HARTFORD, Conn. – Adam Dauda (Kitchener, Ontario) and Hunter Racine (Ottawa, Ontario) each scored goals for the No. 16 Colgate men's ice hockey team Friday night as the Raiders fell to the UConn Huskies, 4-2, at the XL Center.
 
Colgate wrapped up the first half of the 2017-18 season with eight wins — most since the 2014-15 Raiders opened 9-6-2.
 
Racine's goal was his first of the season while Dauda potted his sixth goal as the Raiders and Huskies were tied 2-2 through the first 40 minutes of play.
 
Racine got the Raiders on the board with 7:35 to go in the first period to take a 1-0 lead. Evan Peterson (Lakeville, Minnesota) collected an errant shot along the left boards and banked a pass into the neutral zone for Tyler Jeanson (Carman, Manitoba), who took the puck into the offensive zone. Jeanson dropped a pass back for Racine above the left faceoff circle and Racine fired a wrister past UConn goaltender Adam Huska to give the Raiders the lead.
 
UConn took a 2-1 lead early in the second period with a pair of goals within 50 seconds of each other by Jesse Schwartz and Joseph Masonius. Schwartz collected a loose puck in the slot to tie the game with 16 minutes left in the period, followed by a Masonius slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle to take the lead.
 
The Raiders tied the game late in the second period as Dauda put home the equalizer with 36.6 seconds left. Dauda corralled a loose puck near center ice and skated into the offensive zone to wind up for a shot. Dauda's initial try was blocked but the puck deflected to Bobby McMann (Wainwright, Alberta) on his right. McMann fired a shot that was saved by Huska and Dauda swiped home the rebound for the goal.
 
Late in the third period, the Huskies benefited from back-to-back penalties by the Raiders that created a 5-on-3 power play with 6:31 to go. Johnny Austin blasted home the game-winning goal with a shot from the point before Maxim Letunov put home a rebound from the right wing with one second left on the power play and 4:32 left in the game to secure a two-goal lead.
 
Letunov led all scorers with three points on a goal and an assist while Austin (1 goal, 1 assist), Alexander Payusov  (2 assists) and Evan Wisocky (2 assists) all had two points.
 
BOTTOM LINE
UConn 4, No. 16 Colgate 2
 
WIN/LOSS RECORDS
The Huskies won their fifth game in the last six to improve to 8-11-2, while the Raiders lost their second straight to move to 8-6-4
 
KEY RAIDER INFO
-Racine scored his first goal of the season and first goal since Jan. 21, 2017, in a 3-2 win against Clarkson
-Dauda set a career-high with his sixth goal of the season and now has back-to-back campaigns with 10 or more points
-McMann extended his points lead to 17 with his eighth assist, tied for second on the team
-Jeanson tallied his third assist and fifth point of the 2017-18 season
-Peterson added his fifth assist of the season to give him six points
-Colton Point (North Bay, Ontario) had 20 saves for the Raiders
 
FACTS AND FIGURES
-The Raiders outshot the Huskies 30-24, including a 22-16 edge in the final two periods
-Colgate was 0 for 6 on the power play while UConn was 2 for 4
-The Huskies had a 35-29 advantage in faceoffs despite Dauda and Josh McKechney's (Calgary, Alberta) team-high eight faceoff wins
 
GATE GRAB BAG
-Attendance at the XL Center was 3,374
-Freshman Nick Austin (St. Louis Park, Minnesota) faced off against his brother Johnny, a senior for UConn, for the first time in their collegiate careers
 
UP NEXT
The No. 16 Raiders are off for the next few weeks before returning to play Jan. 5 when they host the Quinnipiac Bobcats at Class of 1965 Arena with puck drop set for 7 p.m.