HAMILTON, N.Y. (2/4/06) - Cornell junior Mark McCutcheon scored with 39 seconds left to lift the No. 5/5 Big Red to a 3-2 win against No. 17 Colgate on Friday, Feb. 4, at Starr Rink. With the victory, Cornell takes over first place in the league standings and holds a one-point lead on Colgate, which drops to second.
The Big Red worked the puck deep into the Colgate end. After a scramble in the corner, Chris Abbott gained control of the puck and passed it to McCutcheon, who was cycling off the top of the faceoff circle. McCutcheon put a low shot on net and beat Raider goaltender Mark Dekanich (North Vancouver, B.C.) five-hole to steal the win.
Cornell entered the third period with a 2-1 lead, but Colgate refused to go away. The Raiders got the equalizer from senior Kyle Wilson (London, Ont.) when he netted his second goal of the game and 20th of the season at the 12:46 mark. Colgate was playing 5-on-3 after Cornell took back-to-back penalties. Sophomore Jesse Winchester (Long Sault, Ont.) pushed the puck out to senior captain Jon Smyth (Markham, Ont.) along the right boards. Cornell double-teamed Smyth, which enabled him to get the puck to Wilson who was wide open in the high slot. Wilson danced in on Big Red goalie David McKee, and beat him over his blocker.
Cornell got on the board first for the second night in a row, this time early in the first period. A fast breakout out of the zone resulted in a 3-on-2 opportunity, with all three Raider forwards back-checking far behind the play. Abbott drew Colgate defenseman Mike Campaner (Thunder Bay, Ont.) to the left and dropped the puck off for Raymond Sawada. The chance turned into a 2-on-1 as Sawada passed to Doug Krantz, who got a shot off. As the puck traveled toward the net, Abbott, who had planted himself on the doorstep, tipped it in.
Colgate tied it up with less than four minutes to play in the opening frame. Freshman Nick St. Pierre (St. Etienne, Que.) stripped the puck away from the Big Red in the neutral zone and sent it ahead for junior Marc Fulton (Vancouver, B.C.). Fulton dished it to Wilson as he entered the zone. Wilson drew his defender to the right and fired a shot from the slot, beating McKee’s blocker.
The Big Red used a late second-period goal to go up 2-1. Mitch Carefoot won the puck out of the corner and sent it out to Dan Glover at the point. Glover quickly passed to a wide-open Daniel Pegoraro, who scored back-door on Dekanich.
McKee made 21 saves to seal the win, while Dekanich posted 22 stops in the losing effort. The Big Red outshot Colgate 25-23, and earned a 41-31 advantage in the faceoff circle.
The Raiders travel to the North Country next weekend for key league games at St. Lawrence and Clarkson. Colgate visits the Saints, who are currently five points behind the Raiders in fifth place, on Friday. The next night, Colgate plays the Golden Knights, who are currently in a tie for ninth place with 13 points, 10 points behind the Raiders. Both games start at 7:00 p.m.
