CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Three first period goals proved to be the difference at Harvard on Saturday night as the Raiders defeated the Crimson, 4-2, for their fourth-straight win.
Colgate (11-9-3, 7-3-1 ECAC) was led by Ryan Johnston with a goal and an assist. His goal ended the night as it came on an empty net with 13 seconds left. His assist was the primary on the eventual gamewinner.
“We were able to get off to a hot start and that really set the tone for the night,” head coach Don Vaughan said. “We have had excellent starts to games in the last three weeks. It is tough to play from behind and we did too much of that earlier on in the year.
“We were able to jump on Harvard early and hang on, but I am really proud of our guys tonight and it’s great to get a win on the road.”
Charlie Finn improved his record to 7-4-2 with 23 saves and is unbeaten in his last five starts. He was tested in the third with nine saves and has not given up more than two goals during his unbeaten streak.
He continues to come up big for Colgate and he did down the stretch with the Crimson putting the pressure on late in the game.
“Huge,” said Vaughan when asked about his two saves in the final minutes. “I tell our goalies that they don’t have to make all the saves, but you have to make the right saves and he did that tonight as they were coming hard late in the game.”
Harvard (5-10-3, 3-7-3 ECAC) got its two goals on the power play from Kyle Criscuolo. Peter Traber got the start in net and lasted only the first period before being relieved by Steve Michalek. Traber made 12 stops in the first, while Michalek didn’t allow a goal on 23 shots.
The Raiders took the early 1-0 lead just 2:54 into the game with Mike McCann scoring on a one-timer from the slot. John Lidgett muscled the puck behind the net and found McCann all alone in front. The lone senior skater beat Traber on the glove side with traffic around the crease. Derek Freeman was given the secondary assist on the goal.
Colgate kept coming and Tylor Spink took advantage of a bad play in front of the Harvard net. Traber made a stop and looked for his defenseman to clear the puck, but he didn’t. Tylor Spink swooped in and shot it past Traber to make it 2-0 with 10:50 left in the first.
The Raider advantage increased to 3-0 with 3:53 left in the first period with a great tip-in from Daniel Gentzler off a pass from Johnston. The sophomore defensemen saw Gentzler streaking in from the opposite side and put the puck in front. Gentzler redirected it into the open net for his second of the season.
It was the third time this season that Colgate had scored three goals in a period with the last coming against Clarkson in a 4-3 win onNov. 16.
Harvard brought the pressure in the second period and played a better 20 minutes than the first frame. Criscuolo was able to get the Crimson on the board early in the second period with a power play goal coming on a setup play. Luke Esposito fed Criscuolo from the below the goal line after Alexander Kerfoot dropped it down to Esposito from the point.
The Crimson were able to get to within one goal with 1:52 left in the game with Criscuolo scoring on the power play again. It was a 6-on-4 man advantage score and Criscuolo was in the slot and redirected a Jimmy Vesey shot from the point.
Harvard pulled the goalie again after getting possession of the puck and Darcy Murphy looked to have iced the game, but the puck rang off the post from about 120 feet.
That almost turned out to be a big unlucky bounce in the game, but Finn stepped up huge in the final minute. The rookie netminder made two big stops on the Crimson down the stretch and he thanked his defense for a great effort all night.
“The defense did a fantastic job for me tonight,” Finn said. “They allowed me to see the puck and be honest. They were solid, along with the forwards on their back checks and made my job a lot easier.”
Johnston sealed the deal with 13 seconds left in the game with an empty net goal from center ice. The defenseman made a really nice play to get free from the Harvard attackers and fired it into the net for the 4-2 win.
“Johnston made an unbelievable read inside the blueline on the empty net goal,” Vaughan said. “He looked to see the guys eyes and stepped in front of the pass.”
The Raiders swept their second league road weekend of the season and are 7-2-3 away from Starr Rink. With the two wins this weekend, Colgate has earned league points in five of the last six games of the conference campaign.
Colgate had a 39-25 shot advantage in the game. It was the first time in three games, the Raiders did not scored on the power play. Harvard had two power play goals on five chances.
Next up for Colgate is a visit from Clarkson and St. Lawrence next weekend at Starr Rink. Tickets are available atbleedcolgatemaroon.com or by calling the Colgate Ticket Office at 315-228-7600.
