Last night, the St. Lawrence men's team looked to get off on the right foot in 2014. It didn't exactly go their way. The defensive woes that have plagued them all season were not any better after the break, as the Saints surrendered 4 goals for the eleventh time in 20 games, and were only able to score twice themselves.
UVM opened the scoring at 9:20 of the first period, as Connor Brickley beat Kyle MacDonald, but other than that blemish, the Saints were solid defensively, killing a penalty and holding the Catamounts to just 3 shots. McDonald also made a great leg save on a UVM breakaway. The Saints best offensive chance came when Eric Sweetman dangled his way over the blueline before shoveling a pass to Drew Smolcysnki. Smolcysnki fed the puck through the crease, but it was tipped wide. The first period ended with UVM leading 1-0.
When Greg Carey took a holding penalty 6 minutes into the second frame, it tok Vermont only 4 seconds to take a 2-0 lead, and when Sweetman turned the puck over in the neutral zone, a UVM player was able to walk in all alone and beat McDonald from the right faceoff circle to give Vermont a 3-0 lead. Soon after, Saints coach Greg Carvel called a timeout in an attempt to rally his players, and the opportunity for a comeback soon presented itself. A holding penalty to UVM gave SLU a power play, and when Brian Ward received a great pass through the slot, he fired home a one timer to bring SLU within two. Less than two minutes later, Sweetman was able to keep a bouncing puck in the zone, and the puck eventually found its way on to the stick of Greg Carey in the slot. He made no mistake in firing a beauty of a wrister top shelf to make the deficit just one. And despite some fantastic opportunities, the Saints would go into the third period trailing 3-2.
Unfortunately, UVM scored only 90 seconds into the third period, and though SLU would get a few power plays, they couldn't close the gap, and dropped their fifth straight game, 4-2.
All in all, the defense, despite allowing four goals, wasn't terrible. The problem was the neutral zone. The Saints, at the beginning of the year, were solid at moving through the neutral zone. That was not the case last night. At least 15 passes were picked off, and many offensive zone entries were stopped which lead to UVM rushes, three of which resulted in goals. If the Saints were better in the neutral zone, they definitely could have beaten the Catamounts.
Going forward, the defense should continue to mature, and as that happens, one would think, the goalies numbers will get better, as will the team on the whole. One would hope, at least. They return to action Friday the 17th against Brown.
UVM opened the scoring at 9:20 of the first period, as Connor Brickley beat Kyle MacDonald, but other than that blemish, the Saints were solid defensively, killing a penalty and holding the Catamounts to just 3 shots. McDonald also made a great leg save on a UVM breakaway. The Saints best offensive chance came when Eric Sweetman dangled his way over the blueline before shoveling a pass to Drew Smolcysnki. Smolcysnki fed the puck through the crease, but it was tipped wide. The first period ended with UVM leading 1-0.
When Greg Carey took a holding penalty 6 minutes into the second frame, it tok Vermont only 4 seconds to take a 2-0 lead, and when Sweetman turned the puck over in the neutral zone, a UVM player was able to walk in all alone and beat McDonald from the right faceoff circle to give Vermont a 3-0 lead. Soon after, Saints coach Greg Carvel called a timeout in an attempt to rally his players, and the opportunity for a comeback soon presented itself. A holding penalty to UVM gave SLU a power play, and when Brian Ward received a great pass through the slot, he fired home a one timer to bring SLU within two. Less than two minutes later, Sweetman was able to keep a bouncing puck in the zone, and the puck eventually found its way on to the stick of Greg Carey in the slot. He made no mistake in firing a beauty of a wrister top shelf to make the deficit just one. And despite some fantastic opportunities, the Saints would go into the third period trailing 3-2.
Unfortunately, UVM scored only 90 seconds into the third period, and though SLU would get a few power plays, they couldn't close the gap, and dropped their fifth straight game, 4-2.
All in all, the defense, despite allowing four goals, wasn't terrible. The problem was the neutral zone. The Saints, at the beginning of the year, were solid at moving through the neutral zone. That was not the case last night. At least 15 passes were picked off, and many offensive zone entries were stopped which lead to UVM rushes, three of which resulted in goals. If the Saints were better in the neutral zone, they definitely could have beaten the Catamounts.
Going forward, the defense should continue to mature, and as that happens, one would think, the goalies numbers will get better, as will the team on the whole. One would hope, at least. They return to action Friday the 17th against Brown.
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