By Matt Faulkner
(Hamilton, NY – Feb. 9, 2013) In a physical battle at Starr Rink on Saturday, the Colgate men’s hockey team fell just shy against 2nd-ranked Quinnipiac in a 3-2 loss on Saturday in ECAC Hockey action.
Colgate (13-11-4, 5-8-3 ECAC) got goals from Tylor Spink and Robbie Bourdon, while Spencer Finney made 29 saves in the loss. The Raiders got only two chances on the power play and got one shot on goal during its man advantage opportunities.
Quinnipiac (21-3-4, 14-0-2 ECAC) has now extended its unbeaten streak to 21 games with the win tonight. Kellen Jones led the way for the Bobcats with a pair of goals, including the gamewinner. Soren Jonzzon added a goal as well and Eric Hartzell earned his 21st win of the year.
The Bobcats struck first with 5:16 left in the first period with Kellen Jones scoring his fifth of the season on a shot from the slot. Zach Currie swatted a bouncing puck in the neutral zone over a couple of Colgate sticks and Connor Jones was there to scoop up the puck. He then dropped it back to Kellen Jones and he fired a screen shot through two Raider defenders and past Finney on the blocker side for the 1-0 lead.
Colgate had a pair of opportunities on bad turnovers by Quinnipiac but both shots were sent wide of the mark. The Raiders did have something to build on going into the first intermission as they killed off a minute-plus of a 5-on-3 and then the rest of the power going into the second period.
The Raiders were able to even the score at 1-1 with 12 minutes left in the second frame with Bourdon scoring his eight of the year. Nathan Sinz sent a pass over to Joe Wilson, who then slid a pass over to Bourdon. His first action was to shoot with the forehand, but changed to the backhand. The shot went past the blocker of Hartzell.
Jonzzon was able to regain the lead for the visitors with his first of the year on a nice feed from Cory Hibbeler. Quinnipiac had some puck possession and Hibbeler was able to spot Jonzzon on the back side with a cross-ice pass and he tipped it home for the 2-1 advantage.
The Bobcats gained a two-goal advantage at 3-1 with 16:15 remaining in the game with Kellen Jones knocking in the puck with his body. Matthew Peca took a shot that was stopped by Finney, but the rebound hit Kellen Jones and went into the back of the net.
The Spink twins got the Raiders back to within one as both of them hooked up on Colgate’s second goal of the night with 12:41 remaining in the game. Quinnipiac tried to clear the puck and Tyson Spink stopped the attempt at the blueline and fed the puck to his brother Tylor, who ripped a quick shot past Hartzell.
The Raiders did have opportunities down the stretch, but the Raiders took a penalty with less than two minutes left and Quinnipiac was able to hold off Colgate.
The Raiders will be back in action next weekend with a trip to Harvard and Dartmouth.