Box Score

HAMILTON, N.Y. (2/16/08) - On a night that will go down in the Colgate history books, the Raider men's hockey team defeated Union, 8-0, on Saturday, Feb. 16, at Starr Rink. The win boosts Colgate's overall record over .500 for the first time since October at 13-12-5, and gives the team a 7-7-4 league record. Union drops to 13-11-5 overall and 8-6-4 in conference play. The victory was the 252nd for Colgate head coach Don Vaughan, which makes him the winningest coach in Raider hockey history, surpassing Terry Slater (1977-92).

Senior goaltender Mark Dekanich (North Vancouver, B.C.) continued his epic shutout streak with his third straight blanking, which ties the Colgate record. Dekanich has not allowed a goal in 212:14, which is a new Colgate and ECAC Hockey record. The previous league record was set by Union's Trevor Koenig in the 1996-97 season (198:44), and the Colgate record was set by Kurt Brown in 1962 (196:05); Brown set the school record for consecutive shutouts during that streak. Dekanich's streak currently ranks seventh in NCAA history.

Unlike Friday's game against Rensselaer, during which Dekanich only needed to make nine saves for the win, the Dutchmen made the Raider goalie work hard for his latest shutout, putting 33 shots on net. Union tested Dekanich early in the first period when it put a slap shot on net from the right point. The puck was deflected at the edge of the crease off a shin guard, but Dekanich made a quick glove save.

Later in the opening frame, Dekanich made a pair of highlight-reel saves on another quality Union chance. A pass came across the slot, left to right, and a Dutchman player one-time a slap shot, glove-side. Dekanich got into position just in time to make the save with his stacked pads, and the rebound came out to the point. A Union defender fired another shot just as Dekanich regained his balance, and he made another sprawling glove save.

Dekanich continued to answer every attempt thrown at him by the Dutchmen. With 5:46 left in the third period, Union fired a shot in from the left dot, into Dekanich's shoulder. The puck bounced into the air as the Dutchmen closed in. The rebound forced Dekanich into a split, he made another save, and covered up the puck as the Raider defenders cleared the Dutchmen out of the way.

In addition to the defense's stellar play, Colgate's offense showed its teeth in the game as well. Seven different Raiders found the back of the net, with senior Tyler Burton (Langley, B.C.) being the only one to score twice. All but three of the 18 Raider skaters recorded at least one point on the night. Among the goal-scorers was senior defenseman Matt Torti (Oxford, Mass.), who snapped a 118-game goalless streak with a power-play goal at the 15:40 mark of the third period.

The offensive onslaught began midway through the first period. Junior Tom Riley (Ottawa, Ont.) intercepted a pass in the slot in front of the Raider net and skated end-to-end with sophomore David McIntyre (Pefferlaw, Ont.) on the left side, drawing a defender to him. When Riley reached the top of the right circle, he fired a shot that went into the net off the shoulder of Union starting goalie Corey Milan, and into the top right corner of the net.

Just 50 seconds later, Colgate struck again to make it 2-0. Sophomore Jason Williams (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) attempted a shot from the left dot that went wide and into the right corner. Freshman Francois Brisebois (Montreal, Que.) dug it out as sophomore Ethan Cox (Richmond, B.C.) entered the fray. Brisebois wheeled around toward the net, drew two defenders to him, and flicked a pass to Cox. Cox followed through, shot from the slot, and beat Milan low, glove-side.

Colgate took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission thanks to a goal it scored with 58 seconds on the clock in the opening frame. Junior Mark Anderson (Hastings, Neb.) rung the puck around the boards in his defensive end to senior captain Jesse Winchester (Long Sault, Ont.) on the right wing. Winchester carried it through the neutral zone, plowing through the Union defense. As he crossed the blue line, he centered the puck to Burton, who faked a defender on his way to the net. Burton lifted the puck just enough to beat Milan, stick-side.

Dutchman senior Justin Mrazek took over goaltending duties to start the second period, but was unable to stem the Maroon and White tide. Burton scored his second straight goal 5:21 into the middle session to put his team up 4-0. Winchester shot from the left side, and the rebound popped out to junior Jason Fredricks (Eagle River, Wis.) on the right point. He shot through traffic, and Burton put a stick on the puck to deflect it between Mrazek's legs.

With 1:34 to play in the second period, Colgate scored the first of three straight power-play goals. Winchester shot wide, and the puck went behind the net. McIntyre went behind the net to retrieve it, and sent a quick, short pass to Riley, who was coming across the goal mouth. Riley one-timed a pass to junior Nick St. Pierre (St. Etienne, Que.), and he roofed a wrist shot over Mrazek's glove-side shoulder for his first goal of the year.

Freshmen defensemen Kevin McNamara (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) and Wade Poplawski (Winnipeg, Man.) set up McIntyre for a 5-on-3 power-play goal midway through the third period. Torti scored his goal on a one-time shot off a feed from the corner by Winchester with 4:20 left in the game. Anderson finished the game's scoring with a goal that was set up by senior Mike Werner (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.) and junior Joe DeBello (Oswego, Ill.).

Colgate has outscored Union 78-31 at Starr Rink since the Dutchmen became a Division I team. The Raiders converted three of their five power-play chances, and finished the game with 26 shots, including 12 in the second period. Colgate stopped all three Union extra-man attempts, including a 5-on-3 chance early in the third period.

The Raiders earned a 39-31 advantage on faceoffs during the game. Colgate finished the weekend with 75 faceoff wins for its "Facing Off Against Cancer" pledge drive, which was coordinated by Cox, a finalist for the 2008 Hockey Humanitarian Award. (Click for pledge form.)

The Raiders will look to take their momentum into games at No. 17 Princeton and No. 16 Quinnipiac next weekend. Colgate visits Hobey Baker Rink on Friday, Feb. 22, for a 7:00 p.m., game, then heads to Hamden, Conn., for a Sunday game against the Bobcats which will be televised live on NESN beginning at 12:30 p.m.