On Saturday night, December 9, Clarkson University visited St. Lawrence University in a tough ECAC battle. Each team had about equal puck possession throughout the entire game; however, Clarkson managed more shots past St. Lawrence’s goaltender, Arthur Brey. The final score was 4-2, Clarkson.
St. Lawrence entered the game dealing with what one of their defensemen, Jake Stevens, called drama, since their coach, Mark Morris, is under investigation for unknown reasons. Before the game, Stevens revealed to reporters that “with all of the drama going on right now, we know it’s important for us to stay focused on these games because they’re all we have for the next couple weeks. We’ll need to play simple and use our speed, and get more shots on net than we have been.”
They used their speed all throughout the game, never appearing tired or as though the drama within the clubhouse was negatively affecting their game.
Early in the first period, Clarkson sophomore Sheldon Rempal posted the first goal. A review considered whether Clarkson made a hand pass to assist the goal, but after further consideration, the goal stood, giving Clarkson the early lead. The next goal was also scored by Clarkson by Dylan Gareau, giving Clarkson an early two-goal advantage.
When Clarkson received a penalty for tripping in the first period, resulting in them being shorthanded, St. Lawrence needed to play with more urgency to score to get back into the game. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to bring that urgency to the power play, and Clarkson killed it off. The second period began with a St. Lawrence breakaway by Alex Gilmour just four minutes into the period, but Gilmour couldn’t score.
Clarkson’s Nico Sturmwas asked what mindset he was trying to maintain throughout the third period, he responded a “winning mindset.” When he then turned to his teammates surrounding him outside the locker room, seeking reassurance, Jake Jacome and Christian Harvey, both agreed and repeated his words, “winning mindset”.
That mindset led to a power-play goal early in the third by Kevin Charyszyn, which turned into the game-winner after the Saints then managed a breakaway goal by Joe Sullivan, who then scored a second consecutive goal, bringing it to a close 3-2 game.
In the final minutes, St. Lawrence removed Brey from the goal and Clarkson scored on an empty net to seal the win.
ECAC roundup
Bentley 5, at Dartmouth 1
Dartmouth ended the game with 10 shots more than Bentley, Dartmouth with 31 and Bentley with 21. Bentley’s strong defense and dominant offense ended the game with a victory over Dartmouth.
Maine 5, at Quinnipiac 3
The first goal was scored by Logan Mick for Quinnipiac and Maine followed with the second goal of the game less than half a minute after the first goal. The final goal of the game was scored on an empty net by Cedric Lacroix for Maine.
Yale 2, at Sacred Heart University 1
The low-scoring game ended in favor of the Bulldogs. Both goals for Yale were scored by Joe Snively, the game-winner coming at 15:32 of the third period.
Brown 2, at Vermont 2
Rookie Joachim Weberg and senior Tim Lappin both contributed scoring plays to the even game between Brown and Vermont. Freshman Luke Kania (Chicago, Ill.) made a season and career high 34 saves for the Bears.
Arizona State 4, Princeton 3 (OT)
David Norris scored 1:47 into overtime to cap a rally for the Sun Devils, who had tied the game at three at 19:03 of the third on a goal by Brett Gruber. Joey Daccord made 38 saves in the win.
