Senior Cameron Buhl scored twice, Ty Naaykens provided three assists, and the Saints had six players tally multiple points, as the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team raced to a 6-2 win over Princeton on Friday night in Appleton Arena.

The Scarlet and Brown improved to 15-14-0 with the win and 10-7-0 in the ECAC putting them into fourth place in the league standings. The Tigers fell to 11-13-0 with the loss and went to 7-10-0 in league play.

"That was a big win against a talented offensive team," said Charles W. Appleton II head coach Brent Brekke "We gave up some quality chances in the first period, but regrouped between the first and second. I thought we managed the game much better in the remaining 40 minutes. Learning to play with a lead and close out is an important aspect of being a strong team. We've taken some good steps in this area as the year has progressed."

St. Lawrence, whose offense has provided four or more goals in four of their last five games, raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first.

The Saints had the Tigers hemmed in their defensive zone and eventually saw Naaykens circle the puck to Philippe Chapleau at the blueline. The defender continued down into the slot where he would slide a pass cross-ice to Buhl. Buhl would wire the one-timer over the shoulder of Ethan Pearson to take the 1-0 lead.

Pearson, who was injured on the goal, was replaced in net by Aidan Porter for the remainder of the contest.

Nearly ten minutes later, Naaykens earned his second assist when he fed a pass over to Luc Salem, who in turn dished it off to Felikss Gavars. The first year had nothing but time and space as he stepped up and rifled a wrist shot off the iron and in to extend the lead to 2-0.

Princeton's Brendan Gorman cut the lead in half with five seconds left in the first, off assists from Noah de la Durantaye and Ian Murphy.



The Scarlet and Brown continued their offensive surge five minutes into the second period. Off an offensive zone faceoff, a Max Dorrington win was ushered back to Salem by senior captain Aleksi Peltonen. Salem collected the puck and slung a shot through traffic that deflected off the glove of a Princeton defender and in making it a 3-1 game.

The Saints were not done from the blueline as with under four to go in the middle period, Mason Waite and Dorrington were passing down low on the power play. Dorrington would eventually skip the puck up to Chapleau at the point, who also was able to find pay dirt through traffic for his first goal of the year.

The lead was extended to 5-1 in the third when a Tiger turnover, caused by Drake Burgin, went the other way. Burgin, after causing the turnover, jumped up on the rush with Justin Paul, who was making his return to the lineup tonight. Paul entered the Princeton end, toe-dragged through a defender, and snuck a shot through the five-hole of Porter to extend the lead.

Minutes later, Jack Cronin made it a 5-2 game with a goal from Jayden Sison and a second assist from de la Durantaye.

The temporary hope of Princeton was dissolved later in the third when the line of Naaykens, Paul, and Buhl struck once again. The trio entered the zone at the same time and made an in-line passing play from Naaykens to Paul and to Buhl, who scored another one-time goal from a similar spot to further put the game on ice at 6-2.

Emil Zetterquist stopped 15 shots in the Saints' net, while Porter stopped 17, and Pearson stopped none in his limited action.

Both teams had two power play chances with St. Lawrence going 1-for-2 and the Tigers going 0-for-2. The Saints had a 23-17 shot advantage in the game.

The Scarlet and Brown will rest up for a huge matchup, as they welcome the No. 2 Quinnipiac Bobcats to the friendly confines of Appleton Arena tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.