HAMILTON – It took 16:05 of extra play for the Colgate men's hockey program, but
Tyler Penner's overtime game-winner sealed the series sweep of Brown with a 3-2 victory in the First Round of the ECAC Tournament on Saturday evening at Class of 1965 Arena.
Behind
Mitch Benson's 32-save performance and Penner's overtime tally, Colgate earned its first playoff sweep since the 2014-15 season and secured a spot in next weekend's best-of-three ECAC Quarterfinals at either No. 2 seed Clarkson or No. 3 seed Quinnipiac.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a fast game from the drop of the puck, highlighted by a goal just 18 seconds into the game. After a battle in the corner, Brown fed the puck to the point and scored through traffic for a 1-0 lead on the first shift of the night. Colgate responded almost immediate with pressure in the Brown zone, with it paying off midway through the period.
Josh McKechney was able to maneuver past the defensemen and scored on a solo effort to even the game at 1-1, in a play that drew a penalty. It being the Raiders first power play opportunity of the night, Colgate quickly capitalized behind a
Griffin Lunn goal just 36 seconds after McKechney's tally to claim the lead at 2-1. The score would then stand through the remainder of the period.
During the Raiders' early penalty kill in the second,
John Snodgrass was able to break away in the final seconds, but was stopped by a pad save as the home team returned its skater. As the game went on, there was more balanced pressure along the sheet with gritty battles along the boards.
Late in the second period, the Raiders pressured back with a 2-on-1 opportunity that was illegally broken up with a hold, garnering their second power play action of the game. Outside of a ringer by
Bobby McMann, no damage was done as the Bear returned to the sheet. Alternating the special team battles, went on to Colgate face another late kill as the period came to a close.
The Raiders came out for the third to successfully burn the remaining 45 seconds of its penalty kill and went on to generate some quick offensive action. However, as the period went on, the Raiders faced more defensive play as Brown looked to extend its season. The Bears came out strong but big blocked shots by the Raiders and by breaking up neutral zone play, they stayed ahead in the one-goal game.
With 10:00 remaining in regulation, a chip ahead by Snodgrass and a backhanded chance by
Jared Cockrell looked good but was stopped by the toe of the tender. It was followed by a quick chance on the doorstop by
Arnaud Vachon, and a turnover chance by McMann rang the pipe for a second time.
Colgate opted to call its one timeout of regulation with 6:21 remaining. Coming out of it, the Raiders were stronger than ever, featuring another chance by McMann and
Tyler Jeanson as the clock ticked down.
It was as Brown pulled its netminder with 1:41 remaining in regulation that the puck returned to the Colgate zone. The Bears would score with the extra attacker with just 1:02 remaining in regulation, a move that would ultimately force overtime.
After a full resurface for the 20:00 sudden death overtime, Colgate returned to the ice looking to seal the series sweep. Early on, Cockrell had a shot to the side of the goal but he was able to wrap it around for another look before it was covered for a whistle.
As Brown started to get some looks, goaltender
Mitch Benson made a big pad save to send it out of the zone. As the conference foes neared the midway point of the first overtime, Colgate created another 2-on-1 chance by the combination of McMann and
Tyler Penner before the puck was redirected wide of the net.
Benson continued to be a stronghold between the pipes, and made a trio of pad saves off the faceoff as play eclipsed the midway point of the extra period. The defensive effort redirected the puck to a Raider to send it out to the neutral zone.
After over 16:00 of extra action, a faceoff came in the Brown zone. From that stemmed the play where
Ross Craig recovered a blocked shot, and sent it to the net to find
Ben Sharf. Ready in front of the crease was
Tyler Penner, who scored with a one-timer to the top shelf to secure the overtime game-winner in the ECAC First Round with a 3-2 victory.
COLGATE SCORING PLAYS
• Period 1 | 12:45 – Brown looked to chip the puck up to its blueliner, but was intercepted along the boards by
Josh McKechney. He bumped the puck off the boards to get around the defender and was able to breakaway and cross in front of the goal and beat the glove side to tie the game at 1-1.
• Period 1 | 13:21 – After McKechney's scoring play drew a penalty, the Raiders were skating a man up. With the puck deep in the Brown zone,
Paul McAvoy got it out from the corner and sent it to
Griffin Lunn at the left point. Looking for space, Lunn passed it across the blue line to
Trevor Cosgrove before taking it back. Lunn's shot was sent through traffic and again, beat the netminder on the glove side to take a 2-1 lead.
• OT | 16:05 – After
Paul Meyer's shot from the point was blocked,
Ross Craig picked up the puck. He sent it towards the goal, finding
Ben Sharf as the side of the net. Sharf was able to spin and send a backhanded pass to
Tyler Penner in the slot for a swift one-timer to the top shelf for the overtime game-winner.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• Earning his first game-winning goal in his career was senior
Tyler Penner. He now holds five goals on the season, and two in the last four games.
• By scoring the opening goal, junior
Josh McKechney recorded his third of the season and first goal since at Cornell (Feb. 9).
• With his power play tally, sophomore
Griffin Lunn earned his fourth of the season, and first since at Princeton (Jan. 31). It also marks Lunn's second power play goal in his career.
• By assisting on game-winning goal, senior
Ben Sharf begins a two-game point streak.
• Sophomore goaltender
Mitch Benson was outstanding between the pipes, recording 32 saves including a game-high of 12 in the second period and seven in the overtime session. It marks the seventh time this season Benson has had a 30-plus save performance.
• Colgate continued its strong special teams action by holding its opponent scoreless on the power play for the eighth straight game.
• The Raiders also went 1-for-2 on the power play to record their eighth power play goal in the last 11 games.
• It marks the first time since the 2014-15 season that the Raiders have swept a playoff series, and first since the 2017-18 campaign that the Raiders advance to the ECAC Quarterfinals.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• Colgate 3, Brown 2 – Overtime
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate holds a 12-16-8 record, and earned an 8-9-5 mark in ECAC Hockey action.
• Brown finished the season 8-21-2 overall and went 8-12-2 in ECAC play.
HEAD COACH DON VAUGHAN'S TAKE
"I was really proud of our effort tonight. One of our defensemen went down about halfway through the game, so we were down to five defensemen in the lineup. In a game like that, that is really demanding. They just kept going over the wall.
"I'm just so proud of them and how they worked. I thought our seniors really led the way tonight. They took the team on their shoulders and said 'hey, follow us. We're going to put the effort forward and if the rest of you guys do that, we'll be okay.'
"Brown gave us everything we could handle, they played a great game. It was really back and forth. From the fan perspective, I'm sure it was an enjoyable game to watch, not so much from the coaching perspective.
"We got contributions from up and down our lineup. The guys really had to gut check it and find the energy to do it.
"What I keep coming back to is how proud I am of our guys and their effort. I'm happy for our seniors, it was a great playoff series win for them and to win in overtime at home like that, that's a memory they'll have forever. I'm really happy for those guys in the locker room."
UP NEXT
By sweeping the series, Colgate now advances to the best-of-three ECAC Quarterfinals from March 13-15. The No. 8 seeded Raiders will travel to No. 2 seed Clarkson or No. 3 seed Quinnipiac pending the result of tomorrow's Yale-Union matchup.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate men's hockey program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateMIH and Instagram at colgate_mih.
