Junior forward Ty Naaykens would score his third goal of the season in the second period, but ultimately the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team would fall 5-1 to No. 15 Western Michigan in Lawson Arena on Friday night.

The Saints fell to 3-9-1 on the year with the loss, while the Broncos improved to 7-3-1.

The Scarlet and Brown would go down early in the contest as a penalty ended up in the back of their net. At the 4:01 mark of the first period Carter Berger sent a shot through a screen and into the Saints' net to take a 1-0 lead.

Shortly after, St. Lawrence would go on the man-advantage following a trip as a Bronco defender hauled down Felikss Gavars, who was headed for a breakaway. The Saints poured on the offense and hemmed Western Michigan in their own zone but were unable to beat Cameron Rowe in net.

After some back-and-forth play for a few minutes, the Broncos would pressure the Saints into another penalty late in the first. St. Lawrence ended up killing off the penalty, but Western Michigan would score moments after the power play ended to take a 2-0 lead into the break.



St. Lawrence would be faced with two more kills early in the second, but Ben Kraws and the penalty kill unit rose to the task. In between the kills, captain Josh Boyer and senior Logan Ritchie both had great chances on goal but were stymied.

Western Michigan would score their third goal at 11:51 of the second, however the Saints would strike back moments later. The Broncos created a great 2-on-1 chance leading to two shots that were stopped as the puck fell to the stick of Michigan-native Nicholas Trela. The senior would chip the puck out and past the Bronco defenders where Naaykens would outrace the defense and backhand a shot over Rowe to make it a 3-1 game.

The Saints would get a chance to make it a one-goal game immediately afterwards as they went on a power play, which ended up without a goal, followed by a tremendous look from Naaykens once again. Rowe made a fantastic save on the wrist shot but the play transitioned down to the St. Lawrence end where Alex Bump would give the Broncos the 4-1 lead going into the third.

In the third, Tyler Cristall and Will Arquiett would look to cut into the deficit once again as the two went in on a 2-on-1. Cristall's pass made it to Arquiett after a deflection by a defender but he was unable to find twine on the chance.

The penalty kill unit and Kraws continued to come up big in an attempt to keep it a three-goal game up until the 12:18 mark when a batted puck went in for the Broncos to make it 5-1.

Another near breakaway came later in the third when Justin Paul found himself with open ice whilst on the penalty kill but he was tripped on the play. Paul would get a chance at redemption a few minutes later as he was sprung for another man-down breakaway. His shot was stopped by Rowe, who put the finishing touches on the game.

Kraws made 39 saves in the losing effort, while Rowe stopped 21 shots in the Western Michigan goal.

St. Lawrence would go 0-for-2 on the power play, while the Broncos went 1-for-9.

The two teams will line it back up tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. at Lawson Arena for game two of the weekend series.