The St. Lawrence University men's hockey team fell to visiting Rensselaer 3-0 in ECAC Hockey action on Saturday night at SUNY Canton's Roos House Ice Arena.

The Saints got off to a slow start and were outshot 26-14 through the first 40 minutes, but trailed just 1-0 heading into the third period and had a few quality chances that were denied by RPI goaltender Owen Savory.

Keenan Suthers, who led St. Lawrence with six shots on goal, had a partial breakaway midway through the first period after slapping the puck away from a pair of RPI defenders in the neutral zone, but Savory extended for a save with his right pad to keep things at 0-0.

Tristan Ashbrook got RPI on the board at 16:18 of the opening frame with the eventual game winner and his first of two goals on the night, as he also added an empty net goal in the third period.

Early in the second with the Saints shorthanded, Jordan Steinmetz sprung Michael Laidley on the left-wing side for a rush towards goal, but Savory came up with a blocker save and then froze Steinmetz's rebound bid against the side of the cage for the draw. 



Laidley, a fifth-year senior and captain for St. Lawrence, played in his 100^th career game on Saturday night.

After a scoreless second, Patrick Polino extended the Engineers' lead to 2-0 when he deked around St. Lawrence netminder Francis Boisvert before tucking it off a defenders skate on the short side at 12:53 of the final frame. Ashbrook's empty netter came at 16:35, just 10 seconds after Boisvert first went to the bench for the extra attacker.

Moments later, with Boisvert on the bench yet again, Suthers had two bids on the backhand at the edge of the crease after a shot from the point by Jake Stevens, but was again denied by Savory, as the RPI netminder held on for the clean sheet.

Savory finished with 25 saves for the Engineers, while Boisvert made 31 stops for the Saints.

The shutout ends a streak of four games with a power play goal for St. Lawrence. RPI also did not convert with the man advantage, finishing 0-for-3.

With the loss, the Saints are now 3-15-3 overall with a 1-8-0 mark against conference opponents. RPI completed the North Country sweep with the win and improved to 8-10-1 overall and 5-5-1 in ECAC Hockey.

The Saints with return to SUNY Canton for the final time this season next weekend, as they host Quinnipiac and Princeton for a pair of conference games on January 10-11.