HAMILTON – Shae Labbe (Calgary, Alberta) and Jessie Eldridge (Barrie, Ontario) each tallied three points Sunday afternoon as the nationally ranked No. 8/8 Colgate women’s ice hockey team completed a weekend sweep of the nationally ranked No. 6/5 Northeastern Huskies, 5-2, at Class of 1965 Arena.
The Raiders’ sweep of the Huskies was their first weekend sweep over a ranked opponent in program history, putting together a 3-0 win Saturday night before Sunday afternoon’s win.
Labbe led the Raiders with a pair of power-play goals in the game and added an assist while Bailey Larson (Sycamore, Illinois), Megan Sullivan (Toronto, Ontario) and Malia Schneider (Millarville, Alberta) all scored goals Sunday afternoon.
For the second straight day, a single player scored a pair of power-play goals as Eldridge accomplished the feat Saturday night for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
Goaltender Liz Auby (Stoughton, Wisconsin) made 15 saves in the game, but the Raiders’ sophomore saw her shutout streak come to an end at 308:44, the longest in program history and longest by an ECAC Hockey goaltender since Quinnipiac’s Sydney Rossman had four straight shutouts and a streak of 296:42.
The Raiders staked themselves out to a 1-0 lead just 8:29 into the game as Larson netted her second goal of the season. Kaila Pinkney (Denfield, Ontario) wristed the puck from the left point and Breanne Wilson-Bennett (Markham, Ontario) tried to redirect in front of the net past Northeastern goaltender Brittany Bugalski. Wilson-Bennett’s redirect was saved but the rebounded went right to Larson on the back door where she slammed the puck into the back of the net.
Colgate doubled its lead just over four minutes later as Sulllivan found the back of the net on a rebound. Labbe skated into the high slot and tried to shoot through a screen from Shelby Perry (Elginburg, Ontario). The puck ended up hitting Perry and fell to the right of the goal where Sullivan lifted a backhander past Bugalski.
Labbe finally found the back of the net nearly six minutes into the second period with her first of two power-play goals. Eldridge controlled the puck below the end line to the left of the goal and pass it to Perry on the wing. Perry quickly swiped a pass to Labbe at the point where she fired the puck from the high slot through traffic and past Bugalski’s blocker to make it 3-0.
Schneider got into the scoring action 2:47 after Labbe’s goal with her second of the season. Olivia Zafuto (Niagara Falls, New York) wristed the puck low trying to go through traffic but Eldridge kicked the puck to a streaking Schneider who managed to reach around her defender and lift the puck over Bugalski’s glove.
Northeastern got a goal back with 35 seconds left in the second period to end Auby’s shutout streak but the Raiders answered five minutes into the second period on Labbe’s second power-play goal to claim a 5-1 lead. Eldridge won a battle for the puck in the right corner and freed the puck enough for Annika Zalewski (New Hartford, New York). The Raiders captain faked like she was going to skate around the goal before stopping to find Labbe streaking through the slot for the backhanded goal.
The Huskies cut the Raiders’ lead to three goals with another late goal in the third period but it was not enough to overcome the Raiders dominant performance.
BOTTOM LINE
Colgate 5, Northeastern 2
WIN/LOSS RECORDS
The Raiders improve to 4-0-0 with their weekend sweep of No. 6/5 Northeastern while the Huskies fall to 2-3-1 (2-0-0 Hockey East) with the loss.
KEY RAIDER INFO
-The Raiders are 4-0-0 to start a season for the second straight year and third time in program history (2003-04).
-Colgate recorded a weekend sweep of a nationally ranked opponent for the first time in program history
-Labbe recorded two power-play goals, giving Colgate back-to-back games with a single player scoring two power play goals.
-The last time Colgate had two players record two power-play goal games was 2014-15 with Sullivan and Melissa Kueber ’15
-Labbe recorded her fifth career multi-goal game and 15th multi-point game with her three-point effort on Sunday
-Eldridge’s three assists are the most she has recorded in a single game while she recorded three points for the third time in her career
-Eldridge now has 22 multi-point games in her 77-game collegiate career
-Eldridge and Labbe are the only Raiders to record points in all four games this season
-Auby’s program record shutout streak came to an end at four consecutive games and 308:44 without a goal
-Perry recorded two assists for the second straight night with a pair of helpers for her seventh multi-assist game and 10th multi-point game
-Larson tallied her second goal of the season to give her 26 in her career
-Sullivan picked up her first goal of the season to give the team’s active goals leader 37 in her career.
-Schneider has gotten off to a great start for the Raiders as she scored her second goal of the season
-Pinkney tallied her first point of the season with an assist on Larson’s goal
-Wilson-Bennett also recorded her first assist of the season and 31st of her career
-Zafuto’s assist was her second of the season to give her 40 career points, the second defenseman on the roster to reach that mark.
-Nine players on the roster have at least 40 career points and seven of those players have recorded over 60 career points.
FACTS AND FIGURES
-The Raiders recorded 38 shots for the third time this season, outshooting Northeastern 38-17, and Colgate had double-digit shots each period
-Colgate has scored power-play goals in three straight games as they went 2 for 5 compared to Northeastern’s 0 for 6. The Raiders are 16 for 16 on the penalty kill this season
-The Raiders had the edge in faceoffs again with a 30-21 advantage led by Wilson-Bennett’s 13 for 19 day.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Greg Fargo
On the Weekend Sweep
“I’m really proud of the way we played all weekend, we played the game the right way. With this team, we’re deep on offense and has a group that likes to play with the puck and so our focus has been on the play without it and when we do that well, good things happen. That was the result that we earned, this weekend we did the right things away from the puck and we took advantage of the chances that we got.”
On the Power Play
“We were good on entry and recovered pucks really well, and when you do those things you give yourself a chance on the power play. Right now, both groups are feeling pretty good about themselves so it’s always nice to see some of that hard work pay off on the power play.”
On Shae Labbe
“[Shae’s] been great, she’s seeing results for her game and she’s just going out and playing. When she does that, she’s tough to stop and that goes for everyone in the lineup. It’s not just Shae, when our kids our just playing and their playing fast and free, good things come of it. Right now, we’re seeing Shae play some of her best hockey.”
Junior forward Shae Labbe
On Sunday’s Win
“The whole team was just doing the little things right and when we do that the big things come, and that obviously showed with not only my play but the entire team’s play.”
On Her Power Play Unit
“We’re confident in the people we got out there and we’re just playing free. That’s the most important thing, we’re just connecting and making plays that we see. That’s why things are working for us.”
On Sweeping Northeastern
“It shows us that we can beat any team as long as we do the little things that are important.”
UP NEXT
Colgate wraps up its six-game homestand to kick off the 2017-18 season next weekend when the Raiders host the Mercyhurst Lakers for a two-game series on Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m.
