By Matt Faulkner
(Providence, RI – March 2, 2013) The Colgate men’s hockey team wrapped up the regular season on Saturday afternoon and the Raiders dropped a 5-1 decision to Brown.
Colgate (14-16-4, 6-13-3 ECAC) got its lone goal from Jeremy Price with an assist to Tyson Spink. The goal was a power play goal in the first period. Spencer Finney got the start and made 15 saves in just over 44 minutes of action. Eric Mihalik came in and made seven saves in the final 15 minutes.
Brown (11-12-6, 7-9-6 ECAC) scored two goals in each of the last two periods to pull away from the Raiders. Matt Harlow led the way with two goals, including one on the power play. He also added an assist for a three-point night. Anthony Borelli showed why he is one of the top netminders in the league with 33 saves on 34 shots to earn his ninth win.
Matt Lorito got the scoring started for the Bears with 8:51 remaining in the first frame with assists to Matt Wahl and Richie Crowley. The Raiders answered with a power play goal from Jeremy Price with 55 seconds left to give Colgate a lift going into the locker room. Tyson Spink was credited with an assist on the play. The Raiders had a big 12-7 shot advantage in the first.
Brown then opened it up in the second period with two goals to go up 3-1 after 40 minutes of play. Mark Hourihan gave the Bears the lead for good with his second of the season. Crowley earned his second assists and Harlow got in the scoring column with a secondary helper. Harlow made it a two-point night with his fifth goal of the year coming with 6:39 remaining in the second frame.
Colgate did get its chances in the period as the Raiders outshot Brown by an 11-9 margin. The Raiders did have a power play opportunity late in the period, but could not convert.
The Bears closed out the game with two goals in the final period to earn the 5-1 win. Michael Joula put the home team up 4-1 with his third of the year with assists to Chris Zaires and Wahl, which was his second of the day. Harlow increased the lead to 5-1 with a power play goal on his second of the evening with helpers from Jake Goldberg and Zaires.
The Raiders ended the night with 34 shots on goal, but Borelli was up to the task and turned away 33 shots. Colgate continued to skate well on the power play with one goal on three chances with the third coming with 10 seconds left in the game.
Colgate is clinging to the 11th spot in the ECAC Hockey standings and will find out later tonight where they will be headed next week for the first round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament.