With the victory, Colgate (16-9-6, 12-5-2 ECACHL) takes sole possession of second place in the ECACHL standings, one point behind Cornell which beat Dartmouth, 3-1, in Ithaca. The Raiders can clinch a first-round bye in the upcoming ECACHL playoffs with a win against the Big Green on Saturday.

Sophomore Tyler Burton (Langley, B.C.) scored his fifth game-opening goal of the season 4:37 into the first period. Colgate tested out a new power-play set-up that had Wilson wheeling around at the top of the right circle several times, each time getting the puck to Burton, who would attempt a shot from the right side. After several attempts with this play, Wilson got the puck from freshman Nick St. Pierre (St. Etienne, Que.), wheeled around and passed to Burton. This time, Burton was able to bury the puck top-shelf.

Harvard responded with a power-play goal less than 3:30 later. After working the puck into the zone, the Crimson got the puck to Dylan Reese at the point. Reese shot in and the puck deflected off Alex Meintel, then bounced off Kevin Du’s skate and into the net stick-side.

Colgate got a huge momentum boost as time was winding down in the opening frame. Harvard iced the puck, which set up a faceoff to the right of Crimson starting netminder John Daigneau. Wilson won the draw toward the boards, where St. Pierre picked up the puck. St. Pierre fired the puck toward the net from a very low angle, and junior Marc Fulton (Vancouver, B.C.), who was standing in front of the crease with a man on him, tipped it in.

Daigneau was replaced by Justin Tobe to start the second period, and neither team allowed a goal during the middle frame. When the third period started, however, it didn’t take long for Colgate to generate some more offense. Early in the session, freshman Tom Riley (Nepean, Ont.) won a faceoff in the offensive zone to Wilson in the corner. Wilson centered the puck to classmate Zac Tataryn (Ottawa, Ont.), who one-timed it low past Tobe.

Colgate’s re-vamped power play struck again just over the midway point of the third period. Once again, St. Pierre passed the puck to Wilson, who wheeled around the top of the right circle, then shot from the high slot. Sophomore Jesse Winchester (Long Sault, Ont.) deflected it in front for his 12th goal of the season, and seventh power-play tally.

Colgate sophomore goaltender Mark Dekanich (North Vancouver, B.C.) earned the win between the pipes with 29 saves, including 14 in the third period. Daigneau had eight saves in the first period, and Tobe made 24 over the final two frames, including 16 in the third. The Raiders outshot the Crimson, 36-30, and improved to 11-0-1 this season when recording more shots than their opponents. Colgate also won the battle in the faceoff circle, earning the puck on 41 of 67 attempts in the game. Burton led the Raiders with 16 wins on 23 attempts.

Colgate will attempt to clinch a first-round bye when it hosts Dartmouth on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7:00 p.m. The game will be televised live on Time Warner Sports channel 26 in central and northern New York.