Filip Juříček scored in the second period, and Nicholas Beneteau scored an extra-attacker goal in the final minute of the game, but the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team couldn't mount a comeback as they fell to Union 5-2 on Saturday night at the M&T Bank Center in Schenectady, N.Y.

St. Lawrence fell to 2-7-1 overall and 1-1-0 in the ECAC, while Union improved to 6-2-1 and 2-2-0 in league action.

In what proved to be a high-flying first period, both St. Lawrence and Union had power play chances early on in an attempt to break the scoring.

The Saints held the Garnet Chargers without a shot, while they nearly found twine on their man-advantage. Cooper Pierson had a golden chance for St. Lawrence with a one-timer in the slot but was turned aside by Brayden Gillespie. Rasmus Svartström also had a great look but saw his shot graze the shoulder of the netminder.

The Saints parlayed the power play into strong possession, but neither team could score ahead of the media timeout. Union regained its composure, however, and got goals from Nate Hanley and Colby MacArthur late in the first to take a 2-0 lead into the break.

In the second period, Mason Kucenski kept the game at 2-0 with a huge save that turned the momentum in the Saints' favor. Shortly after the save, Gabe Westling was sprung on a breakaway, but the sophomore's bid was stopped. Captain Jan Olenginski also found himself on a shorter break moments later, but he was also turned aside.

St. Lawrence would find twine three minutes and 34 seconds into the middle frame with a beautiful shot from Juříček. Sam Frandina sprung his classmate with an outlet pass, and the left-shot forward raced to the goal line where he wired a wrist shot over the shoulder of the goalie. The improbable shot was reviewed, but confirmed as the game went to 2-1.

Union regained its two-goal lead on the power play, and two minutes later scored another goal to take the 4-1 lead. St. Lawrence had some strong efforts late, but the game remained 4-1 at the intermission.

St. Lawrence came out of the locker room strong in the third period and attacked early. Despite the strong chances, Gillespie and his post kept the Saints off the board.

The final frame came to a head in the final minute of play when the Saints scored with an extra attacker to make it 4-2. Sam LeDrew and Frandina were passing the puck back and forth on the blueline until LeDrew saw an opening and fired. The puck was deflected in front by Beneteau and found the back of the net to give the team a glimmer of hope.

However, the Garnet Chargers scored an empty-net goal to put the game out of reach.

Kucenski stopped 26 shots in the game, while Gillespie came up with 27 in the home goal. The shots were virtually even at 31-29 in favor of Union.

St. Lawrence went 0-for-1 on the power play, while Union went 1-for-3.

The Scarlet and Brown will be back in action next weekend when they host Dartmouth and Harvard in a special weekend at Appleton Arena. On Friday, the Saints will have their Centennial Celebration, and on Saturday, the program will celebrate the Legends of Appleton, where they will induct Ray Shero '84 and Tom O'Connor '75 into the prestigious group.