The men head on the road this weekend, and start out Friday in Ithaca to play Cornell, the 12th ranked team in the country. The two teams have already played once, with Cornell defeating the then 17th ranked Saints 5-2. Since that weekend, where SLU also fell to Colgate 5-3, the Saints have won 2 games. This is a good chance for the Saints to get back on track, but to do that, they'll have to beat one of the premier goalies in college hockey, Andy Iles.
At 8-4-4, with a 2.15 GAA and a .923 save percentage, Iles has been tough to beat all year, including his win against SLU. Of course, he has the seventh ranked defense in front of him, which always helps. And for a SLU team that has struggled to score goals against good defenses, this game presents a difficult task.
In order to beat Cornell, they'll need to play solid defensively, as always, which is never a done deal with this St. Lawrence team. But, the key is to play with desperation. This is a team with so much talent that has gone to waste in a poor season thus far. The compete level for the first 55 minutes of each game simply hasn't been good enough, while in the final 5 minutes of every game, SLU is literally the best team i've ever seen play. They just need to find that magic in the rest of the game.
First off, they need to score the first goal. Its that simple. St. Lawrence is not a team that has the ability to play from behind, so if they're going to win, they need to score the first goal.
They also need to ramp up their physicality. That doesn't mean big open ice hits, it means going to the corners and winning battles, fighting for position in front of the net, and winning puck races. The little things have killed them this year, and if they can focus on the physical game, they'll be in much better shape.
Friday's game starts at 7:00 at Lynah Rink.
At 8-4-4, with a 2.15 GAA and a .923 save percentage, Iles has been tough to beat all year, including his win against SLU. Of course, he has the seventh ranked defense in front of him, which always helps. And for a SLU team that has struggled to score goals against good defenses, this game presents a difficult task.
In order to beat Cornell, they'll need to play solid defensively, as always, which is never a done deal with this St. Lawrence team. But, the key is to play with desperation. This is a team with so much talent that has gone to waste in a poor season thus far. The compete level for the first 55 minutes of each game simply hasn't been good enough, while in the final 5 minutes of every game, SLU is literally the best team i've ever seen play. They just need to find that magic in the rest of the game.
First off, they need to score the first goal. Its that simple. St. Lawrence is not a team that has the ability to play from behind, so if they're going to win, they need to score the first goal.
They also need to ramp up their physicality. That doesn't mean big open ice hits, it means going to the corners and winning battles, fighting for position in front of the net, and winning puck races. The little things have killed them this year, and if they can focus on the physical game, they'll be in much better shape.
Friday's game starts at 7:00 at Lynah Rink.
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