For the second time in two weeks, an ECAC team scored a major upset over a Hockey East team.
While St. Lawrence shocked the University of New Hampshire, Cornell continued to roll.
St. Lawrence 4, New Hampshire 2
St. Lawrence goaltender Kevin Ackley’s 48 saves and four unanswered goals in the third period helped the Saints, who sit in the basement of the ECAC, snap their seven-game losing streak and stun nationally-ranked No. 2 University of New Hampshire at Durham, N.H.
Outshooting the Saints 11-4 in the first period, and again in the second period 20-5, the Wildcats entered the third period with a 2-0 lead with goals from wingers Nathan Martz and Colin Hemmingway 1:38 apart in the second frame.
At 9:22 of the final period, the Saints got on the board. Freshman winger Adam Hogg fed T.J. Treveylan in the slot, who beat UNH goalie Michael Ayers high off the crossbar.
Hogg tied the game a little over two minutes later, when he collected a pass from defenseman Tony Maci, skated in alone on Ayers, and beat him high again.
Less than one minute later, St. Lawrence took the lead for good, doing what the Wildcats have struggled to do all season: score on the power play.
Saints defenseman Ryan Glenn ripped a slap shot through traffic and beat Ayers, shocking the home crowd.
New Hampshire winger Lanny Gare had the best chance to tie the game on a 3-on-2, but Ackley robbed him with a glove save.
With less than a minute to play, St. Lawrence iced the game with an empty netter, completing the improbable comeback. The win was St. Lawrence’s first victory over UNH since the 1992-93 season and its first in Durham since 1981.
Cornell sweeps Western Michigan
While St. Lawrence’s upset was unexpected, nationally-ranked No. 7 Cornell’s (10-1-0, 5-1-0) sweep of Western Michigan University (7-9-1) over the weekend surprised no one.
After easily beating Western Michigan on Friday 6-1, the Big Red needed overtime to get the win on Saturday.
Big Red winger Ryan Vesce, Cornell’s leading scorer with eight goals and nine assists, scored the game winner 1:30 into overtime on a deflection off winger Matt Moulson’s shot.
The Big Red fell behind early, after Broncos winger Brent Walton scored his third short-handed goal of the season at 4:49 of the first period.
Western Michigan forward Paul Davies gave the Broncos a 2-0 lead, beating Cornell goalie Dave LeNeveu, who attended the Canadian Junior National Team Selection Camp yesterday.
Despite falling behind early, the Big Red came out strong in the second stanza, as Vesce scored his first of the game, putting a rebound passed by Bronco goalie Mike Mantua less than two minutes into the period.
Big Red defenseman Ben Wallace scored his first of the season in timely fashion, tying the game at 12:11 of the third period and sending the game to overtime, where Vesce’s second tally of the game won it for the Big Red.