SLU Battles Wayne State to Draw

Boxscore

CANTON, N.Y. -- The Twilight Zone that has inhabited Appleton Arena came through with another strange twist Saturday night as Wayne State cashed in on a broken stick to tie the game in the third period as the Warriors tied St. Lawrence 2-2 to take a win and a tie out of Bill Wilkinson's return to Canton.

Matt Krugg and Stavros Paskaris scored goals just 1:37 apart to overcome a 2-0 Saint lead, Krugg scoring on a five-on-three power play and Paskaris coming up with the tying goal just after the second penalty of the five-on-three had expired. Saint defenseman Zach Miskovic had the puck in the faceoff circle and attempted to slap it down the ice, but his stick snapped in half and the puck hopped to Derek Punches, who walked in with Jared Katz and Paskaris, with Katz setting up Paskaris right on the doorstep of Saint goalie John Hallas for the tying goal.

Wilkinson, a former Saint captain and assistant coach was presented a game jersey by the Saint coaching staff in recognition of his contributions to the sport as a coach at both Wayne State and Western Michigan. Wayne State has announced that it is dropping its men's program at the end of the current season.

The Warriors, 3-7-2 overall and 3-1-1 in their last five, received a strong performance from freshman goaltender Kyle Funkenhauser, who came up big late in the game and in the overtime as the Saints pressured to try to snap a 0-5-2 slump on home ice since winning their first two of the season at Appleton. The Saints, now 4-7-3, will complete a five-game home stand with a ECAC Hockey game against arch-rival Clarkson on Saturday.

" Wayne State played a very solid game defensively and blocked a lot of shots," said Saint coach Joe Marsh. "They are really coming on and are a good young team. I thought we did a pretty good job for the most part and we received an outstanding night from the Travis Vermeulen, Alex Curran, Casey Parenteau line. It was also another solid performance by John Hallas and I thought we were going to get him the win the way we worked in the overtime."

While St. Lawrence pressured in the overtime and had the puck in the Warrior end for the last two minutes of the extra period, Funkenhauser made three of his 37 saves in overtime to preserve the tie and give the Warriors a 1-0-1 weekend against the Saints.

The trio of Parenteau, Curran and Vermeulen supplied both Saint goals and had two outstanding chances in overtime turned back by Funkenhauser.

Parenteau opened the scoring for the Saints with his sixth of the year at 12:03 of the second as he took the puck from Vermeulen and snapped a shot into the upper corner from just outside the crease and Curran made it a 2-0 game at 7:47 of the third, wristing a hard shot past Funkenhauser right after a Saint power play had expired.

Hallas came up with a big save on Tylor Michel on a shorthanded bid and robbed Jordan Inglis late in the second to help the Saints earn the tie.

"We've got a real tough one coming up in Clarkson, but it can be one of those games when you throw the records out the window. We'll just keep working hard and give it our best shot," said Marsh.