Sophomore Tim Harrison scored the game-winning goal at the 10:16 mark of the third period and classmate Charlie Finn made 28 saves to lift No. 14 Colgate to a 2-1 victory over Western Michigan in the opening game of the 2014 Three Rivers Classic Monday at the CONSOL Energy Center.
In a tight contest between two programs returning to game action for the first time since the holiday break, senior Spiro Goulakos gave Colgate a 1-0 lead with a tally late in the second period before Harrison knocked home a rebound opportunity midway through the third to push the Raiders’ cushion to 2-0.
Aidan Muir cut the Raiders advantage to 2-1 with a goal in the final six minutes of the contest, but Finn the Raiders kept the Broncos from finding the equalizer.
Finn’s 28 saves earned the North Vancouver, B.C., product his 10th victory of the season between the pipes for the Raiders. Lukas Hafner finished with 25 stops in goal for Western Michigan.
Bottom Line
No. 14 Colgate 2, Western Michigan 1
Won-Lost Records
– Colgate improved to 10-6-1 on the season with the one-goal victory
– Western Michigan slipped to 6-9-2 overall with the loss.
Up Next
– Colgate will face the winner of the second game of the evening between Penn State and Robert Morris for the tournament championship Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
– Western Michigan will face the loser of the Colonials/Nittany Lions matchup in the consolation contest at 4:30 p.m.
How It Happened
– Colgate tallied the all-important first goal with 2:35 remaining in the second period when Goulakos unleashed a slapshot from the top of the point that beat Hafner for his second goal of the season. Junior Kyle Baun was credited with the primary assist while junior Tyson Spink earned the secondary helper.
– Harrison doubled the Raiders margin to 2-0 midway through the third period. On an odd-man rush, a shot from sophomore Andrew Black hit the post found its way to Harrison alone in the slot, who put the puck into the cage for his fourth goal of the season. Senior Brendan Corcoran was also credited with an assist on the insurance marker.
– Western Michigan trimmed the Raiders margin to 2-1 with 5:30 left in the third as Aidan Muir knocked home a rebound for his second tally of the season. Justin Kovacs and Taylor Flemming were credited with assists on the marker.
– The Broncos pushed for the equalizer during the final minutes of regulation, but Finn was up to the task on every WMU scoring opportunity, including a 2-on-1 break just moments after becoming a 2-1 contest, to preserve the one-goal victory.
Inside The Box Score
– Western Michigan held a 29-27 shot advantage in the contest. The Broncos posted a 10-8 margin in the first and a 12-11 edge in the third while the Raiders enjoyed a slim 8-7 lead in shots taken during the second.
– Neither team tallied a power-play goal in the contest as Western Michigan was 0-for-3 while Colgate was 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
– Colgate held a 30-25 edge at the faceoff circle. Junior Tylor Spink was 12-of-16 at the dot to pace the Raiders while Sheldon Dries was 9-for-21 to lead the Broncos.
– Will Kessell led all players with six shots in the contest while three players (senior Joe Wilson, junior Darcy Murphy and freshman Mike Panowyk) paced Colgate with three shots each.
Key Raider Info
– Goulakos’ goal in the second period moved the Montreal, Que., product into the top 100 of the program’s career scoring list. The goal gives Goulakos 70 points for his collegiate career (21 G/ 49 A) in .
– With his assist on Goulakos’ second-period tally, Baun extended his team-leading point total to 15 (7 G, 8 A). Second-leading scorer Tyson Spink earned a secondary helper on the goal, keeping just one point back of Baun for the team-scoring lead (8 G, 6 A).
– Finn improved to 6-0-0 this season when allowing one goal or fewer in a contest. It was his first such performance since a 5-1 victory at Princeton on Nov. 8.
– Harrison notched his team-leading third game-winning goal of the season, moving him into a tie for the lead in the ECAC and sixth nationally among all players in decisive tallies.
‘gate One Timers
– Colgate improved to 8-1-0 this season and 28-1-5 since the start of the 2012-13 season when leading after two periods.
– The Raiders upped its record to 9-1-0 in 2014-15 when scoring the game’s first goal.
– The Raiders moved to 2-1-0 against schools from the NCHC this season. Colgate split a season-opening series at St. Cloud State in early October.
– Colgate saw its record move to 3-2 this season in one-goal games. Each of the last two wins for the Raiders have come by a one-goal margin (4-3 vs. Brown on Nov. 22 and 2-1 vs. WMU on Dec. 29).
– The Raiders improved to 9-6-1 this season when holding an edge at the faceoff circle.
From The Source
Colgate Head Coach Don Vaughan
(On playing with the lead in the third period)
“We actually talked about playing with the lead between the second and third periods and we re-iterated that after going up 2-0. We wanted to turn into a 200-foot game in the third and make them earn their ice. I thought they did a really good job at the end when they started to stretch the ice and that’s hard to defend. The defenseman’s gaps get busted and we tried to get numbers back. I thought they did a really good job in the third. We bent, but we didn’t break, and that was the message on the bench.”
(On Expectations For Tuesday’s Championship Game)
“ We have to (have higher expectations) for tomorrow night’s game. It’s the first game back for everybody after a long break. I thought the energy was good at times, but it was not consistent. We know we’re going to be playing a very good team again tomorrow and we’re going to have to demand more of ourselves for sure.”
Sophomore Tim Harrison
(On Game-Winning Goal)
“It was a great play by my line mates (Derek) Freeman and (Andrew) Black. Black came down the right side and drew a couple of defensemen to him. I found myself alone in the slot and when he hit the post, it came out to me and luckily I banged it home, cause I missed the first one, so I had to redeem myself.”
