After going down 2-0 in the first period, Josh Boyer and Luc Salem scored in the second to tie the game and Jan Lasak's first career goal in the third gave the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team a 3-2 win in their ECAC opener against RPI in front of 1,732 fans at Appleton Arena on Friday night.

The Scarlet and Brown improved to 4-4-0 with the win and went to 1-0-0 in conference play, while the Engineers fell to 5-3-0 and 1-2-0.

Senior captain Tim Makowski was an offensive catalyst for the Saints providing assists on all three St. Lawrence goals. It was his second multi-assist game of the year after dishing out two helpers in the Saints' 5-1 win over Colorado College.

"We got our legs moving after the first period and started to play our game," said Charles W. Appleton II Head Coach Brent Brekke "I was real happy to see our guys take momentum back in the second period and be tough to play against. Good growth for our team and it was nice to get the win in our ECAC opener."
 

The game started with a torrid back-and-forth pace through the first half of the first period, which saw just one stoppage in play in the opening ten minutes. The ice began to tilt in favor of the Engineers as Jordan Steinmetz was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct with 7:02 left.

On the ensuing power play, the Saints held strong for a few minutes before RPI broke the 0-0 tie. A beautiful passing play from Lauri Sertti, and Ryan Mahshie found the stick of Austin Heidemann in the slot, who fired a shot to the top right corner to make it a 1-0 game.

In the final minute of the first frame, a defensive miscue made it a 2-0 game as Jakob Lee intercepted a pass with no one between himself and Emil Zetterquist. Lee backhanded a shot home to give the Engineers the 2-0 lead after 20.

St. Lawrence flipped the game on its head in the second, as they heavily outshot RPI 17-5. The Saints capitalized with a goal a minute and ten seconds in. Makowski sent a pass up the side boards to Felikks Gavars, who carried the puck into the Engineers' end. The first-year dropped the puck back to Josh Boyer, who collected the puck from the far hash of the right circle and ripped a wrist shot over the short side shoulder of RPI's Jack Watson to cut into the lead.

With all of the momentum on their side, the Scarlet and Brown tied up the contest less than five minutes later. Makowski once again assisted on a goal, as he hauled in a Greg Lapointe pass and found Luc Salem. The junior defender stepped to the middle threaded a wrist shot through a Will Arquiett screen and on goal that beat Watson and tied the game at 2-2.



The Scarlet and Brown were relentless in hunting for their third goal of the night and came close on numerous occasions. After tying up the game, the Saints had four shots from Cameron Buhl, Lapointe, Anthony Mollica, and Max Dorrington ring off the pipe.

Nine and a half minutes into the third, St. Lawrence would find the goal they were searching for. Makowski collected a puck at the top of the RPI zone and sent a shot in that was stopped by Watson. Lasak collected the rebound and put a shot off the pad of the goaltender, but stuck with the play and snuck his second shot past the foot of Watson for his first goal in Scarlet and Brown, giving his team the 3-2 lead.

The Engineers did not lay down as they applied pressure late with an empty net. Mahshie had a good look for RPI with 37 seconds left in regulation, then with the final seconds ticking on the clock the big-bodied Sutter Muzzatti got two shots onto Zetterquist creating a heavy scrum. The shots were saved and the rebound out to TJ Walsh was stymied by the left pad of the senior goaltender to give St. Lawrence the win.

Zetterquist stopped 23 shots in the win, while Watson stopped 33 shots in the loss.

After generating 11 shots in the first period, RPI had just 14 more in the second and third, as they were outshot 36-25.

The Engineers went 1-for-4 on the power play, scoring on the five-minute opportunity, while the Saints went 0-for-2.

The Scarlet and Brown will line up with their eyes on a sweep, as they welcome Union to the friendly confines of Appleton Arena for a 7:30 p.m. start. Before the game St. Lawrence University and the St. Lawrence Hockey Alumni Association will be inducting former Charles W. Appleton II Head Men's Hockey Coach Joe Marsh into the Legends of Appleton. He will be formally recognized for his tremendous contributions to both the men's and women's programs – in addition to his leadership and loyalty to the Laurentian and North Country community.