BOX SCORE

ITHACA, N.Y. (1/22/11) – Junior Austin Smith recorded his first two-goal game of the season, but Tyler Roeszler's hat trick helped Cornell hand the Colgate men's hockey team a 5-2 loss on Saturday night.

Colgate (3-19-2, 0-10-2 ECAC) got its two goals from Smith, while Corbin McPherson, Mike Leidl, Chris Wagner and Kurtis Bartliff were all given assists. Rookie goaltender Eric Mihalik made 18 saves in the loss.

Cornell (8-9-2, 6-5-1 ECAC) saw Roeszler tally four points with three goals and an assist. Erik Axell and Sean Collins also tallied goals. Andy Ilnes got the start and made 20 saves in the net to earn the win.

After Wade Poplawski hit the pipe at the 15-minute mark of the first, Smith scored his sixth of the season on the next offensive rush with 13:36 left. Mike Leidl passed the puck across the blueline to Corbin McPherson and he put a wrister on net that Smith tipped in to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.

Cornell answered 1:29 later as Roeszler came up with his sixth of the year. Mihalik made the initial save on Roeszler, but a scrum ended up in front and he slipped it past the Colgate netminder to knot the game at 1-1. Joe Devin and Greg Miller were given assists on the play. The Big Red took its first lead at 2-1 with 26.5 seconds left in the opening period on the power play. Roeszler netted his second of the night after receiving a pass along the crease from Miller. He was sitting wide open at the far post and Mihalik had no shot to make the save. Patrick Kennedy was also given an assist.

Colgate fired back with 9:29 left in the second period as Smith scored his second of the game. Bartliff broke up a drop pass by the Big Red in the defensive zone and chipped the puck up to Wagner. The rookie and Smith had a 2-on-1 advantage skating over the blueline. Wagner held the puck and waited for Ilnes to commit and he put a pass on the blade of Smith's stick for the goal to tie the game at two.

Cornell took back the lead at 3-2 with 13:50 remaining in the game. Roeszler took a shot from the high slot that got knocked down by a Colgate defender. The puck died in front and Axell was there to put it home. Roeszler and Joe Devin had the assists on the goal. Roeszler got the hat trick just under four minutes later to increase the Big Red lead to 4-2. Once again, the initial shot was blocked by a Colgate defender and the puck came right to Roeszler and he buried it. Mike Devin took the shot from the blueline and was given the assist.

Collins added an empty netter to close the scoring with 1:26 remaining in the contest and gave the Big Red a 5-2 win.

The Raiders failed to score on the power play against Cornell for the second-straight night and had many chances with eight opportunities. The Big Red struggled on the power play as well, going 1-for-7. Colgate was outshot by one at 23-22.

NOTES: Smith scored two goals for the first time this season and netted his first since the 6-5 loss to #5 BC on Dec. 30 … Smith has eight career two-goal games … he joined Corbin McPherson, Francois Brisebois and Day as Raider skaters with two goals in a game this year … Leidl tallied his first point of the season with an assist and with the assist every skater has recorded at least one point this year … Roeszler's hat trick was the first against Colgate since March of 2009 against St. Lawrence … the teams combined for 72 penalty minutes, which is the most Colgate and an opponent has had in 2010-11.