Three late goals, including two on the power play, helped No. 19 St. Lawrence pull away from Dartmouth in the third period en route to a 5-1 win on Saturday night in Appleton Arena.
Jacob Pritchard led the Saints with two goals and an assist, while Mike Marnell added two goals of his own to take over the team lead with 10 on the season. Both notched a power play goal against the Big Green.
Ben Finkelstein was the other goal scorer for St. Lawrence and added an assist, while his defensive partner Gavin Bayreuther finished with two assists.
It was a one-goal game with nine minutes remaining in regulation before the Saints blew it open late in the final frame to improve to 9-5-4 and 6-1-2 against conference teams. Dartmouth falls to 3-5-2 and 1-3-2 in ECAC Hockey. A Quinnipiac loss to Union put the Saints back in control of first place in the ECAC Hockey standings with this weekend’s split.
Kyle Hayton finished with 30 saves for St. Lawrence, including 15 in the second period and two on breakaway chances for Dartmouth.
After a scoreless first period, Finkelstein put the Saints on the board first at 4:38 of the middle frame with a bar-down snipe from the top of the right circle for the second of the season.
Cam Strong tied the game for Dartmouth at the 11:10 mark of the period with a slapshot from the point that was initially stopped by Hayton but trickled behind him for the equalizer.
But just a minute and a half later, Pritchard put the Saints in front for good after senior defensemen Ben Masella forced a turnover along the wall at the Dartmouth blue line and sprung the Macomb, Michigan native for an open look from the right faceoff dot. In similar fashion to the Big Green goal before it, netminder Devin Buffalo seemed to have a beat on it, but it trickled under his right arm and into the net for the eventual game winner.
It was Pritchard again at 8:59 of the third period with the first of two power play goals when he tipped a shot from the point by Bayreuther over Buffalo’s shoulder into the top of the net for a 3-1 St. Lawrence lead. Nolan Gluchowski also assisted on the play.
At 13:05, Marnell notched his first of the night after Bayreuther blocked a shot in front of Hayton and hit Marnell at center ice for a breakaway. The South Huntington, N.Y. native froze the Dartmouth goaltender with a quick stop at the edge of the crease before beating him inside the post with a backhand shot to make it 4-1.
Marnell’s second of the night didn’t come easy, as the officials initially ruled no goal and play continued after the puck hit the back pipe in the net and popped back out into the offensive zone. Just seconds later, Carson Gicewicz scored a no-doubter that allowed the crew to take a look at the initial play from Marnell. Marnell’s stood, nullifying the Gicewicz tally but still giving the Saints the final 5-1 margin.
With the Saints on the power play, Finkelstein and Bayreuther traded high in the zone before Finkelstein ripped a slap shot from the point that Marnell redirected high and past Buffalo, sending the junior goaltender to the bench.
Buffalo finished with 22 stops for Dartmouth in just under 54 minutes played, while Adrian Clark stopped both shots he faced in relief.
The Saints will close out their first semester schedule with a Friday night game against Clarkson at Appleton Arena on Dec. 9, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m.
