Box Score

ALBANY, N.Y. (3/18/06) - Sophomore goaltender Mark Dekanich (North Vancouver, B.C.) broke Colgate’s single-season saves record with 39 stops in the third-place game of the ECACHL Championship at Albany’s Pepsi Arena, bringing his campaign total to 988 saves. The No. 17 Raiders (20-12-6) lost the third-place game to No. 15/15 Dartmouth (19-12-2), 3-2, in their final game of the season.

Dekanich eclipsed Jeff Cooper’s standard of 972 saves during the 1984-85 season. Dekanich needed 24 saves in the game to break the record, and he almost had that many in the first period: he made 21 stops in the first 20 minutes as his team was outshot 23-8.

Dartmouth was the first to score, capitalizing on a Raider turnover 3:39 into the opening period. Sophomore Tyler Burton (Langley, B.C.) passed the puck back to classmate Matt Torti (Oxford, Mass.) inside the blue line to start the breakout. But Dartmouth sophomore Jon Grecu stripped the puck from the Raider defenseman and skated in alone on Dekanich. Colgate’s netminder made the initial save, but gave up the rebound, which squirted behind the net to Rob Pritchard. Pritchard scampered around behind the net to the open side where he scored as Dekanich was scrambling to get back into position.

Dartmouth’s second goal came on its second consecutive power play of the first period. The Big Green set up in their zone, and senior captain Mike Ouellette found senior Sean Offers near the blue line. Offers shot from the top of slot into traffic in front of the net where junior Tanner Glass redirected the puck past Dekanich.

With the teams skating 4-on-4, the Big Green extended their lead to three midway through the second period. Sophomore David Jones skated the puck across the crease with a man on him, and as he was being hauled down, chipped the puck over Dekanich’s glove.

The Raiders got on the board with 7:38 left in the second period. After a hard shot by freshman Nick St. Pierre (St. Etienne, Que.) from the point, junior Marc Fulton (Vancouver, B.C.) planted himself in the crease, dug the puck from between the pads of Dartmouth sophomore goalie Mike Devine and wrestled it into the net. Senior Ryan Smyth (Clarence Creek, Ont.), skating in his school-record 154th career game, also assisted on the play.

Colgate made it a one-goal game with 4:20 left in regulation. Ryan Smyth got the puck from senior Kyle Wilson (London, Ont.) and skated it through the neutral zone and across the blue line with Fulton trailing. With a defender on his back, Smyth lobbed a shot at Devine from the right side. The rebound came out to Fulton at the top of the crease, and he backhanded it into the open net.

Colgate finishes the 2005-06 season with a 20-13-6 overall record, including a 14-6-2 mark in the ECACHL. It marks the first time in school history that the Raiders have posted three consecutive 20-win seasons. Next year, Colgate will open at the Ice Breaker Tournament, hosted by Miami of Ohio, against former league-mate Vermont. The teams will have the honor of skating in the first game at Miami’s new rink, the Goggin Ice Center. Two-time defending national champion Denver will be the fourth team in the tournament, which is sponsored by the Hockey Commissioners’ Association.