Friday, Jan. 24
HAMILTON, N.Y.Following a clean face-off win midway through the third period by Kyle Doyle, Adam Mitchell wristed a shot past the glove of St. Lawrence goaltender Kevin Ackley for the game-tying goal, as the 91Â鶹¾«Æ· men’s hockey team and the visiting Saints skated to a 4-4 tie at Starr Rink Saturday night.
‘We really competed tonight, and that’s something that we’ve had some inconsistencies with in the past,’ said head coach Don Vaughan. ‘I thought tonight we came out and played hard. We threw a lot of rubber at the net, which we’ve been preaching. We got four goals, and we certainly could have had three or four more.’
St. Lawrence (6-13-4, 3-6-2 ECAC) found themselves down a pair heading in to the final period, but capitalized on an early power play to begin its comeback. John Zeiler’s rebound shot from the side of the net drew the Saints to within one, and Rich Peverly evened the score at 3-3 when he negotiated 91Â鶹¾«Æ· netminder David Cann down and out for his seventh tally of the year.
After a strong one-timer from Saint Jack O’Brien found its way past Cann to give St. Lawrence a 4-3 edge seven minutes into the third period, it appeared that the visitors had stolen two points from the Raiders. 91Â鶹¾«Æ· (8-12-3, 3-6-2) struggled to cash in on opportunities, as Ackley stopped multiple odd man rushes en route to a 40 save night.
But Mitchell’s goal only 13 seconds after O’Brien’s strike sent the game into overtime, and Cann held his ground in the extra frame to earn a point. Cann fought off 23 shots, as the two teams tied for the second time this season.
91Â鶹¾«Æ· built its early lead on the back of their power play. After falling behind early in the first on a rebound goal by Saint Simon Watson, P.J. Yedon tied the game at 1-1 with a power play redirection of a Joey Mormina shot.
The Raiders scored the only two goals of the second period with the extra man once again. Freshman Ryan Smyth notched his first goal of his career by banging home a loose puck while on a two-man advantage. 91Â鶹¾«Æ· then followed up with a goal on the subsequent 5-on-4 advantage. Scooter Smith roofed a Doyle pass off of the crossbar and into the net for his 15th of the season and a two-goal cushion.
The Raiders failed to hold on, however, and face Clarkson for the third time this season Saturday night at Starr Rink.