St. Lawrence got a goal and an assist from
Gunnar Thoreson, and the first goal as a Saint from
James Fisher, but the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team dropped its first road game, 6-2, to No. 9 Providence on Friday night in Providence, R.I.
St. Lawrence fell to 0-2-0, while the Friars improved to 1-0-0.
Providence controlled much of the play early, outshooting the Saints 14-5 in the opening period.
Cameron Smith was tested often, making saves on Jonathan Fauchon, Andrew Centrella, and Aleksi Kivioja to keep the game scoreless through the first eight minutes.
The Friars eventually broke through at the 8:56 mark when Blake Zielinski finished a play off an assist from Julius Sumpf for a 1-0 lead. After a slashing penalty, Providence capitalized on its first power play opportunity. Fauchon buried a man-advantage goal at 12:00 of the opening frame to double the Friars' lead.
St. Lawrence generated chances of its own during the remainder of the period.
Luke Santilli fired a shot on goal during four-on-four play, while
Isaac Tremblay produced back-to-back chances in the final two minutes, but Gibson Homer turned both aside.
The game took another turn with 23 seconds remaining in the first period when the Saints were assessed a major penalty and game misconduct, giving Providence an extended power play that stretched into the second period.
The Friars added to their lead early in the middle frame. Centrella scored just 1:28 into the period in even-strength action before Fauchon netted his second goal of the night at 6:05 to make it 4-0.
Following the fourth Providence goal, the Saints responded with some of their best offensive pressure of the game. Santilli,
Gabe Westling and
Sam LeDrew each forced saves from Homer, while Smith continued to keep St. Lawrence within striking distance at the other end.
Providence pushed the lead to 5-0 midway through the period on a power-play goal from Ryder Cali, but the Scarlet and Brown answered late in the frame.
After generating pressure throughout the final minutes of the second,
Owen Tylec skipped a pass up the boards to Santilli, who wired a shot on goal. The shot was deflected in front by Thoreson and Fisher was there to bury the rebound for his first goal in Scarlet and Brown.
St. Lawrence carried that energy into the third period and nearly cut further into the deficit. During a power play midway through the frame, Tylec rang a shot off the post at 10:41, and less than 30 seconds later Westling hit the pipe as the Saints pressed for another goal.
The momentum swing was short-lived, however, as Providence converted on another power play opportunity at 13:42 when John Mustard scored to restore a five-goal advantage.
The Saints continued to battle to the final horn. With 2:23 remaining, Thoreson caused a turnover and wired a shot over the shoulder of the netminder, and the play was stopped for a potential goal. After a review, the goal was counted, making it a 6-2 score before the final horn.
Smith finished with 31 saves for St. Lawrence, while Homer stopped 18 shots for Providence. The Friars went 3-for-8 on the power play, while the Saints were 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
St. Lawrence will be back on the ice tomorrow when the team heads to Lowell, Mass. to take on UMass Lowell in a 4:05 p.m. tilt at the Tsongas Center.
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