ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior forward Kyle Betts scored for third time over the Cornell men's hockey team's last two games, but St. Lawrence came away with a 2-1 victory in overtime at Lynah Rink.

Cornell (14-8-4, 9-6-4 ECAC Hockey), which entered the weekend ranked 18th in the DCU/USCHO.com poll, earned one point in the league standings by forcing overtime — though it marked the first time this season that the Big Red has been spilled in the extra frame (4-1-4). David Jankowski scored the winner 1:56 into three-on-three overtime for St. Lawrence (8-15-6, 6-9-4) 

With Clarkson defeating Colgate on Friday night, Cornell extended its lead for fourth place in the ECAC Hockey standings to three points with three games left in its regular season. And while the Big Red is chasing points to try to stay aligned for the fourth and final spot to earn a first-round bye through the ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs, St. Lawrence is also desperately trying to scrape together points to earn the right to host a first-round series.

That urgency was evident early on, when St. Lawrence played at a torrid pace to start out and attacked at full speed at any opportunity. The first such threat was thwarted just a couple shifts into the game, but the redux of the play led Cornell freshman goaltender Ian Shane to lose his stick in the commotion around his crease. By the time the puck got cycled back around to Justin Paul for a shot from the left point, all Shane could do was kick it away 3 and the puck went right back up the slot for Reilly Moran to chip into the net on his backhand at the 1:54 mark.

The onslaught continued, but Shane made several quality saves to minimize the damage despite the visitors firing 12 shots on goal in just the first 11 minutes. 

"We knew they are a physical team and that they compete really hard, so we knew we had to dictate that part of the play," said Associate Head Coach Ben Syer, who continues to serve as head coach during games while Mike Schafer '86 is on the mend. "There were definitely ebbs and flows with that tonight in terms of winning those battles."

The Saints came up empty on the night's first two power plays, and the Big Red was able to find some momentum as it entered the final five minutes of the stanza. Senior forward Brenden Locke worked himself free coming down the slot with 4:14 and made a move to his backhand, but St. Lawrence goaltender Emil Zetterquist was equal to it.

The second period saw the Big Red tie the score at the 8:01 mark. After Betts blocked a shot with a stick jam at the top of the left circle in the Cornell zone, the puck went up the opposite wall with Justin Ertel looking to work up ice with Jack Malone in the middle. While Ertel over-skated the puck near the red line, he made a slick play to backhand the puck between his own legs into the path of Betts streaking up the middle. He used his speed to beat a defender, then swept across the low slot and avoided Zetterquist's poke check before flipping in a forehand over the goaltender's right pad.

Cornell then had a prime opportunity to take the lead when it started the third period on a five-minute power play following a major penalty that was assessed after video review at the tail end of the second period (the play in question actually happened with 19 seconds remaining in the frame).

The Big Red came up empty on that opportunity before a minor penalty of its own cut short the time on the man advantage, though it still had some good looks in the third period. A pretty passing play from junior defenseman Sam Malinski and senior forward Max Andreev set up an open junior forward Matt Stienburg from the top of the crease, but his backhand was scooped over the net with 14:02 left. A little more than four minutes later, a loose puck popped out to junior Ben Berard for an open one-timer from the right circle only to see Zetterquist make a glove save.

"It's become a recurring theme — we're getting a lot of chances, but we aren't putting them away," Betts said. "Eventually, we've got to bear down and finish those chances."

The winning goal came on a shot from the high slot after attackers crossed paths shortly after entering the offensive zone. That caused the defenders to sag a bit, and Jankowski was able to snap off a shot that handcuffed Shane and trickled into the net after catching a piece of his blocker. He finished the night with 28 saves.

"Every game's a playoff game now," Shane said. "With how things have been going for us lately, there's definitely a little added emphasis on these last few games."

Cornell concludes the home portion of its regular season at 7 p.m. Saturday, when it hosts Clarkson in its annual Senior Night at Lynah Rink.