T.J. Trevelyan picked up a goal and added three assists, including one on the game-winner, as St. Lawrence came from behind three times to down UMass-Lowell 5-4 Friday night in front of 2,120 at Appleton Arena.
“Overall I was happy with the way we played,” said UML head coach Blaise MacDonald. “Our defense was shorthanded due to injuries, but they still played like warriors. St. Lawrence was hungrier at the net, and as a result put home some bouncing pucks. We had some good chances, including with the goaltender pulled, to even the game up, but just couldn’t find the back of the net.”
The Saints struck early, scoring 4:34 into the first frame off a River Hawk turnover. Trevelyan picked up the puck in his own zone and skated along the right side unobstructed into the UML zone, firing a shot low along the ice that beat junior netminder Chris Davidson.
UMass-Lowell capitalized on the only man-advantage opportunity of the period midway through the first. While parked in front of the net, sophomore Brad King got just enough of a classmate Danny O’Brien pass from the right corner for his first goal of the season at 8:28, knotting the game at one.
The River Hawks made it 2-1 just before the end of the second period with the ninth goal of the season from Hockey East Player of the Week Elias Godoy.
Godoy picked up a UML clearing attempt in neutral ice and skated one-on-one towards Saints goaltender Mike McKenna. Although Godoy fell to his knees at the faceoff dot, he somehow managed to get a shot off that beat the junior netminder low at 19:20, giving the River Hawks their first lead of the game.
Momentum for the River Hawks continued to build early in the second before it came to a sudden stop at 5:51 after a hard check into the penalty box dislodged the gate from its supports.
The resulting 25-minute delay interrupted the flow of the game, and the Saints came back to tie it at two at 7:17 as John Zeiler redirected a Trevelyan shot from the point down low.
UML took the lead once again midway through the second. Sophomore Bobby Robins broke a six-game scoreless skid when he tipped an Adam Stanieich shot from the point at 9:11.
The two teams then traded goals and the River Hawks skated into the locker room with the one-goal lead. Colin FitzRandolph tied the game at three at 12:55 with his first goal of the season, while sophomore Mark Pandolfo gave the River Hawks the lead for a third time at 15:50 with a wrister from the right faceoff dot.
St. Lawrence won the third period by scoring twice. Jeremy Cormier notched his first goal of the season at 5:04 of the third with a redirection, while captain Rich Peverley buried the game-winner through traffic at 15:00 on the power-play.
Davidson made 24 saves in net for the River Hawks, while McKenna stopped 30 shots in the win. Both teams saw production on the power play as UML was 1-for-3, while SLU ended the night 2-for-5.
“Taking the penalty in the third period to let St. Lawrence win it has to stop,” said MacDonald. “Overall, we played well, we played well enough to win, and it made us better as a team playing them.”
“You look back at the goals, they were all just weird goals. The pucks tonight had eyes; they floated in, bounced off bodies and sticks. It was a bizarre game, I didn’t see a lot of breakdowns on our part. We had a lot of chances to go up by two goals, but just didn’t capitalize on our chances.”
Saturday UMass-Lowell (6-6-3, 4-3-1 HE) will travel the ten miles to Potsdam, N.Y., to face Clarkson, while St. Lawrence (4-10-3, 2-5-0 ECAC) will look to upend New Hampshire, which won at Clarkson 4-3 Friday evening. Both games are slated for a 7:00 p.m. start.
