By: CHIP GLOVER
The Saints Men’s Ice hockey team faced rival Clarkson in their lone game of the weekend at Appleton arena on Saturday night. The crowd was packed and lively, as with all matchups with the Clarkson squad, and this one certainly did not disappoint. The first period saw hard fought play, strong team defense from both teams, as well as strong goaltending from the two rivals. The Saints had three power play opportunities early, but were not able to convert. However, they were able to kill off a Clarkson power play leading into the final five minutes of the frame, which brought some momentum back to the Saints side. The very physical and energetic period came to an end with both teams scoreless, and looking to go on the board first in their first ECAC regular season matchup of the season.
The second period got off to a good start for the Saints, with Junior, Tommy Thompson scoring his 4th goal of the season, and 11th point, on an assist from Freshman, Mike Marnell, giving him his 5th point of the year. The building erupted, however, the energy faded shortly after. Clarkson answered with a goal of their own just a minute and a half later, five and a half minutes into the period, to even the score at 1-1. Closing in on six minutes to go in the period, Clarkson was again able to notch a goal, this time to take the lead, 2-1, heading into the third.
The third period saw another hard fought and physical period, stemming from matching minor penalties at the end of the second frame and early in the third, with Freshman Nolan Gluchowski as well as Thomson both battling with Clarkson players, resulting in matching minors for both Saints players and their Clarkson counterparts. From here the energy was elevating, both teams were fighting till the end, and that this was clearly a rivalry game. The third period came to an end without any goals scored and both team tallying nine shots apiece. Clarkson was able to hold on for the 2-1 win.
Saints goalie, freshman, Kyle Hayton, tallied 29 saves on the night to continue his extremely impressive year, with a very strong 0.935 save percentage and 2.1085 goals against average on the season, to date.
Saints captain, Senior, Gunnar Hughes, returns from suspension stemming from the Cornell game on November 15th, which will certainly be huge for the Saints, bringing back the talent and leadership missed over the last three games.
The Men’s Hockey team heads to Burlington, Vermont next Friday, December 12th, to face the University of Vermont, and then they come back to Canton to face Vermont again on Saturday December 13th, at Appleton Arena.