PRINCETON, N.J. (1/13/06) - No. 16 Colgate returned to ECACHL play at Princeton on Friday, Jan. 13, but came away with a 5-3 loss at Hobey Baker Rink. The Raiders are now 10-6-5 overall this season and 6-2-1 in conference play.
The Tigers capitalized on their first power-play opportunity of the game at the 8:14 mark of the opening period. Grant Goeckner-Zoeller skated the puck into the zone and wristed it into the upper-left corner of the net from low in the slot.
Trailing 1-0 for the ninth straight game, Colgate pressured the net and earned several quality scoring chances late in the first period. However, Princeton junior goaltender B.J. Sklapsky was up to the task, making seven saves in the first 20 minutes, including stopping Raider seniors Jon Smyth (Markham, Ont.), Kyle Wilson (London, Ont.) and Ryan Smyth (Clarence Creek, Ont.) on the doorstep.
Sklapsky couldn’t stop Tyler Burton (Langley, B.C.), however, as the sophomore got the Raiders on the board with his 15th goal of the season with 5:09 left in the first period. Jon Smyth had the puck along the near boards in the defensive zone, and he sent it ahead and across the ice to sophomore Matt Torti (Oxford, Mass.) at the red line. Torti found Burton streaking into the zone, and Burton tucked the puck just inside the post stick-side.
Princeton earned a 5-on-3 power-play chance 7:35 into the middle frame, but Colgate was able to keep the Tigers at bay until after senior Zac Tataryn’s (Ottawa, Ont.) penalty was released, but with Burton still in the box, Kevin Westgarth scored from the low slot.
Colgate responded with a power-play goal of its own with less than five minutes to play in the second period. Freshman David Sloane (Ambler, Pa.) intercepted the puck as Princeton attempted to clear the zone and shot from the near boards. The puck trickled over the goal line as Sklapsky scrambled to stop it. The goal was the second of Sloane’s career and his first collegiate power-play goal.
Princeton regained the lead with the fourth power-play goal of the game at the 18:44 mark. Dekanich was taken down by Kevin Westgarth after stopping his shot, leaving Goeckner-Zoeller the whole right side of the net in which to score.
Darroll Powe used a wrist shot from the near boards to beat Dekanich, who was screened by his defenseman, and give Princeton a two-goal lead with one minute remaining in the second period.
Emotions were running high as the teams returned to the ice for the third period. Less than five minutes in, following the second post-whistle altercation of the session, Powe was whistled for hitting from behind after he knocked Burton into the Princeton goal. However, the opportunity was neutralized at its halfway point when the Raiders took a bench minor for too many men on the ice, and the advantage swung back in the Tigers’ favor after Burton was called for tripping.
Colgate made it a one-goal game at the 13:04 mark. Tataryn was low on the far wall, and he sent the puck around the boards to freshman Tom Riley (Nepean, Ont.) behind and to the right of the net. Riley banked the puck off the boards, and it came to a Princeton defenseman who tried to clear it. However, the puck landed on the stick of freshman Peter Bogdanich (Burnaby, B.C.) who rifled it along the ice, beating Sklapsky five-hole for his first career goal.
But Princeton was able to put the game away with 1:03 on the clock. On a 2-on-1 break, Kevin Westgarth skated the puck into the zone on the right side. He centered it to Kyle Hagel in front, who beat Dekanich to give the Tigers a 5-3 victory.
Colgate heads to New Haven, Conn., to take on Quinnipiac on Saturday, Jan. 14, at Yale’s Ingalls Rink, starting at 7:00 p.m. The Bobcats lost to Cornell tonight, 6-0.
