HAMILTON, N.Y. (1/20/06) - Sophomore goaltender Mark Dekanich (North Vancouver, B.C.) made 41 saves, including 22 in the third period, to backstop the No. 17 Colgate hockey team to a 4-2 win against Clarkson on Friday, Jan. 20. With the victory, the Raiders (12-6-5, 8-2-1 ECACHL) move into first place in the ECACHL standings. The win was also the first for Colgate against the Golden Knights in Hamilton since the 1999-00 season.
Dekanich’s 22 third-period saves were the most by either CU goaltender this season. He helped Colgate preserve a one-goal lead as the Raiders were outshot 22-6 in the session. Clarkson netminder David Leggio posted 23 saves in the losing effort.
The teams entered the second intermission tied, 2-2. Early in the third, Colgate got the advantage. Senior captain Jon Smyth (Markham, Ont.) started celebrating his 24th birthday when he and classmate Zac Tataryn (Ottawa, Ont.) set up sophomore Tyler Burton (Langley, B.C.) for what would prove to be the game-winning goal. Smyth’s pass went behind the net to Tataryn, who kicked it over to Burton. Burton threw the puck in front, where it deflected off the stick of a Clarkson defenseman and over Leggio’s right shoulder.
Colgate went down 1-0 for the 11th straight game when a scramble behind the net resulted in a wild shot out of the corner by David Cayer. Mike Sullivan picked up the rebound and put it past Dekanich 57 seconds into the second period.
The Raiders tied it up 42 seconds later. Clarkson turned the puck over in the neutral zone, allowing senior Ryan Smyth (Clarence Creek, Ont.) and junior Marc Fulton (Vancouver, B.C.) to skate the puck across the blue line. As he entered CU’s offensive end, Fulton drew his defender and dished the puck off to senior Kyle Wilson (London, Ont.). Wilson skated in with a defender on his hip and beat Leggio top-shelf.
Clarkson went ahead once again at the 4:47 mark. With Cayer in the box on a tripping call, the Golden Knights were skating 4-on-5. Nick Dodge poked the puck around junior Mike Campaner (Thunder Bay, Ont.) coming out of his own zone and skated short-handed down the ice. Jon Smyth caught up to him just as he shot, but he beat Dekanich glove-side. It was just the second short-handed goal Colgate has allowed this season.
With 3:52 to play in the middle frame, just as a Clarkson penalty was expiring, sophomore Ben Camper (Rocky River, Ohio) sent the puck deep into the corner where freshman Peter Bogdanich (Burnaby, B.C.) picked it up. Bogdanich carried it behind the net, wrapped it around, and back-handed it to Fulton, who scored on a wide-open goal with a one-timer.
After Dekanich and the Raider defense withstood the flurry of Clarkson shots in the third, the Golden Knights pulled Leggio in favor of the extra skater with 56 seconds on the clock. Camper won the puck coming out of the defensive end and poked it across the neutral zone to Ryan Smyth on the right side. Smyth caught up to the puck at the far blue line and put it in for Colgate’s first empty-net goal of the season.
The Raiders host No. 11/10 St. Lawrence on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 7:00 p.m. On Friday, the Saints lost to Cornell at Lynah Rink, 5-2, putting them in second place in the ECACHL standings behind Colgate. The game will be televised live in central and northern New York on Time Warner Sports Ch. 26.
