HAMILTON – Juniors Tyson and Tylor Spink combined for six points on two goals and four assists to lead Colgate to a 4-2 victory over Renesselaer in ECAC Hockey action Saturday at Starr Rink.
The Spink brothers teamed up to give the Raiders the early lead as Tylor scored on a feed from Tyson exactly one minute into the contest.
The Engineers would tie the game at 1-all later in the first on a goal from Chris Bradley, but Colgate would regain its one-goal margin thanks to the Spinks when Tyson used a feed from Tylor to score on the power play less than five minutes into the second.
RPI knotted the score again on a Mark McGowan goal in the seventh minute of the middle period, but junior Darcy Murphy put the Raiders back in front only 33 seconds later with the eventual game-winner at the 7:18 mark of the second.
Junior Kyle Baun closed out the scoring, giving the Raiders an insurance marker late in the third with assists going to both Spink brothers.
Sophomore keeper Charlie Finn made 23 saves for Colgate while Junior Jason Kasdorf turned aside 25 shots for RPI.
Bottom Line
Colgate 4, RPI 2
Won-Lost Records
– Colgate improved to 18-11-3 overall and 10-7-3 in ECAC action as it completed a sweep of the home weekend.
– Renesselaer moved to 9-23-1 on the season and 7-12-1 in league play with the setback.
Raiders Secure Home Ice For First Round of ECAC Playoffs; Remain in Conversation for First-Round Bye
– With tonight’s victory over RPI, Colgate secured home ice for at least the first round of the ECAC playoffs.
– The Raiders enter the final weekend of the regular season with a chance to earn a first-round bye. Colgate is tied with Harvard for the fourth and final first-round bye, but Harvard owns the tiebreaker by way of head-to-head results.
How It Happened
– Colgate took a 1-0 lead exactly one minute into the game when Tylor Spink buried a feed from brother Tyson for his sixth goal of the season. Tylor started the sequence by gaining entry into the RPI zone, where he dished the puck to Tyson before receiving the puck back in the middle of the slot, where he out-waited Kasdorf and slide the puck into the open cage.
– The Engineers knotted the score at 1-all at the 11:05 mark when Chris Bradley’s shot from the right point deflected off a Colgate defender and past Finn for his fourth goal of the season. Drew Melanson earned the only assist on Bradley’s marker, which game during 4-on-4 action.
– Colgate regained the lead early in the second period on a power play goal from Tyson Spink. While on the man-advantage, junior Mike Borkowski played the puck behind the net to Tylor Spink, who then found his brother Tyson in the right faceoff circle. Tyson then took a stride towards the goal before firing a shot just inside past the blocker of Kasdorf and under the cross bar for his 12th goal of the season.
– RPI battled back to tie the game at 2-2 as a point shot from Mark McGowen was deflected on its way towards the goal before beating Finn inside the right post for his fifth goal of the season. Jacob Laliberte and Jared Wilson were credited with assist on the play.
– The Raiders regained their one-goal edge just 33 seconds after the Engineers tied the game on Murphy’s seventh goal of the season. Junior Kevin Lough found senior Joe Wilson at the RPI blue line to start the sequence. Wilson then entered the RPI zone and played a drop pass to Murphy at the top of the right faceoff circle, where he collected the puck and wired a snap shot into the top left hand corner of the net.
– Baun closed out the scoring with less than six minutes remaining in the third, firing a slot feed from Tyson Spink between the legs of Kasdorf for his 12th goal of the season. Tylor Spink also picked up his second assist of the evening on Baun’s tally, which came at the 14:26 mark of the frame.
Inside The Box Score
– Colgate out-shot RPI, 29-25, for the contest. The Raiders held the edge in the first (8-4) and third (13-9) periods, while the Engineers enjoyed a 12-8 margin in the second.
– The Raiders were 1-for-2 on the power play while RPI was 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
– Renesselaer held a 36-25 margin at the faceoff circle. Borkowski was 10-of-15 at the dot for Colgate while Mark Miller was 11-of-17 to pace RPI.
– Tylor Spink led Colgate with four shots on goal while Jared Wilson paced the Engineers with five shots tries.
Key Raider Info
– With his three-point performance, Tyson Spink took over the team scoring lead with 26 points (12 G/ 14 A). Baun moved into second place with 25 points (12 G/13 A).
– Tyson Spink and Baun remained tied for the team lead in goals as both players netted their 12th of the season. Thanks to his two assists on Saturday, Tyson Spink gained the team lead in assists (14).
– Both Tylor and Tyson Spink established new season highs in points with their three-point performances on Saturday. Tylor also matched his career high with his three-point effort, set at St. Lawrence on Nov. 15, 2013.
– Tyson recorded multiple points in a game for the fifth time this season and the 17th time in his career while Tylor posted his second multi-point game of the year and 20th of his career.
– Murphy notched his second game-winning goal of the season and the sixth of his career with his second-period marker.
– Wilson extended his point-scoring streak to six games as he recorded an assist on Murphy’s decisive tally.
’gate One Timers
– Colgate improved to 15-4-0 this season when scoring first.
– The Raiders increased their record to 9-3-2 in 2014-15 when tied after the first period.
– Colgate improved to 35-2-5 since the start of the 2012-13 season and 15-2-0 this season when leading after two periods.
– The Raiders moved to 30-3-1 since the start of the 2013-14 season and 13-1-0 in 2014-15 when scoring three or more goals in a time.
– Colgate improved to 15-2-2 this season when Kyle Baun records a point. The Raiders also moved to 10-0-2 when Baun finds the back of the net in a game this season.
– Colgate improved to 16-2-3 this season when holding its opponent to two goals or less in a game.
– The Raiders moved to 13-4-1 in 2014-15 when scoring a power play goal.
Up Next
– Colgate returns to the road next weekend as it opens the final weekend of the regular season with a Feb. 27 contest at No. 15 Yale. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m.
