Raiders and Big Red Battle to 2-2 Tie in Florida Finale

Smith and Long Named to All-Tournament Team

Charles Long Garnered all-tournament accolades

ESTERO, FLA. (12/28/08) – Charles Long (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) stopped 18 shots and Austin Smith (Dallas, Texas) connected for his eighth goal of the year as Colgate battled to a 2-2 tie against 10th-ranked Cornell, Sunday evening in the final of the 2008 Florida Collegiate Classic at Germain Arena.

Cornell did manage to win the shootout, 2-0, following the overtime period and was crowned the tournament winner for the third time in the nine year history of the event. Despite falling in a shootout, Colgate is credited with a tie in the overall record. It goes down as the second 2-2 tie this year between the two schools. On November 15, both schools battled to the same score in Ithaca.

“Obviously, we had lots of energy in the first period and played very well,” said head coach Don Vaughan. “The penalties in the second period got us behind the eight ball so to speak and ruined our momentum a bit.

“We needed something positive to come out of this trip and we got it,” continued Vaughan. “We played two very good teams and leave Florida with a 1-0-1 record.”

The Raiders got on the board at 10:34 of the first as David McIntyre (Pefferlaw, Ont.) extended his point streak to seven consecutive games. The junior poked the puck away from a Cornell player and Smith gathered it in at the blueline and broke in on Ben Scrivens all alone. The freshman made a move on his way to the net and slid the puck in behind the nation's top goalie to give him his third of the tournament.

Colgate increased its lead at 17:05 by posting its third shorthanded goal of the year. With Nick St. Pierre (St. Etienne, Que.) in the penalty box for hooking, Ethan Cox (Richmond, B.C.) stole the puck from center ice and moved in and beat Scrivens on a breakaway for his first marker of the year.

Cornell got on the board on the power play at 6:48 of the second as Blake Gallagher collected his first goal of the year from inside the left circle. Big Red knotted the game at 2-2 at 15:21 as Michael Kennedy pushed in a shot behind long off a sharp angle shot by Tyler Roeszler.

Both teams had few chances in the third period, but Long came up with six saves and Scrivens had three to force the overtime session. In the five-minute period, Colgate put two shots on net, but both were stopped.

The Big Red, now 8-1-3 overall, outshot Colgate 20-16. The Raiders went 0-3 on the power play, while Cornell capitalized on one of its seven attempts.

Both Smith and Long were named to the all-tournament team following the conclusion of the shootout.

Colgate returns to action, January 2-3 at the Catamount Invitational in Burlington, Vt. The Raiders, now 5-7-4, will face 13th ranked Vermont in the opening round. Colgate will then face either St. Lawrence or Ferris State in the second round.

Game Results

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