Colgate’s run to the ECAC Hockey Championship was halted on Saturday night by Union in front of 4,850 fans at Herb Brooks Arena.
The Raiders (20-13-5) are still alive for an NCAA Tournament berth, which will be determined tomorrow at 12 noon on ESPNU.
Colgate scored both of its goals in the third period with Spiro Goulakos and Darcy Murphy adding the pair of tallies. Charlie Finn made a total of 24 saves in the game with 12 coming in the second period. Tyson Spink and Goulakos were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Union (28-6-4) scored the game’s first four goals and claimed its third-consecutive conference tournament title. Daniel Carr led the way with three points on a goal and two helpers. Max Novak tallied a goal and an assist.
“I am very proud of our team,” head coach Don Vaughan said. “I thought we competed hard. If we could have gotten one or two in the first period, the game may have played out differently.”
The first period was all Colgate as the Raiders dominated with a 16-5 shot advantage, but couldn’t solve Colin Stevens, who finished with 31 stops. He made all 16 saves in the opening frame to help Union earn the title.
The Dutchmen opened it up in the second period with three goals. Matt Hatch starting the scoring with a rebound tally in front. Shayne Gostisbehere took a shot that deflected off of Kevin Sullivan and the puck fell to Hatch and he chipped it over Finn’s pad to make it 1-0.
Colgate was called for only its second penalty of the entire game with 6:18 left in the second and the Dutchmen capitalized. It took only nine seconds on the power play for Carr to blast one from the faceoff circle to give Union a 2-0 advantage. For Carr, it was his 22nd goal of the season.
Daniel Ciampini put the Dutchmen up 3-0 less than two minutes later with his 19th of the year. Carr and Jeff Taylor assisting on the play. Union turned the tides on the Raiders in the second, earning a 15-8 shot advantage.
“I thought we had some good looks early that didn’t go,” Vaughan said. “Obviously they came really hard in the second period and I thought again in the third we had some opportunities that didn’t go.“
The scoring for the Dutchmen continued into the third with Mike Vecchione scoring 7:30 into the final frame to give Union a commanding 4-0 lead. The Dutchmen broke into the zone on a 3-on-1 chance. Vecchione got the puck in the slot and he snuck one under the outstretched pads of Finn.
Colgate got one back to make it 4-1 with Goulakos scoring with 7:11 left in the game. The Raiders showed off their great passing and then Ryan Johnston found the captain all alone on the left side. The junior hit the open net as Stevens had no shot at stopping it and the shutout was over.
Vaughan rolled the dice and it paid off with 2:44 left in the game. He decided to pull Finn early for the extra attacker and Murphy took advantage with his 19th of the year. Jake Kulevich did a great job possessing the puck in the offensive zone and found Murphy for the score and it was his eighth assist.
Union sealed the deal with an empty-netter coming from Novak with 2:13 left in the game to close out the scoring at 5-2.
Colgate went 0-for-4 on the power play, while Union cashed in once on two chances. The Raiders had a 33-29 shot advantage.
“Union is a complete team and we knew that coming in,” Vaughan said. “I was just really pleased with our effort. I think our body of work this year from start to finish has been really special and that speaks a lot to the character in our locker room. I don’t think a lot of people expected us to be in this position at the start of the year.”
Vaughan is hoping for the season to continue and the experts around the country have the Raiders in the NCAA Tournament. He has really enjoyed this year’s team and doesn’t want the season to end.
“I love this team,” Vaughan added. “I love coming to the rink everyday and that is a pretty special feeling for coach.”
Colgate will be glued to a television somewhere in Lake Placid tomorrow at noon as the field is announced on ESPNU.
