HAMILTON — Alex Young tallied a hat trick to lead Colgate past No. 7/9 Harvard 6-4 at the Class of 1965 Arena Saturday evening.
It was the first hat trick of the junior's career. Two of the goals came on power plays as Young got by the Crimson's penalty kill unit, which was ranked first in the nation coming into the weekend, having allowed one power play goal the whole season.
The Raiders had a four-point performance from
Colton Young, who notched a goal and three assists.
Ross Mitton also logged three assists in the contest.
Colgate earned the win in comeback fashion as the Raiders trailed 3-1 before tying it up in the middle frame and then taking the lead in the third.
Matt Verboon got Colgate going early, scoring just under a minute and a half into the game.
Reid Irwin ripped a shot from the center of the ice that got deflected by Mitton and then deflected again by Verboon as it fell into the back of the net to give Colgate a 1-0 lead.
The Raiders' first power play chance of the night came with just over three minutes remaining when the Crimson got called for slashing, but they could not capitalize. As time expired in the first, Harvard got hit with a cross-checking call, but Colgate could not take advantage.
The Crimson took the lead with a pair of quick goals from Sean Farell in the second. Farell scored his first goal two minutes into the period when he fired a shot past
Carter Gylander off a pass from Baker Shore. Just 30 seconds later, Farell netted his second of the night on another shot from distance as Harvard went ahead 2-1. Marek Hejduk then scored at the 10:23 mark to make it 3-1 Crimson.
Colgate responded with Young, netting back-to-back power play goals. The first came just under 12 minutes into the period. Verboon tapped the puck to
Colton Young, who skated toward the center of the ice before passing off to brother Alex for a one-time shot from the left face-off circle that he slotted into the net.
The junior scored his second man-up goal two minutes later. After receiving a pass from Colton, Alex played a give-and-go with
Matt Verboon as he finished off a shot from close range and tied the game at 3-3.
Alex DiPaolo put the Raiders back ahead with a goal 31 seconds into the third period. Mitton won a face-off and passed to DiPaolo for a shot that bounced over the shoulder of the goalie.
Nine minutes later,
Colton Young scored a shorthanded goal that served as the game-winner. Irwin passed to Mitton, who played the puck ahead to Young as he got free on a breakaway and finished off a shot as he crashed into the goalie.
Harvard did not go down without a fight as the Crimson pulled back within one after Alex Laferriere scored on a power play at the halfway mark of the third.
Colgate's defense held strong for the remainder of the third. Gylander also made 16 saves in the final period. This included some big stops down the stretch, like his back-to-back saves with 30 seconds remaining that prevented the Crimson from equalizing. He finished with 36 saves in the game.
The Raiders' penalty kill unit also came up with a big kill with four minutes remaining.
Alex Young finished his hat trick with an empty-net goal as time expired. He scored from mid-ice off a pass from
Tommy Bergsland after a face-off win by Colton.
UP NEXT
Colgate is off for a few weeks before ending the calendar year with a New Year's showdown against Maine (Dec. 30-31) at the Class of 1965 Arena. It will be the Raiders' final non-conference series of the season.
