Cameron Smith put on a performance for the ages with a career-best 48 saves, and first-year Rasmus Svartström dominated to the tune of two power play goals and an assist, as the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team capped off the Route 11 Rivalry with a 5-2 win on Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd of 2147 in Appleton Arena.

St. Lawrence improved to 3-20-2 with the win and 2-11-1 in ECAC play, while the Knights fell to 11-13-2 and 5-7-2 in league action.

"That was an unreal atmosphere in Appleton tonight, and it gave our guys the energy to go out and dominate," said junior netminder Cameron Smith. "It was a great feeling getting the win and five ECAC points, and we are going to keep that momentum going." The first-year Svartström added, "That was a big confidence booster for the boys tonight. We loved the energy in the building!"

"I am extremely proud of these guys and their commitment to showing up, working, and pushing through the hard times," said Charles W. Appleton II Head Men's Hockey Coach, Brent Brekke. "They want to get better every day, and they just keep pushing. This is a resilient group!"

The Scarlet and Brown, who were charged by the energy in Appleton Arena, jumped on Clarkson early in the contest, scoring in the opening five minutes. Tyler Cristall and Svartström connected to find Jan Olenginski at the blueline. The junior captain threaded a shot through traffic and past Shane Soderwall to take the 1-0 lead.

Just past the halfway point of the first, the Saints doubled their lead. Gunnar Thoreson and Gabe Westling were weaving into the Golden Knight zone, where they found Santilli at the blue line. The first-year wired a shot toward the Clarkson goal, and it deflected off a defender and in to make it a 2-0 contest.

It looked as if the game was going to the intermission at 2-0, but armed with a power play, St. Lawrence beat the buzzer to take a three-goal lead. Off the faceoff, Cooper Pierson won the puck back to Filip Juříček, who touched it back to Cayden Casey at the point. The sophomore put a shot on net that was deflected in by Pierson, sending Appleton into a frenzy with less than three seconds on the clock.



Clarkson pulled Soderwall after the first period and put in Keenan Rancier to help steady the ship. The change gave the Knights some confidence, and they made it a 3-1 game off a goal from Matthew Mayich at the 6:59 mark of the second.

The Scarlet and Brown went on another power play in the second half of the period and cashed in to regain the three-goal cushion. On the man-advantage, Cristall collected a pass from Juříček and stepped in before firing a pass to the doorstep, where Svartström knocked in the chance, making the score 4-1, which would survive into the second intermission.

The third period was an absolute war between the bitter rivals, and the penalties began stacking up.

The score remained 4-1 until late in the third when Clarkson pulled the netminder for an extra attacker and made it a 4-2 game with a Ryan Bottrill goal at 16:46.

Clarkson's comeback was stalled when they were assessed a penalty, and the Saints made them pay. On the faceoff, Juříček earned his third assist of the night, shoveling the puck to Casey, who once again put a shot on the Clarkson net. The puck was deflected and saved by Rancier, but the rebound came right back to Svartström, who put the game on ice with his second power-play goal of the game.

Smith stole the show and the game with 48 saves in the St. Lawrence goal. Soderwall made ten saves for the Knights, while Rancier stopped nine.

St. Lawrence dominated the special teams battle, going 3-for-6 on the power play and 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.

The Scarlet and Brown will look to carry the momentum back into Appleton next weekend as they host Quinnipiac and Princeton in a weekend series.