When the St. Lawrence men's team last played, they faced off against UVM at Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, looking to rebound from a sweep by rival Clarkson. What happened instead was a difficult 5-1 loss to the Catamounts. Now the struggling Saints, once ranked 17th in the country, have a chance to start the New Year off on the right foot by beating the surging Catamounts.
The offense is never a question with the Saints. They will score goals, of that I have no doubt, even if Vermont has a PK of 90.7, good for second in the nation. The question is, and always has been, can they keep the puck out of their own net? UVM has three good scorers in forwards Chris McCarthy and Mario Puskarich and defensman Michael Paliotta, and the ability to shut these players down will go a long way in helping SLU get a win. McCarthy, Puskarich and Paliotta combined for 5 points against the Saints the last time they played, and will be a big factor again. Stopping those three is no easy task, and will fall largely to the top defensive pair of Eric Sweetman and Justin Baker, barring any changes by Greg Carvel to the pairs.
But, as has been the trend this year, the most important player for the Saints will be their goaltender. Neither Matt Weninger nor Tyler Parks have been outstanding this year, but Weninger was the go to guy for Carvel last year, and appeared to be to start the year. With his shaky play, Parks was given the start against UVM, and allowed 4 goals, though he was largely left out to dry. Its not clear who will start, but regardless of who it is, they will be the most important player for St. Lawrence.
Another important thing for the Saints to focus on is physicality. It was brutally clear in the UVM game that the SLU forwards generally stayed away from contact with the Catamount defenders on the forecheck, while the UVM forwards laid the body on SLU defenseman every time they dumped the puck in. The defense wants to know that their forwards will be physical, which will help the defense be more confident in the St. Lawrence defensive zone. All of this comes back to defense though, and if its not up to the task, SLU will again find themselves in hole to deep for the offense to recover.
Puck drops at 7:00 at Appleton Arena
The offense is never a question with the Saints. They will score goals, of that I have no doubt, even if Vermont has a PK of 90.7, good for second in the nation. The question is, and always has been, can they keep the puck out of their own net? UVM has three good scorers in forwards Chris McCarthy and Mario Puskarich and defensman Michael Paliotta, and the ability to shut these players down will go a long way in helping SLU get a win. McCarthy, Puskarich and Paliotta combined for 5 points against the Saints the last time they played, and will be a big factor again. Stopping those three is no easy task, and will fall largely to the top defensive pair of Eric Sweetman and Justin Baker, barring any changes by Greg Carvel to the pairs.
But, as has been the trend this year, the most important player for the Saints will be their goaltender. Neither Matt Weninger nor Tyler Parks have been outstanding this year, but Weninger was the go to guy for Carvel last year, and appeared to be to start the year. With his shaky play, Parks was given the start against UVM, and allowed 4 goals, though he was largely left out to dry. Its not clear who will start, but regardless of who it is, they will be the most important player for St. Lawrence.
Another important thing for the Saints to focus on is physicality. It was brutally clear in the UVM game that the SLU forwards generally stayed away from contact with the Catamount defenders on the forecheck, while the UVM forwards laid the body on SLU defenseman every time they dumped the puck in. The defense wants to know that their forwards will be physical, which will help the defense be more confident in the St. Lawrence defensive zone. All of this comes back to defense though, and if its not up to the task, SLU will again find themselves in hole to deep for the offense to recover.
Puck drops at 7:00 at Appleton Arena
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