Will Arquiett and Spencer Bell scored for the Saints in the first period, while Greg Lapointe put on the finishing touches scoring two minutes and forty-two seconds into overtime as the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team defeated RIT 3-2 on Saturday night in Appleton Arena.

The win was the first in net for sophomore Mason Kucenski, who stopped 20 shots in goal for the Saints.  

The Saints improved to 1-0-0 with the season-opening win, while the Tigers fell to 0-1-0.

"I thought it was a good first game against a team that is good in quick transition on turnovers and can make you pay if you make too many mistakes," said Charles W. Appleton II Head Men's Hockey Coach Brent Brekke "I liked our push early in the third playing with the lead and we forced them to defend and go the lengths of the ice for transition. Kucenski played very well in the net and it was great to see him get his first college win!  Another good test tomorrow afternoon with Canisius.  I would expect both of these teams to be in the top few spots of their conference when the season comes to an end."

The raucous Appleton Arena crowd didn't have to wait long for the fireworks in the contest as the Scarlet and brown struck just 11 seconds into the season.

Senior captain Drake Burgin got the puck up to new Saint Reilly Connors off the draw and saw the graduate student get the puck to the net. Trent Burnham was able to stop the effort, but the puck came out to Arquiett, who wired a slapshot past the goaltender to give the Saints the early 1-0 lead.

A little over a minute later, it looked as if St. Lawrence might've doubled the lead when transfer defender Isack Bandu fired a shot on Burnham that trickled through his pads. Before crossing the line, the RIT defense swept the puck away keeping the game at 1-0.

The action kept coming as four minutes in a Saint defender hauled down a Tiger forward and went crashing into the net. The Tigers were given a call on the ice but after the review, it was determined the net had come off before the goal.

The Scarlet and Brown doubled their lead 14 minutes into the first off of a career-first tally. Senior captain Ty Naaykens won a puck battle on the boards and got it up to first-year forward Nicholas Beneteau. The rest of the play was up to a pair of youngsters. Beneteau was bearing down on goal and made a great pass to his classmate Bell. Bell pulled the puck back and burnt Burnham to make it a 2-0 lead.

Beneteau earned his first assist and point on the play, while Bell scored his first goal.



The second period saw RIT inch closer in the contest as at the four-minute and twenty-seven second mark Dimitri Mikrogiannakis beat Kucenski to make it 2-1 which was held at the intermission.

St. Lawrence regained the shot battle in the third outshooting the Tigers 8-5, but RIT had the one that counted as they scored an equalizer late in the third. The Tigers' captain Mikrogiannakis struck again firing a shot through the screen as his goalie skated to the bench.

It was all Scarlet and Brown in overtime as the Saints held RIT shotless. Naaykens and Felikss Gavars had consecutive shots early but saw their shots sail off target.

Beneteau made another great play for the Saints a minute later causing a turnover that fell to Mason Waite. Waite, Beneteau, and Lapointe charged up the ice and the defender dished off to Lapointe. The senior forward ripped a wrist shot off the far post, and off Burnham and in to seal the win.

Kucenski finished with 20 saves in the victory, while Burnham stopped 24 of the 27, he faced.

St. Lawrence finished with the 27-22 edge in shots in the contest. Both teams came up empty on the power play with the Saints going 0-for-5 and the Tigers 0-for-2.

The Skating Saints will be back on the ice tomorrow for a rare Sunday game at 4 p.m. as they host Canisius to close the season-opening weekend.