The Colgate men’s hockey team hosted St. Lawrence and Clarkson last weekend, falling to the Saints, 5-2 and tying the Golden Knights, 3-3.

On Friday, December 5, the Raiders and St. Lawrence squared off in a nationally-televised game broadcast on the NHL Network through a Time Warner production. In the first period, Colgate came out hesitant and the Saints took advantage, pouring shot after shot on first-year goaltender Alex Evin. Their efforts came to fruition at the 5:42 mark when St. Lawrence forward Matt Generous finally slid one past Evin.

The goal, however, seemed to bring life to the Raiders, as they began to create more scoring opportunities at the opposing net. After many unsuccessful shots on goal, Colgate finally evened the score at the 16:24 mark when sophomore forward Brian Day, coming off an injury, scored his eighth goal of the season off assists from senior Captain and defenseman Nick St. Pierre and first-year defenseman Corbin McPherson.

The second period of the game was the sloppiest period that Colgate has played all year, as the Raiders seemed to lose hold of the momentum they had built at the end of the first period. Things went awry at the 8:36 mark when St. Lawrence scored its first goal of the period to take a 2-1 lead. Over the next 10:18, the Skating Saints piled on three more goals and took a demanding 5-1 lead going into the final period.

With its chances of victory slim, Colgate played its best hockey in the third period, yet it was not enough to mount a significant comeback. The Raiders played with more energy and took more shots on net, but didn’t convert until the 16:53 mark when junior forward David McIntyre scored on the power play off assists from senior Assistant Captain Tom Riley and senior defenseman Jason Fredricks. St. Lawrence outshot the Raiders, 37-17.

“When it comes to scoring, we just need to keep working on it and not get frustrated,” junior forward Ethan Cox said. “We are confident that we have the ability to score more goals, but it’s just not bouncing the right way for us right now. We need to stay focused on the positives.”

A different Colgate hockey team came out to play the following afternoon against Clarkson. From the opening whistle, the Raiders played with intensity that was lacking the night before. Their efforts were rewarded on a power-play goal at the 1:55 minute mark when Brian Day notched his ninth goal of the season off assists from Jason Fredricks and first-year forward Austin Smith.

The boys from Hamilton played with aggression and a sense of urgency, but were unable to stay out of the penalty box, giving Clarkson a power-play opportunity that did not go to waste. The Golden Knights knotted the score at one at the 10:43 mark. 20 seconds later, the Raiders recaptured the lead on a goal from sophomore forward Fran?cois Brisebois. Colgate took that 2-1 lead into the first intermission and held a 15-9 advantage in shots.

The second period did not start off well for the Raiders. 25 seconds into the period, Clarkson tied the score at two. For the next several minutes, the two teams played an entertaining back-and-forth game in which both teams had quality scoring chances only to be turned away by goaltenders. This style of play reflected what the Colgate-Clarkson series has become in recent years.

The Raiders broke the deadlock at the 9:17 mark as McIntyre scored off assists from Cox and Anderson. It was the first time since the Governor’s Cup semifinal against Robert Morris on October 24 that the Raiders scored more than two goals in a game. Ten minutes later, at the 19:21 mark, the Golden Knights would score the final goal of the game on a power play to tie it at 3-3.

The third period of the game was similar to the second period, with both teams anxious to get their first victory since the opening night of ECACHL play. The Raiders thought they had the best scoring opportunities, but were unable to edge their conference foe. The game went into an overtime period in which Colgate once again had more chances to score. Unfortunately, they were unable to finish, and the game ended in a 3-3 tie. It was the third ECACHL Saturday in a row in which the Raiders had surrendered a point after leading for most of the game. Furthermore, Colgate has not won a game since the ECACHL opener against Quinnipiac last month, leading to a winless streak of nine games at 0-6-3.

On a happier note, the always charitable and giving Colgate squad found time to host the third annual Christmas Toy Drive, an event that Cox has organized the past several years.

“I started freshman year,” Cox said. “It’s something that I did in high school and it’s something that my family and I value. The longer I’ve been at Colgate, the more I realize how lucky Colgate students are compared to many people living in the Central New York area. Our team has been given a great opportunity to be here, and this is our chance to give back to the community.”

The Raiders will have a three-week break for exams and vacation before they face the University of Maine on Saturday, December 27 in the semifinal matchup of the Florida College Classic in Estero, Florida at 4:05 p.m.