POTSDAM, N.Y. – Adam Dauda (Kitchener, Ontario) and Jared Cockrell (Readfield, Maine) each scored second period goals for the Colgate men's ice hockey team Friday night as the Raiders took Game 1of their quarterfinal series with the No. 10/8 Clarkson Golden Knights 2-1 at Cheel Arena.
 
Dauda and Cockrell's goals were the ninth of the season for both players to propel the Raiders to the series-opening win.
 
Goaltender Colton Point (North Bay, Ontario) posted 31 saves in the victory for his 15th game this season with 30-plus saves.
 
After a scoreless first period, the Raiders battled back with their pair of goals to take a 2-0 lead late in the second.
 
Dauda put the Raiders up 1-0 with 5:56 left in the stanza on a power-play goal. Bobby McMann (Wainwright, Alberta) collected the rebound off a Nick Austin (St. Louis Park, Minnesota) blast and passed the puck to Dauda, who quickly found Trevor Cosgrove (Exeter, New Hampshire) at the point. Cosgrove walked the blue line to his left to create room for Dauda and he rifled home the slap shot past Clarkson goaltender Jake Kielly's glove.
 
Point made a couple of key saves within a minute of each other to maintain the 1-0 lead, making a windmill save with 3:55 showing before tallying another pad save with 2:50 left in the second.
 
The Raiders doubled their lead soon after on Cockrell's goal. Cockrell received a cross-ice pass from Tyler Jeanson (Carman, Manitoba) and Cockrell skated the puck from the red line into the offensive zone. He passed the puck off the boards and split a pair of Clarkson defensemen before beating Kielly five-hole with 2:06 left in the third period.
 
Point continued to shine in the third period as he made a game-high 13 saves en route to his 31 total. 
 
Despite Point's 13 heroics in the third, Clarkson managed to get one goal back with 10:09 to go in the period. Point saved an Aaron Thow shot from the point but Marly Quince was there to backhand home the rebound and cut Colgate's lead in half.
 
The Raiders amped up the defensive pressure late to preserve the lead, highlighted by Ken Citron's (Cos Cob, Connecticut) sliding blocked shot with under 10 seconds to play in the game.
 
BOTTOM LINE
Colgate 2, No. 10/8 Clarkson 1
 
WIN/LOSS RECORDS
The Raiders improved 17-15-6, winners in four of their last five games. The Golden Knights fell to 20-9-6 with the loss.
 
KEY RAIDER INFO
-Point stopped 31 of 32 shots Friday night for his 15th game with at least 30 saves this season
-He now has 12 consecutive games allowing two goals or fewer and has 25 such games this season
-Dauda picked up a point in a second straight game
-Dauda is tied with Mike Panowyk (Whitby, Ontario) for second on the team with nine goals and 18 points
-Cockrell tallied his first goal since Feb. 24
-McMann picked up his team-leading 15th assist of the season and 29th point
-Cosgrove tallied his 12th assist and 17th point of the season. He has tallied eight points in his last 11 games
-Brooks recorded his fourth assist in his last five games and tied his career-high with nine points for a third straight season
-Jeanson tallied his seventh helper of the season
 
FACTS AND FIGURES
-Colgate was outshot 32-14 Friday night but managed to even up the shots 7-7 in the second period
-The Raiders were 1 for 1 on the power play while Clarkson was 0 for 2
-Colgate has killed 20 straight penalties in its last eight games
-Clarkson managed to win the faceoff battle despite Josh McKechney's (Calgary, Alberta) team-high nine faceoff wins
 
FROM THE SOURCES
Head Coach Don Vaughan
"I was pleased with the effort. Obviously in the third they came hard and we had to do what we did, but for a young team to play with a lot of composure in a tough building against a really good team is great. We know we've got to win two games to close it out but its always great to get the first one.
 
"Dauda's goal is all Mike Harder. He set that power play up and we worked on it all week in practice. Dauds missed a couple in practice but he didn't miss that one; he got all of that. I just looked at Mike on the bench and said, 'Nice goal, Hards,' because it was a set play that worked to perfection.
 
"It was great to see Cocksy get one. He works so hard and he's been a little bit snakebitten, but he made a great play to get around the guy. When you throw the puck on net you never know what's going to happen.
 
"It's always hard to close a team out and we saw that last weekend against RPI. We'll expect them to come out and really come after us, but we've just got to manage the puck. We played a really good road game today and found a way to win."
 
Goaltender Colton Point
"We really came together as a d-corps. It's a good time for us to finally start to gel really well and everyone is doing their part. Kenny made a huge block with 10 seconds left so it's always a team effort. As a whole, we're really on point with our defense.
 
"We had more energy this time. Obviously it's playoffs so everyone's up and ready to go. We're just looking to keep the energy going and keep rolling through the series.
 
"Whether you make 10, 20, or 30 saves, your team expects you to do the best you can. Two goals allowed is still not terrible for Jake Kielly, either. It's going to be a goalie battle the rest of the series and I'm looking forward to it."
 
UP NEXT
The Raiders and Golden Knights meet in Game 2 of their best-of-three quarterfinals series Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Cheel Arena.