As Colgate students welcomed their families on Parent’s Weekend, the men’s ice hockey team did the same for the visiting Maine Black Bears. The weekend featured a double header against this out-of-conference opponent on October 28 and 29. The Raiders have yet to secure a win this season, but after this weekend they were finally able to tally one.  

The first game on Friday night got off to a rough start for the Raiders, as the Black Bears came out ready to play; they outshot Colgate 15-7 in the first period alone. With senior veteran Charlie Finn in net, the Raiders were successfully able to mitigate Maine’s offensive push, and the period ended as it had begun, 0-0. In the second period, however, Maine first-year forward Chase Pearson scored during a man advantage. In the same period, the Raiders had two power play opportunities but were unable to score following the first Maine goal. With more than two minutes to go in the second, Maine junior forward Nolan Vesey deflected a shot taken by defenseman Rob Michel from the slot and was able to beat Finn. 

The third period belonged to the Raiders, as the team evened the scoreline

thanks to goals from first-year forwards Tyler Penner and Bobby McMann. Penner’s goal came on the power play 41 seconds into the third period, the first of his collegiate career. McMann beat Maine sophomore goalie Rob McGovern off of a backhander, and was assisted by first-year forward John Snodgrass, ending the contest in a hard fought 2-2 draw.

Saturday night’s showdown against Maine displayed the performance that coach Don Vaughan was looking for all season. 

“We wanted to be hard on pucks and push the pace of play.  I thought we did a very good job of that for two and a half periods. As a result we spent more time in their end than ours. I thought collectively it was our best effort so far this season,” Vaughan said.

The Raiders came out hot in the first period, when junior forward Hunter Racine got his own rebound and buried a wraparound in the first three minutes of the game to give the Raiders a 1-0 advantage. Less than four minutes later, Dauda beat Maine senior net-minder Matt Morris on a rebound with assists coming from McMann and Snodgrass. With a 2-0 lead, the Raiders went on a power play with 8:47 left in the first. Maine first-year forward Ryan Smith picked off a pass from senior defenseman Jake Kulevich and took it down the ice, beating Finn to cut the Raider lead in half. 

The Raiders answered with less than five minutes to play in the first, with senior forward Andrew Black picking up his first goal of the season. At the end of the first, the Raiders held a 3-1 advantage. The second period was scoreless, but the Raiders controlled the pace of play. The save of the game came from Finn with just over five minutes left in the period. Finn has been an extremely valuable asset to the Raiders’ success so far this season, and both of these games showcase that fact.  

The third period was quite eventful, as a total of four goals were tallied, two from each team. The Raiders gave up the first two, making the game even at three until the 16:06 mark, where sophomore defenseman Willie Brooks put in a rebound on a power play to score the game winner and his first of the season. 

Kulevich punctuated the first win for the Raiders at the Class of 1965 Arena by sending one all the way down the ice into an empty net. Colgate won the game 5-3, and went 1-0-1 on the weekend. 

“We definitely feel a sense of relief, but I think it’s more so a launching point for us. We know we have the potential to be a great team when everyone is playing the way they can,” Dauda said.

The next games for the Raiders will come on November 4 and 5, visiting Harvard and Dartmouth. This marks the beginning of the ECAC schedule. The Raiders hope to take the momentum from the Family Weekend win to Cambridge and build upon their first victory of the 2016-2017 campaign.