CANTON, N.Y. – The Colgate men’s hockey team scored two goals in the opening minutes of the third period, but an early 3-0 lead by St. Lawrence proved to be the difference in a 4-2 loss for the Raiders here Friday night.
St. Lawrence leads 1-0 in the best-of-3 ECAC Hockey First Round series.
Colgate (14-17-4) got power play goals from Kyle Buan and Tylor Spink, while Spiro Goulakos added two assists in his return to the ice after missing last weekend. Tylor Spink ended up with two points on the night as he assisted on Baun’s goal. Eric Mihalik made 24 saves in the loss.
“We dug ourselves a hole early,” Raiders head coach Don Vaughan said. “We had a couple of major breakdowns in our coverage in the first period. And against a really good team like they are, they’re going to finish on those and they did.
“Our energy was good in the first, they took it to us pretty good in the second – built off a couple of power plays – and then we found our legs in the third period. But it was too little too late after you spot them a three-goal lead like that.”
St. Lawrence (17-14-4) earned the 1-0 series lead after scoring three times in the first period – the last two coming in the final 50 seconds. Patrick Doherty led the way with a goal and assist, while George Hughes had two helpers. Gunnar Hughes and Jeremy Wick scored those two late-period goals, and Greg Carey added his nation’s-leading 27th goal for a 4-0 lead midway in the second.
Matt Weninger made 29 stops to earn the win.
From 1-0 to 3-0
The Saints went on top with 11:07 left in the first with a goal from Doherty on a rebound off a Sean McGovern shot. McGovern threw the puck toward the net from the point and Mihalik stopped it with his glove, but couldn’t close it. Doherty was right in front of the Colgate netminder for the cleanup.
Colgate did have some offensive chances with 13 shots on net, but Weninger made all the stops. The best chance came from Kurtis Bartliff and it was a couple of minutes after the Saints got the early lead. He broke into the zone from the right side and fired a wrister that beat Weninger but rang off the post.
St. Lawrence then opened a 3-0 lead with two goals in the final minute.
Gunnar Hughes gave the home team the 2-0 advantage with 50 seconds left with assists to George Hughes and Patrick Doherty. The Saints had a very efficient breakout of their zone that resulted in an odd-man chance. George Hughes dropped the puck for his brother, Gunnar, and he one-timed past the glove of Mihalik.
Jeremy Wick then handed St. Lawrence its 3-0 cushion with five seconds left in the first frame. The Raiders couldn’t get the puck out from behind their own net and Kyle Essery stole it and fed it out to Wick, who put it home.
In the second period, the Saints increased their lead on their first power play chance of the night. The goal came with nine minutes left in the frame. St. Lawrence had good puck movement and it ended up on the stick of Carey. The junior hasn’t missed much on the power play as he leads the nation with 13 on the year. He didn’t this time either on his second shot of the man advantage. Kyle Flanagan fed the puck to Carey from the slot and he fired a wrister at the right faceoff dot.
It got past Mihalk for the 4-0 lead.
“We seemed to be a little bit flat in the second,” Vaughan said. “It’s sort of been our MO lately. We get down and mentally we just don’t fight through it as well as we should. Maybe some of that’s youth.
“But we responded in the third, got some bounces and I was happy with our effort in that last period.”
Power Play Clicking
Colgate was able to get two back in the first 3:16 of the third, with both goals coming on the power play. The first was a nice redirection in front from Baun on a slap shot by Goulakos from the high slot. Goulakos and Tylor Spink were given helpers on the play with the goal coming 55 seconds into the final period to make it 4-1.
Less than two minutes later, the Cornwall power play unit struck again with Tylor Spink dangling in front of Weninger and hitting an open net. Tyson Spink made an excellent play at the half boards to get the puck to Goulakos in the slot. The defenseman moved around a Saints defender and found Tylor Spink in front. The rookie had so much time that he was able to make a couple moves and tuck it past Weninger.
The goal cut the lead to 4-2 with still 16:44 remaining.
“Our power play has been good all year, but especially lately,” Vaughan said. “The kids really move it around well and they’re playing with a lot of confidence.
“It’s such a great inspiration to have Spiro back in the lineup tonight. He’s a big part of that power play as well. He sees the ice so very well.”
Colgate had its third straight power play four minutes later, but the Raiders couldn’t break through for a third straight goal.
“We had some other great looks and we easily could have scored a couple more on that unit,” Vaughan said. “But we need to be better 5-on-5.”
Almost a Third
Baun and the Raiders celebrated what appeared to be his second of the night with 3:39 remaining, but the 4-3 margin was waved off when the officials ruled the Nathan Sinz shot from the point was deflected in with a high stick.
“They called it a high-stick and it’s really hard to tell on the video,” Vaughan said. “It’s just impossible to tell where it was. It may have been going in anyway; that’s the disappointing part.”
Colgate pulled the goalie with just over two minutes left in the game, but couldn’t score and the game ended in a 4-2 loss for the Raiders to give the Saints the 1-0 series lead.
“It was good to see some signs of life in the third and hopefully we can build a little momentum from that. It’s not easy, especially on the road. But we’ve got to find a way to bring our game that we had in the third to start the game.”
Shots were 31-28 in favor of Colgate. The Raiders finished 2-of-4 on the power play, while St. Lawrence was 1-of-3.
Game 2 from Appleton Arena is Saturday night at 7 p.m. Unlike the rotating schedule of the regular season, the Raiders get a second crack at the same opponent for a second night in a row.
“You can build on it, and you’re playing the same team again,” Vaughan said. “The biggest thing, just from a mental standpoint, is the guys have something to draw upon after the way they played in the third.
“We’ve just got to find a way to be more consistent with our efforts. If we can limit the mistakes, we can build off that energy we had in the third.”
