The Raiders traveled eastward this past weekend to the Albany area for an ECAC road stand. After picking up a victory against the Union Dutchmen Friday, the Raiders fell to No. 10 Rensselaer Engineers. Facing the Dutchmen Friday night, the Raiders found themselves in an early hole down two goals after just seven minutes of play in the first period. With first-year Charlie Finn in net, the Dutchmen swarmed the Raiders defense and attacked the net.

The Raiders found themselves shorthanded and with nine seconds remaining, sophomore center Mike Borkowski found fellow line mate sophomore right wing Darcy Murphy for the goal. The Raiders headed into the locker room only down one goal as the period came to a close. As the second period got underway, the Raiders came out looking to tie up the game. At the five minute mark, the Raiders offense got going as the all sophomore line worked their magic. Tyson Spink and Kyle Baun did their best and found Tylor Spink who scored for the Raiders to tie up the game at two.

After both teams killed off power plays midway through the period, the Dutchmen regained the lead with just four minutes remaining in the period. As the second period came to a close, the Raiders found themselves down one goal with only one period remaining.Coming out for the third period, the Raiders struck early as Borkowski and junior left wing Joe Wilson found Murphy for his second goal of the game. Murphy finished with a +3 on the night, and his goal helped tilt momentum in favor of the road team. Just five minutes later, the Raiders lethal power play converted as junior captain Spiro Goulakos and Tyson Spink worked the puck to find Borkowski who scored to give the Raiders their first lead of the game.

The Raiders were forced to fight off a hooking penalty from first-year defenseman Jake Kulevich but the remainder of the game remained scoreless until the Dutchmen pulled their goalie in a final effort to tie up the game. Those efforts were futile, as Tylor Spink found the empty net for his second goal of the game with Murphy and brother Tyson picking up assists. The Raiders held on for a 5-3 victory thanks in part to a big game from Murphy, who has been a key scorer for the Raiders this season.

The next night, the Raiders faced off against the nationally-ranked Rensselaer Engineers. The Raiders put up a fight, but the Engineers high-octane offense was too much. The Engineers got on the board quickly as they scored two goals in the first 10 minutes of the first period. Unable to convert on a five minute major penalty in the first, the Raiders headed to the locker room down 2-0 after the first frame. As they came out for the second, it appeared to be more of the same as the Engineers tallied their third of the game at the 1:46 mark. When the Raiders received their second five minute power play of the game, they finally converted, with Borkowski and Tyson Spink finding Tylor Spink for the goal. At 3-1, the Raiders looked to gain some momentum.

The Raiders shortly after picked up their third five minute power play of the game, but could not convert and headed into the second intermission down two goals. The Engineers came out firing in the third period looking to ice the game, Scoring two goals before the six minute mark helped extend their lead to 5-1, and converting on their power play with eight minutes remaining put the score at 6-1. Late in the game, however, senior center Mike McCann found first-year Andrew Black who scored his third goal of the season. Despite their late goal, the Raiders fell to the Engineers 6-2.

The Raiders stay on the road this coming weekend as they travel even farther upstate to take on St. Lawrence Friday, November 12, and Clarkson Saturday, November 13 with both match ups at 7 p.m.”Clarkson and SLU are both nationally ranked teams,” Murphy said of the upcoming competition. “This is a big weekend for us, and we need to come home with a couple of wins.”       

Contact Spencer Serling at [email protected]