Third Period Goals Lead Colgate to Victory at Rensselaer

Francois Brisebois netted a goal and an assist in the victory over the Engineers.

Final Box

TROY, N.Y. (12/5/09) – Francois Brisebois (Montreal, Que.) and David McIntyre (Pefferlaw, Ont.) each tallied third period goals as Colgate salvaged an ECAC Hockey split in the Capital District with a 5-3 victory over Rensselaer, Saturday afternoon at Houston Fieldhouse.

The five-goal outburst was the Raiders' highest goal total versus the Engineers since a 5-4 victory at Starr Rink back on February 18, 2000. The performance also serves as the most goals Colgate has scored at Rensselaer in close to 15 years. The Raiders posted a 6-3 win at Houston Fieldhouse on January 6, 1995.

With the game knotted at 3-3, Colgate took the lead for good just 2:17 into the third period as Brisebois cashed in for his seventh goal of the year – an even strength goal from between the circles. Robbie Bourdon (Ile Bizard, Que.) and Nick Prockow (Montreal, Que.) each were credited with assists. It was the junior's second game winner of the year.

Up 4-3 and with a man in the penalty box at 12:52, Colgate's penalty kill received a boost from goalie Charles Long (Cleveland Heights, Ohio). The senior came up big in saving five shots in a two-minute span to help preserve the lead. Colgate got its second two-goal cushion of the contest at 18:01 as Austin Smith (Dallas, Texas) set up McIntyre and the senior deposited the puck in the cage for his fifth of the season.

Colgate, now 7-5-4 overall and 5-3-1 in league play, trailed 1-0 early in the fist as Joel Malchuk scored at 2:02. However, the Raiders controlled play in the opening period from that point on. Colgate, which outshot the Engineers 16-5 in the first 20 minutes, got on the board at 5:16 as Brian Day (Danvers, Mass.) posted his fifth power play goal of the year from Brisebois and Thomas Larkin (Cocquio Trevisago, Italy). The junior collected a rebound in front of the cage off a shot from Brisebois. It was Day's 10th tally of the campaign.

Moments later, Colgate captured its first lead of the contest at 2-1 as Christian Long (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) beat goalie Allen York from the bottom of the left face off circle for his third of the season from Matt Firman (Fayetteville, N.Y.) and Smith at 7:01. The Raiders took that 2-1 advantage into the first intermission.

It appeared Colgate had things under control at 5:28 of the second as freshman Kurtis Bartliff (Clinton, Ont.) found the back of the net for the second time this season off a wrist shot to give the Raiders a two-goal cushion. However, the Engineers rallied with back-to-back power play goals from Patrick Cullen at 8:09 and Tyler Helfrich at 16:28 to knot the game at 3-3 after two periods.

Long, who improved to 5-2-2 in the cage, finished with 26 saves, while York turned aside 23 shots in the loss for Rensselaer.

The Engineers, who fell to 8-8-1, 3-3-0 in ECAC Hockey action, connected on two of four power plays, while Colgate went one of six.

The Raiders will take a few weeks off before returning to action December 20 as they travel to Buffalo to take on Canisius. The game, which will be played at the hockey facility on Buffalo State's campus, is set for a 5:05 p.m. start.

Print Friendly Version