Stopping St. Lawrence’s Trevelyan Key to Winning

St. Lawrence forward T. J. Trevelyan knows a thing or two about scoring. Just ask his teammates.

Third in the nation in goals, the 5’10, Mississauga, Ont., product has notched 25 tallies thus far this season, five more than Cornell’s Matt Moulson and Vermont’s Scott Mifsud for the ECAC lead—not to mention three ahead of any two of his fellow Saints.

But it is Trevelyan’s latest flurry—half a dozen goals and three assists in six games—that has kickstarted a St. Lawrence season that was all but dead in the water four weeks ago. Entering play against Brown on Feb. 18, St. Lawrence (17-17-2, 9-12-1 ECAC) was mired in a 1-6-1 slump, limping towards the conference playoffs with road trips to Harvard, Cornell, and Colgate awaiting at season’s end.

Though in the midst of a minor swoon of his own, Trevelyan sprung for two goals against the Bears’ highly touted freshman goaltender, Adam D’Alba, propelling the Saints to a crucial 3-0 victory and back into position to host its first-round matchup in the ECAC tournament.

“I think he’s a catalyst for their team offensively,” said Harvard assistant captain Ryan Lannon. “When he finds success in a game scoring, the whole team rallies around that.”

Despite subsequent losses to the Crimson and Big Red, St. Lawrence entered the final night of regular-season play one point ahead of Union and Clarkson for seventh place, though a date with the Raiders, themselves battling for second, still loomed.

Again, Trevelyan was the difference, scoring twice in the first period to stake the Saints to a comfortable 3-0 lead they never relinquished en route to a 5-3 win. And, not surprisingly, it was the St. Lawrence junior who notched the series-sealing goal in the second game of last weekend’s sweep of Princeton.

“He’s got a great release on his shot and I think he’s a natural goal scorer,” Union coach Nate Leaman said. “He’s just one of those guys that—if you leave him alone for a second, or he gets an opening on the power play—he’s one of those rare guys that just knows how to finish in those situations.”

That knack for the goal has been a thorn in the Crimson’s side thus far this season in its two matchups with the Saints. Trevelyan scored twice in St. Lawrence’s 4-2 win in Potsdam on Nov. 26, then added two assists in Harvard’s 5-2 victory Feb. 19.

“I’ll tell you what,” sophomore defenseman Dylan Reese said. “I don’t feel like he’s a noticeable player out there. But he’s just a guy that puts the points up. It’s unbelievable.”

Seen or unseen, Trevelyan has been particularly effective on the power play, potting eight goals this season and 13 a year ago for a man-advantage unit with exceptional puck movement but an otherwise average conversion rate.

Still, the Crimson (18-8-3, 15-5-2) plans to give Trevelyan no special attention at even strength or when down a man and will instead rely upon the combination of Dov Grumet-Morris and physical defensive play to keep the Saints’ leading scorer under wraps.

“You just do your best to contain him,” Reese said. “You don’t give him any space, hit him, finish him all the time, so he gets sick and tired of taking beatings.”

“We recognize he has 20-something goals,” Harvard captain Noah Welch added. “Obviously you don’t want him to have the puck in the slot, but overall we’re not worried about him.”

The Crimson and Saints kick off their best-of-three ECAC quarterfinal series at Bright Hockey Center tonight at 7 p.m.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.