The Skating Saints got goals from four different scorers, and Ben Kraws made 37 saves in net to propel the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team to a 4-2 win over Yale in the ECAC Championships' Opening Round on Friday night in Appleton Arena.

With the win, the Scarlet and Brown advance to next weekend's best-of-three Quarterfinal round. The opponent will be determined by the Opening Round games tomorrow around the ECAC.

St. Lawrence improved to 11-18-6 with the win, while Yale saw their season end at 10-18-2.

"I thought it was a real good performance, obviously they tested us with some bad line changes to start the game and Kraws had some huge saves to set the tone for us right away," said Charles W. Appleton II Head Coach Brent Brekke "I thought overall it was a real good start for us. Probably the biggest thing for us coming out of the game is just the way we played in the third period with the lead, that's something we haven't done a tremendous job with this year. Tonight, I thought the guys did a great job managing that. A lot of guys contributed in a lot of different ways with little details like blocking shots, gaining zones at times, and managing the puck much better. They're a really good team, they were a threatening team, especially short-handed when they come after you and create havoc. For us, that's a big win, and we'll see who we play after tomorrow's games."

Despite some early pressure by the Bulldogs to start the game, it was the Saints who struck first in a big way. Philippe Chapleau possessed the puck at the St. Lawrence and fired an outlet pass up to a streaking Tomáš Mazura. The junior forward went backhand, forehand, and in for the goal to make it 1-0 just 11:57 into the game.

Yale tied the game at 1-1 less than five minutes into the second off a goal from Briggs Gammill, but the Bulldogs would be flagged for a faceoff violation on the ensuing draw to put St. Lawrence on the attack.

The Skating Saints capitalized on the power play less than a minute later when Felikss Gavars found Tyler Cristall in dangerous territory. The sophomore danced past a defender and roofed a backhand shot to regain the lead at 2-1.
 
The wild second period continued less than two minutes later when Yale got a power play tally of their own from Ian Carpentier at the 7:05 mark.

In the second half of the second period, the Saints went on the power play once again but came up empty. However, seconds after the penalty expired, Mason Waite sent a pass down to Greg Lapointe, who let a short-angle shot go on Ian Stark. The tricky shot trickled through the goaltender and across the line to give the Scarlet and Brown the 3-2 lead.

With momentum on their side, the Scarlet and Brown doubled their lead 1:28 later. Jan Olenginski corralled a Jan Lasak pass at the blue line and fired a seeing-eye puck that skirted through a screen and in for the 4-2 lead. The goal was the first for the newcomer at home this season.

Yale poured on the offense in the third period with their season hanging in the balance to the tune of a 17-7 advantage in shots.

The Bulldogs would also have to endure some great efforts from the likes of Cristall, Waite, Mazura, and Drake Burgin, who had two assists to his name already, but they stood up to the test to keep the game within reach.

Despite a late power play for Yale and an extra skater with the net empty, Kraws and the Scarlet and Brown defense slammed the door shut to secure the win.

Kraws finished with 37 saves on the night, while Stark made 29 saves on 33 shots.

Both teams struck paydirt on the power play with St. Lawrence going 1-for-4 and Yale turning in a 1-for-5 night.

The Skating Saints advanced to next weekend's best-of-three Quarterfinal round with the win but will not know their opponent until tomorrow's ECAC results. If Clarkson and Union win tomorrow, the Saints will head to Cornell, if one of Clarkson and Union lose, St. Lawrence will head to Colgate, and if both Clarkson and Union fall the team will head to Dartmouth.