HAMILTON – The Colgate men’s hockey team completed a
weekend sweep of two ranked teams as the Raiders shutout
17th-ranked Harvard, 1-0, on Saturday night at Starr Rink.
Colgate (6-6-1, 2-3-1 ECAC) got an all around effort from its
defense, including 25 saves from Spencer Finney to earn the
shutout. It was the first career shutout for the rookie and it came
in his second start of the year. Jeremy Price scored the lone goal
of the evening with assists to Joe Wilson and Kurtis Bartliff.
“I’m happy for Spencer, coming in and getting a shutout
against a really good team in his first season,” said head
coach Don Vaughan. “He made a big save at the end with their
goalie pulled and secured the win for us.”
Harvard (4-3-0, 3-3-0 ECAC) saw Raphael Girard come up with some
big saves to keep the Crimson in the game, but he was outdueled by
Finney tonight. Harvard had three power play opportunities,
including a five-minute man advantage, but couldn’t find a
way past Finney on seven shots.
After a slow start to the first period from both teams, the Raiders
turned up the pressure and it paid off with Price giving Colgate a
1-0 lead. Wilson found the defenseman at the left point. The senior
captain then ripped a slap shot through traffic and past the glove
of Girard top shelf with 6:45 left in the first. Wilson and
Bartliff were given assists on the play.
Harvard had its best opportunity following the goal with Alex
Fallstrom driving to the net and clanging one off the post and then
paid for it as he was knocked to the ice. Finney was solid in net,
making nine saves, while Girard pushed aside six Colgate shots.
The second period featured two power plays for the Raiders,
including a five-minute man advantage. Colgate had one great chance
with Tyson Spink chipping the puck just over the crossbar at the
right post. Girard then made two stops the rest of the way as the
Crimson killed it off.
In the third period, the Raiders had to start on the kill as a
five-minute major on Colgate carried over into the final frame.
Harvard had a chance to regroup in the locker room and had three
more minutes of time, but the Raider kill was just too good tonight
and was able to keep the visitors off the board.
“Our penalty killing was exceptional this weekend and it
was huge tonight,” said Vaughan. “Brad Dexter has done
a great job with that group and they had a lot of confidence
tonight. When they went over the wall, they were expecting to kill
off the penalty. It was a great effort on the ice and the kill was
a main part of that.”
The final minute was a bit of scramble for Colgate as Harvard
pulled Girard for the extra attacker. Fallstrom had the first good
chance, but was denied by Finney. The biggest save of the night,
however, came in the final seconds. There was a loose puck in front
and multiple sticks fanned on the puck, but Patrick McNally
connected. His shot fluttered to Finney’s right and he was
able to knock it out of mid air with his stick to earn the
shutout.
“Defensively, I thought we played really well and our core
defenseman did a great job,” said Vaughan. “Once again
Thomas Larkin and Jeremy Price led the way back there. I was also
pleased to see that when we were up 1-0 late in the third period we
were still generating scoring opportunities. It shows that we are
playing to win and not sitting back.”
The Crimson outshot the Raiders, 25-22, in the game and both teams
went scoreless on the power plays. Harvard had three chances, while
Colgate had two.
The Raiders will be back on the road this coming week for a single
game at Merrimack at 4 p.m. on Friday night. The game will be shown
live on Fox College Sports.
NOTES: The last time Colgate won a 1-0 shutout was in 2009 at
Dartmouth with David McIntyre ’10 scoring the gamewinner
… Finney has not let in a goal in his last four periods, all
of which came this weekend … had his first two wins of his
career come against ranked opponents … Price scored his
second goal of the weekend … Colgate scored first for the
sixth time this season … Raiders did not allow a power play
goal for the fifth time this year.