LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Saturday’s championship game was a complete reversal from Friday’s semifinal.
The Raiders never trailed against St. Lawrence, eventually winning 4-3 in overtime. But Colgate never led in this one.
Harvard broke the ice when Jimmy Vesey scored on a rebound with 7:38 left in the first period.
Kyle Criscuolo’s initial shot was stopped by Charlie Finn, but the carom fell right to Vesey on the doorstep and the ECAC Hockey Player of the Year didn’t miss.
Colgate leveled with 4:41 left in the first just seconds after a might-have-been goal was waved off.
The ensuing faceoff was won by Joe Wilson and pushed to Mike Borkowski. Borkowski fired on net and Harvard’s Steve Michalek made the stop, but the puck flew into the air and Darcy Murphy was there with his best spring training imitation.
His left-hander swatted the puck past Michalek and it was 1-1.
Harvard then scored a pair of power play goals in the second period for a 3-1 lead.
Vesey’s second goal of the game was a highlight-reel event. Alexander Kerfoot fired on Finn, but the save went straight to Vesey. He slalomed his way past the Colgate netminder with 18:31 to play in the second and it was 2-1.
Patrick McNally’s rifle shot from just inside the left point made it 3-1. Tyler Moy and Criscuolo picked up the assists as Harvard completed an impressive second period.
Colgate made one last gasp with 7:43 left in regulation. John Lidgett punched home a rebound of Daniel Gentzler’s slapshot to give the Raiders life at 3-2.
But Harvard ended it when Colin Blackwell scored into an empty net just after Finn had left the ice with 55 seconds remaining.
Bottom Line
No. 6 Harvard 4, No. 4 Colgate 2
Won-Lost Records
– Harvard, the No. 17 team in the country, improved to 21-12-3 overall as it captured its first ECAC Hockey Tournament title since 2006 and earned the league’s automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament.
– Colgate, ranked No. 15 in the latest USCHO.com listing, moved to 22-12-4. They must await until Sunday’s selection show to learn if it will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Key Raider Info
– Murphy and Borkowski both finished with five points for championship weekend as Murphy notched three goals and two assists while Borkowski chipped in one goal and four assists.
– With his assist on Murphy’s first-period tally, Borkowski finished with 13 points (3 G/ 10 A) in his 12 games since returning to the lineup from injury.
Inside The Box Score
– Colgate out-shot Harvard, 32-23, in the contest. The Raiders held the edge in shots in all three periods (11-7, 12-9 & 9-7).
– Harvard was 2-for-4 on the power play while Colgate was 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
– Colgate held a 41-27 edge at the faceoff dot. Lidgett was 14-of-21 while Borkowski was 13-of-21 to lead the Raiders at the dot.
– Three players – Lidgett, Murphy and junior Ryan Johnston – all tallied a team-best five shots for the Raiders. Vesey and Malone paced the Crimson with five shots each.
‘gate One Timers
– Colgate dropped to 5-8-3 on the year when its opponent scores first.
– The Raiders slipped to 2-7-1 against nationally ranked competition this season.
– Colgate moved to 3-10-0 when allowing three or more goals in a game.
– The Raiders slipped to 10-4-3 in 2014-15 when tied after the first period.
– Colgate slipped to 14-4-3 this season when it out-shoots its opponent.
– The Raiders slipped to 5-11-4 this season when scoring two or fewer goals in a game.
