POTSDAM, N.Y. – Colgate men’s ice hockey’s season came to an end Sunday night as the Raiders fell to the No. 10/8 Clarkson Golden Knights, 5-1, in Game 3 of the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals at Cheel Arena.
The Raiders advanced to the league quarterfinals for the first time since the 2014-15 season and finished the season with a 17-17-6 record, their most wins since that season.
Adam Dauda (Kitchener, Ontario) netted his 10th goal of the season and 19th point to finish the year. Both marks are career highs and left Dauda second on the team.
Bobby McMann (Wainwright, Alberta) notched his 16th assist for his 30th point as he became Colgate’s first 30-point scorer since the 2015-16 season. Hunter Racine (Ottawa, Ontario) also tallied an assist for the Raiders Sunday night.
Clarkson scored a pair of goals within 3:42 in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. Nick Pierog put the Golden Knights on the board first to open the scoring before Jack Jacome put home a rebound to make it 2-0 with 3:04 left in the period.
The Golden Knights added a third goal as Terrance Amorosa blasted home a power-play goal from the point to make it 3-0.
Dauda got a goal back for the Raiders just 2:13 later to cut the Golden Knights’ lead to 3-1. Racine jarred loose the puck in the left corner and sent it to McMann behind the goal. McMann fired a pass to Dauda, who one-timed the puck past Clarkson goaltender Jake Kielly for the score.
Clarkson added two more goals late in the second period to extend its lead to 5-1 as Sheldon Rempal and Tyko Karjalainen each found the back of the net.
Rempal finished the game with a goal and two assists for three points, while Pierog and Jacome each had a goal and an assist for two points. Nico Sturm finished with two assists and Kielly made 32 saves in goal.
BOTTOM LINE
No. 10/8 Clarkson 5, Colgate 1
WIN/LOSS RECORDS
The Golden Knights won back-to-back games to win the series and improve to 22-9-6, while the Raiders finish the season with a 17-17-6 record.
KEY RAIDER INFO
-Colgate’s 17 wins are its most since winning 22 in the 2014-15 season. The Raiders reached the league quarterfinals for the first time since that season
-McMann is Colgate’s first 30-point scorer since 2015-16, when Tyson (37) and Tylor (36) Spink each reached the mark
-McMann finished the season with career highs of 14 goals, 16 assists and 30 points to lead the team
-Dauda closed the season with a career-high 10 goals
-Racine recorded his second assist of the season
-Point posted 24 saves in goal for the Raiders
-Point set program records and finished second in the nation with a .944 save percentage and 1.74 GAA
-He also tied the program record for shutouts in a season with six.
-The loss concludes the careers of Mike Panowyk (Whitby, Ontario), Evan Peterson (Lakeville, Minnesota), Bruce Racine (Bethesda, Maryland), Zac Hamilton (Ottawa, Ontario) and Sebastian Weberg (Oslo, Norway)
-Panowyk finished his career tied for fifth in program history with 152 games played
FACTS AND FIGURES
-Colgate outshot Clarkson 33-29 in the final game of the season
-The Golden Knights were 1 for 4 on the power play while the Raiders were 0 for 3
-Clarkson held a 43-20 advantage in faceoffs; Dauda led the Raiders with six faceoff wins
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Don Vaughan
On the season as a whole
“We took huge strides this year with this young group. I couldn’t be more proud of the effort they put in. Starting with our seniors, they’re everything you want in a student-athlete and everything we want in our program. They’re exemplary in every fashion. They’re great students, great citizens and great hockey players. I can’t recall ever having an issue with any of the five guys in four years, which is amazing. They deserve a lot of credit.
“You always take a look back at where the program was when they got here, and collectively as a whole the program is in a better place than when they found it. We judge our program on a lot more than wins and losses.
“We had 17 wins. Of course, we’d like to have a couple more but its a big step in the right direction. I like where our program is. We’ll be better and we’re clearly moving in the right direction. I’m very proud.”
On Sunday’s game
“Tonight might have been our best game of the season and we lost 5-1. It’s a crazy game. We had more offensive opportunities tonight than we did in any other game this weekend. They didn’t quit, they battled right to the very end and that’s a sign of the character in that locker room.”
On the State of Colgate Hockey
“Winning the series last weekend was just another step in the process. You don’t go from where we were to overnight walking around Lake Placid with the championship trophy. It would have been nice but realistically it takes time and guys understanding how hard you have to work to be a championship team.
“This weekend, and this series, against a top 10 team in the country will go a long way for our guys in helping them understand how hard they have to work and play. I’m extremely proud of our team and our performance this year. I’m excited about the future.”
