The St. Lawrence University men’s hockey team came back from an early 2-0 hole on Saturday, but No. 11/12 Quinnipiac scored a power play goal with the Saints serving a five-minute major to hand St. Lawrence a 3-2 defeat on Saturday afternoon at Appleton Arena.

Ethan de Jong and Odeen Tufto scored goals in the first 3:22 of the first period to give the Bobcats the early lead, but Kaden Pickering and Cameron Buhl both scored unassisted goals in the second period to tie the game, 2-2, heading to the third period.

Jacob Nielsen was given a five-minute major and a game disqualification for kneeing at the 7:45 mark of the third period, and Peter DiLiberatore scored the game-winning goal on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle 37 seconds into the power play.

“We did a good job battling back after the two quick goals against,” said Charles W. Appleton II Head Men’s Hockey Coach Brent Brekke. “It was a much better performance than last night. If we play that way most nights, we will come out on top with a win. I felt our guys deserved to win that game tonight.”

The Saints, now 4-8-3 overall and 4-8-2 in ECAC Hockey play, outshot Quinnipiac 31-21, including a 15-3 edge in the second period.

After the first intermission, Pickering set the tone for the second period early, scoring his second shorthanded goal of the season at the 33-second mark. He blocked a shot inside the Saints defensive zone then broke out through the neutral zone and beat Quinnipiac goaltender Keith Petruzzelli going forehand-backhand for his sixth goal of the season.

Buhl tied the game eight minutes later, picking a waist-high cross-ice clear from a Quinnipiac defender out of the air right in front of the Bobcat net and spinning around to beat Petruzzelli to the left side of the net for his third goal of the year.

de Jong opened the scoring just 21 seconds into the game for Quinnipiac, one-timing a pass from Michael Lombardi from behind the net past St. Lawrence goaltender Emil Zetterquist.

Tufto increased the lead to two goals 2:01 later off a feed from Lombardi right in front of the net. de Jong also assisted on the play.

Petruzzelli made 29 saves in the win for Quinnipiac (16-5-4, 9-3-4), while Zetterquist stopped 18 shots for the Saints.

St. Lawrence will play a home-and-home series with Clarkson on Friday and Saturday next week. The order of the venues will be announced after the seedings for the women’s ECAC Hockey tournament have been determined.

(St. Lawrence men’s hockey photo)

Tim Makowski and Luc Salem scored goals to give the St. Lawrence University men’s hockey team 1-0 and 2-1 leads on Friday, but No. 11/12 Quinnipiac scored three unanswered goals over the final 25 minutes of the game to defeat the Saints 4-2 in an ECAC Hockey contest at Appleton Arena.

Odeen Tufto had three assist for the Bobcats, who outshot the Saints 26-10 over the final two periods, and the Bobcats were 2-for-6 against the Saints penalty kill, which entered the game as the nation’s top-ranked PK unit.

Reilly Moran assisted on both goals for the Saints.

“I liked our start,” said Charles W. Appleton II Head Men’s Hockey Coach Brent Brekke. “I think we were outshooting them 8-0 in the first period and then lost some of that momentum. There’s going to be momentum swings from side to side and it happens period to period, but when you lose momentum, you’ve got to get it back. We didn’t execute as well as we should have in the neutral zone or the O-zone and we gave up possession that prevented us from getting scoring opportunities. You either have to keep momentum going your way, or you have to get it back and be ready to execute.”

Makowski scored his first goal of the season at the 8:22 mark of the first period on a wrist shot after Reilly Moran slid the puck back to the top of the left faceoff circle after a scramble in front of the net for a loose puck on a shot from the point by Jake Stevens.

Ethan de Jong tied the game five minutes later with a power play goal, stuffing home a rebound on a shot by Peter DiLiberatore. Tufto picked up the secondary assist on the play.

Salem gave the Saints the lead again five and a half minutes into the second period on a nice rush down the right wing. Salem took a wrist shot from the faceoff dot that beat Quinnipiac goaltender Keith Petruzzelli’s glove for his third goal of the season. Moran and Jacob Nielsen picked up assists on the play.

The Saints held the lead for most of the third period, but Ty Smilanic and Michael Lombardi scored goals in a span of just 1:42 late in the second to give the Bobcats their first lead of the game.

Smilanic fired a wrist shot from the slot into the left side of the net with 4:02 left in the second for the Bobcats’ second power play goal of the game, and Lombardi took advantage of defensive zone turnover to finish right in front of the goal to give Quinnipiac a 3-2 lead. Tufto assisted on both goals for the Bobcats.

Quinnipiac carried the momentum right into the third period, as Desi Burgart one-timed a drop pass from Matthew Fawcett past St. Lawrence goaltender Emil Zetterquist just 47 seconds into the third period to score the game’s final goal.

St. Lawrence was 0-for-6 on the power play. Zetterquist made 31 saves for the Saints, while Petruzzelli stopped 17 shots for the Bobcats.

(St. Lawrence men’s hockey photo)

PINE VALLEY, N.Y. — A four-goal first period and a six-goal third period paved the way for the Elmira College men’s ice hockey team to secure a 10-0 shutout win against visiting Nazareth College on Sunday evening. It marked the first win for the Soaring Eagles (2-1-1, 1-0-1 UCHC) within United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) play, while the Golden Flyers (0-2-0, 0-2-0 UCHC) remain in search of their first win of the 2020-21 campaign.

Elmira produced double-digit shots, and held Nazareth to single-digit shots, in all three periods, and finished the game with a 50-16 advantage. Both teams had six power-play chances, but the Elmira men were the only ones to covert with the extra skater, as they went 1-for-6 on the power play.

A total of 14 skaters logged points for the Soaring Eagles. Shane Haviland ’24 (2g-2a) and Jake Russo ’23 (1g-3a) paced the Purple and Gold with four points each. Shawn Kennedy ’24 added a trio of points, all on assists, while Daniel Dimon ’24 (0g-2a), Nicholas Domitrovic ’24 (2g-2a), Bailey Krawczyk ’24 (1g-1a), Amedeo Mastrangeli ’24 (0g-2a), and Larry Niland ’23 (1g-1a) added two points apiece.

(Elmira College men’s hockey photo)

PINE VALLEY, N.Y. — The Elmira College men’s ice hockey team opened United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action with a 2-2 overtime tie against visiting Neumann University. Elmira (1-1-1, 0-0-1 UCHC) defeated Neumann (1-0-1, 1-0-1 UCHC) in the overtime shootout, 2-0, to secure two league points, while the Knights earned one league point.

Elmira more than doubled Neumann in shots on goal, 49-20, including a whopping 34-7 lead through two periods of action. The lopsided shot count allowed the Soaring Eagles to take a 2-0 lead on the Knights, but Neumann rallied with a pair of third-period goals to force overtime and eventually a tie.

Chance Gorman ’24 led the Purple and Gold offense with a pair of special-teams goals. The rookie forward scored shorthanded and on the power play, while Shawn Kennedy ’24 and Jared Smith ’24 picked up assists on the power-play tally.

(Elmira College men’s hockey photo)

Jason PIneo scored two goals and Chad Veltri stopped all 16 shots he faced to pace Niagara in a 4-0 victory over Canisius in Atlantic Hockey Association action Saturday at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.

Ryan Cox and Brandon Stanley also found the back of the net for the the Purple Eagles (4-10-3, 3-9-3 AHA), who earned a split of the “Battle of the Bridge” series between the two longtime rivals.

Junior Matt Ladd got the start in goal for the Golden Griffins (8-5-0, 8-5-0 AHA) and made 10 saves before being replaced by sophomore Jacob Barczewski at the start of the second period. Barczewski made 13 stops before giving way to senior Tucker Weppner late in the third. Weppner stopped the only shot he faced.

After being out-shot by a 35-16 margin on Friday, Niagara turned the tables in the series finale Saturday, putting 28 shots on goal while limiting Canisius to a season-low 16 attempts.

Cox staked the Purple Eagles to a 1-0 lead at the 8:56 mark of the 1st period, putting home a rebound from the middle of the slot after Jesse Pomeroy’s goal line attempt was turned aside by Canisius junior netminder Matt Ladd.

Pineo doubled Niagara’s advantage to 2-0 on a power-play tally with 1:09 remaining in the opening frame, converting a backdoor feed from Chris Harpur for his second of the season.

Stanley made it a 3-0 contest with 16:46 elapsed in the second, banging home a loose puck from just off the right post after Croix Evigson’s shot from the point deflected off the end boards and back out front.

Pineo close out the scoring moments before the midway point of the third on a shorthanded breakaway, beating Barczewski with a wrist shot to the glove side.

Head Coach Trevor Large’s Postgame Comments

“Obviously a disappointing effort from us tonight. We got out-competed for most of the game. Our special teams were disappointing. We didn’t have enough players on our roster competing to have a good night. Whenever you do that in this conference, teams are going to beat you, whether they’re shorthanded or not. That was the outcome for tonight. So, we have to let this sting and bring it into the playoffs. That’s our current plan: let this sting for a while and look to recover starting next week.

“We can’t just chuck this game. It was an inexcusable effort from us. At this point of the year, we don’t have the luxury of being able to just chuck this game. We need to let this one settle in for us. We need to let it burn. If we just brushed it off, it would be a mistake because the reality at this time of the year is this is the last opportunity we have to go ‘okay, this game isn’t going to decide whether we play again or not this year.’ That is the only good part about tonight. From now on, we cannot have another performance like that. If it happens again, we will be going home. So, we need to analyze this one. Most importantly, we need everybody on our roster and on our staff to let this one stick right in our gut. We got to hang on to this one for a while.”

Game Notes

• Canisius suffered its first home loss of the season with Saturday’s setback to the Purple Eagles (4-1-0).

• The Griffs were shutout for the first time this season as they were held off the scoreboard for the first time since Dec. 6, 2019 at AIC. The setback was also just the fourth time Niagara has shutout Canisius in 61 meetings between the two programs.

• Niagara was 1-for-3 with the man advantage on Saturday while Canisius was 0-for-4 on the power play.

• Canisius’ 16 shots on goal Saturday represented a season low in that category for the Griffs.

• Weppner made his first appearance in goal for Canisius since Feb. 1, 2019 against Mercyhurst.

• Saturday’s contest served as the program’s Senior Salute, with the team honoring its seven senior student-athletes prior to the start of the contest.

Up Next

• Canisius will be the No. 2 seed in the Western Pod for the upcoming 2021 Atlantic Hockey Tournament.

• The Griffs will face No. 3 seed RIT in a best-of-three quarterfinal round series at LECOM Harborcenter.

• Date and start times for the series will be announced once they become available.

(Niagara University Hockey Photo)

Canisius erupted for five goals in the third period to post a 5-1 victory over Niagara in Atlantic Hockey Association action Friday at Dwyer Arena in Lewiston, N.Y.

Seniors Austin Alger and Logan Gestro, junior Mitchell Martan, sophomore David Melaragni and freshman Jami Virtanen all scored during the final period for the Golden Griffins (8-4-0, 8-4-0 AHA), who secured home ice for the quarterfinal round of the 2021 Atlantic Hockey Tournament with Friday’s victory.

Ryan Cox accounted for the lone goal for the Purple Eagles (3-10-3, 3-9-1 AHA).

Despite Canisius out-shooting Niagara by a 35-16 margin for the contest, the teams were in a scoreless tie early in the third period before Niagara finally opened the scoring when Cox stuffed home a rebound 1:10 into the final frame to give the Purple Eagles the lead.

Virtanen answered for Canisius a little more than five minutes after Cox’s opening tally, finishing off a 2-on-1 break with a wrist shot over the glove of Veltri for his fourth of the season to tie the game at 1-1.

Alger gave the Griffs a 2-1 lead just before the midway point of the 3rd, roofing a rebound from close range over Veltri after Melaragni’s initial attempt was stopped for his second of the season.

Martan expanded the Canisius cushion to 3-1 at the 10:47 mark, jamming home a loose from just off the right post during for his fourth of the campaign.

Gestro recorded his first of the campaign with 5:01 remaining in regulation to make it a 4-1 game, hitting an empty Niagara goal from below his own goal line while the Griffs were shorthanded.

Melaragni closed out the scoring in the final minute with a power-play goal, splitting the Niagara defense on the break before chipping the puck past Veltri for his first of the campaign.

Sophomore Jacob Barczewski made 14 saves between the pipes for Canisius. Veltri stopped 30 shots in goal for Niagara.

Head Coach Trevor Large’s Postgame Comments

“Tonight’s result is what we were going after. It was an exciting third period for those people that were watching and for us on the bench as well with six goals scored. It was a tough game; it was a difficult game. Niagara did a good job eliminating a lot of our entries and opportunities through the first two periods. We were trying to find our game and then Niagara scores early in the third. I was happy with our response. We stayed with our game plan. There wasn’t panic from us and then we were able to get a few goals as Niagara seem to get tired. But a good job by us tonight. We’re happy with the result and we need to recover, prepare and get ready to compete tomorrow.

“Good hockey teams never talk about bounces. That’s something that I’m proud of the effort tonight because our guys really stayed with the game plan. There is no panic in our team. Whether we’re up or down, we control our own energy and the energy was very high tonight. I did like our bench demeanor quite a bit. It was a major factor in how we were able to find our game in the third period. The dagger that I believe we put in Niagara tonight was our discipline. The game started to get a little heated in the third, but our guys stayed very calm. We were able to get some power plays and end the game with a 5-1 win, but it is it’s the calm composure. It’s the belief and confidence and those are all choices that our players made tonight.

“We need to come out and play together tomorrow night. We need to play hard; we need to be tough. We need to check. We have to find that energy. It is difficult in a season where fans aren’t there. I can only imagine what the LECOM Harborcenter would be like tomorrow if we’re playing Niagara on the last game of the season in front of fans. It’s a great rivalry for Western New York to have fans in both buildings for; hopefully that will come in due time. Now we have to create our own energy to generate that momentum. Maybe in the past we’d be able to have fans to help us with that. But to get momentum tomorrow, it’s going to have to start right from the beginning. It’s going have to be our energy, our focus, our clarity and how we want to play. Those are the things that we’re going to talk to our team about tomorrow as seven o’clock approaches.”

Game Notes

• Canisius increased its lead in the all-time series against its “Battle of the Bridge” rival to 28-26-6 with Friday’s victory. The Griffs also moved to 18-6-3 record in their last 27 contests against the Purple Eagles, dating back to the 2014-15 campaign.

• Canisius was 1-for-8 on the power play on Friday while Niagara was 0-for-2 with the man advantage.

• Canisius scored five goals in a period for the first time since tallying five goals in the first period of an 8-2 victory over Niagara on Dec. 9, 2017.

• The Griffs moved to 4-1-0 this season and 27-8-2 under Large when scoring four or more goals in a game.

• Alger tallied multiple points in a game for the first time this season and the 14th time his career as he finished with a goal and an assist. Alger also tallied the game-winning goal for the second time in his career with his third-period goal on Friday (Nov. 10, 2018 vs Clarkson).

• Gestro’s goal was his first since scoring in game three of the 2019 AHA quarterfinals at Niagara on March 9, 2019.

• Barczewski posted his second assist of the season with a helper on Melaragni’s third-period goal, becoming the first Canisius netminder to notch multiple assists in a season since Dan Morrison had two during the 2009-10 season.

• Melaragni recorded multiple points in a game for the first time in his career as he tallied a goal and an assist in Friday’s contest. 

(Canisius College Hockey Photo)

The matchups for the 2021 Atlantic Hockey Tournament first round are set.

After the conclusion of this week’s games, the following are the standings for the 2020-21 Atlantic Hockey Regular Season, broken down by region.

West                                                                           

1.     Robert Morris                                                

2.     Canisius

3.     RIT

4.     Mercyhurst

5.     Niagara

East

1.     AIC

2.     Army West Point

3.     Sacred Heart

4.     Bentley

5.     Air Force

6.     Holy Cross

Please note, Air Force was placed in the eastern region based on the point percentage of the third-placed team in each region. The playoff format was designed to protect the higher placed third seed by not having them play on the first weekend. Therefore, with RIT at 0.5897 and Sacred Heart at 0.5128, Air Force was placed in the eastern pod.

The first round will take place next week with the following games set:

• Sacred Heart vs Holy Cross on Sunday, March 7^th at 5 pm
• Mercyhurst vs Niagara on Monday, March 8^th time TBD
• Bentley vs Air Force on Tuesday, March 9^th at 5:05 pm

The quarterfinals will be from March 12^th-14^th and those matchups and times will be announced at a later date.