T.J.
Trevelyan has done a bit of everything thus far for
surprising St. Lawrence.
A close examination of the St. Lawrence Saints
reveals what has made this season a very successful one
thus far. The players have put team goals in front of individual
goals. Depth and balance throughout the lineup have made
the team multi-dimensional. Commitment to taking care of
the little things and being mentally focused has paid off
in wins.
Winning leads to a positive mindset and a
positive mindset makes it easier to deal with adversity.
Things didn’t go St. Lawrence’s way for a key
stretch of last week’s 6-4 win over Dartmouth. The
Big Green controlled play for a long portion of the third
period and scored two quick goals to tie the score at 4-4.
The Saints didn’t fold, and responded with the game-winning
goal from the fourth line on a pretty passing play finished
off by sophomore Charlie Giffin.
This was the type of win that shows a team’s
character. The top line of T.J. Trevelyan, Mike Zbriger
and John Zeiler totaled just two points and one of those
was an assist on the empty-net goal. That trio didn’t
fill up the scoresheet, but did take care of things defensively
by blocking shots and leading by example.
Trevelyan and Zeiler were on the ice as a
penalty-killing pair with defensemen Mike Madill and Matt
Generous at key times. Coach Joe Marsh knows who his team’s
leaders are and is giving them a chance to show that leadership.
“I think they want to be there, it’s
an opportunity. I think they want to lead us and we have
to give them the opportunity to do that,” Marsh said.
It has paid off so far, as St. Lawrence carries
a 10-4-0 record into this weekend’s non-league games
against UMass Lowell and New Hampshire.
Madill, a senior captain and one of the best
defensemen in the ECACHL, has noticed his team’s dedication
to blocking shots.
“Guys are willing to do anything to
win games, trying to keep the puck from getting into the
net,” he said. “It’s something that you
have to do. Half of our team is icing their feet from taking
shots off the laces, off the ankles. They know you have
to do that to win and it’s helping us a lot right
now.”
Blocking shots is a physical sacrifice, but
the Saints’ mental strength is also better this year,
according to Marsh.
“I’ve seen that this year where
we’ve become a team that is willing to go the extra
step on the ice. They want to do that and it’s spread
out. It’s not just a handful of players,” Marsh
said. “We’re a much more disciplined team this
year. We’ve preached a lot about how hard you have
to work and I think our kids have always worked hard, but
we’ve had to take it to the next step and work hard
mentally.”
SEEN AND HEARD IN THE ECACHL
Noteworthy goals –
Cornell’s 5-3 win over Niagara at Blue Cross Arena
in Rochester, N.Y., last Saturday might best be remembered
by fans and coaches as a game in which Cornell blew a two-goal
lead in the third period before eventually rallying for
the win. It was also the type of game that produced future
glory days stories for two Cornell players.
Freshman Evan Barlow won’t hesitate
to tell the tale of his first collegiate goal as the years
go on. His team trailed 1-0 late in the first period, and
he found the puck on his stick with a little bit of time
and space in the right-wing circle. With at least three
players between Barlow and Niagara goaltender Scott Mollison,
Barlow was patient and fired a quick shot through the traffic
and over the left shoulder of Mollison into the top, near-side
corner of the net. Some people get their first goals on
a redirection or tap-in rebound. Barlow’s was an authentic
snipe.
Don’t be surprised if Ryan O’Byrne
interrupts barroom story-telling time someday and describes
the game-winning goal. The game was tied with less than
four minutes remaining and Cornell went on the power play.
O’Byrne moved the puck from the left point and his
stick broke into two pieces. He hustled to the bench, picked
up a new branch from teammate Taylor Davenport, and re-entered
the zone in time to blast a shot from the point into the
back of the net.
“It was a stick that I had never used
before and at first I was upset that they gave that one
to me, but I went back and it worked out well for me,”
O’Byrne said.
O’Byrne, a junior defenseman, now has
four goals on the season and ranks second on the team in
that category to Matt Moulson. O’Byrne had three goals
in his first two years.
Necessity, not luxury –
Count Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet among those who understand
the importance of having scoring depth at forward. In a
league where most teams can neutralize a top line it is
essential to a team’s success to have a number of
players putting up decent offensive numbers.
On a night when St. Lawrence did an effective
defensive job against Dartmouth’s premier combo of
Nick Johnson, Mike Ouellette and David Jones, the team’s
second line came through. It accounted for three of the
Big Green’s four goals and gave the Saints’
defense trouble all night long. J.T. Wyman had two goals
and an assist, and Eric Przepiorka had a goal and two assists.
Tanner Glass also picked up a point on the night.
“They’re good players. Prez is
a veteran player as is Tanner Glass and J.T. Wyman is a
sophomore that’s really coming along great. He’s
big and strong and can really shoot the puck,” Gaudet
said. “They’ve chipped in really well for us.
Whatever success we’ll have this year, they’ll
be a big part of it.”
Even though Dartmouth lost the game, the Przepiorka
line made a big contribution and will need to continue to
do so in the future.
Great Weekend Getaway
Union
at RIT (Fri.); RIT at Union (Sat.) This series may not get much attention across
the nation, but for alums and fans from both schools
it carries special importance. This home-and-home
series is the resumption of a rivalry from long ago
when these teams competed at the Division III level.
They met twice in the NCAA quarterfinals and twice
in the NCAA semifinals, and have also played the longest
game in Division III history. It was a four-overtime
game won by Union 5-4 in the semifinals of the NCAA
Tournament in 1984.
While You’re There: Two good
options for drinks and dining before and after the
game on Friday can be found very near to the RIT campus.
Exit campus and head east on Jefferson Road to find
McGregor’s with an extensive draft list (served
in 20 oz. mugs) and good bar food. Further down the
road, find a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant that is
popular with RIT fans.
Stick
Salute
Joe Marsh
let the accolades flow for senior T.J. Trevelyan
(left), and I’ll join the love fest. With St.
Lawrence protecting a lead in the final minute of
last week’s win over Dartmouth, it was the offensively-gifted
Trevelyan out there to defend. He blocked a shot that
directly led to the clinching empty-net goal. The
undrafted senior has made a name for himself with
huge point totals over his first three years. Scouts
will also notice his improved defensive work.
Bench
Minor
The public
address announcer at Saturday’s Cornell-Niagara
game in Rochester was an absolute disaster. He got
off to a rocky start by referring to Chris Abbott’s
hometown of Sarnia, Ontario, as “Serena.”
He proceeded to verbally stumble through the numerous
sponsorship announcements during stoppages in play.
Lastly, he failed to declare, “one minute remaining”
in the second period.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
• ECACHL followers will recall Dave
McKee’s sensational sophomore campaign. He finished
the year with a .947 save percentage and 1.24 goals-against
average. The only thing more startling than those numbers
is that he hasn’t come close to matching those this
season. Through 10 games he has only stopped 87 percent
of the shots he has faced, and is allowing 2.95 goals-per-game.
It hasn’t affected the mindset of the
junior netminder from Irving, Texas one bit.
“I feel really good about myself. I’m
doing my job,” McKee said. “My job as a goalie
is to come in and give the team the best chance to win and
make some key saves. That’s what I’m focusing
on. Last year is gone and you really have to put that in
the past and focus on this year.”
• Clarkson played 10 of its first 14
games on home ice at Cheel Arena and took advantage of that
to compile a 7-2-1 home record. The Golden Knights will
be forced to continue their success on the road. Clarkson
plays just one of its next 11 games at Cheel, a Jan. 7 encounter
against RIT. Their next home ECACHL weekend isn’t
until Feb. 10-11 against Cornell and Colgate.
• Quinnipiac is featured in this week’s
NHL.com “On Campus” article, which is linked
in the INCH Newsstand.
After winning their first two ECACHL games, the Bobcats
are just 1-5 in their next six league contests.
• St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh on senior
forward T.J. Trevelyan: “He hasn’t necessarily
thrown up the numbers that everybody thinks but he still
leads our team in scoring and he’s playing defense
like a maniac. He’s blocking shots and he’s
an absolutely unbelieveable player. He’s one of the
best players we’ve ever had here at St. Lawrence,
since I’ve come here. He’s incredible.”
• Harvard’s Dan Murphy has a seven-game
goal-scoring streak and a total of nine goals on the season.
No Harvard player scored 10 goals last season until Tom
Cavanagh scored his 10th in the ECACHL semifinals against
Colgate on March 18.
• Union’s Olivier Bouchard, the
second-leading scorer on the team, was a healthy scratch
for last Saturday’s game against Wayne State. It ended
a streak of 86 consecutive games played by Bouchard.
• Three Brown players – Rugo Santini,
Brian McNary, and Ryan Garbutt – scored their first
goals of the season in Saturday’s 4-4 tie against
St. Cloud State. The Bears host Yale on Friday and then
play crosstown rival Providence on Saturday night in the
annual Mayor’s Cup game.
• RPI had a one-goal loss and a one-goal
win in claiming third place at the Rensselaer Holiday Hockey
Tournament. Oren Eizenman has a 13-game point streak.
• If Colgate can earn four points when
it hosts Quinnipiac and Princeton this weekend, the Raiders
will leapfrog St. Lawrence and Clarkson in the ECACHL standings.
The Saints are playing a pair of Hockey East opponents and
the Golden Knights have the weekend off.
• Harvard could move into first place
with a win over Yale on Sunday, but the Crimson will have
played more league games than any other ECACHL team. A reminder
that, Sunday’s 2:30 p.m. game will be broadcast on
CN8 in New England, and simulcast on the
station’s web site.
• Yale picked up its first win of the
season last week and then traveled to Duluth where the Bulldogs
in blue were routed 14-2 over two games by the host UMD
Bulldogs. Yale returns to ECACHL play with games against
Brown and Harvard this weekend before taking most of December
off. Yale’s next two games are at Minnesota State
and Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 30 and 31.
A variety
of sources were utilized in the compilation of this report.
