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Saints earn 1st ECAC win with 4-2 decision at Colgate

Posted 11/30/12

St. Lawrence University's men's hockey team found the win side of the ledger in ECAC Hockey competition Friday night as Kyle Flanagan had three assists and Matt Weninger came through with another …

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Saints earn 1st ECAC win with 4-2 decision at Colgate

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St. Lawrence University's men's hockey team found the win side of the ledger in ECAC Hockey competition Friday night as Kyle Flanagan had three assists and Matt Weninger came through with another outstanding effort in goal in a 4-2 Saint win at Colgate Friday night.

The Saints improved to 5-0-2 on Friday night this season and are now 7-4-2 overall and 1-2-2 in league play. The win also pulled the Saints to within one of the 1,000 victory mark for the program, a milestone which could be reached on Saturday night at Lynah Rink at Cornell.

The Saints had to weather a second period storm by 6-7-2 Colgate, which is now 2-4-1 in league play. The Raiders outshot the Saints 15-5 in the second, but Weninger stopped all 15 shots and the Saints regained their two goal lead with a five-on-three power play goal.

"We were able to outscore them on special teams and that is always going to be a big part of our game," said Saint coach Greg Carvel. "I thought that for other than about a 10 minute stretch in the first period and early in the second we were able to get the puck into the zone and carry some momentum. We did well in transition and Wenny was great again. It is nice to play and coach when you're getting above average to excellent goaltending every time out."

The Saints jumped on the Raiders early, scoring odd-man rush goals just 1:27 apart in the first period. Jeremy Wick scored the first, his third goal of the season as he took a pass from defenseman Justin Baker and broke into the Colgate zone with Greg Carey on his wing. Wick used Carey as a decoy and snapped a shot under the crossbar to give the Saints the early lead.

Kyle Flanagan and Patrick Doherty broke into the Colgate zone after a turnover by the Raiders near center ice and Flanagan made a perfect pass to Doherty, who was alone in front of Colgate goalie Spencer Finney. Doherty fired his second of the year past the Colgate rookie at 9:37 for the 2-0 lead.

The Saints, who killed off all nine power plays on last weekend's trip to New England, surrendered a power play goal on Colgate's first chance of the night. The Raiders, scoring at just 12.5 percent with the man advantage, took advantage of a lucky hop as Jeremy Price's shot bounced off a leg in front and went right to freshman Tyson Spink, who was alone at the side of the net and tapped home his third of the year at 13:56.

Colgate controlled play in the second period, but an offensive zone penalty on the Raiders and a slashing call 1:09 later gave the Saints a five-on-three power play and they cashed in to return their lead to two goals. Baker scored the goal, his second of the year, as he pinched from the point and was alone at the post, taking a pass from Gunnar Hughes and tipping it home at 14:26 with Flanagan earning his second assist of the night on the play.

The Saints and Raiders played an even third period and SLU made it a 4-1 game with its second power play goal of the night as Flanagan set up Greg Carey in the center slot and Carey snapped a wrist shot past Finney for his tenth of the year at 17:57. Colgate did get that one back with 1:01 to play as Mike McCann scored his second of the year after Colgate had rattled two off posts, but while the Raiders pulled Finney for an extra attacker after the faceoff, the Saints were able to kill off the rest of the clock to secure the win.

"We took a step in the right direction as far as learning how to win with the way we played in the third period. We took a two goal lead in and kept playing hard," Carvel said. "It was a full effort by the entire team"