HAMILTON – The Colgate men's hockey program earned a hard-fought win against Quinnipiac on Saturday evening at Class of 1965 Arena behind a 3-1 final. The Raiders rallied with a two-goal third period to take down a program that made a 2019 NCAA Tournament appearance, for a total of a three-point weekend in conference action.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The opening period featured a trio of power play opportunities that alternated between the teams. The play swung across the ice as the momentum shifted with the man advantage, until the Raiders were able to crack onto the scoreboard. Colgate capitalized on a loose puck in the Quinnipiac zone in the final minutes of the session for a 1-0 lead that would stand through to the second.
In goal,
Andrew Farrier faced a myriad of Bobcat attacks, making key saves to keep the Raiders ahead. Later in the period though, Quinnipiac scored with a shot inside the right post on the power play to even the game up at 1-1, a move Farrier wouldn't allow again for the rest of the night.
The conference foes entered the third period square, but Colgate faced a full penalty kill after the teams got caught up after the horn in the second. While shorthanded,
Bobby McMann saw a breakaway opportunity, but was snuffed by the goaltender to keep it an even game.
The pace continued to quicken as the clock ticked down. The Raiders had a series of scoring chances, including a shot by
Colton Young to the near side that was robbed by the glove of the Bobcat goaltender, but Colgate wouldn't be deterred. The Raiders responded with another quick attack, one in which
John Snodgrass put the Raiders on top 2-1.
Although the home team had a renewed energy with the lead, it faced a stretch of defense when Quinnipiac pulled its goaltender. While defending its zone, the Colgate squad broke up a play with a blocked shot and chipped the puck out to McMann. He sent the puck down the ice for a two-goal advantage on the empty net.
Quinnipiac would continue to battle by continuing to play with the extra attacker, but the horn would sound, signaling the Raiders 3-1 victory.
COLGATE SCORING PLAYS
• Period 1 | 17:43 –
Evan Tschumi picked up a loose puck just inside the zone and crossed a pass to the left circle, finding
Griffin Lunn. Lunn's backhanded pass found
Henry Marshall at the edge of the crease and he tipped it passed the tender for a 1-0 lead.
• Period 3 | 09:50 – In a tie up along the boards,
Paul McAvoy punched the puck out from the wall to
Tyler Jeanson at the top of the circle. His shot ricocheted into the crease, and Snodgrass was ready for the putaway and a one-goal advantage.
• Period 3 | 18:28 – As Quinnipiac pressured the zone,
Tyler Penner's blocked shot dropped for
Nick Austin to chip out to
Bobby McMann at the wall. From just inside the blue line of the Raiders' zone, McMann dumped the puck and it fluttered past the defender at center ice and sailed into the empty net.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• Nine Raiders recorded a point, including three who tallied their first points of the season.
• In his first start of the season, sophomore goaltender
Andrew Farrier marked 33 saves. It's just two shy of his career-best of 35 earned at Miami (OH) last season (Oct. 27, 2018).
•
Bobby McMann scored his third goal in the last four games. The captain also topped the team with eight shots on goal, the single-most in a game for any Raider this season.
• Both
Henry Marshall and
John Snodgrass tallied their first goals of the season. It marks Marshall's third in his career, while it is Snodgrass' fourth career game-winner.
• Colgate's top defensive pair stood out at the blueline as
Trevor Cosgrove and
Nick Austin each finished with a plus-3 rating on the ice. Austin also led the team with a career-high of six blocked shots.
• Both
Evan Tschumi and
Tyler Jeanson each recorded their first points of the season.
• The game marks Colgate's final home action until it returns in 2020 on Jan. 24 when the Raiders host Harvard.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• Colgate 3, Quinnipiac 1
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate holds a 4-6-4 record and a 3-2-1 mark in ECAC Hockey action.
• Quinnipiac is 6-6-1 overall on the season and is 2-3-1 in ECAC play.
HEAD COACH DON VAUGHAN'S TAKE
"We thought we'd get some fresh legs in the lineup, and the guys are working hard in practice. Setting a lineup any night is tough, since you're splitting hairs and there's a lot of gray area, so it's always tough to tell a guy he isn't playing that night. We felt tonight was a good night to get some fresh legs in the lineup and boy, did they respond.
"Marshall had the first goal, I thought Tschumi played really well, and Jeanson was great tonight. Those guys really answered the bell and we've got more depth than we've had here in 20 years. That's what that can do for you. It certainly makes for intense practices, which makes everyone better.
"The first period was a lot of the teams feeling each other out. To score first is really important, so that was a big part of the game for us tonight. It was an odd start to the game, they rallied in the second, and we fed off that a bit, then it was back and forth for the rest of the night.
"I'm pleased for the guys and it's a great win heading into this big trip we have coming up. It will certainly make for a much better flight tomorrow."
UP NEXT
Colgate goes abroad next week for the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Raiders face Princeton in a nonconference matchup on Friday, Nov. 29 in a 7 p.m. local / 2 p.m. eastern time start. The Raiders then face Northeastern or New Hampshire on Saturday in the tournament bracket.
Stay tuned throughout the week to the Colgate men's hockey social media accounts for the full experience as it spends eight days overseas.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate men's hockey program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateMIH and Instagram at colgate_mih.
