POTSDAM, N.Y. – It was a test of special teams on Saturday night as the No. 5 Colgate women's hockey program faced No. 7 Clarkson on the road. Despite
Kaitlyn O'Donohoe recording her first goal of the season and
Kalty Kaltounkova notching a go-ahead goal, the Golden Knights were able to force overtime with a final second tally, before the teams skated to a 2-2 overtime tie.
In a four-game lineup against the Golden Knights, Colgate went 2-1-1 in the top-10 matchup this week. Stay tuned as the Raiders look to announce future matchups in the coming weeks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Generating a solid start in the offensive zone, Colgate quickly went onto the first power play opportunity of the game. With the momentum,
Kaitlyn O'Donohoe put the Raiders on the board just 6:03 into the game for an early 1-0 advantage. Although each team went on to gain another power play through the period, it was a major glove save in the final minutes by
Kayle Osborne that kept Colgate ahead for a 1-0 lead heading to the locker room.
The special teams test continued as the Raiders saw 36 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage that strung together several looks at the net and a
Rosy Demers breakaway. In a momentum shift, it was on the fifth Colgate power play that Clarkson capitalized on a turnover at center ice and scored a shorthanded breakaway to tie the game at 1-1 before the end of the period.
Carrying over another 1:31 of power play action into the final 20:00, Colgate looked to regain that go-ahead goal in the 1-1 game. It was with 14:01 remaining in regulation that
Kalty Kaltounkova scored her third of the year on a one-timer to regain the lead at 2-1.
In the narrow top-10 matchup, the Raiders were challenged with penalty calls through the final minutes of regulation. As a detrimental penalty call came with just 1:35 remaining in regulation, Clarkson pulled the netminder for a 6-on-4 advantage, where through a cluster at the crease, the ECAC foe would be able to tie the game at 2-2 with just 00:09 on the clock.
After the Golden Knights forced overtime, the Raiders opened with strong offensive play spending the first two minutes in the Clarkson zone. It wouldn't be the last time that the officials used their whistles though, as the Raiders faced another tough penalty kill midway through that resulted in them skating short for the remainder of the session. The test of special teams would come to a close as the horn sounded on a 2-2 overtime tie.
COLGATE SCORING PLAYS
• Period 1 | 6:03 – Charging into the Clarkson zone,
Tanner Gates wrapped the puck around the back of the net. After the initial stop,
Kaitlyn O'Donohoe was ready in the slot for the putaway over the pads of the Clarkson netminder.
• Period 3 | 6:02 – The puck was skated into the zone along the board by
Rosy Demers, before she wrapped it around the back of the net to
Noemi Neubauerova. While pinned to the back boards, Neubauerova poked it out to
Kalty Kaltounkova at the edge of the crease. Her one-timer was sent to the top shelf to increase Colgate's lead to 2-1.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• Scoring her first of the year was sophomore
Kaitlyn O'Donohoe, after posting 13 points in her freshman season (8G, 5A).
• First-year netminder
Kayle Osborne made 15 saves in her sixth straight start, including three in the overtime session.
• Behind her third goal of the season, first-year
Kalty Kaltounkova improves to a team-leading seven points through the season's six games. She also led the team with four shots on goal on the night.
• With an assist on Kaltounkova's goal, junior
Rosy Demers extends to a six-game active point streak in which she's generated seven points by one goal and six assists.
• Similarly, junior
Tanner Gates extends to a four-game point streak in which she's notched four apples.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• No. 5 Colgate 2, No. 7 Clarkson 2 (OT)
RECORD UPDATES
• No. 5 Colgate holds a 4-1-1 record.
• No. 7 Clarkson begins the season 1-2-1.
HEAD COACH GREG FARGO'S TAKE
"The obvious takeaway here is that we need our power play to come through for us in games like this. To have as many opportunities as we did and not get at least one is disappointing. Clarkson deserves some credit there too because its penalty kill made it difficult on us all night.
"With this segment behind us, it will be exciting to see what our team can accomplish as we look ahead. I think we have a lot of great pieces in our locker room this year and I know they believe that too. We've got to keep making progress and working to improve every day."
UP NEXT
Stay tuned as the Colgate women's hockey announces upcoming nonconference matchups each week.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate women's hockey program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateWIH and Instagram at colgatewih.
