Colgate Battles to 2-2 Draw at Cornell
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Colgate men’s hockey team skated hard at Cornell on Saturday night and the teams played to a 2-2 draw at the Big Red in ECAC Hockey action
Colgate (7-7-1, 5-3-0 ECAC) saw rookie Charlie Finn step up with 26 saves in net and the Raiders are now unbeaten in Lynah Rink the last three meetings. Darcy Murphy added his eight of the year and Daniel Gentzler added the first of the season for Colgate’s goals.
“Finn did a great job in net tonight and kept us in the game at points,” head coach Don Vaughan said. “His rebound control was excellent and we couldn’t have ask anymore of a rookie goaltender coming into this environment.”
Cornell (7-4-1, 4-3-1 ECAC) scored on a pair of 5-on-3 power plays with Joakim Ryan and Cole Bardeau tallying the goals for the Big Red. Andy Iles pushed aside 20 shots in the tie.
The first period ended up scoreless, but each team had their chances. Colgate had two power plays but could not capitalize on their opportunities. The Raiders had a pair of 2-on-1 chances and didn’t get a shot on net. The first came shorthanded, but the shot was ripped wide, while the other saw Tylor Spink have a great chance in front of Iles. Unfortunately for the Raiders, the puck trickled off his stick when he attempted his shot.
Finn stood tall in net, making nine saves in the first 20 minutes. The rookie kept the crowd quiet with good positioning and puck control, allowing on a couple of rebounds on Cornell’s shots.
It didn’t take long for the Raiders to take the first lead of the game in the second period. Murphy put home his own rebound in front for his team-leading eighth of the season. Corkey intercepted a clearing attempt at the blueline and fired a shot that Murphy tipped on Iles. The Cornell netminder made the stop, but Murphy stuck with it and hit the open net on the rebound. The goal came 50 seconds into the middle frame.
The Raiders increased the lead with Gentzler scoring his first of the season after a lengthy scrum in front. Jake Kulevich put the puck on net and Iles couldn’t handle the rebound once again and Gentzler used his positioning with help from Tim Harrison and pushed the puck over the line for the two-goal advantage. The two goals to start the period came three minute apart.
“We talk a lot about getting into the blue paint and scoring those tough goals and we did that tonight,” Vaughan added. “I thought we had a great effort tonight and the hardwork around the net played out well for us on those two goals.”
Cornell cut the deficit in half at 2-1 with 10:53 left in the second with Ryan scoring from the point on a 5-on-3 advantage for the Big Red. The shot came from the right side and slipped under the right arm of Finn. The Raiders had a better second period on the shot chart with nine shots to Cornell’s six.
The Big Red knotted up the score at 2-2 with Bardreau scoring from the left point on another 5-on-3 advantage. He got a pass from Ryan and fired a one-timer that snuck past Finn at the near post.
“We gave up two 5-on-3 goals and your not going to survive many long minutes of two-man advantage power plays,” Vaughan said.
The teams played physical and the referees had to work through a lot of penalties towards the end of the game, but neither team could find the net and the game ended in a 2-2 deadlock.
“I was pleased with how we worked and it was a good game tonight,” Vaughan said. “Both teams played extremely hard.”
