The Colgate men’s hockey team kicked off its 2013-14 season against Ferris State and the Bulldogs came out on top with a 7-4 win after a wild third period on Saturday night.
Colgate (0-1) had an early lead in the game with two first-period goals from Mike Borkowski and Andrew Black. It was a great start for Black who scored his first collegiate goal. Tyson Spink and Tylor Spink also scored in the season opener. Charlie Finn made his first start in a Colgate uniform and made 25 saves between the pipes.
Ferris State (1-0) was led by Garrett Thompson and Justin Buzzeo on the top line as each had a goal and two assists in the win. Jason Brinkley added a goal and an assist for two points. CJ Motte got the start and pushed aside 28 shots from the Raiders.
The Raiders got the early 2-0 lead with a pair of goals in the first 7:38 of the game. Borkowski put the first goal of the season on the board with assists to Darcy Murphy and Joe Wilson. Black then tallied his first of his career with 12:22 left in the period. John Lidgett and Mike McCann were given assists on the play.
The second period was a different story with Ferris State scoring three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 into the second intermission. Cory Lane started the comeback with the first Bulldog goal coming 3:53 into the frame. Scott Czarnowczan knotted the game at 2-2 with 6:31 left in the period with a power play goal with assists to Buzzeo and Thompson and then Jason Binkley gave the Bulldogs their first lead at 3-2 with 3:18 remaining in the period.
It didn’t take long for the Raiders to get back in the game to start a wild third period that featured six goals. Tyson Spink tied the game at 3-3 with a sniper shot from the right side after nice passing from linemates Kyle Baun and Tylor Spink. The goal came 58 seconds into the frame. Raiders regained the advantage with a power play goal from Tylor Spink, which came a minute later with another assist from Baun and also one from Borkowski.
The Bulldogs were not fazed, however, as they responded with another run. They scored four goals in the final 17 minutes to earn the 7-4 win. Thompson scored the gamewinner with 14:31 left in the game and the goal came on the power play.
The teams were even in the shot department with 32 apiece. Ferris State was 2-for-4 with the extra man, while the Raiders had one goal in three chances with the man advantage.
These two teams will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. in the final game of the two-game series at Starr Rink.
