HAMILTON – Jake Kulevich tallied a power-play goal late in the second period to break a 1-1 tie and lift Colgate to a 2-1 victory over Union in ECAC Hockey action Saturday at Starr Rink.
Tyson Spink also scored for the Raiders, who took advantage of another solid effort from goaltender Charlie Finn to close out the 56-year-old home of the Raiders with a win. Colgate moves into the brand-new Class of 1965 Arena for the start of the 2016-17 season.
Kulevich’s decisive tally came during a 4-on-3 power play opportunity late in the middle frame. Kevin Lough played the puck to Kulevich at the top of the point, where he fired a snap shot that beat Union keeper Jake Kupsky above his left pad for his fourth goal of the season.
Finn made Kulevich’s man-advantage marker stand up, stopping 33 of the 34 shots fired in his direction during the contest.
The two teams traded goals during a 3:02 span early in the first period. Tyson Spink opened the scoring just 3:41 into the game, putting home a goalmouth feed for his 13th goal of the season. Union tied the game at 1-1 before the game was seven minutes old on a Sebastian Vidmar wrap around.
Bottom Line
Colgate 2, Union 1
Won-Lost Records
– Colgate finished the regular season with an overall record of 10-22-2 and an ECAC Hockey ledger of 6-14-2
– Union wraps up its regular season with a record of 13-12-9 and 6-10-6.
Key Raider Info
– Kulevich’s game-winning goal was the third this season. Of the nine goals scored by Kulevich during his career, five have been game-winners.
– Tyson Spink scored his team-leading 13th goal with his first-period tally. Spink increased his team-leading point total to 35 (13g,22a).
– Tylor Spink extended his point-scoring streak to four games with an assist on brother Tyson’s first-period goal. Tylor remains second on the team in scoring with 30 points (11g,19a).
– Tim Harrison stretched his point-scoring streak to three games with an assist on Tyson Spink’s goal.
Inside the Box Score
– Union out-shot Colgate, 34-23, for the contest. The Dutchmen held the shot edge in all three periods (12-11, 15-11 & 7-1).
– Colgate was 1-for-5 on the power play while Union was 0-for-4 with the man advantage. The Raiders fired seven shots in 9:27 of power play time while the Dutchmen fired 10 shots in 9:11 with the man advantage.
– Colgate held a 28-27 edge in faceoffs. Tylor Spink was 12-of-18 at the dot to lead the Raiders.
– Darcy Murphy led all players with seven shot attempts while three players – Ryan Scarfo, J.C. Brassard and Cole Maier – tallied a team-best four shots each for Union.
Up Next
– Colgate is the No. 10 seed for the 2016 ECAC Hockey Tournament and will play in the first round of the event next weekend. The opponent will be determined upon the completion of regular season play on Saturday.
– The best-of-three series begins March 4.
– Be sure to visit GoColgateRaiders.com for more information.
