Lat night, Colgate and Yale played a wild one at Starr Rink in
Hamilton, New York. Andy Weidenbach gave Yale a 1-0 lead 25 seconds into
the game and five minutes later he returned the favor to Steve Lombardi who
had assisted him on the first goal, for a 2-0 lead. Once again, Colgate had
to rally. They did so in a hurry, scoring two minutes apart. The goals were
by seniors Sam Raffoul and Senior Captain Bruce Gardiner, who are playing
their final home games this weekend unless Colgate can somehow rally for
home ice or collapse and wind up hosting a preliminary round game. Both look
doubtful the way things are going (solo 5th). The first period ended in a 2-2
tie with Colgate sending a flurry of shots on Todd Sullivan and Jason Gates
of Colgate settling down after a shaky start. Colgate also had three shots
hit the cross bar. In the second, Bruce Gardiner notched his second of the
game 27 seconds into the second stanza to tie for the team lead as top sniper.
Red Raiders got a gift whyen a Yale defensemen slipped to the ice in his own
zone, and Colgate stole the puck, poking it past Sullivan for a 4-2 margin.
in the third, Colgate was outplayed by yale, who scored on a breakaway at the
midway point, and then tied it on a short-handede goal by Zoran Kozic. In OT,
Colgate dominated the play, preventing Yale from getting a shot on net. With
just 43 seconds left in the OT session, Matt Garzone batted home the rebound
for the 5-4 win. It wasn't pretty but Colgate's triumph moves them into solo
5th, 2 points ahead of Vermont. Colgate has a 4pm game,with Princeton which
might be their final home game of the season. It is being televised locally
on WFX-TV (Utica-Rome) and on the Empire Sports Network. I don't know where
it reaches but Freshman Mike Harder told me his parents would be watching back in Manitoba. Tune in if you can!!!
                        Adam Schupak
                Voice of Colgate Red Raider Hockey 90.1 WRCU