HANOVER, N.H. – The Colgate men’s hockey team scored two power play goals for the third-straight game and downed Dartmouth, 4-1, on Friday night.
Colgate (10-9-3, 6-3-1 ECAC) got goals from four different players in the win with Mike Borkowski and Spiro Goulakos scoring both power play tallies. Ryan Johnston and Andrew Black were the other two goal scorers for the Raiders. Tyson Spink, Tylor Spink and Joe Wilson all collected two points on the night with a pair of assists each.
Charlie Finn was once again solid in net and is now unbeaten in his last four starts. He was tested in the second period with 12 saves. The Raider netminder and the defense has not allowed more than two goals in six of their last seven games.
“We are playing well in front of Charlie,” said head coach Don Vaughan. “We are not giving up a lot of second and third chances and I think the guys are doing a good job around the net. We have had great puck support.”
The Raiders came to play on the power play for the third-straight game and it was a big part of the win. Vaughan has been very pleased with the power play units recently.
“We have had good possession and great entries into the zone,” Vaughan said. “We are finally getting pucks to the goaltender. The power play always seems to be, what have you done for me lately and I am really pleased with how our guys have stuck with it after a bit of a drought.”
Colgate is 6-for-15 on the power play in the last three contests and came into the new year with 10 goals on the man advantage in the first 18 games of the year.
The Big Green (3-13-2, 2-9-0 ECAC) got its lone goal from Brandon McNally with assists to Troy Crema and Geoff Ferguson. Charles Grant earned the start in net and made 20 saves.
Dartmouth got the scoring started with 11:51 left in the first period with McNally putting home a rebound on a 2-on-1 rush up ice. Ferguson found Crema streaking up ice and he was able to get behind the Colgate defense. He put a shot on net that Finn kicked away, but McNally finished off the rebound for the 1-0 lead.
Colgate answered quickly with Black scoring his fifth of the season and probably his most unlikely goal this season. Wilson created a turnover in the neutral zone and charged into the offensive zone. He put on a shot on Grant and the Big Green netminder pushed it to the boards. Black picked up the loose puck and fired a sharp-angle shot from the corner that somehow got past Grant to tie the game at 1-1. The goal came 27 seconds after Dartmouth took the first lead.
The Cornwall power play unit got its first chance of the game late in the first period and didn’t disappoint. Tyson Spink shifted the puck behind the net and found Borkowski all alone at the right face-off dot. Colgate’s leading point scorer then connected on a one-timer that went top shelf on Grant to give the Raiders their first lead of the game with 2:29 left in the opening frame.
The second period was scoreless, but the Raiders killed off a minute of 5-on-3 power play time thanks to three stops from Finn and a nice diving play from Jake Kulevich to clear the puck in the final second of the advantage. Finn was called upon a lot in the middle frame with 12 of his 24 stops.
The Raiders opened up the lead to two goals with Johnston scoring his second of the season with a wrister from the right side that made it through traffic to give Colgate a 3-1 lead.
The game was put out of reach by Goulakos with his third of the season and second on the power play for the Raiders. Tylor Spink slid the puck back to Goulakos at the point and he ripped a shot from the left side that made it through traffic. It beat Grant high and to the glove side for the final goal of the night.
Coach Vaughan was happy to see his team come out in the third period and extend the lead.
“Dartmouth did a really good job in the second period when it was 2-1,” Vaughan said. “They started to take it away on us, but I was really pleased with our response.”
The Raiders were outshot by a 25-24 margin, but went 2-for-4 on the man advantage and Johnston’s tally was a 4-on-4 goal.
“We had a great effort up and down our lineup tonight,” Vaughan said. “We were able to roll our lines well and Derek Freeman, John Lidgett and Mike McCann played well on the fourth line. So an all around good effort.”
It is a quick turnaround for Colgate as the Raiders travel to Harvard for a 7 p.m. facecoff tomorrow night at the Bright Hockey Center.
