Box Score

HAMILTON, N.Y. (2/15/08) - The Colgate men's hockey team got goals from its second, third, and fourth lines as it earned a 4-0 win over Rensselaer on Friday, Feb. 15, at Starr Rink. It was the second straight shutout for the Raiders over the Engineers, and gives Colgate a 12-12-5 overall record and 6-7-4 mark in ECAC Hockey play. RPI drops to 9-18-4 overall and 4-10-4 in the league.

The win moved Colgate head coach Don Vaughan into a tie for the school record for coaching victories with legendary bench boss Terry Slater, who coached Colgate from 1977 to 1992. The win was Vaughan's 251st, and he needs one more to pass Slater and becoming the winningest coach in Colgate hockey history.

Colgate senior goaltender Mark Dekanich (North Vancouver, B.C.) had to make just nine saves to earn his second consecutive shutout, and his fifth of the season, which ties the school record. He brings a scoreless streak of 152:14 into Saturday's game against Union. The streak ranks second in Colgate history behind Kurt Brown's run of 196:05 shutout minutes in 1962, a record that recently came to light. Dekanich's streak currently ranks 28th in NCAA history.

The Raiders, who outshot RPI 30-9 on the night, took a 1-0 lead 5:56 into the game. Senior Ben Camper (Rocky River, Ohio) sent a head-man pass to junior Nick St. Pierre (St. Etienne, Que.) through the neutral zone, and he carried it into the zone. St. Pierre left a drop pass between his legs at the top of the left circle, where junior Joe DeBello (Oswego, Ill.) picked it up. He took one step in, and used a wrist shot to beat RPI goalie Mathias Lange, stick-side, top-shelf. It was DeBello's second goal of the season, and the first game-winning tally of his career.

Early in the second frame, Colgate extended its lead when its second line combined for a goal. Freshman Brian Day (Danvers, Mass.) carried the puck into the zone and deep into the right corner, where he was pinned by an Engineer defenseman. Junior Tom Riley (Ottawa, Ont.) dug the puck out and passed it sophomore David McIntyre (Pefferlaw, Ont.). McIntyre skated across the goalmouth with the puck and lifted it over Lange's glove for his eighth goal of the season.

With just over a minute to play in the middle period, the Raiders added another goal to go up 3-0. Freshman Francois Brisebois (Montreal, Que.) sent a break-out pass to sophomore Ethan Cox (Richmond, B.C.), who carried the puck into the zone on the left side. Cox faked a shot, then drifted father into the zone, drawing defenders to him. As sophomore Jason Williams (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) crashed the net, Cox found him with a slick pass, and Williams one-timed a shot to beat Lange, glove-side.

The Raiders netted their fourth goal on a delayed penalty at the six-minute mark of the third period. After the sixth man joined the play, Colgate worked the puck deep into its offensive end. Junior Peter Bogdanich (Burnaby, B.C.) sent a pass up to classmate Mark Anderson (Hastings, Neb.) at the right point. Anderson and Riley crossed the puck back-and-forth to each other just inside the blue line, until Riley held on at the top of the left circle. He took a step toward the net and fired a shot that went low, through traffic, and into the cage.

Lange finished the game with 26 saves. The Raiders finished 0-for-6 on the power play, and killed off all three Engineer extra-man attempts.

Colgate earned the advantage on faceoffs, 36-27, to help send money to the American Cancer Society through the pledge drive "Facing Off Against Cancer," an event coordinated by Cox, who is a finalist for the 2008 Hockey Humanitarian Award. Fans can still participate in the event, in which the Raiders are asking for a donation of at least a dollar for every faceoff the team wins this weekend. (Click for pledge form.)

The Raiders finish the weekend with a game against Union on Saturday, Feb. 16, starting at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available through the Colgate ticket office by calling (315) 228-7600, but fans who come to the game wearing pink or who make a donation to the American Cancer Society can gain free admission through ECAC Hockey's "Pink at the Rink" promotion.