This past week, Colgate’s men’s ice hockey put up a strong fight against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Friday, February 3rd and Union College on Saturday, February 4th. Despite the Raiders’ best efforts they ultimately fell to Rensselaer 5-2 and Union 3-1.

    In Colgate’s away game against Rensselaer at Houston Field House, the Engineers were able to take a 1-0 lead four minutes into the first period of the game. Early on in the second period, Colgate junior forward Evan Peterson scored a goal, tying the game at 1-1. Still, Rensselaer was able to take back their lead at 2-1 with 13:57 left in the period. The Raiders tied up the game once again with Peterson’s second goal of the game. The Engineers responded to the Raider comeback with a goal of their own, once again regaining their one-goal lead with 1:36 left in the period. Rensselaer was then able to extend its lead to 4-2 with 5:24 left in the third period before scoring another goal, winning the game 5-2.

    Despite the loss, there were many Raider highlights during the game. Peterson tallied his second two-goal game and now has five goals this season and senior goalie Charlie Finn passed Mark Dekanich ‘08 with his 119th career game played for the most games played by a goaltender in program history. Additionally, senior defender Jake Kulevich extended his team lead with his twelfth assist and fifteenth point of the season.

    The team fought hard again on Saturday night against Union College at Messa Rink, but ultimately could not get the desired result. Union claimed the lead early on in the game by scoring with 14:37 to go in the first period. However, the Raiders were able to tie the game three and a half minutes later with first-year forward Tyler Penner’s second goal of the season. After a lot of back and forth in the third period of the game, Union was once again able to regain their one point lead at 2-1 with 7:21 left in the game. The Dutchmen were able to score another goal with 23.8 seconds left in the third period, ending the game with a 3-1 win for Union.

    There were many Raider highlights in the Union game as well. Senior defender Brett Corkey tied his career-high with his tenth assist and set a new career-high with his fifteenth point of the season to tie for the team lead. Sophomore forward Hunter Racine recorded Colgate’s other assist on Penner’s goal, his third of the season and seventh point. Despite the Raiders’ losses,

Peterson remains  optimistic.

    “We didn’t come away with the results we wanted this weekend but I like the direction our team is heading in and we made some positive steps forward,” Peterson said.

   Colgate takes to the ice once again on Tuesday, February 7 in Ithaca, New York to take on nationally ranked No. 16 rival Cornell at 7 p.m. at Lynah Rink.