Freshman Emilio Audi #17 scored his first collegiate goal Friday night
in Colgate’s game against Quinnipiac. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
By Matt Faulkner
(Hamilton, NY – Nov. 1, 2013) The Colgate men’s hockey team got to within one of Quinnipiac at 3-2 early in the third period, but the Bobcats scored four-straight as the Raiders lost their conference opener, 7-2, on Friday night.
Colgate (2-5-1, 0-1-0 ECAC) saw Emilio Audi put him his first collegiate goal in the first period and Darcy Murphy tallied his second of the year on a breakaway. Spencer Finney got the start and made 32 saves and was relieved by Charlie Finn in the third and the rookie stopped four shots.
Quinnipiac (7-1-0, 1-0-0 ECAC) extended its winning streak to seven games with Connor Jones leading the way with two goals and an assist for three points. Sam Anas had a goal and two helpers, while Kellen Jones did the same. Michael Garteig made 10 saves to earn the win.
The Raiders got the start they wanted as they scored the first goal of the game at the15:48 mark of the opening frame. Jake Kulevich fed the puck down the right side of the offensive zone to Daniel Gentzler, who slid the puck into the crease area. Derek Freeman did a great job tying up the defenseman in front and the puck squirted out to Audi. The rookie was all alone at the far post and hit the open net for the 1-0 lead as Garteig was committed to the Gentzler pass.
Quinnipiac controlled most of the play in its zone with a 13-5 shot advantage. Both teams got two chances on the power play and were scoreless. Colgate killed off a huge chance for the Bobcats as they got a 5-on-3 for around 30 seconds.
The Bobcats took their first lead of the game with two goals in the middle frame and it began with a shorthanded goal from Kellen Jones. Bryce Van Brabant brought the puck into the zone and the play initially broke down, but the puck took an awkward hop. Kellen Jones then made a weird swat at the puck and got it to trickle across the goal line to tie the game at 1-1 with 11:11 left in the period.
Kellen’s twin brother Connor then gave Quinnipiac its first lead with a power play goal at the 4:33 mark of the second period at 2-1. Kellen Jones earned the puck in the corner and got it out to Sam Anas who passed up a good shot for a pass back into the slot for Connor Jones and he lit the lamp.
The teams racked up the scoring in the third period with a total of six goals in the frame. The Bobcats made it a two-goal game just 17 seconds into the third with Connor Jones tipping home his third of the year to make it 3-1.
The Raiders responded with Murphy stealing the puck at Quinnipiac’s blueline and broke in alone with Garteig. He went high against the netminder and got Colgate back to within one at 3-2.
Jordan Samuels-Thomas fired back with the start of a four-goal run for the Bobcats. He scored off a pass off the boards from Alex Barron. The pass sent Samuels-Thomas into the zone and he beat Finney short side. Anas then added an unassisted goal, followed by a power play score from Travis St. Denis to increase the lead to 6-2. The final score of the night came from Dan Frederico with assists to the Jones twins. The four-goal run was during a five-minute span in the first half of the third period.
The Raiders will look to bounce back Nov. 2 at 4 p.m. against Princeton.