By Aaron Todd —
The St. Lawrence University men’s hockey team responded to its first deficit of the season with goals by Kaden Pickering and Nicholas Trela in a span of just one minute and 29 seconds to take a 2-1 lead, but Colgate came back with three unanswered goals to hand the Saints their first loss of the season, 4-2, on Saturday night at Appleton Arena.
With the loss, the Saints fell to 2-1-1 overall and in ECAC Hockey play, while Colgate improved to 2-3-2, 1-2-1.
Elliott McDermott gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead with less than five minutes to play in the first period, taking a shot from the point that made its way through traffic into the lower left corner of the net. Griffin Lund and Arnaud Vachon earned assists on the play.
Pickering tied the game with a shorthanded goal just over two minutes into the second period. The junior from Madrid, New York, picked off an errant pass in his own skated from end-to-end, finally putting a shot past Colgate goaltender Carter Gylander after his first shot was blocked by a defender and his second effort went off the past. The unassisted goal was Pickering’s first of the season.
Trela gave the Saints their only lead of the game with his first collegiate goal less than a minute and a half later, putting away a rebound after a shot by David Jankowski was stopped by Gylander. Philip Alftberg also picked up an assist on the play.
But the lead didn’t last long, as Matt Verboon one-timed a pass from Levi Glasman from the right faceoff dot into the top left corner of the net for a power play goal to tie the game, 2-2, just 2:25 later.
Alex Young put the Raiders ahead for good, tucking the puck past St. Lawrence goaltender Emil Zetterquist from right in front of the net, with just over six minutes remaining in the second period. Glasman and McDermott earned assists on the play.
The Saints had opportunities to tie the score in the third period, including a one-timer by Greg Lapointe the hit the crossbar with just over a minute to play and an extra attacker on the ice, but Colgate’s Ross Mitton put the game away with an empty-net goal.
Colgate was 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Saints were held scoreless in three opportunities.
Gylander made 34 saves for the Raiders, as the Saints held a 36-33 advantage in shots on goal. Zetterquist stopped 29 shots for the Saints.
The three-game series is now tied at one game apiece; St. Lawrence won the first game, 2-1, on Thursday. Opening faceoff for the rubber match will be on Sunday at 5 p.m. at Appleton Arena.
