Tomáš Mazura, Max Dorrington, and Ty Naaykens provided the goals, while Ben Kraws delivered the 22-save shutout as the number seven-seeded St. Lawrence University men's hockey team blanked the number one-seeded Quinnipiac Bobcats in the Semifinal Round of the ECAC Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y to advance to tomorrow's championship game.

St. Lawrence improved to 14-18-6 with the win, while No. 6 Quinnipiac fell to 26-9-2.

With the win, the Saints advanced to the championship game for the second time in the last four seasons. Their last trip to the title game ended in the Saints hoisting the Whitelaw Cup after defeating Quinnipiac 3-2 in Hamden, Conn. St. Lawrence will face the winner of the Cornell versus Dartmouth Semifinal matchup.

"The boys played a complete team game and I'm extremely proud of them!" said Charles W. Appleton II men's hockey coach Brent Brekke "They committed to one another and played to our identity. That is one of the top teams in college hockey and it was a great game. Our boys earned it!! I'm sure excited for them and the opportunity to play for a championship tomorrow night! Our fan support from the North Country was tremendous! They are always there for us!"

The first period saw both teams trading chances to break the ice in the contest. Kraws made a great save on Christophe Fillion in the opening minutes, while Vinny DuPlessis turned aside dangerous looks from Tucker McIntosh, Josh Boyer, and Naaykens.

The Scarlet and Brown got the first power play chance of the game but couldn't find twine. St. Lawrence returned the favor killing off a Bobcat penalty later in the first to keep the game scoreless.

Late in the period, Quinnipiac would stave off more danger as Reilly Moran found himself all alone, only to find his shot hit the pad of DuPlessis. This was followed by Will Arquiett, who stopped a great opportunity with a block in the last 30 seconds.



In the second, the Saints had a golden chance as senior captain Luc Salem found himself on a break with Jan Lasak. Salem took it himself but rang his shot off the crossbar to keep it at 0-0.

The score wouldn't stay that way for long as Mazura found himself with room after a connection of passes from Felikks Gavars, and Moran. The junior forward burnt DuPlessis to the far post to claim the lead.

Less than four minutes later, after a failed challenge for a five-minute major, the Saints would take a 2-0 lead on the man advantage. Drake Burgin was at the top of the umbrella and sent a pass down to Gavars, who lasered a cross-ice pass to Dorrington. The senior forward redirected the puck in for the two-goal lead. The goal was reviewed for a kick but would stand.

Kraws ensured the score stayed at 2-0 after two making huge saves with less than seven minutes left in the middle frame.

Quinnipiac was able to hold a slim 9-8 shot advantage in the third but for the most part was smothered by the Saints' defense along with their backstop, Kraws.

Down two goals late, the Bobcats pulled their goalie for an extra-attacker but would get burned for a goal instead. Senior captain Justin Paul made a tremendous play breaking up a passing play and poking the puck up ice. From there, Dorrington found Naaykens, who slammed home the empty-net goal to put the game on ice.

Kraws' shutout was the first playoff clean sheet since the 2016-17 season when Kyle Hayton stopped 32 to blank Quinnipiac in game one of the ECAC Quarterfinals. The graduate student finished with 22 saves, while DuPlessis stopped 22 of the 24 he faced.

The red-hot Saints power play went 1-for-3 on the night, while the team went 1-for-1 on the penalty kill. 

The Skating Saints will take on either Cornell or Dartmouth in tomorrow's championship game at the Herb Brooks Arena at 5 p.m.