Spink Hat Trick Pounds Princeton, 6-1
Tyson Nets Three in Key Road Win as No. 19 Raiders Move into Second-Place Tie
PRINCETON, N.J. – It’s a Hobey house of horrors no more.
Tyson Spink scored his first collegiate hat trick and Charlie Finn stopped 24 shots as 19th-ranked Colgate breezed past Princeton 6-1 here Friday night.
The Raiders improved to 2-0-2 in their last four games and climbed into a second-place tie in the ECAC Hockey standings. They did so by reversing their recent fortunes at Hobey Baker Arena, where Colgate had lost its last three visits and four of its last five at the fabled hockey barn.
“After the tie last Saturday, as soon as the game ended, we turned our attention and our focus to this game,” Raiders head coach Don Vaughan said. “It’s a building we’ve not had a lot of success in. There’s no denying that; it’s not a secret.
“So we talked about it immediately, the guys had a great week of practice and they were feeling pretty good coming in here.”
Spink looked to be feeling the best, because the sophomore winger needed only 2 minutes and 12 seconds to begin the top goal-scoring night of his collegiate career. His early strike staked the Raiders to a 1-0 lead and led to Colgate’s third hat trick of the season.
“I was going tonight,” Spink said. “I had a lot of chances around the net. Give credit to my linemates; they played really well, Ty and Baun. Our entire team skated really well tonight and that was a big difference.
One in Each Period
Spink scored a goal in each period and his linemates assisted on all three: Kyle Baun in the first and twin brother Tylor Spink in the second and third. Tyson’s night was almost even crazier as he hit a post late in the first period.
“He and his brother find each other, and with Kyle Baun there’s a lot of chemistry,” Vaughan said. “Kyle separates the puck from the opposition and the other two guys just seem to find each other in traffic.
“They did that again tonight. They’re fun to watch.”
Princeton’s only interruption to the Colgate onslaught came when Jack Berger scored from right in front at 9:17 of the second period. But Tyson Spink answered with his second goal just a minute and a half later to put the Raiders in front for keeps.
They took command with a four-goal third, started by Mike Borkowski scoring just 1:10into the period. Princeton committed a 5-minute major penalty a minute later and Spink completed his hat trick at 3:39. Ryan Johnston added a goal at 6:14 and then Joe Wilson scored on a breakaway with six minutes left to cap the scoring.
Another Four-Goal Third
That four-goal period matched the team’s best 20-minute stretch of the season, duplicating the four-goal third in a carbon-copy 6-1 win over Cornell just two weeks ago.
“We played a good game from start to finish,” Vaughan said. “We were a little bit snake-bitten around the net in the first, and then Princeton had some energy in the second.
“Scoring early in the third was big for us and then, obviously, the five-minute major turned the tide completely. But getting that goal early in the third was big for us.”
Charlie Finn improved his ECAC Hockey record to 10-2-3 and won his 12th start overall. The freshman was surrounded by quality defense all night, and Colgate’s offensive pressure was such that he saw only four Princeton shots in the third period.
“The D and the forwards did a really phenomenal job letting me see the puck and taking away secondary scoring chances,” Finn said. “It was mostly one-and-dones, which makes a goaltender’s job a lot easier.
“We felt very good coming into this game. Obviously, we tied two very competitive teams last weekend. But whether this team is in last place or second place, there’s so much parity in this league that they’re still a very talented team. They have a couple of looks on the power play and they can sting you if you’re not on top of your game.”
In addition to the Spink duo, Wilson also had a two-point night by assisting on Johnston’s goal. Other assists went to Darcy Murphy on Borkowski’s goal, and Brendan Corcoran and John Lidgett on the Wilson nightcap.
“Coming in we knew this was a big game for us,” Tyson Spink said. “We didn’t have a very good outing in this rink last year, so we needed to work hard and we played a really good team game tonight.
“Coach was stressing that we needed to work hard and out-compete these guys, and we did that.
56-Shot Night
Colgate outshot Princeton 56-25 and finished with four penalties for eight minutes to the Tigers’ nine for 29. Colton Phinney took the loss for Princeton, allowing five goals before being relieved by Ryan Benitez for the final 12½ minutes.
“The game’s physical and our guys did a good job holding their composure, especially when you get up by that many goals,” Vaughan said. “But I was proud of our effort. Jake Kulevich on the back end had a really good night for us and we closed quickly in our own zone. We were able to get it out of our end quickly and out of trouble.
“Overall, I was happy.”
Vaughan also had to be pleased that it was such a good night for Colgate in the ECAC Hockey standings – in both directions.
Looking forward, the Raiders pulled into a dead heat with Quinnipiac, which lost 2-1Friday at home to Cornell and now hosts Colgate in a head-to-head battle for second place Saturday at 7 p.m. in Hamden, Conn. The Raiders also moved four points clear of the fifth-place team after Clarkson was blanked at Union. Yale takes over fifth with 21 points and only three games remaining.
Colgate improved to 15-11-5 overall and 11-5-3 in conference play. The top four regular season finishers earn a first-round bye.
“We’ve got a great group,” Vaughan said. “It’s the best team I think I’ve ever had in terms of the character in the room and the camaraderie. We’ve had some great teams, but this one’s really special.”
