Facing off against the 0-2 Brown Bears on November 2 in front of more than 1,100 fans at the Class of 1965 Arena, the Colgate Raiders came away with a draw, putting their record at 2-3-1 (0-0-1 in ECAC play). The game was close throughout, leading up to an intense finish.

Five minutes into the second period, junior forward and captain Bobby McMann scored, assisted by senior forward Adam Dauda. The Bears, however, answered late in the period. The Bears scored at the 13:30 minute mark in the second period to tie it up, and again scored with five seconds left in the period to take the lead. McMann scored again early in the third period during a power play to tie the game, once again. He was assisted by fellow junior forward and captain Jared Cockrell. Unfortunately, neither the Raiders nor the Bears were able to score again, leaving both teams with a draw.

“[McMann] had two really great individual efforts. We had some great opportunities tonight, but we need to play more together. I think when you struggle to score goals, like we have been the last couple of games, guys have a tendency to try too hard so we just need to do a better job at keeping it simple,” head coach Don Vaughn said.

“Overall, it might end up being a big point in the standings at the end of the year, but I think Brown played really hard tonight.”

As the clock wound down on the third period, physicality increased, with both teams looking for that extra edge. Despite the elevation in intensity and a couple broken sticks, the game ended with only seven combined penalties. The Raiders had four power play opportunities, but they were only able to score during one of them.

“For tomorrow, our power play has to get better and we have to find ways to score on the power play. Yale is a team who plays fast, so we’ll have to be prepared for that. They have a couple of great individuals, and we’ll have to be aware when they’re on the ice. We have to continue to refine our game, and it comes back to winning your one-on-one battles,” Vaughan said.

The Raiders tried to rebound against the Yale Bulldogs the next day, November 3. The Bulldogs entered the game with a 1-1 record.

Despite the motivation to get their first conference win, the Raiders lost, dropping the game 4-2. The Bulldogs scored three goals in the first period, two coming off of power plays. This deficit proved too much to overcome for Colgate. Sophomore defenseman Nick Austin’s second period goal (13:21), assisted by Dauda and McMann, attempted to start a comeback that was quickly put out of reach as the Bulldogs scored their fourth and final goal three minutes later. Sophomore forward Tyler Jeanson scored in the third period (9:25), with assists by sophomore forward Tyler McKechney and sophomore defenseman Trevor Cosgrove, to make the game 4-2.