Larkin Goes for Gold with Team Italy
HAMILTON, N.Y. – Once Colgate's
season came to an end in March, sophomore Thomas
Larkin went overseas and made the Italian National Team
and will be playing in one of his biggest games in his career on
Saturday.
The defenseman earned a spot on to the squad in the beginning of
April and is now playing in the International Ice Hockey Federation
Division IA Championship in Budapest, Hungary. The Italians are 3-0
going their final game against the home country of Hungary. The two
teams will face off on Saturday with the gold medal on the line and
the winner earning a promotion to the Top Division, which features
Canada, Russia and the United States, to name a few.
The tournament is set up as a round robin with Spain, Italy,
Holland, South Korea and Hungary competing. The final game for the
Italians is a matchup between the only two undefeated teams in the
tournament.
The round robin began for Italy with a matchup against Spain. The
Italians had to grind it out and narrowly escaped with a 2-0 win.
After a scoreless first period, Italy got on the board with 11
minutes left in the second period with a power play goal and then
added a second goal with the man advantage in the third period to
earn the win. Larkin put one shot on net in the third period and
helped Italy pitch a shutout in its first game.
Next up was Holland and the Italians were able to squeeze out a
3-2 win. Larkin and his teammates jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in
the first period, but The Netherlands fought back with two of their
own. Italy then earned their first win with the gamewinner coming
seven minutes into the second period. Larkin posted three shots on
defense in the win.
The last game for Larkin was one is going to remember for a while.
The Italians earned a comfortable 6-0 win over South Korea on
Wednesday. Larkin's home country built up a 3-0 lead after two
periods of play with one coming on the power play. The highlight,
however, was coming in the third period. With the squad already up
4-0, Larkin netted his first goal in international competition and
ironically it came as a shorthanded goal, which is one he has yet
to score for the Raiders. He posted two shots in the game and a
plus-2 rating.
Larkin is one of two ECAC Hockey players in the tournament as
Quinnipiac's Mike Dalhuisen is playing for Holland. They are the
only U.S. college hockey players in the tournament as well. Another
interesting fact is that Hungary's Levente Szuper is a teammate of
former Colgate player Jason Williams with the Arizona Sundogs of
the CHL.
The game between Italy and Hungary is set for 7:30 p.m. local time
and with it six hours ahead it will take place at 1:30 p.m. eastern
standard time.
