St. Lawrence University's men's hockey team has played 2006 games in the history of the program and has never played to a scoreless tie…Friday night's non-league game at the Rochester Institute of Technology didn't figure to break that streak.

The Saints, who are second nationally in points, points per game and tied for second in goals scored among all Division I teams went up against a struggling RIT team which ranked 47th of 59 Division I programs in offense. The Saints went three for six on the power play and killed four of six RIT power plays en route a 5-3 victory in the first of the two game set.

Friday's game did not start exactly the way the Saints had in mind as Tiger freshman Todd Skirving scored on an unassisted breakaway just 58 seconds into the game, but the Saints battled back to tie it with a power play goal by Jeremy Wick at the 7:34 mark. Wick muscled the puck past RIT goalie Jordan Ruby after an initial shot by center Matt Carey. Justin Baker also assisted on the play.

The Saints grabbed a lead on their second power play chance of the game as Pat Doherty and Brian Ward broke down the middle with Doherty dishing to Ward in the right faceoff circle for a shot which whistled past Ruby at 1:09 for Ward's fourth of the season.

The Saint power play continued to cook in the second period as Brian Ward gave the Saints a 2-1 lead on their second man-advantage of the game, finishing off a two-man rush with Pat Doherty with a snap shot to the upper corner from the right faceoff circle just 1:09 into the period. RIT came back to tie again when Greg Noyes scored his second of the year on a Tiger power play at 9:50, but the Saints made it three-for-three on the power play at 12:50 when Gavin Bayreuther wristed his fourth of the year into the upper corner on a five-on-three from Greg Carey and Baker at 12:50.

The Saints added to their lead early in the third period as Doherty finished off a give and go with Pat Raley, tucking the puck past Ruby on Raley's return pass for his fifth of the year 1:12 into the final period. Trevor Hills, son of RIT associate head coach Brian Hills and making his first collegiate appearance, set up the fifth Saint goal when he hit a RIT player on the sideboards to knock the puck free and then fed Alex Dahl right in front with Dahl scoring his first collegiate goal on the redirection at 8:18.

RIT made it interesting and it could have been even more so had one apparent goal been waved off when it was ruled that it was kicked in with 4:11 to play. The Tigers did eventually score on a power play when Dan Schuler directed the puck into the net off his skate at 18:49 to make it a 5-3 final.

Tyler Parks improved to 2-0 in starts for the Saints as he made 22 saves for the win while Ruby had 20 for RIT as the two teams had 25 shots on goal each.