McKenzie Ignites Saints in Win Over Colgate
_Photos/St._Lawrence/Mike_McKenzie32.gif?max_width=360)
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colgate (7-9-4, 5-4-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| St. Lawrence (11-8-3, 5-3-1) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Scoring Summary | |
|---|---|
| 3rd - 09:18 | McKENZIE, Mike (St. Lawrence) |
| 3rd - 14:24 | CURRAN, Alex (St. Lawrence) |
| 3rd - 14:41 | CARDEN, Rick (St. Lawrence) |
| 3rd - 16:47 | PP - VERMEULEN, Travis (St. Lawrence) |
| Colgate | St. Lawrence |
|---|---|
|
G:
N/A
A: N/A Sh: 7 Players (#6, #12, #18, #20, #23, #26, #28 - 2) Sv: Charles Long - 22 |
G:
4 Players (#8, #11, #17, #26 - 1)
A: Brandon Bollig - 2 Sh: 3 Players (#7, #11, #26 - 3) Sv: Kain Tisi - 20 |
| TEAM STATISTICS | Colgate | St. Lawrence |
|---|---|---|
| Power Plays | 0 for 6 | 1 for 4 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 5 (21) | 6 (12) |
| Shots on Goal | 20 | 26 |
| Face Offs Won | 21 | 36 |
Senior forward Mike McKenzie snapped a scoreless tie with his fifth goal of the year at 9:18 of the third period and the goal opened the floodgates as St. Lawrence University scored three times in a span of 2:23 to come away with a 4-0 win over Colgate University in a ECAC Division I hockey game at Appleton Arena Friday night.
The Saints, playing their first home game since the first weekend in December, improve to 11-8-3 overall and 5-3-1 in the ECAC while Colgate is now 7-9-4 overall and 5-4-1 in league play.
Saint senior goaltender Kain Tisi, who made his sixth straight start, recorded a 20-save shutout, his first since a 24-save 4-0 shutout of Bowling Green in 2006.
It was the third straight win for the Saints over Colgate in the series between the two teams, but looked like it might end up in a scoreless tie heading into the third period as both goaltenders were sharp in an end to end game. The two teams have tied only once in a 128 game series which the Saints now lead 66-61-1. It was the first shutout in the series since a 1-0 Colgate win in the 2004 ECAC playoffs.
"That was a very solid effort by everyone defensively," said Saint coach Joe Marsh. "Kain didn't have a lot of saves, but he had some that were up there in terms of quality against a very explosive Colgate offense."
Neither team scored in a fast-paced first period as both goaltenders came up big. Long made six of his nine first period stops during an extended power play for the Saints as the Raiders killed off a full two minutes of five on three and a major penalty after Sean Carty was called for a hit from behind midway through the period. Saint sophomore Mark Armstrong was taken off the ice on a stretcher after going into the boards head first on the play, but the injury was not serious.
The scoreless tie continued through the second period, although this time it was the Saints' turn to work on the penalty kill. SLU killed three Colgate power plays, allowing just two shots on goal in the six minutes of man advantage and had an overlapping penalty kill which went 1:34 into the third period. The Saints killed all six Colgate power play chances with seven Raider shots in the six opportunities.
"We had to do some juggling when we lost Armstrong early in the game, but I thought the guys responded well," said Marsh. "McKenzie did a great job double shifting and all of the forwards complimented our defensive efforts well. Once we got that first goal it seemed to light a fire and things snowballed for us."
McKenzie took a pass from senior center Jeremiah Cunningham, cut across the goal mouth and backhanded a shot into the upper corner over the shoulder of Colgate goaltender Charles Long to start the scoring at 9:18 of the third.
Senior wing Alex Curran then started the three goal flurry to put the game away as he took a pass from Travis Vermeulen and gunned a shot under the crossbar for his fifth of the year at 14:24. McKenzie then sent Rick Carden in on a breakaway on the faceoff after Curran's goal and Carden scored his second of the year, tucking the puck between Long's pads as a penalty was being indicated against the Raiders at the 14:41 mark.
Colgate did take a penalty at 15:11 and the Saints converted on the power play at 16:47 as Vermeulen scored his team-leading eighth of the year from Brandon Bollig and Curran to wrap up the scoring against Alex Evin, who took over in net for the Raiders after the third Saint goal.
