Junior Jan Lasak and Isack Bandu both scored in the first period, and sophomore Mason Kucenski stopped 26 shots in the net as the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team knocked off No. 20 Clarkson on Saturday night in Cheel Arena.

The Saints improved to 7-16-1 on the year with the win, and 3-8-1 in ECAC play, while the Knights fell to 14-8-2 and 8-4-0 in league action.

As expected, the home team came out with a lot of energy early in the contest, forcing the Saints to be sharp. Kucenski answered the bell in the first few minutes making a great save on a 3-on-2 effort along with some less threatening chances.

After the initial push, St. Lawrence gained control of the puck as the game went along. In the following minutes, first-years Cayden Casey and Isaac Tremblay each had chances to take the lead but Ethan Langenegger was also sharp in net.

Instead, it was a strange play on the other end that resulted in the game's first goal. Trey Taylor had the puck in the Saints' zone and stumbled to a knee. The defender got up and snapped a quick shot that deflected past Kucenski to give Clarkson the 1-0 lead five minutes and 57 seconds in.

Kucenski bounced back quickly making a strong save right after the goal. The Saints remained composed and once again regained control of the puck. Gunnar Thoreson had a chance at a tie game off a draw and was followed by shots from Jake Lammens, Nicholas Beneteau, and Tyler Cristall which helped tilt momentum.

The momentum paid off following the TV timeout when the Saints tied the contest. Senior captain Philippe Chapleau started the scoring play skipping a pass up to Gabe Westling, who dropped the puck to Lasak as they entered the Clarkson zone. The junior forward collected the pass and fired a shot through traffic and in to tie it at 1-1.

After the goal, the Saints went on a power play with a chance to take the lead and despite not scoring on the opportunity, they took the lead shortly after. The play started with Bandu, who collected a pass from Will Arquiett and took the puck to the doorstep where he was stopped. The rebound came out to Evan Orloff, who threw the puck back into the mix where Bandu was able to bury a shot to claim the 2-1 lead that went into the second period.

The middle frame was marred by penalties early. After the Saints killed off a penalty to end the first, they were afforded a power play chance early. A power play for Clarkson and another for the Saints followed but the penalty kill units did their job.

The third period began with a St. Lawrence power play but after another killed chance, the game cruised into the middle part of the period.   

Following the TV timeout, both teams had chances to put goals on the board and change the game. Beneteau saw his effort padded aside, and Kucenski came up huge with a pair of saves to keep the Knights off the board.

Clarkson eventually pulled their netminder for the final 1:43, but Kucenski slammed the door with two more big-time saves in the final 39 seconds to ice away the win.

Kucenski finished with 26 saves in the win, while Langenegger came up with just 23.

Both power plays came up empty in the contest with the Saints going 0-for-4 and the Knights going 0-for-3.

St. Lawrence will be back at Appleton Arena next week as the team plays host to Cornell on January 31 and Colgate on February 1.