HAMILTON — Colgate battled local rival Cornell in front of a packed crowd at the Class of 1965 Arena Friday night but fell 4-2 to the No. 16-ranked Big Red.
Ryan McGuire and
Daniel Panetta found the back of the net for the Raiders in the defeat.
"Tonight was a really gutsy performance by a group of young men who just love to play this game, and it shows. We are excited to get back at it tomorrow," said head coach Mike Harder.
Panetta scored a power-play goal at the 10:33 mark of the third period to cut the lead to one at 3-2.
Ross Mitton passed down low to
Brett Chorske, who played a short pass across to Panetta for a one-timer he fired home.
McGuire notched his team-best eighth goal of the season six and a half minutes into the second to tie the score up at 1-1.
Tommy Bergsland banged the puck off the boards behind the goal. McGuire picked it up and put it into the crease before
Simon Labelle knocked it free from the goalie, sliding it back to McGuire, who tapped in an easy shot.
Cornell went ahead 1-0 when Gabriel Seger scored a quick goal just under two and a half minutes into the opening period. After McGuire's goal, the Big Red expanded its lead to two, with Seger notching his second of the contest at the 7:46 mark of the middle frame, followed by Dalton Bancroft putting one in on a power play less than seven minutes later, making it 3-1. The Big Red topped off the scoring with 1:15 left in the game when Ondrej Psenicka put in an empty-netter.
The Raiders had two other power play chances, one in the second and one in the third, but they could capitalize. Colgate outshot Cornell 12-8 in the final period of action.
Carter Gylander made 29 saves, including 13 stops in the second period.
UP NEXT
The two teams are back at it tomorrow for the series finale at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, N.Y. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m.
