HAMILTON – It was exciting until the very end, as
Arnaud Vachon scored the game-winner for the Colgate men's hockey program on Sunday evening.
In a back-and-forth game, the Raiders were able to respond to the momentum shifts throughout their matchup against St. Lawrence to ultimately earn a 4-3 victory at home in the program's 13th game of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Midway through the opening period, the Raiders faced their first penalty kill test of the night. With time almost expired on the man advantage, St. Lawrence hammered home a rebound at the edge of the crease to gain a 1-0 lead.
However, when it came time for the Raiders first man advantage, they looked to convert as well. Convert they did, as
Matt Verboon scored a power play goal to make it a 1-1 game. Although Colgate faced one more kill before the horn, the Raiders returned to full strength and promptly fled down the sheet for a chance by
Griffin Lunn, but was held off to head to the locker room tied at 1.
After some late coincidental penalties, the second period opened with 4-on-4 play for the first 1:25 before the teams went on to alternate the man advantage. Colgate created an excellent cycle midway through regulation as it put together some serious minutes in the SLU zone, however the Saints answered by scoring off the faceoff for a 2-1 advantage. Although the home team drew a pair of back-to-back power plays, the Raiders faced the final 20:00 with a one-goal deficit.
Knowing it has work to do, the Raiders entered the third period with an re-energized squad ready to make an impact. Just 2:03 after the drop of the puck on the final stanza,
Ethan Manderville scored to tie the game at 1-1 by finding the five-hole. After a quick power play opportunity, the momentum continued in Colgate's favor as
Alex Young scored the go-ahead goal for a 3-2 lead.
There were certainly some ebbs and flows to the end of the game as the Raiders looked to remain ahead in the final minutes. After Colgate called its timeout with 2:35 remaining, St. Lawrence returned to the ice with an empty net. While utilizing the extra attacker, the Saints tied the game with just 2:24 remaining in regulation with a bar down tally.
The fight in the Colgate squad remained as there was still time on the clock. Just 50 seconds after St. Lawrence's tying tally,
Arnaud Vachon answered to make it a 4-3 game with just 1:34 remaining in regulation.
Although St. Lawrence opted to for the extra skater the remainder of regulation, the horn would sound on Colgate's 4-3 victory behind its three-goal third period.
COLGATE SCORING PLAYS
• Period 1 | 14:46 – After crossing the zone to crease space,
Alex Young fed the puck to
Matt Verboon at the right hashmarks. His one-timer beat the glove side on the power play for a 1-1 game.
• Period 3 | 2:03 –
Evan Tschumi entered the zone and took a shot. After it was blocked by the defenseman, he picked it up, wrapped it around the net, and passed up to
Ethan Manderville at the hashmarks. The sophomore one-timed and beat the five hole to make it a tie game.
• Period 3 | 6:36 – As
Josh McKechney looped around the left faceoff circle to create space, he found
Alex Young across and ready to put it through the backdoor from the edge of the crease for the go-ahead goal.
• Period 3 | 18:26 – After a chip ahead by
Griffin Lunn,
Arnaud Vachon was able to pick the puck off the defender when entering the offensive zone. The sophomore then darted to the left hashmarks, before swapping to the backhand for a wide angle shot past the toe of the netminder.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• With the tally in the final minutes, sophomore
Arnaud Vachon recorded the first game-winning goal of his career.
• With his team-leading fifth of the season, first-year
Alex Young extends to a three-game point streak. By adding an assist on the night, the Calgary, Alberta native earned his fourth multi-point night of the season for a team-high of 12 points.
• Scoring his second power play goal and fourth overall this season was sophomore
Matt Verboon.
• Recording the second of the season was sophomore
Ethan Manderville, who now holds two points in the last three games.
• Three Raiders recorded multi-point nights in Vachon (1G, 1A), A. Young (1G, 1A), and
Nick Anderson (2A).
• It marked the first multi-point game in defenseman
Nick Anderson's career.
• First-year netminder
Carter Gylander recorded 29 saves with three goals against, including a game-high of 12 in the opening period.
• The Raiders came out victorious at home in their 13th game of the season.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• Colgate 4, St. Lawrence 3
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate holds a 4-6-3 record, and a 3-5-2 mark in ECAC Hockey action.
• St. Lawrence is 4-4-2 overall on the season and is 4-4-2 in ECAC play.
HEAD COACH DON VAUGHAN'S TAKE
"What a battle between these two teams. There were 18 points on the table over six games and we each ended up with nine points. I would say that is two evenly matched teams that respected each other and kept it clean.
"I'm proud of how we responded after giving up the tying goal with under 3:00 to go.
Arnaud Vachon was the best player on the ice tonight and it was fitting that he got the game-winner on a great individual effort.
"We are looking forward to the bye week to rest and get back into classes and some kind of routine."
UP NEXT
Colgate has its bye weekend next week, before resuming ECAC play on Thursday, Feb. 4. The game kicks off a series at Clarkson, before returning home to host the Golden Knights on Saturday, Feb. 6.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate men's hockey program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateMIH and Instagram at colgate_mih.
