St. Lawrence University junior Dave Hovey's six points lifted the Saints' men's lacrosse team to a solid 11-6 victory over Skidmore College in the 2012 Liberty League opener on Saturday at Hall-Leet Stadium in Canton, NY.

The win, which was anchored by a 45-25 advantage in shots, keeps St. Lawrence unbeaten at 5-0 (1-0). Meanwhile, Skidmore falls to 4-4 (0-1) after struggling throughout the game to get its offense on track.

"As we found out last year, Liberty League wins are hard to come by so I was very happy with the way our team approached this game and executed our game plan for four quarters," said St. Lawrence head coach Mike Mahoney. "It's great to see balanced scoring, solid team defense and a terrific overall intensity throughout the game."

The first quarter was evenly-played throughout with the home team owning a 10-9 advantage in shots. Tied 2-2 in the final stages of the period, junior Mac Johnson scored a man-up goal for the Scarlet and Brown with 1:58 to go, giving St. Lawrence a 3-2 lead at the end of one.

The Scarlet and Brown would build a 6-3 lead at halftime thanks to an 11-2 edge in shots in the second quarter. Dave Schoettler and Hovey scored goals only 1:27 apart for a 5-2 lead. Though Skidmore's Jon Hoeg made it 5-3 at 10:30, Dave Hovey capitalized on a Thoroughbred turnover and used a fantastic one-on-one move to push the lead to 6-3 with a mere 4.1 seconds left in the half.

St. Lawrence continued to own possession and extended its lead to 9-3 after three behind a perfect quarter from face-off specialist Steve Cargill. The Southport, CT native, won all four draws in the third which led to a 3-0 period for his team. Tucker Garfield, Johnson and Matt Pope tallied goals for St. Lawrence to push the lead to six.

After Garfield and JP Sullivan traded goals early in the fourth to bring the score to 10-4, Kyle Jacobsen put the game away for the Saints, as he fired a shot behind Skidmore goalie Connor Dowling for an 11-4 cushion with 6:13 to play. Though Mike Holden and Mike Perlow each scored in the final 2:00 minutes for the visitors, the Saints were able to run out the clock and celebrate an 11-6 win.

Both teams finished 10-of-20 in face-offs, including a 7-for-10 mark for St. Lawrence in the second half. The Saints were also great in transition, finishing 20-for-22 in clears, and on specials teams. The home team was 4-for-7 on the man-up and held Skidmore scoreless (0-for-4).

Hovey closed with two goals and four assists to lead all scorers, while Hoeg led Skidmore with four points on two goals and two assists. Junior Jeff Goeke started the game in net for St. Lawrence and made three saves, while Jack Nuland closed out the win in the second half with five stops. Dowling suffered the loss despite turning in a 15-save performance.

St. Lawrence will put its unbeaten streak on the line again on Tuesday, March 27 when they head to Potsdam, NY to take on the Bears of Potsdam State. Game time is scheduled for 4:00pm. Meanwhile, Skidmore will head to Poughkeepsie, NY next to take on Vassar College on March 31.