HAMILTON – The Colgate men's hockey program battled in a 3-0 final at Class of 1965 Arena on Friday night, but fell to No. 7 Ohio State in nonconference play. In back-and-forth action against the nationally ranked opponent, freshman netminder
Mitch Benson tallied a season-high of 41 saves.
Midway through the opening period, the Buckeyes got on the board with a quick pickup behind the net and a backhanded shot. The second period featured the Raiders strongest offensive presence of the night, but Ohio State increased its lead in the final seconds of the stanza by scoring with just 14.7 before the horn.
In a third period where Colgate burned off a session of 5-on-3 play and looked to narrow the score, they pulled Benson from between the pipes. Ohio State finalized the score after snagging a break in Colgate's offense when a stick broke at the blue line, capitalizing for an empty net goal in the 3-0 final.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• Freshman
Mitch Benson posted a season-high of 41 saves, shattering his previous best of 35 against New Hampshire (Oct. 13). Allowing just two goals against, Benson's game featured a high of 16 saves in the second period alone.
• Colgate posted a perfect 4-for-4 penalty kill, deterring all six shots faced while Ohio State had the man advantage. It is the third time the Raiders have held its opponent scoreless on the power play this season.
• Junior
Ben Sharf led the Colgate offense with four of the team's 19 shots on goal.
• Defensively, junior
Tyler Penner led the Colgate squad with a season-high of three blocked shots of the team's 17 on the night.
• The pair of nonconference foes were square in the circle as they went 31-31 on faceoff wins.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• No. 7 Ohio State 3, Colgate 0
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate holds a 2-5-1 record, and a 0-1-1 mark in ECAC Hockey action.
• No. 7 Ohio State is 5-3-1 overall on the season, and is 1-1-0 in Big Ten play.
COACH VAUGHAN'S TAKE
"We competed very hard tonight against one of the best teams in the country. Injuries have forced us to play three lines and that is very difficult to do at this level. I was proud of the way the guys battled. Our penalty kill was very good and obviously our goalie was exceptional. We lost another player tonight so we will need to dig even deeper tomorrow."
UP NEXT
Colgate continues its six-game home stand tomorrow as it hosts No. 7 Ohio State in the series finale. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m. and will feature postgame autographs with players from the Colgate hockey program.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate men's hockey program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateMIH and Instagram at colgate_mih.
