ST. LAWRENCE DEFEATS COLGATE 5-1 IN BATTLE FOR FIRST PLACE IN ECAC STANDINGS

CANTON, N.Y. - Alan Fyfe recorded a natural hat-trick and added an assist to lead St. Lawrence to a 5-1 victory in the showdown for first place in the Eastern College Athletic Conference men's hockey action Friday night.

Colgate goaltender Shep Harder did all he could to stop a strong St. Lawrence offensive assault in the first period with 17 shots on goal, but St. Lawrence was able to break through his armor with a power-play goal by Alan Fyfe at the 5:21 mark. The Colgate blueline unit was playing shorthanded due the injuries to Jeff Potter (back) and Ben Bryce (neck contusion), and the illness of Steve Silversides (mononucleosis) leaving the Red Raiders with two defensive lines.

The shorthanded defense and Harder were tested hard as St. Lawrence (16-6-2, 11-2-1 ECAC) followed the early goal in the first with five point-blank shots, but Harder was able to thwart the chances with amazing saves. However, the Saints didn’t let up and Fyfe registered his second marker of the game off feeds from Erik Anderson and Jason Windle at the 18:55 mark to give St. Lawrence a 2-0 lead after one period.

The Red Raiders trailed St. Lawrence by a game in the ECAC standings (10-2-1 to 9-3-1) entering the night, but with the loss now trail by two games.

While the defense was shorthanded, the Red Raider offense was without the services of leading scorer Andy McDonald and third-leading scorer Sean Nolan, both serving suspensions for fighting stemming from the scuffle against Cornell on Jan. 29 in Ithaca.

Colgate (16-7-1, 9-4-1 ECAC) was able to contain St. Lawrence for most of the second period with only eight shots on goal, but the Saints still broke through for two goals in a 1:02 span midway through the period to take a 4-0 lead. Fyfe completed his hat-trick (his 12th marker of the year) on assists by Erik Anderson and Kevin Veneruzzo at 14:31, then over a minute later, Jack O’Brien scored his third of the year with helpers from Dale Clarke and Anderson.

Darryl Campbell scored the lone Red Raider goal on a feed from Mike O’Malley at 16:56 of the second to cut the lead to 4-1 after two periods.

The third period was even with both teams mounting a few good chances to score, but St. Lawrence scored the only goal adding a late marker by Jason Windle at 18:04 with assists from Fyfe and Anderson.

Harder stopped 28 shots on the night, while freshman Derek Gustafson recorded 34 saves for St. Lawrence.

The Red Raiders resume action in the North Country at Clarkson tomorrow at Cheel Arena with faceoff at 7 p.m., while Cornell will look to complete a weekend sweep at St. Lawrence tomorrow at 7 p.m. after a victory at Clarkson on Friday.

Colgate (16-7-1, 9-4-1 ECAC) 0 1 0 - 1

St. Lawrence (16-6-2, 11-2-1 ECAC) 2 2 1 - 5

First Period: Scoring: SL-Alan Fyfe (10) (Brandon Dietrich, Dale Clarke), 5:21 5x4 (pp); SL-Alan Fyfe (11) (Erik Anderson, Jason Windle), 18:55. Penalties: SL-Dale Clarke (interference), 1:55; C-Sam Sturgis (holding), 4:49; SL-Mike Gellard (interference), 10:44; C-Dan Stay (tripping), 14:49. Second Period: Scoring: SL-Alan Fyfe (12) (Erik Anderson, Kevin Veneruzzo), 14:31; SL-Jack O’Brien (3) (Dale Clarke, Erik Anderson), 15:33; Darryl Campbell (Mike O’Malley), 16:56. Penalties: SL-Jason Windle (checking from behind), 6:29; C-Bob Vandersluis (slashing), 9:42; SL-Mike Gellard (roughing), 16:07; C-Chad MacDonald (roughing), 16:07. Third Period: Scoring: SL-Jason Windle (6) (Alan Fyfe, Erik Anderson), 18:04. Penalties: none. Power-Plays: Colgate 0-for-3; St. Lawrence 1-for-3. Shots on Goal: Colgate: 10-11-14--35, St. Lawrence: 17-8-8-33. Saves: Colgate: Shep Harder 15-6-7--28; St. Lawrence: Derek Gustafson 10-10-14--34.

Attendance: 2,965 Referee: Alex Dell Asst. Referees: Aldous, Torgerson