Box Score

CANTON, N.Y. – Sophomore forwards Joel Lowry and John McCarron scored goals and the men's hockey team took a lead into the third period against St. Lawrence only to surrender three goals down the stretch in a 4-2 loss at Appleton Arena.
 
The Big Red got off to a slow start, surrendering the game's first goal just 1:36 in. Mac Stratford's shot from the left point was deflected by Jeremy Wick. Cornell goalie Andy Iles made the save, but Wick was still free to convert on the rebound. The Saints kept buzzing, but couldn't find a second goal after Kirill Gotovets' backcheck thwarted a Tommy Thompson breakaway, then Iles stopped Thompson's shot from the slot about 10 seconds later off a Big Red turnover.
 
Cornell (8-10-2, 4-7-2 ECAC Hockey) started to get its footing a couple minutes later on a solid shift from the John Knisley line, with towering wingers Armand de Swardt and Christian Hilbrich. The Big Red then drew its first power play just after the midway mark of the stanza when Dustin Mowrey drew an interference penalty while battling for a rebound of a Reece Willcox shot that dangerously caromed off the glass and back toward the front of the net.
 
It took the Big Red just 34 seconds to convert on the man advantage. Seniors Nick D'Agostino and Greg Miller worked the puck down the right-wing half wall to Lowry. The sophomore winger then beat his defender to the outside and angled toward the middle, firing a shot that slipped over the right pad and under the right arm of St. Lawrence goalie Matt Weninger at the 11:37 mark.
 
The second period features just as many power plays as the first – two for each team – but half as many goals. That one tally belonged to McCarron, who cashed in the Big Red's second power-play goal of the night on just its third opportunity.
 
Senior forward John Esposito kicked the pucked out from the right circle to sophomore defenseman Joakim Ryan at the center point, who deftly one-timed a pass to McCarron on his left. The quick puck movement left McCarron with acres of space, and he boomed a slap shot over the right shoulder of Weninger that pinged off the crossbar. It was McCarron's fifth goal of the season, with all of them coming in the last six weeks. All 11 of McCarron's career goals have come after the December break for final exams and the holidays.
 
St. Lawrence (12-10-3, 5-5-3 ECAC Hockey) generated a few chances in transition that Iles was equal to, and the Big Red also stood tall on the penalty kill. Junior forward Rodger Craig and Esposito combined to block three shots in the final 10 seconds of the Saints' first power play of the middle period. D'Agostino also made a sliding effort to break up an SLU shorthanded two-on-one at the 13-minute mark.
 
But St. Lawrence would break through in the third and pull ahead for good. Patrick Doherty tied the game with a goal off a skate at the top of the crease at the 3:12 mark. The Saints then got a huge break when the a Big Red defenseman was assessed a five-minute major for boarding with 5:34 left in regulation.
 
Cornell's penalty kill was a perfect 5-for-5 to that point, but it didn't take long for the Saints to score the winner. Greg Carey zipped a wrist shot through traffic that sailed by the blocker of Iles, who was tangled up in traffic, giving SLU the lead with 4:55 to play. Kyle Essery then later added an empty-netter.
 
Cornell wraps up its trip to the North Country on Saturday with a 7 p.m. game against Clarkson at Cheel Arena in Potsdam.