SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Talk about opening the season in dramatic fashion.
The Colgate women's hockey program traveled to in-state rival Syracuse and overcame a two-goal deficit to win in overtime with a power play goal by
Sydney Bard.
The Raiders return to Class of 1965 Arena tomorrow as they look to seal the series sweep in the home opener.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Syracuse was first to get on the board just 87 seconds into the game with a screen down low. Shortly thereafter, the Raiders saw its first special team test of the night but quickly came back with their first of four successful penalty kills on the night. Syracuse went on to add to their lead with a 2-on-1 opportunity with under 5:00 to play in the period and although Colgate received another power play where the MacKays saw some chances, the Raiders headed to the locker room facing a 2-0 deficit.
Colgate came back for the second period where its offense began to shine. The period opened with a breakaway opportunity by
Delani MacKay within the first two minutes, followed by a quick chance by
Eleri MacKay. Although the Raiders were rewarded with a power play opportunity, the rest of the period was a test for the penalty kill squad. Outside of a
Danielle Serdachny look on a breakaway, the Raiders remained down 2-0 after 40:00.
In an incredibly fast-paced third period, the nonconference foes only saw a few whistles as the Raiders looked to battle back prior to the final 10:00 of play. As the Raiders dominated the period, it finally paid off when sophomore
Maggie MacEachern scored the first goal of the year from the point.
Within the next three minutes, Colgate was awarded a full 2:00 of 5-on-3 power play action and capitalized on the opportunity as
Malia Schneider redirected the slapshot of
Allyson Simpson with just 6:03 to play. With the score evened at 2-2, the Raiders continued to hold dominance in the offensive zone through the remainder of regulation.
It didn't take long as the in-state rivals headed to overtime. Heading into it armed with 46 seconds of power play action, the Raiders won the faceoff and entered the Syracuse zone. With a wrist shot from the faceoff circle, sophomore
Sydney Bard sealed the comeback win just 19 seconds into the overtime for a 3-2 victory.
COLGATE SCORING PLAYS
• Period 3 | 10:20 – With a backhanded pass,
Rosy Demers sent the puck back to the blue line and a ready
Maggie MacEachern. From the point, MacEachern soared the puck through traffic to the top shelf for the first tally of the year.
• Period 3 | 13:57 –
Sydney Bard centered the puck up top to
Allyson Simpson. Her one-timer drilled through to
Malia Schneider, who tipped it low, trickling past the goaltender on a 5-on-3 power play opportunity.
• OT| 00:19 – While carrying over power play action,
Danielle Serdachny fed the puck up from the goal line to Simpson. Simpson fed Bard the puck, and from the angle of the faceoff circle, Bard capped the overtime win under the blocker of the Syracuse goaltender.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• With the power play goal in overtime, sophomore
Sydney Bard recorded the first game-winning goal in her career.
• Freshman goaltender
Kayle Osborne made her first career start to begin her career with a 1-0-0 record behind 13 saves.
• Sophomores
Allyson Simpson (2A) and Bard (1G, 1A) each earned multi-point nights.
• The scoring was opened by sophomore
Maggie MacEachern, effectively marking the first goal of the season for the Raiders and the fourth of her career.
• With the tying tally to force overtime, senior
Malia Schneider recorded the 48th goal of her career.
• The Raiders game got better every period as the game progressed to outshoot the Orange by a 31-15 margin.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• Colgate 3, Syracuse 2 – OT
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate opens the 2020-21 season with a 1-0 record.
• Syracuse begins the season 0-1.
COACH FARGO'S TAKE
"First off, it was so great to get to feel that tonight. The build up to a game day, the highs and lows of a game and in the end celebrating a great team win together. We feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to play the game and feel everything that comes with it. It was such a joy to just see our athletes competing again in their Colgate jerseys and to cap it off the way we did, that was special.
"Our team has handled everything that's been thrown at them since March so well and they've done it as a team. Tonight when we were down, we never wavered. It felt like we got stronger and stronger as the game went on. I'm extremely proud of our team."
UP NEXT
Colgate holds its home opener tomorrow, Nov. 21 as the Raiders welcome Syracuse to Class of 1965 Arena. Puck drops on the series finale at 4 p.m. and is closed to the public.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate women's hockey program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateWIH and Instagram at colgatewih.
--RAIDERS--
