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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (3/16/12) – The Colgate men's hockey team saw its run in the ECAC Hockey Tournament come to end on Friday night at Boardwalk Hall with a 6-2 loss to sixth-ranked Union.

The Raiders (19-16-3) got goals from Central New York natives Joe Wilson and Matt Firman, while Chris Wagner and Austin Smith were given assists on Wilson's goal in the second period. Eric Mihalik got the start in net and made 24 stops in the loss. Alex Evin relieved Mihalik in the third period and pushed aside eight shots.

The Dutchmen (23-7-7) were led by Daniel Carr with two goals, while Jeremy Welsh and Josh Jooris had three points apiece with a goal and two helpers. Max Novak and Shawn Stuart also scored for Union. Troy Grosenick was in net for the Dutchmen and won his 19th game of the season with 28 stops.

Union jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a goal coming 1:35 into the first period with Carr taking a shot from just inside the blueline on a rush up ice that appeared to cross up Mihalik. The Dutchmen increased their lead to 2-0 with Novak scoring from the slot. Colgate had possession in its own zone, but turned the puck over to Novak, who was wide open in the slot and he beat Mihalik to the glove side. Colgate did have its chances with 12 shots on goal and one power play opportunity.

The Raiders fought back to get to within one at 2-1 as Wilson scored 26 seconds into the second period. Smith fired a backhand that hit Wagner and he tried to stuff it by Grosenick, but the Union netminder made the stop. However, no one picked up Wilson on the back side and he chipped the puck into the net with some nice stick work.

Union increased its lead back to two goals with a power play goal on its first opportunity with the extra skater. The score from Welsh came 19 seconds into the extra-man chance. He found an open spot on the left side of the ice and beat Mihalik high blocker side with six minutes left in the second period.

The Dutchmen extended its lead to 5-1 with back-to-back goals coming in a span of four minutes in the beginning of the third period. Carr netted the shorthanded goal for his second of the night. Welsh caused the Raiders to turn the puck over and Carr beat Mihalik with a backhand as he was left alone in front of the Raider goal.

Firman got one back for Colgate with a great breakaway move to cut the Union lead to 5-2 with 6:40 left in the game. He got the puck in the neutral zone with the Dutchmen caught up ice. He moved in on Grosenick, faked a wrist shot and made a beautiful backhander through the five-hole of the Union netminder to score his seventh of the season, which is a career high for the Fayetteville, N.Y., product.

Stuart closed out the scoring with Union's six goal of the night coming with 1:41 left in the final frame. He was stopped by Evin down in front of the net and stayed with the play and ended up with the puck in the high slot. He fired a turnaround slap shot that hit the net for his first of the season.

Union outshot the Raiders, 38-30, after Colgate gave up 17 shots in the third period. The Raiders had a 25-23 shot advantage after the first two periods. The teams played very disciplined hockey as Colgate earned just three power plays and didn't score, while the Dutchmen went 1-for-2 on the man advantage.

Colgate will play in the third-place game against either Cornell or Harvard, who played in the other semifinal. That game is set for 4:30 p.m. tomorrow night at Boardwalk Hall.

NOTES: Smith is still shy by two goals for the school record in single season goals as he has 36 … Wagner extended his point streak to 11 games … Wilson became the fourth player on the Raiders to reach 10 goals this season … Firman scored his second goal of the playoffs and extended his career-high for points this season to 15 … Colgate was held to two or less goals for the 14th time this season … Union won all three contests against the Raiders this season.