ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Colgate nearly rallied from a three-goal second-half deficit before falling 9-8 at Michigan on Sunday.
Michigan scored the game's first three goals and never trailed, although Colgate did cut the lead to one on four different occasions. The Wolverines led 4-1 after the first quarter and held on from there inside Oosterbaan Field House.
Peter Donato and
Chase Wittich scored two goals apiece for Colgate in its opening game of the 2016 season. Michigan is now 1-1.
Michigan's Kyle Jackson was the scoring leader with four goals, while Mikie Schlosser added two.
The Raiders open their seven-game home schedule Saturday against Binghamton in a 1 p.m. start.
Bottom Line• Michigan 9, Colgate 8
Won-Lost Records• Colgate opened the year 0-1.
• Michigan improved to 1-1.
Facts & Figures• Late Michigan goals in the second and third periods were decisive.
• Schlosser scored with nine seconds left in the first half to push the Wolverine edge to 7-4 heading to intermission.
• And then Jackson scored with less than a second remaining to cap the third quarter to make it 8-6 heading into the final stanza.
• Colgate allowed a Michigan man-up goal just past the midway point of the fourth quarter that made it 9-6. The Raiders then rallied behind Donato and
Cam Williams tallies.
• Williams scored with 4:32 remaining, but Colgate wasn't able to score the tying goal.
• Five of Colgate's 16 turnovers came in the fourth period to hamper the comeback. The Raiders forced 13 Michigan miscues.
• Shots favored Colgate 42-28, but Michigan claimed a 29-26 edge in ground balls. Faceoffs went to the home team, 12-7.
• Colgate on clears was 12-of-16, while Michigan was 15-of-21.
• Each team scored a man-up goal in the first –
Eric Foote doing the honors for Colgate – but Michigan's late man-up marker was the deciding goal.
• Colgate's Brendan Burke made eight saves and Michigan's Gerald Logan 15.
Raider Scoring Recap• Foote returned from a season missed by injury to score Colgate's first goal of 2016. Donato assisted on the man-up tally that pulled the Raiders within 3-1.
•
Jack Stebbins and Wittich went back-to-back early in the second, and rookie
Sam Cleveland also scored his first as the teams finished 3-3 for the period.
• Trailing 7-4, Colgate put two on the board in the third quarter thanks to Wittich and Donato.
• Donato scored again in the fourth ahead of Williams.
• Raider assists in the game went to
Anthony Abbadessa, Donato and Foote.
From the Source•
Colgate head coach Mike Murphy: (On the game) "Their goalie was unbelievable. He made 15 great saves. We did a valiant job, especially in the second half, and I was proud of our effort. We just have to be better in our execution.
"
Peter Donato had a couple of goals and made some nice plays, but as we watch the film I'm sure we will see that our offense missed a lot of opportunities. We hit some pipes and had some plays that we'd like to have back.
"As veteran as we are in some spots, we still are a relatively young team. We've just got to clean some things up. I liked our effort and Michigan is a good team. I'm looking forward to getting back on the practice field as we get ready for Binghamton this Saturday."
Gate Grab Bag• Attendance inside Oosterbaan Field House was 1,113.
Up Next• Colgate hosts Binghamton this Saturday.
• The Raiders are 10-2 all-time against the Bearcats and riding a three-game winning streak. These teams last met in a 10-9 Colgate victory in 2014.
• The game marks the season opener for Binghamton.
• Start time is 1 p.m. from Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium.
