Saturday, the men's team will face off against the Catamounts in Burlington in their final contest of the 2013 calendar year. Right now, SLU sits at 8-8-2, 9th in the ECAC, and unranked nationally. They do boast the country fifth best offense, and the top power play in NCAA division I hockey, but defensive woes have plagued the Saints all year, and kept them from reaching their potential.
On Saturday, the defense will get a slight break facing UVM, a team that scores less than three goals per game, but also allows less than three per game. With a 7-5-1 record, UVM has beaten some solid teams, like Maine, but the majority of their wins have come against teams like UMass, Notre Dame, and Penn State, not exactly the top teams in the country.
Unfortunately, i thought SLU would be able to handle Clarkson because they did not need to play great defense to beat the Golden Knights. They proceeded to allow 9 goals over two games to a fairly weak offense from Potsdam, although the two final scores were 5-4 and 4-3, which shows the offense couldn't really be blamed for the loss. The defense is simply getting beat on races, shredded by good passing, and allowing to many odd man rushes.
The key for the Saints this Saturday is in goal, and in my opinion, its time to give rookie Tyler Parks some more starts. This is nothing against Matt Weninger, who, despite owning a less than stellar 6-7-2 record, hasn't played terribly. He's been the go-to guy for SLU for three straight years, and has a few records here, but the 6 foot 6 Parks is clear the goalie for the future at SLU, and I think he gives us a better chance to win.
The offense has got to keep scoring, because if there is any drop in the goal production, St. Lawrence will be in big trouble, and I mean big trouble, because the defense just isn't good enough. Yet. I'm not quite sure what to expect out of the Saints this Saturday, except for a lot of effort given their losses to Clarkson. The players can't be happy about it, and the coaches definitely weren't. Its the final game before some time off, and a strong effort and a good win would go a long way in the confidence of this young, but very promising team.
On Saturday, the defense will get a slight break facing UVM, a team that scores less than three goals per game, but also allows less than three per game. With a 7-5-1 record, UVM has beaten some solid teams, like Maine, but the majority of their wins have come against teams like UMass, Notre Dame, and Penn State, not exactly the top teams in the country.
Unfortunately, i thought SLU would be able to handle Clarkson because they did not need to play great defense to beat the Golden Knights. They proceeded to allow 9 goals over two games to a fairly weak offense from Potsdam, although the two final scores were 5-4 and 4-3, which shows the offense couldn't really be blamed for the loss. The defense is simply getting beat on races, shredded by good passing, and allowing to many odd man rushes.
The key for the Saints this Saturday is in goal, and in my opinion, its time to give rookie Tyler Parks some more starts. This is nothing against Matt Weninger, who, despite owning a less than stellar 6-7-2 record, hasn't played terribly. He's been the go-to guy for SLU for three straight years, and has a few records here, but the 6 foot 6 Parks is clear the goalie for the future at SLU, and I think he gives us a better chance to win.
The offense has got to keep scoring, because if there is any drop in the goal production, St. Lawrence will be in big trouble, and I mean big trouble, because the defense just isn't good enough. Yet. I'm not quite sure what to expect out of the Saints this Saturday, except for a lot of effort given their losses to Clarkson. The players can't be happy about it, and the coaches definitely weren't. Its the final game before some time off, and a strong effort and a good win would go a long way in the confidence of this young, but very promising team.
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