HAMILTON — Sophomore
Kaia Malachino matched her personal best with two goals, and senior
Hannah Murphy made a career-high 42 saves as the No. 7 Colgate Raiders knocked off No. 3/4 Minnesota Duluth, 3-2, Saturday evening at the Class of 1965 Arena. Sophomore
Madeline Palumbo also contributed two assists in the win that marks the first ranked victory of the season for Colgate, as well as Head Coach
Stefan Decosse's first home triumph.
"It always feels great to get a win here at Class of '65," Decosse said. "There's always wonderful energy in this building and it's a lot of fun to get a win in front of your friends, family, professors and classmates. I'm incredibly proud of the way our team responded today."
"Hannah has won some really big games for us in the past and she did it again today. She was exceptional in her effort tonight," Decosse added. "Kaia is also so clutch. She's always in the right place at the right time and I'm really excited to see how her game continues to develop."
The Raiders were slow to start, losing the shots on goal battle 16-1 in the opening 10 minutes. After falling behind 1-0, Malachino's first power-play goal of the game pumped life into the home crowd heading into the first intermission even, despite being outshot 24-7.
A contentious second stanza saw Colgate buzzing in the offensive zone, firing 14 shots on goal compared to Minnesota Duluth's five. None of those 14 were more important than Malachino's second power-play goal, where she fluttered a puck over the goalie's outstretched leg pad to give Colgate a 2-1 lead.
Coming out of the second break, junior captain Sara Stewart added an insurance tally when she twisted a loose puck into a wide open net off a rebounded Alexis Petford shot.
The Bulldogs were not done, however, scoring on the power play with 15 minutes remaining, keeping Raider fans in their seats for the duration of the contest.
A late Colgate penalty kept the Raiders on the defensive, but the home team withstood the heat, stealing an early season series split from a top-five opponent and evening their record at 2-2.
UP NEXT
Colgate travels to RIT next weekend for a pair of games against the Tigers. Puck drop is slated for 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 11, and 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12.
