Notables
-Star was involved in three of the five goals on the night for CSS
-N. Ross and Star scored their first collegiate goals in the contest
-First goals scored in the first period this season by the Saints
-This is the first time in the past seven games that the two have played at CSS
DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The College of St. Scholastica men's hockey team jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in Friday night's game against Lake Forest College (Ill.) at Mars Lakeview Arena en route to a 5-3 victory to open up conference play.
First Period
The Saints didn't waste any time lighting up the scoreboard as Brandon Millin (Port Moody, British Columbia/Heritage Woods HS (Notre Dame Hounds-SJHL) ) netted one just two minutes into the period to give CSS an early 1-0 lead. Connor Faupel (Rochester, Minn./Rochester Century HS (UW-Superior)) and Kyle Star (Langley, British, Columbia/Brookswood (Trail Smoke-BCHL)) assisted on the goal. 10 minutes later it was Kale Derkson (Regina, Saskatchewan/Sheldon Williams Collegiate/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame (Notre Dame-SJHL))'s turn to celebrate, thanks in part to some nice passing from teammates Max Mettler (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS (Minot-NAHL)) and Steven Phee (Balzac, Alberta/George McDougall HS (Canmore-AJHL) ), as he put the puck past the Lake Forest's goaltender for his first goal on the year.
The highlight of the night, which came on Derkson's goal, was the hustle play made by Phee in order to set up the second goal of the game for CSS. Phee hopped off the bench after the Saints had just successfully killed off a penalty, beating a Lake Forest defender down the ice to avoid an icing call in the process. He then flipped it back to Derkson who made his teammate's hustle worth the while.
Lake Forest got one back off a power-play opportunity when Connor Duncan scored with just under two minutes to go. The game looked to be heading into intermission with the Saints holding a 2-1 lead, but Kyle Star (Langley, British, Columbia/Brookswood (Trail Smoke-BCHL)) extended the lead back to two with under a minute remaining after beating a few defenders and placing the puck in-between the pipes to record his first collegiate goal.
Second Period
Scoring seized for the next eight minutes until St. Scholastica's Josh Hansen (Chilliwack, British Columbia/Unity Christian School (Chilliwack-BCHL) ) put the home team up three with a power play goal. Assist credit on the goal went to Mark Whiteley (Surrey, British Columbia/Holy Cross HS (Marian University)) and Star.
It was just 25 seconds later when the Saints tacked on another goal, this time coming off the stick of Nolan Ross (Fort Frances, Ontario/Fort Frances HS (Fort Frances-SIJHL)) to extend the CSS lead to 5-1. It turned out that all they needed was Hansen's goal by the time the final horn sounded, but Ross padded the scoreboard with a bit more insurance for Peter Megariotis (Anaheim Hills, Calif./Canyon HS (Adrian)) with his first collegiate goal as well.
Third Period
The third period was heavily dominated by the Foresters, who put up two goals while shutting out the Saints in the process. Five minutes into the third is when they struck first, thanks in part to Cody Guidorzi scoring on an unassisted goal to mark the second time on the night Lake Forest was able to beat Megariotis.
The last goal didn't occur until the final minute of play, which cut the Saints lead to two, but it was too little too late for Lake Forest as they fell to CSS 5-3 in the first of two games to be played by the two teams this weekend.
The Foresters outshot the Saints 34-30, but Megariotis held his ground for most of the night, recording 31 saves and only allowing three to slip by in his second win of the season.
Up Next
The Saints and Foresters are back in action Saturday afternoon at Mars Lakeview Arena for the second half of their doubleheader matchup. The puck is set to drop at 4 p.m.
