Isaac Tremblay scored the lone shootout goal, and Cameron Smith slammed the door with five saves to send the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team to a 1-0 shootout win on Friday night in Cheel Arena. The final score of the game ended with a 5-5 tie, but the Saints picked up the extra league point with the shootout win.

St. Lawrence moved to 2-20-3 overall and 1-11-1 in the ECAC, while Clarkson went to 11-12-2 overall and 5-6-2 in league action.

"That was a full team effort; we did a great job at responding to any push Clarkson made throughout the full 60 minutes," said junior captain Jan Olenginski. "The energy on the bench was unreal, and we all stuck together to finish the job. We are looking forward to being back home in Appleton tomorrow night." Junior goaltender Cameron Smith reiterated the comments of his captain, saying, "That was a complete team win for a full 60 minutes, and then some. Winning a shootout in that barn is a great feeling, and we are excited to be back in front of our own crowd tomorrow!"

The first-years ran wild for the Scarlet and Brown in their first taste of the Route 11 Rivalry, accounting for four goals and two assists in the contest. 

The Saints jumped on the board early in the contest, breaking the ice at the 9:38 mark of the first period. Tyler Cristall sent a puck to Cayden Casey, which the sophomore took around the goal for a backdoor shot. The attempt was saved, but the forward collected the rebound and found Sam LeDrew, who fired a shot that trickled past Shane Soderwall and in to make it a 1-0 game.

The contest went into the break at 1-0, but the floodgates would open up to the tune of six goals between the two sides.

Clarkson scored a goal in the first minute of the middle frame, but the Scarlet and Brown struck back at 6:55 when they cashed in with a shorthanded goal. On the kill, Gabe Westling found Gunnar Thoreson, who wired a shot on the Knights' net. The rebound bounced out to Luke Santilli, who buried the chance to regain the lead. The goal was the first for Santilli in his collegiate career.

Unfortunately for the Saints, Clarkson would score on the same power play to tie the game at two apiece. St. Lawrence was able to take back the lead minutes later, however, with a power play goal of their own. On the man-advantage, Cristall was running the point and found Casey, who fired a shot in the direction of the Clarkson net. The shot was deflected in front by Rasmus Svartström and in, making it 3-2.

The game swung yet again with the Knights tying the game at the 15:54 mark, but the Scarlet and Brown regained the lead for the third time in the second period with a tally at 17:35. This time it was Jack Babbage, who fired a long-distance shot in the direction of the goal, and his shot was tipped by Tremblay up and in as the score moved to 4-3.

In the third period, the Saints got a second goal from Svartström to take their first two-goal lead of the game. Cristall caused a turnover in the Golden Knight zone and skipped a pass up to Cooper Pierson, who found his teammate streaking down the middle of the ice. Svartström did the rest, beating Soderwall to make it 5-3.

Clarkson was able to score a pair of power-play goals in the second half of the period, however, and Smith made some huge saves down the stretch as the game went to overtime.

Both teams put a pair of shots on goal in the extra frame, but the game went to a shootout to decide who got the extra league point.

Smith was the star for the Saints in the shootout as he stopped five Golden Knight shots. Tremblay beat Soderwall through the five-hole in the fifth round of the shootout, before Smith stonewalled the final shooter to secure the extra league point.

Clarkson outshot St. Lawrence 41-19 in the game and went 3-for-7 on the power play, while the Saints went 1-for-2.

The two teams will be back in action for game two of the Route 11 Rivalry tomorrow night at Appleton Arena in a 7 p.m. start.