CANTON, N.Y. — It was just what the doctor ordered for St. Lawrence Saturday night, as two power-play goals and two goals apiece from Mike Marnell and Jacob Pritchard in the Saints 5-1 victory over Dartmouth.
The teams skated to a 0-0 tie through 20 minutes, but it took less than five minutes of the second period for the Saints to break the stalemate. Rookie Ben Finkelstein took a pass from Pritchard at the point, walked in a few steps before firing a snapshot bar down. The referees had to review the goal to see if it indeed crossed the line, but it stood as called to give the Saints the 1-0 lead.
Dartmouth evened the score about seven minutes later, when Cam Strong ripped a one-timer from the left point past a screened Hayton, but the Saints rebounded quickly. Pritchard took a breakout pass from Ben Masella in the neutral zone, and cut down the right wing before firing a shot on Devin Buffalo that squeaked through the five-hole and over the goal line just 1:22 after Strong’s equalizer.
Pritchard’s second goal came nine minutes into the third period, when he deflected a Gavin Bayreuther shot from the point to give the Saints a 3-1 lead and their first power play goal since going 4-9 against Brown on November 19.
“It felt good, obviously me and Smolcynski have had a rough go, the last weekend in Ireland was rough and yesterday we didn’t play as well as we wanted, but I thought we played well,” said Pritchard.
Mike Marnell potted two in succession, including a power play goal to seal the game for the Saints, but his first goal was a dazzling breakaway after exiting the penalty box.
“I haven’t been hurt lately, which is good,” said Marnell about the state of his game. “The pucks finding the back of the net, I’m getting open and my teammates are finding me. I knew Gavin was out there, and he’s always looking up the ice… we made eye contact and it was a nice pass by him.”
Marnell jumped out of the penalty box, received a stretch pass from Bayreuther, skated in on Buffalo, and deked to his forehand before finishing on the backhand. The junior winger found twine again, deflecting a Finkelstein shot on the power play for his tenth goal of the season.
The new look power play for the Saints — featuring three defensemen and two forwards – lit the lamp twice against the Big Green, something the Saints players and coaches were glad to see.
“It’s nice to see the guys have some success, for sure,” said Saints coach Mark Morris. “The guys are trying to figure it out, and we certainly have the personnel to be effective, but we really do have to find ways to win more pucks and face-offs to be effective. Once we’re set up, we’re fine.”
“Honestly, I think the goalie was the difference,” said Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet with a smile after the game. “It’s odd in a 5-1 game, but Hayton was absolutely spectacular… It got away from us a bit in the third period, but they’re a very good team, very hot, and just an outstanding goalie.”
ECAC roundup
No. 8 Harvard 7, Clarkson 3
The Crimson scored two empty net goals to put away a game in which they scored four straight goals in the second and third periods. Ryan Donato and Tyler Moy each had two goals for Harvard.
Princeton 6, Rensselaer 5 (OT)
The Tigers completed their comeback on Josh Teves’ first of the season in overtime, after Ryan Kuffner tied the game at 5 with 46 seconds remaining in the third. The first seven goals of the game were all scored on the power play, four going to the Engineers and three to the Tigers.
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No. 18 Union 5, No. 5 Quinnipiac 2
A three-goal second period helped the Dutchmen to a crucial ECAC victory over the Bobcats. Alex Sakellaropoulos stopped 52 shots for Union, improving to 9-1-1.
Cornell 2, Miami 1
The Big Red edged Miami for the second straight year with goals from Dan Wedman and Jake Weidner. Mitch Gillam saved all but one of the Redhawks 26 shots.
Brown 3, Army 1
Charlie Corcoran netted a pair of goals for the Bears, including the game winner, en route to a 3-1 win over the Black Nights. Zach Evancho had the lone goal for Army, while Sam Lafferty had three points for Brown.
Colgate 3, Arizona State 2
Tim Harrison drew the Raiders even late in the second period and Derek Freeman netted the game-winner midway through the third period to defeat ASU 3-2. Jake Montgomery assisted on each of the Sun Devils goals.
