CANTON, N.Y. – St. Lawrence, ranked 15th nationally in Division III, scored four straight goals in the game's first seven minutes and defeated 12th-ranked Cortland, 7-5. The Saints were playing their season opener, while the Red Dragons dropped to 1-2 with the loss.

Ben Prime led St. Lawrence with two goals and Brendan Lynch added a goal and two assists. Goalie Justin Demuth made 16 saves for the victory. Junior Ryan Heath (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) led Cortland with two goals and two assists and junior Billy Fuchs (Merrick/Sanford H. Calhoun) scored twice. Sophomore Matt Hipenbecker (Mountain Lakes, NJ) made 13 saves between the pipes.

The hosts used unassisted goals by Nick Mastine and Prime to take a 2-0 lead just 3:37 into the game. Andy Centauro scored off a Lynch assist with 9:32 left in the first and Mike Long scored unassisted with 8:07 left to push the lead to 4-0.

Heath scored an unassisted goal late in the first period and connected off an assist from junior Kyle Simensky (Locust Valley) for an extra-man goal midway through the second period to pull Cortland within 4-2. St. Lawrence answered with a Collin Moon goal, assisted by P.J. Santora, just 27 seconds after Heath's second goal and led 5-2 at halftime. Lynch scored the lone goal of the third period with 2:39 left to give St. Lawrence a 6-2 lead.

Fuchs opened the fourth-quarter scoring off an assist from senior Cheney Raymond (Camillus/West Genesee) with 11:54 left in the game and Cortland trailed 6-3. Prime's goal with 5:32 remaining re-established a four-goal lead for the Saints. Cortland netted the final two goals - a Fuchs goal with 3:15 left and an extra-man goal by junior Chris Hannon (Baldwin) with 33 seconds left, both assisted by Heath - to create the final margin.

Cortland outshot St. Lawrence 41-33, including a 25-8 margin in the second half, but managed to put only 21 shots on goal.

The Red Dragons, last year's NCAA Division III champion, return to action on Saturday, March 17, when they face Springfield College at 12:30 p.m. at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. The game is part of a tripleheader that also includes Syracuse versus Johns Hopkins and defending Division II champion Le Moyne versus C.W. Post following Cortland's game.

2007-03-12