Emil Zetterquist turned in a 28-save shutout, and senior captain Aleksi Peltonen scored the game's only goal late in the third to help the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team to a 1-0 upset win over No. 11 Cornell at Lynah Rink on Saturday night.
 
The win over Cornell at Lynah Rink comes exactly 365 days after captain David Jankowski scored an overtime game-winner to knock off the then No. 18 Big Red.

St. Lawrence evened its record at 16-16-0 overall and 11-9-0 in ECAC play with the win, while the Big Red fell to 16-9-2 and 13-6-1 in league play.

"I'm extremely proud of these guys. Cornell's a very good team and it's a tough building to play in, but we found a way," said Charles W. Appleton II head coach Brent Brekke "We held off their push in the first period and got better in the last 40 minutes. It was a great play by Zigy after he had a huge block to start the transition out of our zone. Big time finish by Peltonen to finish the play off as well! Great to be heading back to Appleton for the final two games of the regular season and play in front of the Appleton Army! The Marsh Pit will be rocking!"

Unlike last night's contest, there was no early goals to be found despite early chances. Cameron Buhl had a great chance in the opening two minutes when his 2-on-1 shot attempt was turned aside by Ian Shane.

The Big Red came right back with a chance of their own as Max Andreev had an open look on the Saints' goal. Zetterquist was up to the task stopping the dangerous shot.

Cornell would gain some momentum with a power play as they peppered the St. Lawrence frame. They once again had a grade-A chance to score midway through the first, but the shot rang off the post keeping the game even.


Ty Naaykens put Shane to the test again late in the period on a mini breakaway. With the Big Red hot on his heels, the sophomore pulled up at the top of the circle and let a wrist shot go. The heavy shot was turned away as the game went to 0-0 at the break.

The Scarlet and Brown, who were outshot 12-5 in the opening frame, steadied the contest a bit in the second. The Saints were given a power play attempt in the middle period but were unable to find the goal mouth with any of their shots.

Late in the period, the Skating Saints were threatening as the game opened a bit. Nicholas Trela and Justin Paul each had great looks on the Big Red goal at the 7:06 and 5:04 marks of the second but Shane was able to fight away the dangerous bids.

In the third, Cornell continued to apply pressure, notably on the power play. Aside from a post, the Big Red were unable to get past the steady Zetterquist.

The game kept rolling into the final seven minutes where the Scarlet and Brown had two more great looks against Shane. The first chance came from Felikss Gavars, whose shot from the right circle was redirected by the goaltender. Tomáš Mazura then nearly stole from the proverbial cookie jar when a shot from the blue line skirted free from Shane. The keeper was able to swallow the rebound before Mazura was able to bury the loose puck.

It wasn't until the final three minutes that the game saw its first goal. With the Big Red pressing heavily, a shot was saved by Zetterquist and rideflected around the boards around to Peltonen, who was sprung on a 2-on-1 with Jan Lasak. The senior captain dished a pass off as they entered the zone to Lasak, who gave the feed right back. Peltonen then put a move on Shane and buried on the far side to give the Saints a 1-0 lead. Zetterquist was given the secondary assist on the crucial play. 

Cornell would proceed to pull their goaltender in search of an equalizer. The Skating Saints defended feverishly in the final minute as they forced a shot wide and blocked the only other attempot to preserve the win and the shutout.

Zetterquist turned in a gem for the Scarlet and Brown stopping 28 shots for his third shutout of the season. Shane was also steady in the Cornell net making 16 saves.

Both teams came up empty on the power play with the Saints going 0-for-1 and the Big Red going 0-for-3. Cornell held a 28-17 shot advantage in the contest.

The Skating Saints will make the triumphant drive back to the North Country and begin to prepare for their final games of the regular season next weekend. Next Friday, the Saints host Harvard, then on Saturday, the St. Lawrence University men's hockey program will honor the Class of 2023 on Senior Night against Dartmouth.