Box Score

CANTON, N.Y. (2/8/08) – Colgate University senior Tyler Burton (Langley, B.C.) scored twice within the first four minutes of the game, then the Raiders held on to earn a 2-1 win at St. Lawrence on Friday, February 8, at Appleton Arena. The game marked the 250^th victory of Colgate head coach and SLU alum Don Vaughan’s career, and was the Raiders’ first victory at Appleton Arena since the 2001-02 season. The win boosts Colgate’s overall record to 11-12-4, including a 5-7-3 mark in league play, while the Saints drop to 9-14-4 overall and 4-9-2 in ECAC Hockey.

Colgate wasted little time getting on the board, scoring on its first shift. St. Lawrence held the puck deep in its own end, but when the Saints went to break it out, the pass went directly onto the stick of Colgate senior captain Jesse Winchester (Long Sault, Ont.), who was skating in on the right side. Winchester quickly crossed the puck to classmate Tyler Burton (Langley, B.C.) was streaking in on the opposite wing, and Burton beat SLU senior goalie John Hallas stick-side to give Colgate a 1-0 lead.

Just 3:25 later, the Raiders’ top line struck again. The Saints turned the puck over in their offensive zone, and junior Peter Bogdanich (Burnaby, B.C.) picked it up just inside the blue line. He carried through the neutral zone and across the opposite blue line before pausing, then passing it down to Winchester in the right corner. Winchester threw the puck in front of the net where Burton deflected it high to beat Hallas stick-side.

St. Lawrence had a multitude of chances to make it a one-goal game when they applied pressure to the Raider goal midway through the second period. After a flurry of shots, during which Colgate senior goaltender Mark Dekanich (North Vancouver, B.C.) came up with several huge saves, play settled down and the teams went into the right corner. The Saints freed the puck and fired it to the front of the net, where it deflected off a SLU skate and into the net. However, the referees waived it off, claiming that the puck had been kicked over the goal line.

The Saints scored one that counted less than two minutes later on the power play. SLU set up in the zone, where junior Brock McBride cycled it around to sophomore Mike McKenzie, who gave it to junior Shawn Fensel in the high slot. Fensel let loose a hard slapshot that was partially blocked by a Raider penalty-killer, and redirected past Dekanich to make it a 2-1 game.

Late in the period, Colgate had a chance to re-take the two-goal lead. The Raiders’ second line was working the puck deep in the zone, where freshman Brian Day (Danvers, Mass.) fought off a defender in the right circle to get the puck to junior Tom Riley (Ottawa, Ont.) in the middle. Riley put a quick shot on net, but it clanged off the inside of the post to make it a one-goal game heading into the final frame.

St. Lawrence had a chance to tie it with 11:04 left in regulation when junior Jared Ross fired a rocket from the right point that zoomed through traffic and ricocheted off the cross bar and high into the netting behind the endboards. The Saints had a couple more chances off the ensuing faceoff, but the Raiders were able to clear the puck out of the zone.

Dekanich earned the win after making 26 saves, while Hallas finished the game with 25 stops as each team put 27 shots on goal. Colgate earned the edge on faceoffs, 37-33, went 0-for-5 on the power play, and finished 4-for-5 on the penalty kill. Vaughan needs two more wins to pass Terry Slater and become the winningest coach in Colgate hockey history.

The Raiders are at No. 13 Clarkson on Saturday, Feb. 9, for a game that starts at 7:00 p.m. Fans who can’t make it to the North Country can listen to John McGraw call the action on the Colgate Hockey Radio Network, which includes WKXZ 93.9 FM in Norwich and WMCR 106.3 FM in Oneida.