Men’s Hockey Sweeps Weekend, Bests Ivy League Foes

A+Valiant+Effort

A Valiant Effort

Coming into this past weekend’s game, the men’s hockey team had lost three games on the trot and were looking to get back on track against their talented rivals, Cornell. The challenge of facing such a formidable opponent became evident in the first period.  

Cornell’s forechecking was effective and Colgate had no answer for it. The Raider defensemen were under immense pressure and the Big Red created several great scoring opportunities by forcing turnovers. Colgate’s senior goalkeeper, Charlie Finn, was under heavy pressure and did well to stop several shots on goal. Unfortunately, Colgate’s attack was flat to start the game and didn’t test the opposing netminder much. Cornell outplayed Colgate in basically every phase of the game and took a deserved 2-0 lead after the first 20 minutes.

The first five minutes of the second period were pivotal and changed the complexion of the game. Colgate looked sharper and began to take advantage of Cornell’s aggressive forecheck.  The Raiders’ quick passing and better positioning allowed Colgate to keep the puck and receive

great opportunities.

Colgate got its first chance when Cornell carelessly lost the puck. Colgate responded by getting a shot off on the unsuspecting goalkeeper. The puck trickled into the net, but the goal was immediately waved off, and Colgate was called for a tripping violation, committed by senior defender Jake Kulevich. Unfortunately for Colgate, Cornell would score on the ensuing power play.

With the score at 3-0, Colgate was still alive, as they were playing quite well and looked determined to score the next goal. The Raiders began to take the game back from Cornell as the puck was in Colgate’s attacking zone for much of the second period. Colgate’s efforts paid off when Cornell sophomore forward Mitch Vanderlaan was called for a tripping penalty. Colgate still had control of the puck during the delayed penalty, so Colgate’s goalkeeper rushed off the ice to give the Raiders a 6-on-5 advantage until Cornell could control the puck. Colgate brought the puck into the attacking zone and quickly sent it across the face of the goal. Though the puck was deflected by two Cornell players, it was quickly intercepted by Colgate and another shot was put on goal. However, around the time that the puck had been shot, a referee blew his whistle, claiming the puck had been controlled by Cornell, signaling no goal and the beginning of Colgate’s power play.  

On the ensuing power play, Colgate looked deflated and defeated, and they didn’t record any shots during the two-minute man advantage.  Despite the 3-0 deficit and the ineffective power play, Colgate was still in the game, as they continued to play while looking for their first goal of the game. Their best chance occurred about halfway through the second period, with a one-on-one breakaway against the keeper. Colgate’s shot was fired just wide and the chance was lost.  The rest of the second period consisted of both teams creating good scoring opportunities, but the goalkeepers were making saves and the shots were going wide. With less than three minutes left in the period, Cornell effectively finished the game off with a goal that the goalkeeper had no chance to save.

With the score at 4-0 to start the third period, neither team looked eager to score, and there was little to report from this period besides two penalties on Cornell players and Colgate continuing to struggle on the power play.  The game finished as a 4-0 loss, giving the Raiders their fourth loss in a row. Thankfully, over the weekend, Colgate snapped its losing skid with a 2-1 win over Brown and followed that up with an impressive 4-2 win over Yale.