Box Score CANTON, N.Y. — Junior forward Brenden Locke had a goal and two assists, and the Cornell men's hockey team exploded for three goals in a span of 3:01 late in the second period to blow open a 6-1 rout of St. Lawrence on Saturday night at Roos House Ice Arena.
 
After St. Lawrence (3-8-1, 1-3 ECAC Hockey) negated junior forward Morgan Barron's goal with a power-play strike later in the first period, Cornell (6-0, 4-0) responded with a dominating second period to escaped the dreaded "trap game."
 
Cornell had won five straight to start the season, carried a lofty national ranking of third in the USCHO.com poll and rolled in on the heels of a hard-fought and invigorating 4-2 road victory over defending ECAC Hockey champion Clarkson the night before. The next morning, it entered the cozy confines of a Division III team's rink to take on rebuilding St. Lawrence – a team that stood between Cornell and its first sweep of the annual North Country trip since February 2005.
 
But under first-year head coach Brent Brekke, St. Lawrence's actual performance belies its record and its placement as the last-place team in the ECAC Hockey preseason polls. The Saints had taken Clarkson to overtime in both nights of a non-league series two weeks ago at Cheel Arena, and they stormed back from a two-goal deficit on the road for an ECAC Hockey victory last Saturday at Union.
 
All of this was known by everyone wearing a Big Red jersey. But it was only human nature that when junior forward Morgan Barron shoveled in a feed from classmate Cam Donaldson just 3:36 into the game on a two-on-one that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, the urgency waned.
 
Though the balance of the opening 20 minutes was statistically even, both in score and shots on goal, St. Lawrence had plenty of momentum.
 
"We didn't even talk about adjustments between the first and second periods," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey at Cornell. "We just talked about how we needed to get to work. We needed to play with some pace and get back to that intensity we had last night."
 
It worked, and it started with the very first shift of the second period. The Big Red's energy line centered by junior Kyle Betts gave the Saints fits in the first minute, leading to sophomore forward Liam Motley drawing a holding penalty along the boards. While Cornell didn't convert on the ensuing power play, it kept the momentum in spades.
 
"I thought our guys played with a lot more composure and poise and I thought we played a lot faster," Schafer said. "But we got back our work ethic and winning battles and were playing our game."
 
The Big Red had the first 14 shots on goal in the second period, and it won 18 of 25 faceoffs. Still, it took a while for the go-ahead goal to materialize.
 
"When we apply the pressure like that, it's just a matter of time," Barron said. "We've been there enough times that we know that it's going to come sooner or later. Keep playing like we can and keep pressuring and possess the puck."
 
As has often been the case early this season, the power play did the trick. Junior defenseman Alex Green scored his second goal of the season at the 13-minute mark to give Cornell. Senior defenseman Yanni Kaldis and Motley tacked on two more in short fashion, and the Big Red suddenly had a three-goal lead.
 
"It was a good lesson tonight, because we know that every opponent is going to be a tough game," Schafer said. "It was a big goal by Alex Green on the power play, and then we just got it going after that. It was good to see."
 
Senior forward Kyle Betts tacked on a power-play goal in the first minute of the third period, then Locke struck 27 seconds later to give the Big Red 10 different goal-scorers for its 10 goals on the weekend.
 
Cornell – which leads the nation with a 42.3% success rate on the power play – has scored at least one power-play goal in its first six games of a season for the first time since 2009-10. The Big Red also remains one of the last two undefeated teams in the country alongside Harvard (5-0, 5-0).

The Big Red's Lineup:

How The Goals Were Scored:

Cornell's 1st Goal
1st period, 3:36  •  Barron 6 (Donaldson, Malinski)  •  Cornell 1, St. Lawrence 0
•  An attempted Saints breakout pass was tipped by a Big Red stick to allow Malinski a chance to start a counter attack from the neutral zone. He angled a pass off the right boards to send Donaldson into the zone on a two-on-one. He into the circle before dishing off for Barron coming down the slot to slam it into the wide side of the net.
 
St. Lawrence's 1st Goal
1st period, 14:03 (pp)  •  Suthers 5 (Garvey, Peltonen)  •  Cornell 1, St. Lawrence 1
•  Working on the power play, the Saints set up a one-timer for Peltonen at the center point that hit Garvey in the mid-section as he was being hit by a Cornell defender in the slot. But the puck popped out into space for Suthers to gather coming in from the opposite point, and he fired through a Cornell defender and past a helpless Galajda from the inside of the right circle.
 
Cornell's 2nd Goal
2nd period, 13:00 (pp)  •  Green 2 (Locke, Berard)  •  Cornell 2, St. Lawrence 1
•  On the power play, the Big Red gained the offensive zone on the left side and set up shop with a series of passes on the outside that were followed with rolls. As Green collected the puck and came toward the middle, he noticed the defense had completely sagged. That allowed him space to come all the way into the slot, where he was able to rip a shot over Boisvert's glove.
 
Cornell's 3rd Goal
2nd period, 14:56  •  Kaldis 2 (Donaldson, Andreev)  •  Cornell 3, St. Lawrence 1
•  The Big Red kept possession in the Saints zone for about 30 seconds to cause havoc. Kaldis wheeled from behind the net toward the high slot, then played catch with Andreev at the top of the left circle to set up a shot. The first attempt hit Donaldson in the calf, but the puck came back to an open Kaldis for another shot that beat Boisvert to the glove side.
 
Cornell's 4th Goal
2nd period, 16:01  •  Malott 2 (Cairns, Locke)  •  Cornell 4,  St. Lawrence 1
•  The Big Red gained possession in its own end and Locke started up the left side before pulling up at bottom of the circle to find Cairns wide open on the other side of the ice. Cairns pushed the tempo by alertly one-touching a pass up the wall to send Motley on a breakaway up the left side. He deked Boisvert to his knee, then scooped a backhand over the goalie's glove.
 
Cornell's 5th Goal
3rd period, :56 (pp)  •  Betts 1 (Malott, Mullin)  •  Cornell 5,  St. Lawrence 1
•  At the tail end of a power play, the Big Red won a scrummed faceoff to Boisvert's right. Mullin poked it to Malott, who angled down the left circle before feeding Betts back in the slot. The puck was a little off his front skate, but Betts managed to get enough of the one-timer to send it fluttering over Boisvert's blocker.
 
Cornell's 6th Goal
3rd period, 1:23  •  Locke 2 (Berard, Mitchell)  •  Cornell 6,  St. Lawrence 1
•  Cornell worked puck up the left wing with Mitchell's pass to Berard sending him into the offensive zone. Berard took a shot from the left circle that was stopped by Boisvert, but the rebound bounced back up the middle. An open Locke was able to gain control in the slot. His first shot was blocked, but his second beat Boisvert to the stick side.

Up Next:

•  Cornell returns to Lynah Rink for a pair of ECAC Hockey games next weekend, starting off with a 7 p.m. contest on Friday against Quinnipiac in a matchup of the teams that shared the league's Cleary Cup last season. The Big Red then takes on Princeton at 7 p.m Saturday in a contest that doubles as an Ivy League game.