Lake Placid, N.Y. " As coach Bob Gaudet '81 likes to say, hockey is a game of breaks and bounces. Some nights they go your way, other nights they leave you guessing at what might have been.
Friday night was one of the latter, as Dartmouth ran into an unlikely hero in Saints' forward Robin Carruthers, who scored both St. Lawrence goals, and a hot goalie in Jeremy Symington. Symington blanked the Big Green 2-0, making 42 saves to end the Big Green's dream of carrying some hardware from Lake Placid and the ECAC Championship Tournament.
The Big Green is relegated to Saturday's consolation game where they will take on Harvard, while the Saints move on to the finals, where they will face Cornell.
Though, the result did not end up in the Big Green's favor, Dartmouth proved their mettle tonight, coming in a night after winning an emotional overtime game over Vermont to play a skilled St. Lawrence squad close.
"It was a couple of breaks," Gaudet said after the game. "That's what it came down to. A power-play goal and a guy coming out of the box."
The man held accountable for both of those was Carruthers, who had only scored four goals coming into the game.
The junior forward noted his penchant for coming through in big games for the Saints, saying "It's funny how goals come your way."
Funny for the Saints perhaps, but for the Big Green it was no laughing matter.
When you pour 42 shots on net, you expect to get something out of it, but Symington proved too much for the Big Green to solve.
"That's the best I've ever seen him play," Gaudet said. "It was a big night for him to come out and play like that."
What made the difference was the lack of good opportunities off rebounds, which the Saints defense made a point of clearing away quickly. Combine that with a goalie that is standing on his head, and you have yourself a shutout.
While both teams were able to move the puck through the neutral zone and accumulate scoring chances, neither goal was pretty.
Curruther's first goal came on the power play at 1:28 of the second, when he took a pass from Jason Leroy at the right point and beat Nick Boucher '03 five-hole.
Both teams garnered some quality scoring chances in the second, but both goalies were up for the challenge and didn't budge an inch.
The Saints next goal came right after Carruthers was whistled for a hit from behind at 4:32. As he came out of the box, Carruthers slipped behind the Dartmouth defense and Blair Clarance hit him with a long pass to send him all alone on Boucher.
The two goals were all that St. Lawrence would need, as the Saints held on for the win.
The loss drops Dartmouth to 16-13-4 overall, while St. Lawrence improves to 19-12-4, and move one step closer to an NCAA tournament berth.
In the matinee game, Cornell beat Harvard 5-2, powered by three goals in the span of 2:37 in the second period. Matt Underhill made 45 saves in the winning effort.
The consolation game will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, while the championship will take place at 7:30 p.m.
