Jacob Pritchard’s third-period power-play goal snapped a 3-3 tie and helped propel the St. Lawrence men’s hockey team to its first win of the season, as the Saints upset No. 5 Wisconsin 6-3 in Madison on Saturday night.
The goal was the second of the night from Pritchard, who also scored in the first period against the Badgers, and sparked a three-goal run en route to the win.
Five Saints finished with goals and eleven finished with a least one point. In addition to Pritchard, Philip Alftberg, Joe Sullivan, Matt Purmal and Ben Finkelstein each recorded multi-point games.
Saturday was a total team effort for the Saints, starting with the stellar play of junior netminder Arthur Brey who made 34 saves, including 16 in the second period.
Callum Cusinato gave St. Lawrence its first lead of the year with his third of the weekend at 5:39 of the first period off a feed from Alftberg in transition. Cusinato put a shot from the slot with two defensemen on him and beat Wisconsin starter Jack Berry five-hole for a 1-0 lead.
Pritchard extended the lead to 2-0 at 7:56 when he went forehand to backhand on an odd-man rush with Joe Sullivan and pushed the puck five-hole, again, on Berry.
The Badgers cut the deficit in half at the 15-minute mark of the first period off an odd-man rush of their own, as Cameron Hughes redirected a pass from Trent Frederic, who was deep in the corner, inside the near post over Brey’s left shoulder.
Midway through the second period, the Saints’ goaltender robbed Wisconsin’s Jarod Zirbel twice after a faceoff win by Joe Sullivan hit a shin pad and skipped out in front. Brey made the first save with the pads, but the second was a sprawling grab with the glove after he waited out Zirbel perfectly.
But Wisconsin did find the equalizer in the middle frame, as Ryan Wagner scored his first of two with the Badgers on a five-on-three power play. Wagner ripped a shot from the high slot that beat Brey low through traffic in front.
With time winding down in the second, Purmal sent Alftberg on a rush up the right side with Bo Hanson crashing the net. Alftberg unloaded on a shot from the right circle that Hanson tipped past Berry to give the Saints a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission.
Thirty-two seconds into the third, it was Wagner who tied the game again for Wisconsin on the power play when he lifted a backhand over Brey’s left shoulder from the bottom of the circle.
Three minutes later Pritchard gave the Saints the lead for good with a power play goal of his own when he walked into the circle and snapped off a wrister that beat Berry bar down, high on the blocker side, with Sullivan screening in front. The Badgers pulled Berry after the fourth Saints’ goal, as he was relieved by former St. Lawrence goaltender Kyle Hayton.
Finkelstein extended the lead to 5-3 at the 7:05 mark after he picked up the puck on the half wall and carried below the circle before snapping off a wrister from a flat angle that beat Hayton over the right shoulder inside the near post.
After Wisconsin pulled Hayton with just over two and a half to play for the extra attacker, Ryan Lough scored a 200-foot empty net goal for the sixth and final goal; his first of the year.
The Saints scored six goals on just 13 shots and finished 1-for-3 on the power play, while Wisconsin finished with 37 shots and was 2-for-4 with the man advantage. Both teams blocked a considerable amount of shots on Saturday, as the Saints finished with 17 and Wisconsin with 15.
Jack Berry made seven saves for Wisconsin in the loss in 43:33 minutes played. Hayton did not make a save in just over 15 minutes of action.
The win snapped a nine-game losing streak for the Saints dating back to last season, as the team improves to 1-7-0 heading into the start of ECAC Hockey play next weekend. With the loss, Wisconsin is now 6-3-0.
The Saints will open conference play with Union and Rensselaer at home next weekend.
