HANOVER, N.H. – The Colgate men’s ice hockey team nearly completed a comeback with two goals in a ferocious third period Friday evening but could not overcome an early three-goal deficit in a 3-2 loss to the nationally ranked No. 7/7 UMass Lowell River Hawks in the Ledyard Classic opener at Thompson Arena.
Adam Dauda (Kitchener, Ontario) tallied a power-play goal to put the Raiders on the board with 14:45 left in the final frame before Tim Harrison (Duxbury, Massachusetts) scored an extra-attacker goal just after a power-play expired to bring Colgate within a goal.
Dauda scored his fourth power-play goal of the season off a feed from Bobby McMann (Wainwright, Alberta) on the right wing. Dauda skated with the puck into the right faceoff circle where he wristed the shot over UMass Lowell goaltender Tyler Wall’s shoulder.
Later in the third period with just 1:38 left, Harrison netted his sixth goal of the season to cut the River Hawks’ lead to 3-2. McMann cycled the puck from the left point to Brett Corkey (Calgary, Alberta) on the right point. Corkey fired a shot towards the net that Harrison redirected past Wall.
McMann led the Raiders in points with two on his pair of his assists.
Colgate came on strong in the third period, outshooting UMass Lowell 14-4 and managed to tie the shot battle, 28-28 for the game. The Raiders’ 14 shots in the final period equaled their shot total from the first two periods.
Charlie Finn (North Vancouver, British Columbia) picked up his 25 saves in a game for the ninth time this season.
UMass Lowell took a 1-0 lead with just 1:37 left in the first period as Colin O’Neill netted his third goal of the season. He received a pass from Kenny Hausinger before sliding the puck past Finn for the goal.
The River Hawks tallied a power play goal early in the second period to take a 2-0 lead. C.J. Smith fired a pass across the slot to Mattias Goransson who rifled the puck near side past Finn.
Joe Gambardella made it 3-0 UMass Lowell with 2:40 left in the second period after picking up a Colgate turnover on the forecheck and netting his ninth goal of the season.
BOTTOM LINE
UMass Lowell 3, Colgate 2
WON-LOST RECORDS
The River Hawks won their third consecutive game to improve to 11-5-3 (6-3-1 Hockey East) while the Raiders fall to 4-10-4 (2-4-1 ECAC Hockey) with the loss.
KEY RAIDER INFO
-Harrison extended his team lead in goals to sixth with a tally and has scored a goal in three straight games
-Dauda tied Jake Kulevich (Marblehead, Massachusetts) for the team lead with 12 points on his fifth goal of the season
-Dauda leads the Raiders with four power-play goals in 2016-17
-McMann recorded his second career two-point game and first career two-assist game
-Corkey recorded his fifth assist and ninth point of the season in addition to blocking four shots
FACTS AND FIGURES
-Colgate played in hits fifth consecutive one-goal game and seventh total this season.
-The Raiders and River Hawks each had 28 shots with Colgate outshooting UMass Lowell 14-4 in the third period
-Both teams were 1 for 4 on the power play
-UMass Lowell edged Colgate in faceoffs, 34-30, while Dauda led Colgate with 11 faceoff wins
UP NEXT
Colgate returns to the ice Saturday in the second day of the Ledyard Classic where they will face either Dartmouth or Army West Point. The Raiders’ opponent will be determined at the conclusion of Friday night’s game between the Big Green and the Black Knights.
