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HAMILTON – The No. 2/4 Colgate women's hockey team saw its program record eight-game winning streak come to a close Saturday afternoon as the Raiders fell to No. 3/3 Clarkson, 5-3.
 
This marks the first loss at home all season for the Raiders, who entered the game one of two remaining teams in the nation still unbeaten at home.
 
Much like Friday's game against St. Lawrence, the Raiders found themselves in an early hole. Clarkson's Loren Gabel opened the scoring just 1:54 into the contest, giving the Golden Knights the 1-0 advantage.
 
Around the seven-minute mark of the first period, Olivia Zafuto (Niagara Falls, New York) evened the score, 1-1, with the assists on the goal coming from Malia Schneider (Millarville, Alberta) and Megan Sullivan (Toronto, Ontario). Zafuto, who has seven goals on the season, has scored four goals in the last three games. 
 
Clarkson first-year phenom Elizabeth Giguere, who ranks second in the ECAC Hockey in points, added to her season total as she scored her 19th goal of the season with 18:37 to play in the second period.
 
The Raiders answered back 2:10 later, when Sullivan placed a wrist shot top shelf to once again even the score.
 
Goals from Clarkson's Ryhen McGill and Amanda Titus put the Golden Knights up 4-2 heading into the second intermission.
 
Just over a minute into the third, Zafuto threw the puck towards the goal, where Breanne Wilson-Bennett (Markham, Ontario) was able to redirect it into the back of the net. Wilson-Bennett's ninth goal of the season cut the Golden Knights lead to one at 4-3.
 
The Raiders pulled Julia Vandyk (Cambridge, Ontario) from the net with just over a minute and a half remaining in the game as they sought one last attack in the waning minutes of the third period. With the extra skater, the Raiders were able to get several good looks, but were unable to put the puck home. Gabel ultimately put home an empty-netter with 6.7 seconds remaining in the game to close out the scoring.

Vandyk made 25 saves on 29 shots faced in net.
 
BOTTOM LINE
No. 3/3 Clarkson 5, No. 2/4 Colgate 3

WIN/LOSS RECORDS
Colgate drops to 23-4-1 on the season and 13-3-0 in ECAC Hockey play. The Golden Knights improve to 23-3-1 and 14-2-0.

KEY RAIDER INFO
-Colgate is now 5-3-1 against ranked opponents this season.
-Colgate and Clarkson split the series this year 1-1-0.
-The Raider win-streak ended at eight games, which is the longest in program history.
-Their 10-game unbeaten streak was the second longest in program history.
-Today's game was the inaugural Pucks and Paws Game. Proceeds from the game go directly to Paws of CNY.
 
FACTS AND FIGURES
-The Raiders scored power-play goals off the sticks of Zafuto and Wilson-Bennett.
-Zafuto has scored at least one goal in three consecutive games for the first time her career. Four of her seven goals on the season have come in the last three games.
-Zafuto tacked on assists on goals by Sullivan and Wilson-Bennett, putting her at 11 on the season.
-Sullivan put home her 11th goal of the season, which is the second-most on the team.
-Sullivan also collected her eighth assist of the season on Zafuto's goal in the first period.
-Schneider recorded her eighth assist of the season to extend her point-streak to four games.
-Bailey Larson (Sycamore, Illinois) extended her point streak to three games with her 12th assist of the season.

FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Greg Fargo
"Clarkson is a good team and we have a lot of respect for them and what they do. But I mean, that was a great hockey game. It was back and forth. There were opportunities at both ends. I thought it was just an exciting game for everybody to watch. Unfortunately, we didn't get the bounces tonight and ended up on the wrong side."
 
"I thought we got better as the game went on. Especially toward the third period, we started playing a little bit more like ourselves. So if we could start that way against a team like this, I think we'd be in a better spot."
 
"There's a lot of resiliency on the team; we just keep fighting. The group is phenomenal. Regardless of what the score read, there were a lot times out there that we were just having fun and making plays and that's when we're at our best."

UP NEXT
Colgate hits the road next weekend with a pair of ECAC Hockey games after wrapping up a seven-game homestand. On Friday, the Raiders take on Dartmouth followed by Harvard on Saturday. Puck drop for both games is 3 p.m.