HAMILTON – Despite a third period push, the Colgate men's hockey program fell to UMass Lowell in nonconference play on Saturday night at Class of 1965 Arena.
It was a fast start to the opening period as the pair of nonconference foes didn't see a whistle until nearly 7:00 into the game. The opening minutes were spent on a lot of neutral zone play, including even pushes to either end of the sheet. Shortly thereafter at 7:59, Lowell wrapped the puck along the boards and a deke at the crease made it a 1-0 game.
The Raiders started to get in a groove throughout the second half of the opening period, and carried the pressure over into the second period with majority of play taking place in the River Hawks' zone. Lowell struck again when a drive headed towards its net was redirected in the neutral zone by a River Hawk who capitalized on a turnover before picking a top shelf goal for a 2-0 lead nearly midway through regulation.
The Raiders offense became more effective halfway through the period when they were awarded back-to-back power play opportunities. Although the second chance generated particularly good chances for Colgate, the traffic was too much to get through as Lowell returned to full strength still holding onto their 2-0 lead. As the minutes waned on the second stanza, sophomore
Paul McAvoy earned a breakaway chance at the Lowell net, but it was stifled in the belly of the goaltender for the River Hawks to hold onto their 2-0 lead heading into the third.
Colgate carried over 1:48 of penalty kill into the third period and gained a drive offensively after the big kill. The Raiders saw their best scoring chance up to that point in the game as
Bobby McMann had a breakaway, and although it was gloved by the netminder, the junior foward drew a slashing penalty for a Colgate power play. Colgate kept the puck in the Lowell zone for the entirety of the power play, but the River Hawks returned to full strength still claiming onto its 2-0 lead.
It wasn't until players got tangled up and the teams found themselves playing 4-on-4, when Colgate was finally able to capitalize with the man advantage. With plenty of open ice on the power play with a 4-on-3 advantage,
Trevor Cosgrove scored his fourth of the season to get the Raiders on the scoreboard.
An offensive drive was apparent after the Colgate goal and to maximize its chances, the Raiders returned to the ice with an empty net with 1:21 remaining in regulation. Although Colgate had its sights set on scoring with the extra skater, Lowell was able to score on the empty net for the 4-1 final.
COLGATE SCORING PLAYS
• Period 3 | 12:59 – Swinging the puck from the corner along the boards, McMann fed a short backhanded pass to
Nick Austin, who spotted an open
Trevor Cosgrove at the top of the opposite faceoff circle. A screened shot, Cosgrove's wrister found the back of the net to get the Raiders on the board.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
•
Trevor Cosgrove tallied his fourth goal of the season, now marking two goals in the last four games. The Exeter, New Hampshire native has now earned five points in the last seven games.
• Also hitting a stride on the scoresheet is sophomore
Nick Austin, as he earned an assist on the lone Colgate goal for three points in the last four games.
• Now with four points in the last four games, junior
Bobby McMann also earned an assist on Cosgrove's power play tally.
• Freshman goaltender
Mitch Benson earned 14 saves on the night, including a game-high of six in the opening period.
• For the second night in a row, the Raiders outshot UMass Lowell by a 24-18 advantage. Colgate tallied a game-high of 11 chances in the second period of play.
• By scoring with the man advantage, Colgate has now tallied a power play goal in six of the last nine games.
• Holding a heavy edge in the circle, the Raiders earned 30 faceoff wins to Lowell's 17 on the night. Colgate has now earned more possessions in the faceoff circle than its opponent in 14 of the season's 20 games.
• Freshman
Jeff Stewart found lots of success in the circle, winning six of his seven faceoff attempts.
• Tonight's game marked the nonconference finale for the 2018-19 season, with all ECAC Hockey play remaining in the regular season.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• UMass Lowell 4, Colgate 1
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate holds a 6-12-2 record, and a 3-3-2 mark in ECAC Hockey action.
• UMass Lowell is 11-8-1 overall on the season, and is 5-4-1 in Hockey East play.
COACH VAUGHAN'S TAKE
"It's frustrating. I think we worked harder tonight than we did last night, but made some of the same mistakes. We turned the puck over twice when it cost us and that's what UMass Lowell is about. They're a patient team, play hard around their net, wait for their opportunities and they did exactly that tonight.
"You could really see us pressing, but once we scored one goal it was very similar to what happened at Quinnipiac last week. We came alive and played with a little more confidence.
"We're getting our opportunities, and getting some good efforts down low which is what we want and something that we've been working on, but it just hasn't bounced for us.
"We'll stay the course, we're not going to roll over. The guys are still believing in what we're doing and the structure. We're going to keep working, especially now with all league play ahead of us. It becomes a bit of sprint now, but we're looking forward to getting back into league play which adds another level of motivation."
UP NEXT
Colgate continues its five-game home stand next weekend when it hosts Dartmouth and Harvard for more ECAC Hockey action. Puck drops at 7 p.m. on both Jan. 18-19 at Class of 1965 Arena.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate men's hockey program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateMIH and Instagram at colgate_mih.
