HAMILTON – Despite
Bobby McMann's tying power play tally, the Colgate men's hockey program fell in a 4-1 decision to No. 2 Cornell on Saturday evening. The Route 13 rivals meet again Sunday afternoon for the rescheduled matchup in Ithaca.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Cornell had a quick start as they scored off the faceoff for a 1-0 advantage just 2:09 after the drop of the puck. It wasn't long before the Raiders would answer though, as they capitalized on their first power play of the game minutes later behind a tally by senior captain
Bobby McMann.
In an offensive first period, Cornell was able to add two more goals before the end of the period to regain its lead. A poke out from behind the net went out front and was stuffed below the pads of the netminder, followed by a long one timer down the slot minutes later for Cornell's 3-1 lead heading into the second.
Midway through regulation, the Big Red made another push to capitalize on the power play as they scored through traffic. With the marker, Colgate faced a three-goal deficit heading into the final period.
Although the Raiders had a strong power play that generated momentum, they were unable get another one with the man advantage in the third. Colgate's best push came with a trio of shots midway through the period, along with pulling its netminder in the final minutes for the extra skater.
Colgate faced a lack of rhythm to the game as it faced seven Cornell power plays. The game would end on another Big Red man advantage, holding out for a 4-1 final.
COLGATE SCORING PLAY
• Period 1 | 05:50 –
Ben Sharf battled the puck out from along the boards, poking it up to Matthew Verboon at the top of the circle. Verboon crossed the puck across the ice, who handled it before taking a shot from the right faceoff dot, sending it past the glove side to tie the game.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• Behind his power play tally, senior captain
Bobby McMann holds a team-leading 15 points on the season behind eight goals and seven assists.
• Sophomore netminder
Andrew Farrier recorded 21 saves, including a game-high of eight in the third period where he had zero goals against.
• The Raiders held the advantage in the circle, winning 30 faceoff attempts to Cornell's 22. Leading the way was senior
Tyler Penner with 12 faceoff wins.
• 10 different Raiders recorded blocked shots as the team totaled 15 to Cornell's nine.
• Colgate went 1-for-3 on the power play.
• After having a slow first half with the man advantage, the Raiders now hold three power play goals in the last three games.
• The game also served as "The Office" theme night with scene reenactments, clips, and games from the show.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• No. 2 Cornell 4, Colgate 1
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate holds a 9-12-6 record, and a 7-5-3 mark in ECAC Hockey action.
• No. 2 Cornell is 16-2-4 overall on the season and is 11-2-2 in ECAC play.
HEAD COACH DON VAUGHAN'S TAKE
"Cornell is the best team we have played this year. That said, we made too many mistakes and could never get any traction. We need to be better and we will be tomorrow."
UP NEXT
Colgate concludes the home-and-home series tomorrow, Feb. 9, with the rescheduled matchup in Ithaca. Puck drop on the Route 13 Rivalry finale is set for 4 p.m.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate men's hockey program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateMIH and Instagram at colgate_mih.
