HAMILTON – Colgate men's ice hockey freshman defenseman Nick Austin (St. Louis Park, Minnesota) scored his first two career goals Saturday night as the Raiders came back to tie the Merrimack Warriors, 2-2, in overtime at Class of 1965 Arena.
 
Austin scored both his goals during the second period, with his first career goal coming with the Raiders on the power play midway through the period.
 
Austin is the first Colgate freshman defenseman to score two goals in a game since Jeremy Price '13, which he did twice during his freshman season on Dec. 20, 2009 against Canisius and March 13, 2010 vs. St. Lawrence.
 
Once again, Colton Point (North Bay, Ontario) shined for the Raiders between the pipes with 28 saves on 30 shots. He has now made 98 saves through the first three games of the season on 102 shots.
 
Merrimack scored a pair of goals in the first period just 1:14 a part to jump out to its 2-0 lead. Derek Petti tallied the first Warriors goal as he controlled a loose puck in front of the net with 5:05 left in the period.
 
The Warriors added a power-play goal just 33 seconds after a Ken Citron (Cos Cob, Connecticut) penalty as Sami Tavernier rifled home a shot to double Merrimack's lead.
 
Despite the two-goal deficit, the Raiders stormed back with strong second period and an 11-9 shot advantage.
 
Austin finally broke through for the Raiders nearly midway through the second period for his first career goal. Evan Peterson (Lakeville, Minnesota) was set up on the right wing for the power play when he shifted the puck to Austin at the point. Austin fired the puck through traffic and past a great screen from Snodgrass to cut the Warriors lead in half.
 
Colgate evened up the game with 2:27 left in the second period as Austin took advantage of a lot of space. Austin had just come on the ice when Willie Brooks (Locust, New Jersey) created time and space by drawing a defender and touching a back pass to Austin. The St. Louis Park, Minnesota, native then ripped another shot past a Snodgrass screen for the equalizer.
 
Neither team managed to score in the third period, but both Point and Merrimack goaltender Drew Vogler stood tall for their respective teams.
 
The Raiders nearly won the game with a 5-on-3 power play in the first 1:51 of the overtime period but couldn't find the back of the net. Arguably the Raiders best chance came from a Peterson shot on the right wing that was just saved by Vogler's outstretched glove.
 
BOTTOM LINE
Colgate 2, Merrimack 2 (OT)
 
WIN/LOSS RECORDS
The Raiders extend their unbeaten streak to three games to start the season with a 2-0-1 record while the Warriors improve to 0-1-1
 
KEY RAIDER INFO
-Colgate is unbeaten through its first three games for the first time since the 2009-10 season when they started 1-0-2 but have had two wins in their first three games three times since that season
-Austin became the first Colgate freshman defenseman to score a pair of goals in a game since Jeremy Price '13 achieved the feat twice during the 2009-10 season
-Point's 28 saves gives him 98 in his first three games for an average just south of 33 saves per game. He has a 1.30 GAA and .960 save percentage to open up the season
-Point has only allowed more than two goals in a game just one time in his last eight games dating back to Jan. 28 of the 2016-17 season
-Brooks recorded his team-leading fourth assist and fourth point of the season, marking his longest point streak of his career at three games.
-Snodgrass tallied two assists and two points for the second time in his career, the last coming on Oct. 22, 2016, also against Merrimack
-Peterson pocketed his second assist of the season to give him 30 career points
 
FACTS AND FIGURES
-Colgate and Merrimack each tallied 30 shots on the game, with the Raiders holding an 11-9 edge in their strong second period
-Both teams recorded a power-play goal and went 1 for 7 on the man advantage.
-Merrimack controlled the faceoff dot Saturday night, 47-32; with as Merrimack's Petti and Colgate's Josh McKechney (Calgary, Alberta) each won 16 faceoffs.
 
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Don Vaughan
On Saturday Night's Game
"There was lots of good out there, we're certainly not satisfied with the tie. We had a great opportunity in overtime with the five-on-three and we just hit the crossbar but there was lots of good. We showed lots of composure, our support on the puck was much better tonight, we had much more possession time offensively and as a result, we had 30 shots on goal."
 
"It was an improvement over last night and that's what we're preaching right now. We just want to get better every day."
 
On Nick Austin's Two Goals
"A lot of that stems from really good communication. He's a pretty special freshman, he sees the ice really well, he's got great poise with the puck and I'm happy that he got those two nice goals. He's played very well in these first three games, they were both pretty goals and timely."
 
On Adjustments Made After the First Period
"We didn't talk too much, we liked a lot of stuff we were doing ahead of time. Tonight, the penalties really hurt us; let's face it that was the one big thing we talked about. We went to three lines because we had no choice with two guys out, so that's something we have to be smarter about. We can't take those penalties."
 
On Preparing for New Hampshire
"We know it won't be easy [playing New Hampshire], we're going to be on the road in a hostile building and a big ice sheet against a very good team. The good news is our guys are so young they don't know any better so we're just going to keep working on us and trying to get better every day."
 
Defenseman Nick Austin
On the Tie
"We had a really good game, we probably could have stayed out of the box a little more. It's rough when you don't get the win but we're moving in the right direction as a team."
 
On His First Career Goals
"As you can imagine, it's pretty much like a dream come true to score two goals. I've been dreaming of scoring college goals since I was a young kid so it's a pretty big day."
 
On Scoring the Game-Tying Goal
"I had just came off the bench and I saw Willie drawing the guy so I told him to drop it and he made a really nice play. Snods gave a nice screen in front of the goalie and I just saw the upper left."
 
UP NEXT
The Raiders hit the road for the first time this season when they travel to New Hampshire to face the Wildcats in a two-game series scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights at the Whittemore Center. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. both nights.