The Saints got a late second-period goal from Ty Naaykens to tie the game at 1-1, but a late Harvard goal in the final minute sent the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team to a 2-1 loss to the Crimson on Friday night in Cambridge, Mass.

St. Lawrence fell to 9-17-3 on the year and 7-9-1 in ECAC play, while Harvard improved to 5-15-4, and 5-8-4 in league play.

The Scarlet and Brown won the first period in terms of pressure with the Saints outshooting the Crimson 8-1 in the opening nine minutes of the frame and 12-9 total.

Early chances for St. Lawrence were turned aside by Derek Mullahy. The best of the bunch came from the line of Gunnar Thoreson, Josh Boyer, and Reilly Moran, who nearly scored on the doorstep after creating traffic in front.



Later in the first, a seemingly illegal check to the upper body of Cameron Buhl was reviewed by the officials. However the hit, with the puck nowhere in sight, was deemed clean.

Moments later, the Saints were handed a penalty for a lesser hit, putting the third-ranked power play in the nation on the advantage. The best chance of the effort came from the kill as Justin Paul found himself with a breakaway that was stopped by the right pad of Mullahy.

The penalty was killed, but the Crimson was able to get some offense going. Ben Kraws stood his ground making some great saves to keep the game at 0-0.

Kraws' momentum continued into the second period where he made some big-time saves. One of the chances was a breakaway which the graduate student handled deftly, followed by a 2-on-1 that was shut down by a poke check from the netminder.

Harvard would finally break through, however, late in the second when Ryan Healey deflected a puck up and in with 1:42 left in the frame. The lead would only last 12 seconds as after the ensuing draw, Jan Lasak stole the puck at the blue line and went in alone on Mullahy. His shot was stopped but the rebound came out to Naaykens, who wired a shot top shelf to tie the game up at 1-1 heading into the third.

St. Lawrence would finally get a power play early in the third, and despite good pressure in the offensive zone, could not find a goal to break the draw.

The third period slagged along with just eight shots combined finding the nets, and it appeared the game was heading to overtime before the Crimson scored late. With 24 seconds left in regulation, an Ian Moore shot from the blueline was tipped in by Alex Gaffney to give Harvard the 2-1 win.

Kraws stopped 18 shots in the effort, while Mullahy made 22 saves.

The Skating Saints will head to Hanover, N.H. where the team will line up against Dartmouth tomorrow at 7 p.m.