CANTON, NY – Four unanswered third-period goals by the 15^th-ranked St. Lawrence men's hockey team powered the Saints past Union College, 5-2, in ECAC Hockey League action at Appleton Arena Saturday night. The win marked the fifth-straight over the Dutchmen for the Saints, who have clinched a first-round bye in the ECACHL playoffs. Freshman Jeff Christiansen (Elm Grove, WI) led the Dutchmen with a goal and an assist, while Justin Mrazek (Regina, SK) made 30 saves in the loss.

 

Union (13-16-3, 6-13-1 ECACHL) held St. Lawrence scoreless in its first three power-play attempts, and seemed to have killed off a fourth penalty early in the second period, but Jordan Hack jammed a Jeremiah Cunningham rebound past Mrazek with just two seconds left with the man advantage. The Saints peppered Mrazek with nine shots while on the power play and 23 overall through the first two periods, but the junior goaltender kept the Saints at bay.

 

The Dutchmen rallied back as Christiansen picked up his fifth goal of the season on Union's fourth extra-man advantage of the game. Michael Beynon (Nepean, ON) passed the puck from the right point to Mario Valery-Trabucco (Montreal, QC) at the hashmarks. Valery-Trabucco's shot bounced off the pads of St. Lawrence goaltender Alex Petizian, but Christiansen was parked at the left of the crease and poked the puck in at 11:38.

 

Chris Potts (Phillipsburg, NJ) gave the Dutchmen the lead less than three minutes into the final frame with his first point since he registered two assists against Rensselaer on December 30. Christiansen centered to Potts from below the right circle, and Potts sent a slapshot high past Petizian's stick side from the hashmarks for his fourth goal of the season and 10^th in his career.

 

The lead was short-lived, however, as the Saints' Cunningham lifted a wrister from the high slot to knot the game at 2-2 just five minutes into the third period, and Kyle Rank gave the Saints the go-ahead less than three minutes later. Rank and Drew Bagnall rushed in on a two-on-one, and though Mrazek made the initial save, the puck bounced out at a low angle as Rank slipped it past Mrazek's right skate at 7:51 for a 3-2 lead.

 

Alex Curran gave the Saints (19-11-2, 15-4-1 ECACHL) a two-goal advantage with just over five minutes remaining in the game with a one-timer through traffic from the high slot. Travis Vermeulen collected the puck from Casey Parenteau behind the net and fed Curran out front at 14:37. Rank added an empty-netter at 19:33 to seal the game in favor of the hosts, 5-2.

 

Mrazek finished the game with 30 saves, while Petizian stopped 21 Dutchmen shots in his 15^th win of the season.

 

The Dutchmen are back in action in their final regular-season home series next weekend. Union hosts Yale at 7 p.m. Friday, and will face off with Brown Saturday at 7 p.m.