59 Teams in 59 Days St. Lawrence

The final week of the 59 Teams in 59 Days tour starts with a trip to Canton, New York where the St. Lawrence Saints are featured.

Head Coach Joe Marsh will head into the season this year without their top five leading scorers from last year who all graduated.

On offense, someone needs to step up. Expect Sophomore Kevin DeVergilio to step up this year. DeVergilio, scored 14 goals last year and earned all ECACHL rookie honors. Out of all the returning players from last year, they only scored 51 goals from 10 players.

The defense will be the main focal point of this team this year. The only player they lost is Mike Madill. It will be tough replacing an all ECACHL performer, however, with five returning defensemen from last year, the goalie can rely on a good defense this year. Last season the Saints gave up 118 goals in 40 games, a pretty solid defense. This year however will be a better defense. Senior Drew Bagnall will lead the defense as the only Senior on the squad. Sophomores Zack Miskovic, Matt Generous, Shawn Fensel, and Jared Ross all return. The last spot will be a battle between Junior Paul Wallman (who played in only 10 games last year), and Freshman Derek Keller.

Goaltedning wise, Junior Justin Pesony will be the starter. Pesony, had a solid year last season, winning 20 games while tallying two shutouts. With a year under his belt, and a better defense on the way, Pesony should improve on the 2.90 goals against average from last season. Classmates Ryan Thorpe, and John Hallas will be the backups.

This year, the Saints will be a young team. Eight newcomers come in including Alex Curran and Mike McKenzie, who could make an immediate impact. Expect St. Lawrence to stay in the middle of the ECACHL this year, but in the next few years, they should be back up top in the ECACHL rankings.

The predicted ceiling for St. Lawrence is fifth in the ECACHL, while the gutter is ninth.

Tommorrow we will make a stop at Schenectady, New York, where the Union Dutchman will be featured, as the countdown to the end of the line is at 5 days as the 59 Teams in 59 Days tour hits day number 54.