HAMILTON – Junior Tylor Spink and senior John Lidgett scored for Colgate, but No. 16 Quinnipiac notched four unanswered goals to post a 4-2 victory in ECAC Hockey action Saturday at Starr Rink.
Spink put the Raiders in front just 12 seconds into the contest with his fifth goal of the season, but the Bobcats used goals from Travis St. Denis and Andrew Taverner to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
Quinnipiac added to its lead in the second as Landon Smith and Tanner MacMaster scored 42 seconds apart to give the Bobcats a 4-1 cushion.
Lidgett trimmed the Raiders deficit to 4-2 with a goal at the 12:20 mark of the third, but that would be as close as the Raiders would get as the Bobcats held on for the two-goal victory.
Junior Michael Garteig recorded 31 saves for Quinnipiac while Sophomore Charlie Finn made 16 stops for Colgate.
Bottom Line
No. 16 Quinnipiac 4, No. 20 Colgate 2
Won-Lost Records
– No. 16 Quinnipiac improved to 18-8-2 overall and 13-2-1 in ECAC play as they maintained their five-point lead atop the league standings.
– No. 20 Colgate slipped to 15-10-3 on the season and 7-6-3 in conference play.
How It Happened
– Colgate jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 12 seconds into the contest. Senior Joe Wilson started the sequence by splitting the Quinnipiac defense and playing a shot that was stopped by Garteig, but Spink knocked home the rebound for his fifth goal of the season. Junior Ryan Johnston earned a secondary assist on the play.
– Quinnipiac would tie the game at 1-1 at the midway point of the opening frame when Travis St. Denis played a shot from the left end wall that trickled past Finn for his 13th marker of the season. Bo Pieper and Derek Smith earned assists on St. Denis’ equalizer, which with 10:05 gone in the period.
– Andrew Taverner staked the Bobcats to a 2-1 advantage at the 15:30 mark of the first, deflecting a point shot from Justin Agosta into the lower left hand corner of the net for his fourth goal of the season. K.J. Tiefenwerth was credited with a secondary assist on the play.
– Smith stretched the Quinnipiac margin to 3-1 at the 9:02 mark of the second when he put home a feed from Matthew Peca while the Bobcats were on the power play.
– MacMaster stretched the Quinnipiac advantage to 4-1 just 42 seconds later, finding the back of the cage for his third goal of the season. Kevin McKernan and Tim Clifton earned assists on MacMaster’s strike.
– Lidgett cut the Colgate deficit to 4-2 midway through the third period. After a point shot from sophomore Anthony Sanniti went wide of the net, sophomore Tim Harrison retrieved the puck in the corner and played it to Lidgett, who fired a slap shot from the left faceoff circle under the crossbar for his fourth goal of the season.
Inside The Box Score
– Colgate out-shot Quinnipiac, 33-20. The Raiders held the edge in shots in all three periods, highlighted by a 12-5 margin in the third.
– The Raiders enjoyed a 29-28 advantage at the faceoff circle. Lidgett and Tylor Spink both won 10 draws apiece to lead Colgate.
– Quinnipiac was 1-for-2 on the power play while Colgate was 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
– Tyson and Tylor Spink led Colgate with five shot attempts each while Travis St. Denis sent six shots on goal to pace Quinnipiac.
Key Raider Info
– With his first-period tally, Tylor Spink became the ninth Colgate player to record double digit points this season. He has 10 points in 13 games played this season.
– Johnston played in his 100th game in a Colgate uniform on Saturday. He is the fifth Raider player to reach the century mark this season (Baun, Tyson Spink, Gentlzer & and Lough).
– Sanniti picked up his second point in as many contests as he earned an assist on Lidgett’s third-period tally.
‘gate One Timers
– Colgate moved to 12-4-0 this season when scoring first.
– The Raiders slipped to 2-6-1 this season when trailing after the first period and 2-7-2 when behind after 40 minutes.
– Colgate slipped to 10-3-2 when out-shooting its opponent in 2014-15.
– The Raiders slipped to 10-4-2 when attempting 30 or more shots in a game this season.
– Colgate moved to 5-5-1 in 2014-15 when allowing a power play goal.
Up Next
– Colgate is back in action Feb. 13 when it travels to Boston for a 7 p.m. contest against No. 6 Harvard.
