Controlling the puck and zone time. they killed the PP.

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Second period impressions

Colgate woke up in the second period despite giving SLU there power plays. I would imagine Joe Marsh will give it to his guys in the locker room about scoring -- or at least playing effectively -- during the power play. It's was absolutely abysmal in the second period. They nearly gave up two shorties.

Tisi is playing excellent for St. Lawrence in net. Yes, he's given up one goal. But he hasn't had an easy save and St. Lawrence is not blocking any shots. This will be a pretty wild third period upcoming.

Colgate wins the second period. St. Lawrence had it in the first. If Colgate stays out of the box and St. Lawrence continues to sit back, the Raiders will take Game 1. SLU has to start blocking shots and controlling the puck when they get a power play.

Colgate will start the third period on the man-advantage. Hughes and Brian Day both were whistled for roughing after Vermeulen got a holding the stick penalty. A bit of confusion on the ice and in the press box as to what actually happened. Anyway, Colgate has a power play for a minute to start the third. There can be some good momentum gained for SLU with a stop.

Second period notes

They also whistled Vermeulen for holding a stick. Both players in the box.

SLU gets another PP on a wild scrum in front of Tisi. Brian Day heads to the box

Goal Colgate - Just after the penalty ended it was Austin Smith on a deflected shot that went right to his stick just the Tisi's left.

Klancher goes to the box, giving Colgate a PP.

SLU is not playing well with the man advantage. This time they didn't even get a shot off.

Colgate is starting to pick it up here a little bit, but ANOTHER penalty puts SLU back on the PP. Don Vaughan cannot be happy with three penalties this period and we're just over halfway.

The Saints have missed two opportunities this period to go up 2-0. This has the makings to come back and bite them, but Tisi is playing very well in net for SLU.

Another brutal PP for the Saints. They don't get a shot and they almost give up a shorty.

Saints go on the PP again. This time it's Thomas Larkin to the box.

Not a great PP for St. Lawrence. They only got a couple shots and spent most of the time in the neutral zone.

SLU goes on the PP just 1:20 into the second.

It looks as though the Colgate Raiders have a little bit of rust with not playing for a couple weeks. St. Lawrence is just controlling everything.

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First period impressions

St. Lawrence was clearly the better team in the first period. However, it's defense has been almost too offensive minded. They gave up at least three odd-man rushes and relied on Tisi to make the saves (which he did). This could easily be 2-1 if it weren't for Tisi.

Colgate has to do a better job on the PP. They have gone at least a dozen straight against SLU without a power-play goal.

St. Lawrence needs to keep the aggression going.

First period notes

GOAL SLU: Aaron Bogosian. Awesome move, unassisted. 17:07

Tisi makes a couple nice saves and Colgates PP does not look good. They're making a lot of unforced errors. SLU kills a second penalty.

Saints go on PK. Pitsikoulis with a slashing penalty.

Armstrong missed a good chance on a rebound. Still scoreless as Evin covers up.

Back to full strength and Tisi makes an unbelievable save on a 2-on-1.

Tisi makes a couple nice saves on SLU's penalty kill and STUPID penalty taken by Wade Poplawski makes it 4-on-4 for 1:18 then a SLU power play.

Penalty SLU - Curran.

Nearly the 7 minute mark and no one is getting much of anything. Colgate has taken about three shots on Tisi, while SLU put about five on net.

Starr Rink has a fair amount of people on hand, but no one is making noise. You'd think this was practice, not a game.

Tisi hasn't has to do much. St. Lawrence getting a lot of zone time right now. A lot less intensity in this rink than Appleton last weekend.

A back and forth game here early. Only one shot on goal through the opening two minutes. St. Lawrence appears to have an early edge in puck possession.

The all-time series is knotted at 15-15-2. St. Lawrence has won the last four meetings. It should be a good series. Just about underway.

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It is collllld inside Starr Rink as Colgate and St. Lawrence are both starting to slowly loosen up and prepare for the 7 p.m. start.

I have the video camera tonight and will provide what video I can between periods.

Officials: Scott Whittlemore (R); Tim Kotrya (R); Wiliam Lyons (L); Matt Broisma (L)

Starters

SLU:

Forwards: Mike McKenzie, Travis Vermeulen, Alex Curran

Defensemen: Jeff Caister, Derek Keller

Goalie: Kain Tisi

Colgate:

Forwards: Francois Brisebois, David McIntyre, Austin Smith

Defensmen: Jeremy Price, Kevin McNamara

Goalie: Alex Evin.

CANTON — St. Lawrence University men's hockey team experienced a quick turnaround from an unforgettable three-game series against Clarkson this week.

The Saints advanced to the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals against Colgate this weekend after playing two overtime games and winning the decisive third game in the final 90 seconds.

"It was such an intense series," coach Joe Marsh said. "That alone prepares you for what you need to have. It's worth probably a month of practice."

Forced to play through Sunday, the Saints have a shortened week of practice before traveling to Colgate to start their next series.

"We're trying to recover from the weekend," St. Lawrence forward Mike McKenzie said. "Usually you get a Sunday off throughout the year. It tires you out a little more, but we're all ready to go."

The Raiders, however, earned a bye and haven't played since Feb. 27. Marsh said that doesn't necessarily matter as long as the Saints continue to practice well.

"You try and establish some sort of pattern or agenda to stick to," he said. "It's about getting hot and sustaining it."

Practice this week was short — little more than an hour each day — and the team worked on minor execution and fundamentals more than any changes in game plan.

"We want to emphasize the quality, not the quantity of the practice," Marsh said. "We had a good skate on Monday to kind of flush out the weekend a little bit. We're not going to affect any monumental changes in strategy."

Nor should St. Lawrence. What it's done against Colgate in the last two years seems to work. The Saints beat Colgate twice last season. This year, it was more of the same. St. Lawrence won 4-0 at Appleton Arena and finished Colgate in overtime, 3-2, at Starr Rink.

"We definitely have confidence going into Colgate's place," McKenzie said. "We've played pretty well at Starr the last couple years."

The last time St. Lawrence faced Colgate in the playoffs was in 2008. The Saints won Game 1 but lost the next two at Colgate to end the season. Marsh doesn't believe Colgate is that different a team from two years ago and sweeping the Raiders in consecutive regular seasons means nothing.

"You can't say 'Hey, we beat them twice,'" Marsh said. "It's hard to beat a team four times (in a season). I think our guys know it's a whole new ballgame."

That doesn't mean the confidence is lacking. Travis Vermeulen, a finalist for the ECAC Defensive Forward of the Year award, said winning will be a matter of consistency.

"We just have to maintain the things we did right (against Clarkson)," he said. "We understand that Colgate's a pretty good team and they finished the season on a pretty good note."

The Raiders overtook St. Lawrence in the final four games of the season to earn fourth place in the conference and a first-round bye. The Saints aren't worried about that now, having won three of their last four games heading into the Colgate series.

"We're confident but not overconfident," McKenzie said. "We enjoyed (the Clarkson win) for a day or so. It's in the back of our heads still, but we gotta move on from that and keep things rolling."

AWARDS SEASON

The ECAC award nominations continue to trickle in as the conference championship approaches.

So far, three awards have been announced and St. Lawrence has a man in the running in all of them.

Vermeulen was selected as a finalist for the Defensive Forward of the Year after setting career highs in goals (17), assists (23) and points (40) this season. Marsh has called him "the best defensive forward I've ever coached."

"I think that's a strong part of my game," Vermeulen said. "It's nice to get recognition for that."

Derek Keller is in the hunt for Best Defensive Defenseman, and coach Joe Marsh is up for Coach of the Year.

The latest in the "Get to Know a Saint" series in St. Lawrence University senior Pat Kelliher. Enjoy.

The postseason accolades continue to trickle in for the Saints. The ECAC announced today the finalists for the Defensive Defensman of the Year.

Not surprisingly, Derek Keller is one of the four. Keller captained the Saints this year and led a defensive corps that finished fourth in the league in team goals against average. He led the ECAC in goals with nine, which is his career high. He scored six of his nine goals during the power play.

St. Lawrence University senior forward Travis Vermeulen has been nominated for the ECAC's Best Defensive Forward.

Vermeulen reached a career high in goals (17), assists (23) and points (40) this season, leading the Saints in all three categories. He also reached a +11 rating this season.

St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh has called Vermeulen "the best defensive forward I've ever coached."

Here is the latest in the ongoing series "Get to Know a Saint." Last week, I spoke with Matt Raley.

The ECAC Hockey conference announced today the finalists for the Tim Taylor Coach-of-the-Year award.

St. Lawrence University head coach Joe Marsh is one of the four. He guided the Saints to a fifth-place regular season finish after the coaches picked St. Lawrence to finish 10th in the ECAC. The Saints also beat Clarkson in a playoff series for the first time in Marsh's head-coaching career on Sunday.

Marsh joins Keith Allain (Yale), Nate Leaman (Union) and Don Vaughan (Colgate) as finalists. Marsh is a four-time winner of the award.

St. Lawrence defeated Clarkson in a playoff series for the first time since 1983 with a 3-2 win on Sunday. Here are the video highlights and interviews from the game.

INTERVIEWS

Mike McKenzie:

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Rick Carden:

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Kain Tisi:

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HIGHLIGHTS

Caister starts the scoring:

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McKenzie's game-winner (It happens right at the start of the video, within the first two seconds. Just rewind it or restart it once the full video loads to see it.)

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SLU celebrates on the ice

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SLU celebrates coming into the locker room (I have only linked to this do to some strong, celebratory language.)

Here are the videos from Clarkson's 4-3 win over St. Lawrence to force game three in the ECAC Hockey first round.

Mark Borowiecki scores the game's first goal

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Bogosian tied the game at 1-1

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Mike McKenzie gives SLU a 3-2 lead

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Nick Tremblay answers

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Morley's game-winner

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Morley's interview

Here is the long-awaited video highlights and interviews from St. Lawrence's 3-2 overtime win over Clarkson University.

Aaron Bogosian

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Brandon Bollig

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Aaron Bogosian's game-winner

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Borowiecki's Game-tying goal

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Curran's goal

Overtime

Goal Bogosian

Because this is an ECAC tournament, the overtime will last 20 minutes and be sudden death.

Third period notes

We are headed to overtime.

Thins have become a bit of a horse race here late. everyone is flying all over the ice.

Petizian makes a great glove save on a Clarkson shot to keep it 2-2.

Saints fail to score on the pwer play.

SLU goes right back on the power play as Jake Morley is whistled for tripping.

Goal Clarkson - Borowiecki

Carden heads to the box for a elbow to the head.

Derek Keller has made several great defensive plays one-on-one against Clarkson defenders. He is playing very well for the Saints.

Second period impressions

UPDATED GOAL INFO: Alex Curran was credited with the score, while Vermeulen got the assist along with Hughes.

St. Lawrence played a full 20 minutes that period and it showed, getting two power plays and one goal to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. Petizian is playing very well. He made a few great saves when St. Lawrence gave the puck away either in their own zone or in the neutral zone.

The Saints are putting lots of traffic in front of Karpowich, which is leading to a lot of point-blank opportunities. St. Lawrence took advantage of one with a scramble in front that Vermeulen (how good as he been this year?) put away for the go-ahead score.

If St. Lawrence has the gas to go the final 20 minutes, they should come out with the win. Clarkson is having trouble maintaining puck possession and is starting to pick up frustration penalties as a result. So far, the Golden Knights have three penalties, while St. Lawrence took just one this game.

Second period notes

Clarkson fails to score on a power play. They did have some good chances though.

Goal SLU Curran PP.

Penalty Clarkson - Brian Rufenach for tripping.

It's a pretty frantic pace right now as neither team really appears to have an advantage as the second period continues with 13

St. Lawrence almost looked like they were on a PP again with a full 40 seconds in the offensive zone.

Petizian made a few nice saves on a barrage after the Saints gave the puck away in the neutral zone.

Saints fail to score on the power play.

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First period impressions

St. Lawrence dominated much of the first period, but a late onslaught from Clarkson in the Saints' zone has the game tied at 1-1. Clarkson, really, should be ahead. Golden Knights forward Matt Beca tripped on an official's skate giving SLU a 2-on-1 attack in Clarkson's zone. The result was a Bollig score just 40 seconds into the game.

Clarkson didn't give in, nor did it play any less aggressively. The final five minutes of the period was all Clarkson. The Golden Knights fired eight shots at Petizian in the second half of the period, one of which finally got through. Petizian had struggled controlling the rebounds, but it didn't burn him until Brandon DeFazio backhanded a loose rebound in the slot to Petizian's stick side.

Petizian isn't opting to cover up anything. He's trying to keep the flow of the game going, but he had an opportunity to cover before the DeFazio goal. Instead, he slapped the puck away with his stick, and it went right to DeFazio.

St. Lawrence will have 49 seconds left on a power play as Clarkson's Lauri Tuohimaa was whistled for hooking. The Saints haven't had too many good chances during the PP.

Prediction: Petizian will start covering up anything he can in the second period and St. Lawrence is going to get back to the aggressive play it start with this game. When the Saints sat on their heels for a moment, Clarkson took advantage.

First period notes

SLU goes on the PP

Goal Clarkson DeFazio of a loose rebound to Petizian's stick side.

The pace has slowed a little as we near the final few minutes of the first period, but SLU is still controlling just about every aspect of this game.

It's been a pretty clean game despite the high intensity and high emotions.

Clarkson is starting to show some life, definitely not letting SLU run away with anything. Good news, Hughes is back out and didn't miss a shift.

Hughes may of turned an ankle or tweaked a knee. He can barely stand as he heads to the bench.

Midway through the first period and it's still all SLU. Clarkson has taken all of two shots on net so far, while St. Lawrence has bombarded Karpowich with a flurry of shots.

St. Lawrence is all over Clarkson here in the early going, just dominating zone time and possession right now. Karpowich didn't stand a chance on Bollig's goal.

Goal SLU Brandon Bollig after Beca tripped by an official.

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I have the camera today, so I'll be uploading what goals and interesting tidbits I manage to capture in between periods. The students at SLU are on break, so the student section is fairly empy. The rest of the house, however, is packed. Puck drops in about six minutes.

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Continuing with tradition this season, student equipment manager Doug Weaver and trainer Bob Mowry duplicate the pregame puck art from St. Lawrence's win over Harvard last game. Check the image on the right.

Starters

SLU:

Forwards: Mike McKenzie, Travis Vermeulen, Alex Curran

Defense: Jeff Caister, Derek Keller

Goalie: Alex Petizian

Clarkson:

Forwards: Brandon DeFazio, Louke Oakley, Scott Freeman

Defense: Mark Borowiecki, Andrew Himelson

Goalie: Paul Karpowich.

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The quiet hum of the lights inside Appleton Arena is eerie as I have arrived entirely too early for a game that means entirely too much to the two schools vying for added playoff life.

We're a little over two hours away from gametime and nary a player to be found. Fans, however, have already begun trickling into the arena lobby, waiting for the doors to open at 6 p.m. There are no starters to announce yet, so I'm going to enjoy the calm and anticipate the first postseason match-up between Clarkson and St. Lawrence since 2001. Epic is a good word that comes to mind.

Updates will follow as we near the 7 p.m. start.

Joe Marsh has experienced plenty during his 25-year tenure as head coach at St. Lawrence University. Hosting Clarkson in the playoffs isn't one of them.

But that's where the Saints stand, currently, as the Golden Knights travel the 10 miles from Potsdam to Appleton Arena on Friday.

“Isn't that amazing?” Marsh said. “That's because they've been ahead of us. We've gone over there.”

In eight previous playoff series, Clarkson has been the victor against SLU. Those were all at Cheel Arena.

“We'd rather be here than over there,” St. Lawrence forward Mike McKenzie said. “You can't count on home ice advantage, though. They're a 12th-place team, but in rivalry games, that seems to erase seedings.”

The Saints beat, lost and tied Clarkson in their three meetings this season, two of which were played at Cheel Arena. St. Lawrence's lone win came away from Appleton, where it boasts an 8-3-4 record.

“(Clarkson) is a much better team than how they ended up,” Marsh said. “I think they're a very dangerous team.”

St. Lawrence isn't feeling the pressure from the fans or the playoffs, however. The Saints are looking at it as a chance to keep their season alive.

“This is opportunity. It's not pressure,” Marsh said. “We know them better than anybody else. (But) with rivalry comes that great equalizing kind of factor. You never know how it's going to play out.”

Clarkson's season was marked with illness and injury, but in February, the Golden Knights won three games — more than they had the previous three months combined.

“They were really struggling and finding ways to lose,” McKenzie said. “Now, it seems like they're finding ways to win.”

Said Marsh: “There's a reason why they had a tough year in the regular season. I think they're a better team than what people think. They had a better month of February than we had.”

St. Lawrence managed one win — the last of the regular season — in Feb. The Saints went 1-4-3 in its last eight games. Getting a win to finally end the streak has boosted the Saints as they head into the ECAC Hockey first round.

“Just to get that one under our belt — it didn't mean a ton in the standings really — was huge to get a little confidence,” McKenzie said. “When it comes down to it, both teams have to play their game and play their shifts.”

This best of three series is also a new experience for everyone on the ice. No player from Clarkson or St. Lawrence has faced each other in the playoffs. The last time the two schools met in the postseason was in 2001.

“It's something unique; It's something that's going to be crazy,” senior Jeff Caister said. “There's going to be a ton of energy in the building from both teams.”

RALEY ART

St. Lawrence junior Matt Raley likes to draw, compose and synthesize images and put them on skateboards, sketchbooks, canvas or anything else he can find.

His work, while not on display anywhere but his high school, could be soon.

“My brother's working on getting (the skateboards) to an actual company,” Raley said of his designs. “It's just been more of a hobby. It's the most relaxing thing I can do.”

Raley has been interested in modern abstract art since grade school. His work has developed and stayed with him through the rigors of junior hockey and his first three seasons with the Saints.

“I try not to incorporate too much hockey into my art,” he said. “It's something that's totally different. It's a different form of expression.”

Raley consistently creates art for friends and teammates. He's even designed tattoos. Now, he's working with St. Lawrence goalie Robby Moss, whose nickname is “Moose,” to design his goalie mask for next season.

“He wants me to try and incorporate a moose on there,” Raley said. “I really have to play around with it.”

It isn't new territory for Raley, who said he often gets requests to take pictures and memories of his friends' lives and create art.

“It's not like they're limiting me to one thing,” he said. “They're trusting my creative instincts and let me do whatever I want. It's usually pretty good.”

Raley doesn't necessarily intend on pursuing an art career once his playing days are over. Instead, he wants to be on Wall Street. He's interning with Goldman Sachs this summer to help make that goal a reality after hockey.

INJURY REPORT

Forward Mark Armstrong skated all week and expects to play against Clarkson this weekend... Defenseman Pete Child tweaked his recovering knee in SLU's 4-3 win over Harvard last week. He is expected to play, despite taking a day off from practice this week.

Three St. Lawrence University men’s hockey players earned all-conference accolades from ECAC Hockey on Tuesday.

Forward Travis Vermeulen and defenseman Derek Keller were third-team selections, while freshman defenseman George Hughes made the all-rookie team.

No Clarkson University players made all-league.

First-teamers were Chase Polacek (Rensselaer), Broc Little (Yale), Sean Backman (Yale), Mike Schreiber (Union), Brendon Nash (Cornell) and goalie Ben Scrivens (Cornell).

Here are the video replays and the post-game interviews from St. Lawrence's 4-3 win over Harvard.

Brandon Bollig:

Mike McKenzie

Alex Petizian

Aaron Bogosian scores the first goal of the game

Third period notes

Saints go on the power play with 3:28 to play.

St. Lawrence fails to score on a power play with 10 minutes left in the game... whether that comes back to haunt them is still pending.

Carden hits the pipe on a one-on-one.

The Saints need to settle here. Harvard is taking lots of shots on net and dominating puck possession.

Goal Harvard Moriarty. St. Lawrence can't get it out of their own end.

Richter has come back in net for Harvard.

Goal Harvard Alex Biega on a one timer to the left of Petizian.

A loss or a tie from RPI and a St. Lawrence win would give SLU fifth place in the ECAC and a meeting with Clarkson in the first round of the playoffs next week. RPI is currently tied, 1-1, with Cornell heading into the third period.

Second period impressions

St. Lawrence has not lost on senior night this millennium.

Well, it feels like we've played a game and a half here. What a wild second period. There were 10 combined penalties in the period and almost no even-strength play. Players are falling all over the ice and lots of shoving and talking going on after each play ends. The third period is certainly going to be interesting, but Petizian is playing very well tonight. Save a disastrous collapse from St. Lawrence, I don't see another lead lost in the third period tonight. St. Lawrence appears pretty determined.

Second period notes

Goal Harvard Louis LeBlanc inside of 10 seconds to play. Saints take a 4-1 lead into the third period.

Goal SLU George Hughes on a sniper shot from the blue line, just 18 seconds into yet another power play.

Flanagan heads to the box for hooking.

Both teams are playing with a lot of emotion here tonight and it's starting to come out negatively on the ice. Lots of chirping and lots of shoving.

The officiating tonight has been particularly awful. St. Lawrence just got whistled for too many men as Caister was coming out of the box after his penalty and heading straight for the bench. Marsh protested a bit before finally sending Keller to serve the penalty.

Petizian is hurt after Del Mauro ran into him. We'll see if Tisi heads in and what this penalty with be. Caister heads to the box as well as Del Mauro.

Richter has come out of net in favor of Ryan Carroll for Harvard.

Goal SLU Brandon Bollig scores off an assist from Flanagan. SLU was 3-on-1 and Flanagan found the right man.

Goal SLU Mike McKenzie scores after a Harvard defensemen tried to hold him down. He skated in front of the crease and slapped in a rebound.

Petizian continues to play well. He made nine saves in the first period and already has three here in the second.

Good news... Keller is back on the ice to start the second period. He was probably getting stitched up. When he left the ice, he had a pretty good cut above his left eye.

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First period impressions

St. Lawrence came out with a lot of energy, but slowed after the opening few minutes. It didn't result in a Harvard goal. When Harvard's David Valek checked Derek Keller (who still hasn't returned) hard into the boards, the Saints seemed to be ignited. They scored within the first two minutes of the game-misconduct. Unfortunately one of the referees blew a play dead with the puck uncovered in the crease. Curran was there and had his stick on it just after the whistle. A solid first period nonetheless. Check out the two videos of the plays described below.

First period notes

Petizian makes a couple nice saves heading into the second half of the first period. He's also taken a few hits. Harvard is not exactly back on their heels.

End of the five minute game misconduct and St. Lawrence has a goal waved off after the official blew the play dead.

Goal SLU: Aaron Bogosian

St. Lawrence seems a little out of sync again tonight. A lot of miss communication. So far it hasn't cost them, but a hard hit on Derek Keller sends him to the locker room. David Valek gets a game misconduct.

Saints can't get it out of their own zone and a tip in front almost gets by Petizian, but the senior gloved it.

Senior night should give a little added spark to St. Lawrence tonight. Already the players are out with a bit more fire.

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It's senior night here at Appleton, and in typical Joe Marsh fashion, all six starters are seniors.

Tonight, the forwards for St. Lawrence are: Mike McKenzie, Travis Vermeulen and Alex Curran.

Jeff Caister and Derek Keller start off the defense, while Alex Petizian gets the start in net for the Saints.

Combined, this starting crew has 346 career points. Mike McKenzie leads them all with 108.

Alex Petizian comes in still under the SLU career GAA record, which was 2.55. He currently has a 2.52 GAA.

Starting for Harvard:

Forwards: Connor Morrison, Doug Rogers, Daniel Moriarty

Defense: Chad Morin, Alex Biega

Goalie: Kyle Richter.

Third period notes

Goal SLU Caister on a beautiful pass from McKenzie

Goal Dartmouth Fleming's second.

St. Lawrence is starting to skate with more anxiousness. They need to get the equalizer however.

NO GOAL

The officials have to go and review a possible SLU goal here. The play will be reviewed. The first time ever in Appleton.

Saints seem to be just biding their time. Hopefully it pays off.

Dartmouth has come out looking a bit fresher. You can really tell that McKenzie wants this one, however.

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Second period impressions

Aside from the one that got by on Tisi's mistake, St. Lawrence played a pretty solid second period. McKenzie's goal was sensational, stealing it away from Mello, who clearly didn't see him from behind the net. Mello was looking up the left side of the boards and McKenzie came in behind him. Just an excellent goal from one of St. Lawrence's 100-point scorers.

As for the power play this game... well, St. Lawrence has not been very good. The Saints were 0-for-2 in the frame, the first of which was an abysmal display. The Saints took only one shot on net. Overall, though, St. Lawrence controlled the puck and possession. This game should be tied, but a minor mistake that led to a huge goal has Dartmouth up by one.

Second period notes

Mello was hit in the mask AGAIN... third time tonight.

McKenzie stole it away from Mello behind the net and wrapped it around and in. What a goal for McKenzie GOAL SLU

Tisi redirects a shot right into his own net. Terrible goal there. GOAL Dartmouth - Paul Lee.

SLU again can't score on the power play. This one didn't look nearly as bad as the last, but it wasn't good either.

Drewiske and Stephens starting to get into it a little bit, and Adam Estoclet heads to the penalty box for interference.

St. Lawrence with a terrible second power-play chance. The Saints took one shot and barely got any zone time. The Saints have to be disappointed with that.

St. Lawrence was in the offensive zone for a good minute and now Dartmouth takes a penalty.

Mello makes his second save of the game using his mask. A bit unfortunate for the Saints on yet another nice try.

St. Lawrence is playing much more patiently here in the second period. They're really taking their time, setting up plays and taking smarter shots.

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First period impressions

St. Lawrence came out with a lot of fire, but couldnt' get on the board first. Instead, Scott Fleming netted the game's first score, coming on a power play. He took a shot from a sharp angle just to the right of Tisi. The puck deflected off Tisi's stick and somehow trickled backward and in. A bit of an unlucky goal, but nonetheless, the Saints have 40 minutes to come back from one down.

James Mello in net for Dartmouth has been great. He stopped two shots that against most goalies would have been in without a doubt. The first was a shot in front from Vermeulen, which he calmly kicked away. The second, with SLU on a power play, Bogosian fed Bollig, who then rocketed a shot right into Mello's chest. Any other spot but there, and I think it would have been a goal.

St. Lawrence started to run out of steam, emotionally, it seemed in the latter part of the period. They started avoiding making hits and the defense was often trying to recover as Dartmouth has little issue moving the puck in the Saints zone.

First period notes

Power play over. No score for the Saints.

St. Lawrence with another great chance, but Mello comes up with a big stop. Bogosian streaked through the zone and fed Bollig, who missed his one-timer.

Penalty Dartmouth.

Dartmouth is really controlling the flow of this game late in the first period. St. Lawrence isn't getting a lot of time in Dartmouth's zone.

Neither team is really gaining much of an advantage in transition. When the Saints have it they aren't able to control it for long.

Saints miss a good chance as Curran tried to find Vermeulen in front. Verm couldn't get his stick on it.

Goal Dartmouth - Flemming

Bollig picks up a penalty

Saints are playing with a lot more energy than we've seen here at Appleton in weeks. Vermeulen is playing sensationally.

Tisi makes a nice save after the Saints fall asleep for a moment on defense.

St. Lawrence did an excellent job on the penalty kill. Dartmouth didn't have a shot on goal and didn't spend a ton of time in the offensive zone. Nice little boost for SLU after Child's penalty in the opening minute.

Child picks up a tripping penalty only 43 seconds into the game.

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Here are the starters for tonight's must-win game for the Saints:

SLU

Forwards: Mike McKenzie, Travis Vermeulen, Alex Curran

Defense: Jeff Caister, Derek Keller

Goalie: Kain Tisi

Dartmouth

Forwards: Adam Estoclet, Scott Fleming, Matt Reber

Defense: Evan Stephens, Joe Stejskal

Goalie: Jody O'Neill

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