LEWISBURG, Pa. – Colgate's Mike Hawkins scored a spectacular unassisted goal – simply beautiful – with 10 seconds remaining to lift the Raiders to a 10-9 victory over Bucknell on Saturday.
 
Hawkins had possession well behind the net as the clock wound under 15 seconds to play in what had been a tightly contested contest. The senior captain was able to break free from his defender and circle around to the left of the goal.
 
There, he backhanded his shot over the shoulder of Bucknell goalkeeper Ben Clark and into the upper corner of the netting for his first of the afternoon and 14th of the season.
 
Bucknell (1-4) got off a final shot attempt that sailed wide and the Raiders pocketed their second victory of the season.
 
Colgate (2-4) seemed to have the upper hand in this one only to watch Bucknell pour in four straight over an 11:43 stretch encompassing the third and fourth quarters to take an 8-7 lead, its first of the game.
 
But the Raiders saved their best for last and scored three of the last four.
 
Brian Minicus finished his hat trick with a goal just nine seconds after the Bison had taken that 8-7 lead to knot things at 8-8 with 10:37 showing.
 
Marshall Terres scored on a low rocket shot form 10 yards out to push Colgate back in front 9-8 at the 3:43. Bucknell's Tommy Sopko tied the game 9-9 with a goal just 1:06 from the finish, setting the stage for Hawkins' heroics.
 
The Raiders again had a big day of first-time goals. Senior Owen Callahan and first-year Nathan Fasanaro both connected – Callahan's to open the second quarter and Fasanaro to begin the scoring in the third.
 
Minicus scored the first of his three to give Colgate a 3-2 edge after one quarter. He followed Callahan's goal in the second to push the Raiders in front 5-2 before Bucknell rallied to within 5-4 by halftime.
 
Sean Collins posted a career-tying 18 saves in the game, including six in the crucial fourth quarter.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 10, Bucknell 9

From the Source
• Colgate head coach Matt Karweck: (On the win) "The story of the game for us starts with the preparation we had all week. Our scout team gave us an unbelievable look at their offense, their defense and their clear. We had such a great week of practice with everybody on our roster playing a role.
 
"Our team focus was to solidfy our identity. And by solidifying our identity, that means doing what you say you are going to do and playing the way you say you are going to play. We've been compounding mistakes and going down by 4-5 goals.
 
"In this game, every time they tried to make a comeback, we used our consistency on defense and our identity on offense to value the ball, and we got a lot of opportunities out of that. We had a chance there to fold, but we didn't compound any mistakes and we answered their runs because of our consistency.
 
"Holding any team to nine goals in Division I is really tough. The guys started to find themselves and really do what we asked."
 
(On Sean Collins) "We finally were giving him shots he can face. We have been asking him to make great saves, but this game we gave him shots he can save and he played the way we know he can.
 
He made every save he should have made, and that was really fun to watch. That was a goal of ours. In this shot clock era, you have to choose the shots you're willing to give up.
 
"It was an unbelievable team effort from 1 through 44 of giving us the preparation required and having a great week of practice. The hope is that can continue over our next three games.
 
Stats of the Game
• The Minicus hat trick was his second of the season, tying for the team lead.
• Shots in the first quarter favored Bucknell 14-13. In the first quarter!.
• The Bison finished with a 47-38 shots edge thanks to their 26-14 margin in the second half.
• Thomas Colucci was a strong 15-of-23 at the faceoff-X.
• The Raiders posted a season-low 14 turnovers.
 
Up Next
• Colgate is back home next weekend against Boston University for its final scheduled home game.
• The Terriers on Saturday dropped an 11-10 home decision in double overtime to Utah, falling to 5-2 overall. BU rallied past Colgate 16-11 in Boston back on March 20.
• Faceoff from Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium is scheduled for Saturday at noon, with ESPN+ carrying all the action.