ORONO, Maine — A shakeup in St. Lawrence’s lineup proved beneficial on Friday night.

Five different players contributed a goal and junior goalie Matt Weninger made 30 saves as the Saints defeated Maine, 5-0 in a nonconference game at Alfond Arena.

After the Saints scored only two even-strength goals in a season-opening split of two games at Western Michigan last weekend, St. Lawrence coach Greg

Carvel opted for a change, including breaking up the team’s top scoring line.

The Saints (2-1) responded with a “strong team effort” as 10 players produced at least a point, led by Kyle Flanagan, who recorded four assists.

“We played well as a team,” Carvel said. “We wanted to see if we could spread out our offense a little and I think we responded well.”

Gunnar Hughes and Patrick Doherty joined Flanagan on the team’s starting line, while Sean McGovern centered a line which included Greg Carey and Chris

Martin on the wings, with Tommy Thompson, Kyle Esserly and Jeremy Wick comprising the third line.

Defenseman Riley Austin opened the scoring with a drive from the left point which deflected off a Black Bears defenseman and past goalie Dan Sullivan 7:48 into the first period.

St. Lawrence’s special team’s units then generated a pair of goals in the second period as Martin took a pass from Flanagan and snapped a shot under the crossbar for a power-play goal just 1:08 into the period. Doherty followed with a shorthanded tally by finishing off a 2-on-1 break with Flanagan at 10:13.

After Gunnar Hughes converted on pass from brother George Hughes 3:45 into the third period, Justin Baker scored a power-play goal by beating Sullivan with a wrist shot at 7:40 for a 3-0 advantage.

The Saints also killed off all nine of Maine’s power-play opportunities.

“Our special teams were efficient tonight, which is good to see,” Carvel said. Sullivan, who was pulled in the third period, finished with 17 saves for Maine (1-3), while Matt Morris made one save.

The two teams will meet again at 7 p.m. tonight.

“We can’t be satisfied with just winning the first game,” Carvel said. “We want to play well again tomorrow night and hopefully not get a split, like we did against Western Michigan.”

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