CANTON — When the St. Lawrence University men’s hockey team lost 3-2 in overtime to Colgate on Feb. 17, the odds of the Saints finishing in the top four in the ECAC Hockey standings and hosting a best-of-three quarterfinal series this weekend did not look good.
But SLU (17-17 overall) won two of its last three games while Colgate (15-15-5) ended the season 0-1-2 to finish one point back of the Saints.
The Raiders will be at Appleton Arena to play the Saints this weekend with game one starting at 7 tonight. Game two will be at 7 p.m. Saturday and if a game three is needed, it will happen at 4 p.m. Sunday.
The winner of the series advances to the semifinals in Lake Placid next weekend.
“We lose that overtime (to Colgate), head-to-head, and we thought that was going to be the tipping point,” Saints coach Brent Brekke said. “We pulled off a win against Cornell the next night and that gives you hope there’s still a chance. At that point you needed some help. It wasn’t just a matter of what you controlled yourself. We’re excited to be back at home.”
The Saints will be home but facing a team they have lost to twice this season. Colgate won 4-1 in Appleton Arena on Nov. 12.
“We didn’t manage the puck well,” Brekke said of the February loss. “They came out in the first period and really took it to us. The second period was pretty even and we took it to them in the third.”
For Saints goalie Emil Zetterquist, who is a fifth-year player, finishing fourth gives him at least two more games to play in Appleton Arena.
“It’s absolutely unreal,” Zetterquist said. “I’m never going to take that time here for granted. It’s awesome getting a couple games at home and especially during playoff time. Appleton is electric during this time of year.”
The Saints’ upperclass players have experienced a championship as SLU won the ECAC Hockey title in 2021 when just four teams participated.
“We have to play to our identity,” Saints defenseman Luc Salem said. “(Colgate) is a fast, skilled team and they can get on you really quick and create a ton of offense from transition.”
The Golden Knights (16-15-4) will be on the road this weekend at one of the traditionally toughest places to play, Cornell’s Lynah Rink.
But Clarkson goes in knowing it swept the regular-season from the Big Red (18-9-2).
Clarkson beat Cornell 4-1 in Cheel Arena on Nov. 12 and beat the Big Red 4-3 in Lynah Rink on Feb. 17.
That best-of-three series has the same schedule format as the SLU/Colgate series at Appleton.
“I don’t think it matters this time of year,” Clarkson coach Casey Jones said of the earlier games. “They are going to be a tough team. They are a tough out. I think they are one of the most complete teams we have in our league. We’ve handled the environment, which is the most important thing.”
One boost for Clarkson is the return of forward Anthony Romano, who missed most of the season with injury. He scored two goals in a 5-1 first-round win over Brown last weekend.
Romano missed both games with Cornell during the season.
“We know we are in for a battle against a tough team in Cornell,” Romano said. “It’s going to be a tough atmosphere to play in, but I think we were ready for it. I’m looking forward to it. We are definitely not intimidated. We know what we are capable of. We just have to go in there and stick to our game and play hard and stick to our system.”
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