HAMILTON, N.Y.  (10/17/08) – Brian Day (Danvers, Mass.) scored two goals and Alex Evin (Castlegar, B.C.) posted his first collegiate victory in net as Colgate grounded the Bentley Falcons 4-1 in men's hockey action, Friday evening at Starr Rink.

With the victory, Colgate moved to 2-0 on the season for the second time in four seasons.  The result over Bentley also gives the Raiders a 3-0 lead in the all-time series.

“Brian Day is a special player,” said head coach Don Vaughan following the victory.  “He showed he could really accelerate and found ways to get to the net.  He is a big time player and his first goal showed it.

 

“It was also great to see Alex play well in his first game,” added Vaughan in regards to his freshman goalie turning aside 13 of 14 shots in his collegiate debut.  “When called upon, he made several outstanding saves.  It was good for him to get his feet wet and I look forward to seeing many more solid performances and wins from him in the years to come.

 

The Raiders opened scoring on the power play at 8:20 as Francois Brisebois (Montreal, Que.) deflected a shot from David McIntyre (Pefferlaw, Ont.) behind goalie Joe Calvi to give Colgate the lead for good.  It was the sophomore's second career marker.  Nick St. Pierre (St. Etienne, Que.) was also credited with an assist for making the initial pass on McIntyre's shot.

 

Right before intermission, Day registered the first of his two goals at 19:34.  The sophomore took a long pass off the boards from St. Pierre and went down the right side on a pseudo break-a-way.  After fending off his defender, Day took it to the net; made a move on the goalie, and slid the puck behind Calvi. David Sloane (Ambler, Pa.) was also credited with an assist as well.  This goal proved to be the eventual game-winner.

 

Colgate upped its lead to 3-0 as Austin Smith (Dallas, Texas) lit the lamp for his first time in his collegiate career at 12:49 of the second period.  The freshman was assisted by Peter Bogdanich (Burnaby, B.C.) and Ethan Cox (Richmond, B.C.).

 

Leading 3-0 after two periods, it didn't take long for the Raiders to add to their lead – 20 seconds to be exact as McIntyre and Tom Riley (Ottawa, Ont.) hooked up with Day, who beat Calvi for the second time in the contest.

 

Bentley, 0-1 overall, ended Evin's shutout bid at 12:33 as Dustin Cloutier banged home a power play goal.

 

“I thought we did a better job at controlling the puck in the offensive zone tonight than we did in the season opener against UMass Lowell,” said Vaughan.  “We also cycled well and had success bringing the puck to the net.

 

“Again, the penalty kill did well,” continued Vaughan when speaking of his unit that held the Falcons to one of six on the evening. 

 

Colgate outshot Bentley 22-14.  Calvi made 18 saves for the Falcons.

 

The Raiders return to action Friday afternoon at the Citizen's Bank Governor's Cup in Albany.  Colgate will square off with Robert Morris in the first round match-up.  The puck is slated to drop at 4 p.m. at Times Union Arena.