PROVIDENCE, R.I.— The Colgate men's hockey team played Brown to a 1-1 tie before defeating the Bears 1-0 in a shootout, picking up a much-needed extra point in the league standings.
The Bears opened the scoring just under seven minutes into the first period when Samuli Niinisaari dumped one into the offensive zone that
Mitch Benson retreated out of the net to get. The puck took a tough bounce off the boards and caught Benson off guard as it deflected back out to Tristan Crozier who hit a one-timer into the empty net.
Later in the period, two consecutive penalties on the Bears gave the Raiders a three-minute power play stretch, which included a five-on-three opportunity for 1:07 of it, but they were unable to capitalize.
Colgate equalized with two seconds remaining in the first.
Alex Young ripped a shot from the blue line that was redirected into the goal by
Josh McKechney. The goal was reviewed for high-sticking but ended up standing as is.
Neither side was able to pull ahead in the middle frame. Colgate was successful in killing off Brown's sole power-play opportunity in the period after
Tommy Bergsland was sent to the box for interference.
The Raiders also had one man-advantage chance of their own in the period after the Bears were called for tripping. Colgate's best chance on the power play came when
Griffin Lunn ripped a shot that hit off the crossbar.
In the third, the Raiders had a double penalty kill in the middle of the period as they spoiled a solid opportunity for Brown.
With 2:19 remaining in regulation, Colgate was awarded another power-play chance on a holding call, but the Raiders could not pull ahead as the game went to overtime tied at 1-1.
In the extra period, the Raiders were presented with few chances but Benson made some big stops to prevent the Bears from scoring a potential game-winner.
Still tied at 1-1, the game went to a shootout. Brown's first opportunity went wide of the cage.
Levi Glasman then scored for the Raiders in their first attempt.
Alex Young could not convert on his shot, but saves from Benson in the final two rounds helped the Raiders secure the extra point.
Brown ended the game with a 31 to 25 advantage in shots.
Benson finished with 30 stops making it his fourth 30-plus save game of the season.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Don Vaughan
"I am very pleased with our effort tonight. Playing three games in four days on the road is not something we are used to doing. We competed hard all weekend and into tonight. We had some good looks on our power play and hit a couple of posts. Things could have been different if they bounce the other way.
That said, both goalies played very well tonight.
Mitch Benson has been a rock back there for us. I'm so happy for him considering all he has been through the past couple of years. He has stayed with it and done the work to get back and now he's playing the way we all knew he could. Every game is a battle in this league. We will take the 8 out of 9 points that were available on this road swing and get ready to face one of the hottest teams in the country when Clarkson visits '65 on Friday."
Colgate returns home to host No. 15 Clarkson on Friday and St. Lawrence on Saturday. Both games are slated for 7 p.m.
