The 150th edition of the Route 11 rivalry went to St. Lawrence University
by a 3-1 count over Clarkson.  Senior John Poapst, converted from defenseman
to wing at the end of last year, opened the SLU scoring with a one-timer from
the face-off dot that found its way through lots of traffic to the back
of the net.  The Saints had 5-on-3 advantage at the time of the goal, thanks
to Clakson sending too many men onto the ice while killing the original
penalty.  Poapst got his second goal of the night later in the period as
the recipient of a perfectly timed 2-on-1 break pass from Erik Anderson.
SLU had the better of play for most of the period, until the last couple
of minutes when Clarkson came alive to put lots on lots of pressure - but
Saint goalie Eric Heffler managed to hold the fort until the horn sounded.
 
Clarkson continued to enjoy a territorial advantage through the second
period as the Saints repeatedly had trouble clearing the zone.  At one point
a shot from in close went up on Heffler's leg pad and sat there for a moment,
before rolling back down.  Referee Murphy blew the whistle when he thought the
puck had been covered - just before it came loose and a Clarkson player
flipped it into the net.  The shot was definitely after the whistle, but the
whistle was definitely premature.  SLU got to a 3-0 lead when Poapst made
a great up-ice pass to spring Bob Prier on a breakaway between the two
Clarkson defensmen.  Prier was hauled down from behind (no call) and a pile
of players slid into Clarkson's goalie Shawn Grant.  I haven't heard a
clear account of how the puck ended up in the net, but the most common version
had one of the Clarkson players who was lying in the crease accidentally hit
it in.  Needless to say it was a big goal as Clarkson still maintained the
better pressure.
 
Shortly after the Saints killed a penalty to start the third period, Clarkson
finally beat Heffler with a quick shot from the edge of the faceoff circle
by Carl Drakensjo.  The shot was over Heffler's shoulder, just under the
crossbar, and back out of the net so fast it was hard to tell it went in.
That goal gave Clarkson some life and kept things interesting for the fans
the rest of the way.  The Saints had to kill two more penalties as the third
period wound down -giving them an incredible 41 straight kills after giving
up their only power play goal of the year in their first game at Minnesota.
Clarkson had relatively fewer good shots during the last half of the period,
although the puck was loose in front of the goal on several occasions - with
SLU players managing to poke it out of trouble before a Clarkson player could
get a stick on it.  Heffler finished with 40 saves and was clearly a main
reason the Saints got their first win over Clarkson in three years.
 
NEW and OLD:
(1)  At least seven SLU players (Brandon Dietrich, Sean Muir, Mike Muir,
Ray DiLoro, Charlie Daniels, Vic Natali, and Robin Carruthers) were playing
against Clarkson for the first time.
(2)  Playing against SLU for the first time was Matt Poapst, brother of
SLU's John Poapst.
(3)  The local paper (Watertown Times) made a big deal about the 150th meeting
between Clarkson and SLU, including naming all-time teams from both schools.
The choices were
                SLU                    Clarkson
Forward     Peter Lappin   '88       Eddie Rowe       '57
Forward     Terry Slater   '61       Dave Taylor      '77
Forward     Burke Murphy   '96       Kevin Zappia     '79
Defense     Arlie Parker   '62       Bill Blackwood   '78
Defense     Dan Laperriere '92       Steve Warr       '72
Goalie      Bill Sloan     '56       Terry Yurkiewicz '66
 
The accompanying fans' write-in poll would have added Craig Conroy, Todd
Marchant, Dave Tretowicz, and Bruce Bullock to Clarkson's first team and
Brian McFarlane, Jamie Baker, and Mike Hurlbut to SLU.
 
Robin Lock
St. Lawrence University
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