PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Colgate scored three times in the third period to erase a one-goal deficit and defeat Brown, 4-2, in ECAC Men’s Hockey action Saturday at Meehan Auditorium.
Trailing 2-1 at the start of the final frame, sophomore Jake Kulevich notched his fifth goal of the season at the 2:55 mark to tie the game before junior Tyson Spink scored just 17 seconds later to give the Raiders a 3-2 lead. Sophomore Tim Harrison closed out the scoring with an insurance marker midway through the third.
In the first period, Matt Lorito scored twice to counteract junior Kyle Baun’s 13th goal of the season and give the Bears a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. The score remained in favor of the Bears until Kulevich’s goal early in the third sparked the Raider comeback.
Sophomore Charlie Finn recorded 32 saves for Colgate. Tim Ernst made 34 stops between the pipes for Brown.
With the win, Colgate secured a first-round bye in the upcoming ECAC Men’s Hockey Championship. The Raiders will face the winner of the series between the No. 5 and No. 12 seeds in a best-of-three series at Starr Rink March 13-15.
Bottom Line
Colgate 4, Brown 2
Won-Lost Records
– Colgate improved to 19-11-4 overall and 11-7-4 in ECAC play as it stretched its undefeated streak to five games.
– Brown slipped to 8-18-3 on the season and 5-14-3 against conference competition as it saw its six-game unbeaten string halted.
How It Happened
– Lorito put Brown in front just 3:13 into the contest. Mark Naclerio began the play by creating a turnover in the neutral zone that sent Lorito into the Raider zone on a breakaway. Lorito made the most of the opportunity as he fired the puck past Finn’s blocker to put the Bears up, 1-0.
– Baun drew the Raiders level just 2:33 after Lorito’s marker, competing a tic-tac-toe sequence for his 13th goal of the season. Tyson Spink gained possession of the puck at the top of the Brown zone and found brother Tylor at the bottom of the right faceoff circle. Tylor quickly dished the puck across the slot to Baun, who slammed it into the open cage for the equalizer.
– Lorito put the Bears in front once again with his second goal of the period at the 10:31 mark of the frame. Driving into the Raider zone on the left side, Lorito faked a shot and went behind the Colgate net, beating Finn to the right post with a wrap-around shot for the go-ahead marker. Brandon Pfeil and Tyler Wood picked up assists on the tally, which came during 4-on-4 play.
– After a scoreless second period, Kulevich pulled the Raiders level at the 2:44 mark of the third period when he fired a shot from the left faceoff circle that Ernst partially stopped but rolled across the goaline for his fifth goal of the season. Juniors Mike Borkowski and Darcy Murphy earned assists on the tally.
– Tyson Spink would put the Raiders in front just 17 seconds later with his team-leading 14th goal of the season. Tylor Spink played the puck below the goal line to Baun, who then found Tyson Spink open in the slot, where he wired a snap shot under the bar to the blocker side of Ernst for the go-ahead tally.
– Harrison closed out the scoring with his seventh goal of the season. Junior Kevin Lough found Harrison on the right side of the neutral zone. Harrison then gained entry into the Brown zone and worked his way around a Bear defender before sliding the puck between the legs of Ernst. Senior John Lidgett also earned an assist on the goal, which came at the 10:34 mark of the third.
Inside The Box Score
– Colgate out-shot Brown, 38-34, for the contest. The Raiders held the edge in the first (14-12) and third (15-10) periods, while Brown posted a 12-9 margin in the second.
– Neither team scored on the power play as Brown was 0-for-5 and Colgate was 0-for-1 with the man advantage.
– Tyson Spink led the Raiders with seven shot attempts while Lorito paced Brown with seven shot tries.
– The two teams split the 62 faceoffs held during the contest (31-31). Borkowski was 15-of-23 at the dot to lead the Raiders.
Key Raider Info
– Tyson Spink extended his goal-scoring streak to four games with his third-period tally. With his two points tonight, Spink also increased his team-leading point total to 29 (14 G/15 A) as he now has points in each of the last five games.
– Baun remained one point back on Tyson in the team-scoring race as with his goal and assist, he increased his season point total to 28 (13 G/15 A). Baun also notched his team-best 15 assist of the season on Tyson’s third-period tally.
– Baun turned in his fifth multi-point game of the season and the 19th of his career. Tyson Spink notched multiple points for the sixth time this season and the 18th time in his career.
– Kulevich became the first defensemen to score for Colgate in 12 games (K. Lough vs. RPI on Jan. 16).
– With his assist on Kulevich’s game-tying goal, Borkowsi extended his point-scoring streak to six games. He has registered a point in seven of eight games since returning to the lineup in early February.
– Finn recorded 30 or more saves for the fifth time this season and the 13th time in his career. He improved to 5-0-0 in 2014-15 and 8-2-3 all-time when doing so.
‘gate One Timers
– With the win, Colgate matched its season-best unbeaten streak of five games (Oct. 17-31).
– The Raiders improved to 4-7-3 this season when their opponent scores first.
– Colgate moved to 31-3-1 since the start of the 2013-14 season and 14-1-0 during the 2014-15 campaign when scoring three or more goals in a game.
– The Raiders improved to 3-8-1 when trailing after the first period and 3-8-3 when behind after two periods.
– Colgate improved to 17-2-4 this season when allowing two goals or less.
– The Raiders improved to 13-3-3 in 2014-15 when out-shooting their opponent.
From The Source
Colgate Head Coach Don Vaughan
(On team’s effort in third period)
“Extremely proud. We talked between the second and third period about sticking to the process. About not getting away from our game. Don’t press. We had some really good looks in the second that didn’t go and it’s easy to get frustrated. Kulevich’s goal was huge. That really jump started us and really settled down after that. I was really proud of our guys.”
(On game-tying and go-ahead goals)
“You could feel it on the bench. This team is a veteran club, they’ve been around. They feed off momentum. They have great situational awareness during a game. They understand when momentum can swing and at that moment, they felt it was coming our way.”
(On earning first-round bye despite injuries)
“I’m really proud of that part of this group. It’s not just injuries, its injuries to key players. We fought through it and hopefully a couple of weeks off with do us some good. Couldn’t be more proud of the guys. You always ask guys to step up and play different roles and more minutes when guys are down and our guys responded that way. I’m really proud of them.”
(On looking ahead to ECAC playoffs)
“We know that we’re going to get a real good opponent. We know that there are going to be no easy games. We’ll enjoy this for the ride home and maybe take a couple of days off and get back to work.”
Up Next
– Colgate will open the ECAC Men’s Hockey Championship in the quarterfinal round with a best-of-three series at Starr Rink March 13-15.
