BOX SCORE

HANOVER, N.H. (12/30/10) – Despite having a 3-1 lead after the first period, the Colgate men's hockey team fell short against fourth-ranked Boston College, 6-5, in the first game of the Ledyard Classic at Dartmouth on Thursday night.

Colgate (3-13-1) got goals from five different skaters, led by rookie Jack McNamara (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) who put home his first collegiate goal. Junior Austin Smith (Dallas, Texas), senior Francois Brisebois (Montreal, Que.), sophomore Kurtis Bartliff (Clinton, Ont.) and junior Corbin McPherson (Folsom, Calif.) also scored for the Raiders. Smith and Bartliff had two-point games for Colgate. Junior Alex Evin (Castlegar, B.C.) made 21 saves in the loss.

The Eagles (12-5-0) saw Paul Carey net two goals and add an assist for three points. Brian Gibbons and Cam Atkinson had a two-point nights with a goal and an assist apiece. John Muse made 29 stops between the pipes to earn his 11th win of the year.

Boston College took the early lead 1:26 into the game. Jimmy Hayes received a pass from brother Kevin Hayes from behind the net and he was wide open on the far post and hit the open net for the 1-0 lead.

Smith got Colgate on the board to tie the game at 1-1. The Raiders had five quality scoring chances prior to the goal and Smith finally solved Muse. He was able to fire a shot through traffic and hit the back of the net. Brisebois gave Colgate its first lead at 2-1 just 11 seconds later as he beat Muse top shelf for his fifth of the season.

McNamara gave the Raiders a 3-1 lead with less than three minutes left in the first period. The rookie scored his first collegiate goal when he camped out in front and beat Muse over the left pad. Rookie Mike McCann (Barrington, R.I.) was given an assisted on the play after banking the puck off the back boards and to McNamara. The Raiders outshot the Eagles 15-8 in the period.

After Colgate failed on a 5-on-3 advantage, the Eagles scored two goals in the first four minutes of the second period to tie the game at 3-3. The first came off of a bad Raider turnover infront of the net and Gibbons capitalized with a goal on the play. Atkinson tied the game with Gibbons assisting on the play 49 seconds later.

Bartliff gave Colgate the lead again at the four-minute mark of the second on a nice individual effort. Smith dropped the puck to Bartliff at the blueline and he fired shot that went wide. He got a generous bounce off the back boards and followed his own shot, putting it past the glove of Muse for the 4-3 lead. BC answered two minutes later on the power play to tie the game at 4-4. Carey was infront and received a pass from Atkinson from the endline. Joe Whitney was also credited with an assist on the play.

The Eagles earned their first lead of the game at 5-4 with a shorthanded goal from Bill Arnold. The Raiders made another mistake in the defensive zone on a breakout and Arnold lifted a backhand past Evin with 12:21 left in the third. Carey added his second of the night and the gamewinner with 5:35 remaining to make it 6-4.

McPherson sliced the lead down to 6-5 with eight seconds left on a slapshot from the right circle that beat Muse to close the scoring at 6-5.

Colgate outshot the defending national champion by a 34-27 margin. The Raiders went 0-for-3 on the power play, while BC netted one goal in three opportunities as well.

Colgate will be back at Thompson Arena tomorrow night to play Dartmouth in the consolation game at 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.

NOTES: Jack McNamara scored his first collegiate goal and it came against his father's former team … the three goals in the first period tied a season-high for a period … the 11 seconds between the first and second goals for Colgate was the quickest of the season … sixth time this season the Raiders have given up three goals in a period as BC had three in the second … Smith extended his point streak to a season-high five games with an assist … Brisebois increased his point streak to four games with his fifth of the year … second time this year Colgate has put up five goals with the other coming in a 5-0 shutout over Sacred Heart … the Raiders were the third team this season to put five goals on John Muse, who leads Hockey East in all goaltending categories.