MINNEAPOLIS – After winning a shootout against top-ranked Minnesota last night, the Raiders won the 2014 Mariucci Classic with a 3-0 shutout over No. 2 Ferris State.
Colgate (7-9-3) got another great start from rookie goalie Charlie Finn as he earned his first collegiate shutout with 19 saves.
Darcy Murphy added his 10th goal of the season, while Spiro Goulakos and Mike McCann also scored for the Raiders. Brett Corkey was the point leader for Colgate with a pair of assists.
It was the second shutout of the season against the Bulldogs and the win ended Ferris State’s 16-game unbeaten streak, which was the longest in the nation.
“I was really proud of our effort this weekend,” head coach Don Vaughan said. “I thought defensively tonight we played a sound game. Our energy was good again and we didn’t give up a lot of second and third opportunities and that is what we wanted to accomplish.”
Ferris State (15-2-2) saw C.J. Motte make 26 saves between the pipes, including 12 in the second period. The Bulldogs struggled on the power play, going 0-for-5 with the extra skater.
In the opening 20 minutes, both teams looked to be a little tentative and didn’t want to make a mistake, which resulting in only 10 shots on goal with six by the Bulldogs. Colgate sustained some pressure in the offensive zone in the opening minutes, resulting in a few chances. The best came off the stick of Tim Harrison, but Motte was up to the task with a toe save.
The Raiders came alive in the second period with a pair of goals with one coming on the power play. Goulakos put the Raiders on top 1-0 with his second goal of the season and first on the power play. He ripped a shot from the point that Motte couldn’t get a glove on and the Raiders led 1-0. Tyson Spink made the pass to the captain and Mike Borkowski added a helper as well for his team-leading 13th of the year.
The team got the lift it needed and it came from the captain.
“He is our leader and the guys were really happy to see him score and today is six months to the day he had his last chemotherapy treatment,” Vaughan said. “We know that it’s out of system now and we are seeing him get back to the way we know he can play.”
The second tally of the period came off a great deflection from McCann. Corkey kept the puck in the offensive zone at the blueline and fired a wrister between the circles. McCann redirected it from the slot. The puck rang off the post and crossbar and into the net for the 2-0 advantage.
Colgate kept attacking in the third period and didn’t sit back on the Bulldogs. The Raiders went up 3-0 on its second power play goal on the night. This time it came from Murphy off of a Corkey shot from the left point. The puck hit off of Motte’s pad and Murphy swooped in and flipped a backhander into the back of the net for the three-goal lead.
From there, Finn and the defense finished off the Bulldogs, allowing only six shots in the final frame.
Vaughan stuck with his rookie goaltender after the shootout win over No. 1 Minnesota and it paid off.
“Charlie made some key stops and he made it look a little easy at times,” Vaughan added. “He made a great blocker save in the third period when we were up by two and if that went in, the momentum could have changed. He was very solid in net.”
The Raiders have known they were playing in the Mariucci Classic for a couple of years and viewed it as a way to possibly define their young team.
“We had this weekend circled on the calendar for a long time,” Vaughan said. “It can help define a team a little bit and we are a young team that is still trying to figure out who were are and a weekend like this can go a long way in giving our guys confidence.”
The Raiders will face its third ranked team in a row next weekend with a visit from No. 20 Vermont at Starr Rink on Jan. 11.
