By Matt Faulkner
(Canton, NY – Feb. 2, 2013) Down 3-1 going into the final period, the Colgate men’s hockey team rallied with two goals, including the game-tying goal from John Lidgett with three minutes left in a 3-3 tie at St. Lawrence on Saturday night.
Colgate (13-9-4, 5-6-3 ECAC) leaves the North Country with a pair of ties and two league points. The Raiders got goals from Darcy Murphy, Tyson Spink and Lidgett tonight, while Thomas Larkin assisted on two goals. Spencer Finney allowed two opening period goals, but hunkered down and made big stops late in the third period.
“Our boys really grinding out the point tonight,” head coach Don Vaughan said. “We had our chances tonight, even in the first period. I thought we were squeezing it a little bit early on and shot a lot pucks wide.”
The Saints (12-10-3, 5-5-4 ECAC) saw Greg Carey tally his league-leading 18th of the year, while Tommy Thompson and Jeremy Wick added goals as well. Matt Weninger finished the night with 32 stops, including 12 in the third period, which Colgate dominated for stretches.
Colgate went into the final frame down a man as the Raiders took a penalty to close out the second, so the outlook for the third was a tough one. However, Colgate responded and took the momentum after St. Lawrence looked to have tied the game. A Saints skater fired a shot from just outside the slot and the puck looked to have gone in and the red light was on, but the official waved off the play.
Tyson Spink then swooped in on the next rush on ice and beat Weninger with a nice forehand to backhand play to put the St. Lawrence netminder on his back. He then hit the open net to cut the lead to one at 3-2, 2:13 into the final frame. The goal came 10 seconds after the Saints’ goal was disallowed.
The momentum stayed on the Raiders and with three minutes remaining Lidgett jumped over the boards and received a pass from Larkin and broke in all alone on Weninger. The sophomore did almost the same move that Tyson Spink did early in the period and the game was tied at 3-3.
Coach Vaughan mentioned that the slightest delay by Lidgett on the bench ended up in the game-tying goal.
“There was a line change on the play and he delayed and they didn’t see him,” said Vaughan. “It was a really smart play by Lidgett and Larkin communicated really well to get him the puck.”
Joe Wilson was not awarded an assist on the tying goal, but made the play to free the puck for Larkin. The sophomore was all over the ice tonight and Vaughan appreciated his effort.
“He is such an efficient skater and he doesn’t expend a lot of energy,” said Vaughn. “He gets frustrated at times, but he is a heck of a player and gives other players great time and space and he is fun to watch.”
The Saints were able to build up a two-goal in the first period as they got on the board with Thompson scoring to give St. Lawrence the 1-0 lead with the goal coming 2:28 into the game. Kyle Essery found Thompson and the sophomore chipped a backhander over the glove of Finney from the slot.
St. Lawrence increased its lead to 2-0 with Carey scoring his league-leading 18th of the year. Colgate had offensive possession, but the puck missed a stick and went into the neutral. Carey picked it up there and skated just inside the blueline and fired a wrist shot that crossed up Finney and ended up in the back of the net.
Murphy was able to cut the lead to one at 2-1, six minutes into the second frame with a power play goal. Larkin dumped the puck into the zone from center ice and Weninger missed played it and Murphy was there to put it home for Colgate’s first of the night.
The third goal for the Saints to make it 3-1 with 7:44 remaining in the second came right after Colgate killed off a penalty. The guilty player did not make it back into the defensive zone before Jeremy Wick snapped a seeing-eye shot from the left circle through traffic and past Finney to regain the two-goal lead. George Hughes and Kyle Flanagan were given assists on the play.
Colgate did have good puck possession on its third power play of the night late in the latter half of the second frame and Mike Borkowski was set up well, but his shot from the right circle rang off the post and was cleared. It was the second post of the night after Tylor Spink put one off the iron on the Raiders’ first good chance of the night in the first frame.
“This is a tough building to play in when St. Lawrence is on a roll,” said Vaughan. “I was really pleased with our effort tonight and we showed a lot coming back in the third to get the point.”
The power play unit was able to score once on four opportunities, while the penalty kill kept the Saints off the board with the man advantage. The Raiders pepper Weninger for most of the night and ended up winning the shot battle at 35-28.
The Raiders return home to Starr Rink next weekend against Princeton and No. 2 Quinnipiac, who was riding an 18-game unbeaten streak into tonight’s game against Yale.
NOTES: Colgate scored on the power play for the 12th-straight game … Murphy tallied his ninth of the season, which is second on the team … Colgate is in the midst of a four-game unbeaten streak and has lost just two games in its last 11 games (7-2-2) and both losses were by one goal … this was Colgate’s sixth overtime game this season and the Raiders are 1-1-4 in the extra frame … rookies have 17 of the 27 power play goals scored.