Box Score

ALBANY, N.Y. (3/17/06) - No. 17 Colgate lost to No. 7/7 Cornell, 2-0, in the ECACHL semifinals on Friday, Mar. 17, at Albany’s Pepsi Arena. The Raiders will enter their final game of the season, the consolation game against Dartmouth, with a 20-12-6 overall record, while the Big Red (21-7-4) will defend their tournament title against Harvard in the championship game.

The Big Red snapped sophomore goaltender Mark Dekanich’s (North Vancouver, B.C.) shutout streak at 123:42 with a power-play goal early in the second. Cornell set up in the zone on their third power play of the game. Senior captain Matt Moulson got the puck from sophomore Topher Scott above the left faceoff circle. He looked to shoot, but had a defender in his face. Instead, he passed to junior Byron Bitz between the hash marks. With one defender to beat, Bitz put the puck top shelf and put his team up 1-0, 6:49 into the second period.

With less than a minute to play and Colgate on the power play, Dekanich went to the bench to give the Raiders a 6-on-4 advantage. However, with less than 30 seconds on the clock, Cornell won the faceoff to the left of Big Red netminder David McKee. After a battle along near boards, the puck squirted loose and out of the zone. Daniel Pegoraro jumped after it with Raider freshman defenseman Mark Anderson (Hastings, Neb.) on his back. Once in the zone, however, Pegoraro shook Anderson off long enough to put a shot into the open net with less than 12 seconds on the clock.

Dekanich finished the game with 29 saves, including 17 in the second period when his team was outshot 18-6. McKee earned the win and broke a tournament record with his third career tournament shutout after stopping all 20 Colgate shots.

For the third straight year, the Raiders will play for third place on the final day of the ECACHL Championship. Colgate will face Dartmouth on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Earlier today, the Big Green lost to Harvard in the first semifinal, 10-1.