LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Junior Mike Borkowski scored at the 9:34 mark of overtime to lift fourth-seeded Colgate to a 4-3 victory over second-seeded St. Lawrence in the second ECAC Hockey Semifinal Friday at 1980 Rink – Herb Brooks Arena.
With the win, the Raiders advance to Saturday’s championship game for the second straight season. They will face sixth-seeded Harvard, who knocked off top-seeded Quinnipiac, 5-2, in the first semifinal earlier on Friday.
Borkowski overtime tally punctuated an impressive evening for the Kanata, Ont., product and his linemates as the trio of Borkowski, senior Joe Wilson and junior Darcy Murphy combined to score all four Colgate goals and chipped in seven assists.
The second semifinal was a back-and-forth contest saw the Raiders take a one-goal lead on three occasions during regulation, only to see the Saints battle back all three times to tie the game and eventually force overtime.
Murphy opening the scoring just 3:21 into the contest to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead after one, but SLU’s Mike Marnell got the Saints on the board only 64 seconds into the second period to tie the game at 1-1.
Murphy notched his second of the game a little more than five minutes after Marnell’s goal to restore the Colgate lead, only to see Eric Sweetman bring the Saints level once again with a power play tally late in the frame to knot the game at 2-2.
The two teams traded goals in the third. Wilson scored 2:33 seconds after the start of the third period to give the Raiders a 3-2 edge. St. Lawrence knotted the score at 3-3 with just 1:22 seconds remaining, as Gavin Bayreuther scored with the Saints goalie pulled to tie the game, force overtime, and set up Brokowski’s heroics.
Sophomore Charlie Finn made 29 saves for Colgate while freshman Kyle Hayton turned aside 27 shots for St. Lawrence.
Bottom Line
No. 4 Colgate 4, No. 2 St. Lawrence 3 (OT)
Won-Lost Records
– Colgate improved to 22-11-4 as it extended its current unbeaten streak to eight games (7-0-1) with the overtime victory.
– St. Lawrence dropped to 20-14-3.
How It Happened
– Murphy staked Colgate to a 1-0 lead just 3:21 seconds into the contest, taking a drop pass from junior Mike Borkowski in the SLU zone and snapping the puck past Hayton’s glove from the left faceoff circle for the opening tally. Wilson also earned an assist on the game’s opening goal.
– St. Lawrence tied the game at 1-1 just 64 seconds into the second period as the Saints caused a turnover in the Raiders zone, where Mike Marnell collected the puck in the middle of the slot and placed the puck into the upper right-hand corner of the net. Joe Sullivan and Patrick Doherty earned assists on the equalizer.
– Murphy once again restored Colgate’s one-goal advantage with his second goal of the evening. Following a similar script to the first Raider tally, Colgate once again working the puck into the left side of the St. Lawrence zone. This time it was Wilson as the setup man, dropping the puck to Murphy in the left faceoff circle, where he placed a shot past the right shoulder of Hayton and under the cross bar. Borkowski also picked up an assist on the even-strength goal that came with 5:46 gone in the second.
– Sweetman tied the game at 2-2 with 2:37 to play in the second, putting a slap shot into the upper right hand corner of the net while the Saints were on the power play for his fifth of the season. Mitch Eden and Tommy Thompson picked up the assists on the goal.
– Wilson put Colgate back in front less than 2:33 into the third period, stuffing home a loose puck in front of the St. Lawrence goal after a Saints turnover in their defensive zone for his 11th of the season. Murphy and Borkowski earned the assists on the tally.
– St. Lawrence drew even for the third time in the contest with just 1:22 to play in regulation. With their goalie pulled, the Saints won the draw in the Colgate zone and eventually worked the puck to Bayreuther. Bayreuther’s initial attempt from the top of the right faceoff circle was blocked, but the puck bounced right back to him, where he fired a slap shot into the net to force overtime. Brian Ward and Gunner Hughes were credited with assists on the play.
– In overtime, Borkowski recorded his second game-winning goal in as many contests to send the Raiders to Saturday’s final. Murphy started the sequence by sending the puck into the St. Lawrence zone, where junior Kevin Lough picked up the puck on the right side and found Borkowski in the slot. Borkowski collected the puck, wheeled around and fired a snap shot past Hayton and into the left side of the cage for the game winner.
Inside The Box Score
– St. Lawrence turned in a 32-31 shot advantage in the contest. The Raiders held the edge in the second period (10-7) while the Saints posted an edge in the first (7-6) and overtime (8-5). The two teams were tied at 10-10 for shots in the third.
– St. Lawrence was 1-for-2 on the power play while Colgate was 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
– Colgate held a 46-29 edge in the faceoff circle. Junior Tylor Spink was 17-of-29 and senior John Lidgett was 14-of-18 at the dot to lead the Raiders.
– Murphy led the Raiders with five shots while Tommy Thompson paced the Saints with five shot attempts.
Key Raider Info
– Murphy (2 G/ 2A) and Borkowski (1 G/3 A) both established new career highs with their four-point contests. The four-point outputs also set new season highs for a Colgate player this season.
– With his four-point outing, Borkowski now has 12 points (3 G, 9 A) in 11 games since returning to the lineup.
– Wilson played in his 150th game in a Colgate uniform on Friday. He became just the 12th player in program history to accomplish the feat.
– Wilson matched his career high in points with his three-point performance. He has now scored three points in a game a total of seven times during his career, including a three-point effort versus Brown on Nov. 21 at Starr Rink.
– With his win in goal tonight, Finn moves into a tie with Shep Harder (1999-2000) and Wayne Cowley (1986-87) for third place on the program’s single-season wins list (21).
‘gate One Timers
– Colgate improved to 17-4-1 this season when scoring first.
– The Raiders moved to 34-3-1 since the start of the 2013-14 season and 17-1-0 this year when scoring three or more goals in a game.
– Colgate improved to just 3-9-0 this season when allowing three or more goals in a game.
– The Raiders improved to 2-1-3 this season in games that have gone to overtime.
– Colgate improved to 6-3-0 in 2014-15 in games decided by one goal.
– The Raiders moved to 14-4-3 this season when attempting 30 or more shots in a contest.
Up Next
– Colgate will face Harvard in the ECAC Hockey Championship on Saturday at 1980 Rink – Herb Brooks Arena. Opening faceoff is set for 7:35 p.m.
