Cameron Buhl scored a goal and added an assist, Greg Lapointe scored his first career goal, and Emil Zetterquist made 33 saves to lead the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team to a 2-2 tie with No. 12/13 Quinnipiac in the Saints' season opener at Appleton Arena on Thursday afternoon.

It was the latest start of a season in a calendar year for the Saints, who had several games earlier this season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, since the 1950-51 season, when the team opened with a 7-2 win over Rensselaer on January 3.

"I was excited for the guys to get out there and get a chance to compete and show what they can do a little bit," said Charles W. Appleton II Head Men's Hockey Coach Brent Brekke. "We're excited about some of the stuff that we did see, we see lots to work on, but I thought the performance overall was solid."



Lapointe opened the scoring for the Saints, getting on the scoresheet just three minutes and 42 seconds into his first collegiate game. The first-year from Granby, Quebec, took a feed from Kaden Pickering at the right side of the net and beat Quinnipiac goaltender Keith Petruzzelli with a short-side shot over the glove.

The Saints outshot the Bobcats (6-2-1 overall, 0-0-1 ECAC Hockey), who were playing in their ninth game of the season, 11-8 in the first period. But Quinnipiac came back with a strong effort in the second period, thanks in part to four St. Lawrence penalties. The Saints were outshot 15-4 in the frame, but held the Quinnipiac power play, which entered the game with a 29.8% conversion rate, scoreless thanks in part to a stellar performance by Zetterquist.

"He brings a calming presence," said Brekke. "He has that type of demeanor. He's a much more confident goaltender this year than he was last year. He shored up some stuff in his game and he gave us a chance to be successful tonight … I was happy with his performance and I think he should feel good about himself as well."

Quinnipiac tied the game six minutes into the third period, as Ethan Leyh gathered the puck in the corner and found Odeen Tufto all alone in the left faceoff circle, and Tufto fired a wrist shot off the inside of the far post and into the net for his third goal of the season.

The Saints, however, regained the lead halfway through the third, as Buhl tipped a blast from the point by Tim Makowski into the goal for his first of the year. Pickering picked up his second assist of the game on the play.

St. Lawrence held the lead for most of the rest of the period, and Quinnipiac pulled Petruzzelli for an extra attacker with just under three minutes to play. It didn't take long for the move to pay dividends, as Tufto found himself in the same position where he scored earlier in the game, but this time he slid the puck across the ice to Ty Smilanic, who one-timed a shot into the net before Zetterquist could track across the crease.

St. Lawrence got its first taste of the new 3-on-3 overtime format and Pickering had a couple golden opportunities to score the game-winning goal for the Saints. Halfway through the five-minute overtime, he tipped a pass from Nicholas Trela up into the air, but the puck flipped up on top of the net where Petruzzelli was able to cover it up. Then, in the final minute of overtime, Pickering got some open space and got a low shot on net, but Petruzzelli made a pad save to preserve the tie.

None of the first five shooters were successful in the shootout round, and Tufto earned the Bobcats the extra point with a shot that got through Zetterquist's legs and trickled over the goal line. With the shootout win, Quinnipiac earned two points in the ECAC Hockey standings and the Saints earned one. The game, however, is officially recorded as a tie.

Petruzzella made 23 saves for the Bobcats, who were 0-for-5 on the power play. The Saints were also scoreless on two power play opportunities.

The two teams will face off once again on Sunday in Hamden, Connecticut. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. opening faceoff.