The Colgate men’s hockey team tied 2-2 with Harvard and lost 2-0 against Dartmouth last weekend.

In their first game of the weekend on Friday, the Raiders found themselves up against a nationally ranked opponent. No. 12 Harvard was bound to give the Raiders a tough game, and as such the Raiders knew they would have to play their best hockey.

The Raiders were able to get out to an early lead in the first period. First-year

defender Ross Craig scored his first career goal on a power play, making it Colgate’s sixth consecutive game with a power play goal. First-year forward Jared Cockrell and junior forward Evan Peterson were both credited with assists on Craig’s first period icebreaker. The goal came with 9:48 to play in the first.

The game remained scoreless through the second period, and the Raiders managed to maintain their one-goal lead for more than half of the third period. However, with just over 7:00 to play, Harvard was finally able to get on the board to tie the game at 1-1. The goal came on a re-direction just below the crossbar and would eventually stand after being reviewed.

The score remained tied for the remainder of regulation and throughout the overtime period. The Raiders impressed in many aspects of the game, but no one was more vital to the team’s success than senior goaltender Charlie Finn, who saved 41 of 42 shots including four crucial saves in overtime, which propelled the Raiders to an impressive tie to open ECAC hockey play. 

Head Coach Don Vaughan commented on the confidence-building aspect of the team’s play. Vaughan also alluded to the importance of Finn’s solid goaltending against Harvard’s power play unit.

“To come in here and get a point the way we did to start league play will help our team from a confidence standpoint,” Vaughn said. “Your best penalty killer has to be your goalie and Charlie certainly was tonight.” 

In their second game to finish the first weekend of ECAC play, the Raiders took on Dartmouth. The two teams found themselves locked in another tight, and in this case, scoreless battle for much of the game. After a myriad of great defensive plays by both teams through most of the contest, the tie was finally broken as Dartmouth scored with just 2:16 left in regulation. Dartmouth added an empty-netter with 43 seconds to go to extend their lead to 2-0 and seal the deal. 

Though the Raiders were not able to come out with a win against the Big Green, the team could still take away many positives from Saturday’s game. Finn once again was superb, making 26 saves, 11 of which came during the

Raider’s penalty kill. Colgate went eight for eight on the penalty kill, increasing their percentage to 89.2 percent for the season. 

Coach Vaughan spoke about the team’s penalty killing unit, attesting to Assistant Coach Juliano Pagliero’s role in the penalty kill’s recent success.

“Juliano Pagliero spends a lot of time with our penalty kill guys. He did a great job – he’s doing a lot of coaching from the bench and the guys are buying into it,” Vaughan said. 

After finishing the ECAC opening weekend with a loss, the Raiders will look to rebound as they hit the road again to take on Yale Friday, followed by Brown on Saturday. The Raiders look to capture two victories against these Ivy League opponents and gain momentum in ECAC league play.