Rogers Nets Two; Crimson Ties No. 20 Saints

Photo by DSPics.com

Boxscore

CANTON, N.Y. -Junior Doug Rogers scored twice and sophomore Ryan Carroll made 37 saves, leading the Harvard men's hockey in a 2-2 tie Friday night against No. 20 St. Lawrence at Appleton Arena.

Sophomore Michael Biega assisted on both goals, as the Crimson (7-14-5, 7-7-5 ECAC Hockey) gained a key point in the ECAC Hockey standings. Harvard remained tied with Quinnipiac for sixth place, one point behind the Saints (16-11-4, 8-7-4) and three back of fourth-place Dartmouth.

Kevin DeVergilio and Jeremiah Cunningham scored for the Saints, who held a 39-29 shots advantage and got 26 saves from Alex Petizian. In a battle of the league's top two power plays in ECAC competition, Harvard was 0 for 5 on the man advantage and SLU was 0 for 4, extending the Crimson's streak of successful penalty kills to 20.

The Saints had the first scoring chance, as Jared Ross carried the puck to the top of the right circle and ripped a slap shot high to the blocker side and off the crossbar. Harvard's first good opportunity also came on a slapper from out high, as junior Alex Biega got to a loose puck and sent a shot off the inside of Petizian's right pad.

Petizian made another nice save on Biega about three minutes later, following a feed from sophomore Pier-Olivier Michaud. He made his best stop of the period on after the ensuing faceoff, getting just enough of his glove arm on a shot from a wide-open Daniel Moriarty in front to deflect the puck over the glass and keep the game scoreless.

The Crimson's pressure paid off at the 12:58 mark of the first period. Alex Biega made a long pass to center ice that freshman Eric Kroshus tapped to Michael Biega, who found Rogers with room to skate up the right side. The junior center carried the puck wide to the right and snuck a shot between the legs of Petizian for his 25th career goal and a 1-0 lead.

St. Lawrence committed the game's first penalty at 16:11 and got a tough early save from Petizian on Moriarty's tip of a Huxley shot. Instead, it was the Saints scoring during the Crimson power play. Kevin DeVergilio stole the puck on the Harvard breakout, used a defenseman as a screen and wristed a shot from the left circle past Carroll's glove about two minutes before the intermission.

The Saints held a 12-11 edge in shots in the frame.

Harvard again got the first power play in the second period, but it was again the Saints with the best scoring chance, as Brock McBride shot wide from the slot following another turnover forced by the SLU shorthanded forecheck. The Crimson got a shorthanded chance of its own on the first SLU power play, when freshman Colin Moore blocked a shot and took off the other way. However, with Moore at the end of a shift, a Saint got back to deflect his shot wide.

Carroll kept the game tied with a brilliant left-pad save in the 12th minute of the second period, stoning Brandon Bollig after a pass found the SLU winger alone in front for a redirection. St. Lawrence continued its pressure in the minutes that followed. Harvard killed another SLU power play, but Jeremiah Cunningham put the Saints ahead, 2-1, at 17:12, tapping in the rebound of a Max Mobley shot on the rush.

Soon after gaining the lead, Petizian held it with a spectacular save, gloving a Moriarty shot while sprawled on his chest. The Saints, however, committed two penalties on the play, giving Harvard a two-man advantage for the remainder of the period. The Crimson put five shots on Petizian in that time, but the SLU junior stopped them all, culminating with a glove save on a shot from the left side by Kroshus. St. Lawrence owned a 10-7 shots advantage in the second.

Rogers tied the game back up two minutes, 49 seconds into the third frame. He picked off an pass at the SLU blue line, passed to Michael Biega in the right corner and bolted to the slot. There he got a pass pack from Biega and beat Petizian with a shot low to the right side.

On the other end, Carroll made another great stop, getting his right pad on a Mike McKenzie shot from point-blank range. He later dove to his right to get his glove on DeVergilio's shot into an apparent open net. Shortly after that amazing save, a puck deflected off Carroll and got behind him but stopped short of the goal line.

Harvard survived an SLU power play in the final minutes, and just after the penalty expired, senior Nick Coskren had a chance for the winner, but Petizian kept his shot out of the top right corner, deflecting it into the protective netting. The Saints had a 14-10 edge in third-period shots and registered three of the four shots on goal in an end-to-end overtime, but Carroll held strong to help the Crimson secure the point.

The Crimson completes its final regular-season road trip with short drive to Potsdam, N.Y., to face Clarkson Saturday night at 7 p.m.