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Saints' Carey scores two, Weninger shines in win at Princeton

Posted 11/11/11

Sophomore wing Greg Carey scored a pair of goals and sophomore goaltender Matt Weninger turned in another outstanding performance in goal for his third straight win at Princeton's Hobey Baker Rink as …

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Saints' Carey scores two, Weninger shines in win at Princeton

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Sophomore wing Greg Carey scored a pair of goals and sophomore goaltender Matt Weninger turned in another outstanding performance in goal for his third straight win at Princeton's Hobey Baker Rink as St. Lawrence held off the Tigers, 3-2 for their second straight ECAC Hockey win Friday night.

The Saints improve to 2-5-0 overall and 2-1-0 in league play while Princeton, coached by former Saint player and associate head coach Bob Prier, falls to 1-4-1 overall and 1-3-0 in league play.

"We knew we were going to be in for a battle, because you know a team coached by Bob Prier is going to work hard from start to finish," said Saint associate head coach Mike Hurlbut. "I thought we played a very good road game and turned in another very solid effort."

Weninger finished with 35 saves, 15 of them in the third period and has now stopped 83 of 86 shots in his last two games in Baker Rink. He has allowed two goals or less in each of his last three starts.

The Saints took a 3-0 lead into the third period, but Princeton got on the board early in the third period and then made it a one-goal game with 1:02 to play when defenseman Michael Sdao scored an extra attacker goal. Weninger made some key saves down the stretch as the Tigers kept goalie Sean Bonar on the bench in an effort to tie it up, but the Saints were able to hold on.

The teams were scoreless in the first period with Princeton holding a 9-4 edge in shots on goal, several of those shots coming on a power play, but the Saints and Weninger were successful in killing off a hooking call on Pat Raley in the last five minutes of the period.

Carey, who has had some great chances come up empty in the first six games of the season scored his first of the year, converting from linemates Kyle Flanagan and Patrick Doherty just 3:37 into the second. It was the first of the year for the Saint sophomore who scored his first of the year in the sixth game last season and went on to a 23-goal season. Carey now has five career goals in six games against the Tigers and joined Weninger as one of the heroes of last season's playoff upset of Princeton at Baker Rink.

The Saints then struck twice within the final two minutes to take a 3-0 lead after two. Jacob Drewiske scored his first of the season, beating Bonar with a shot just inside the post as Chris Martin and Kyle Essery assisted at 18:11. Carey then scored his second of the night 1:23 later with Doherty and Flanagan again assisting to make it a 3-0 game after two.

Andrew Ammon finally got a shot past Weninger at 9:02 of the third to cut the lead to 3-1 and Sdao scored his fourth of the year in the extra attacker situation, but Weninger made some key saves and got big defensive plays from Drewiske and George Hughes in the final minute and the Saints were able to hold off the Tigers for the win.

"Getting the lead was a huge boost for us," said Hurlbut. "We were able to limit Princeton's scoring chances through much of the game and were solid defensively. We've put three good games in a row and want to continue to build on that."