Sophomore Cayden Casey and first-years Sam LeDrew and Cooper Pierson all found the net as the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team defeated the University of Toronto in exhibition play on Saturday night in Appleton Arena.

The Saints wasted little time taking the lead at the 5:06 mark of the first period. First-year Filip Juricek was the catalyst for the scoring effort, taking the puck into the high-danger scoring area. The attack led to a loose puck on the doorstep, where Casey buried the puck on the unattended net to make it 1-0.

Toronto answered back a few minutes later as Rylee Hlusiak fired a shot through heavy traffic and in to make it 1-1.

Casey and Juricek, who each had points on the first goal, combined for assists later in the first as the Saints took the lead once again.

Casey was in the faceoff dot for the Scarlet and Brown and won the draw back to Juricek. The crafty forward carried the puck below the goal line and centered the pass to LeDrew, who beat the goalie to give the Saints their lead back.  

The game stayed at 2-1 for a majority of the second period until St. Lawrence doubled their lead on the power play.

On the man-advantage, Casey skipped a pass over to the left wing where Pierson picked up the puck. The right-shot forward darted to the slot where he roofed the wrist shot over the shoulder of the goalie to put the team up 3-1.

The two-goal cushion was short-lived as Eddie Yan fired a seeing-eye puck that found twine with a minute and 37 seconds to go to make it 3-2 at the second intermission.

Both teams pushed for game-changing goals in the third period, but neither team found success. The Varsity Blues pulled their goalie late for an extra attacker, but Cameron Smith held firm in the net for the win.

St. Lawrence dominated 35-26 in shots and went 1-for-4 on the power play in the win.

The Scarlet and Brown deployed all four of their goaltenders in the contest. Mason Kucenski and Jack Wieneke each stopped three shots, splitting the first period. Colin Winn made seven saves in the second period, while Smith slammed the door with 11 saves in the third period.

The Saints will be back at Appleton Arena next weekend on Friday, October 31, when the team hosts Lake Superior State in a 7 p.m. game.