There was no reward for a hard-fought effort on the road by the Clarkson University Hockey team on Friday night as Colgate University edged the Golden Knights 4-2 in Hamilton, NY.
Colgate snapped a five-game losing drought against the Knights at Starr Rink with the help of a fluke goal early in the third period. With the scored tie 2-2, the Raider’s Tyler Burton sent a pass from behind the Clarkson net that deflected off the stick of a Knight defender and off the back of the helment of goaltender David Leggio (Williamsville, NY) for the game-winner at 3:41. Clarkson made a valiant effort to tie the game, out shooting Colgate 22-6 over the final 20 minutes, but the Raiders’ sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 21 seconds left.
After a scoreless first period, Clarkson and Colgate combined for a pair of goals in the opening two minutes of the second stanza. The Knights grabbed the initial lead 57 seconds into the middle frame when junior Mike Sullivan (Stouffville, ONT) knocked in a rebound in front off a shot by sophomore David Cayer ( Longueuil, QUE) for his 11th goal of the season. Junior defenseman Michael Grenzy (Lockport, NY) also assisted. Forty-two seconds later the Raiders tied it when Kyle Wilson split the Clarkson defense and slipped a shot by Leggio.
Clarkson’s leading scorer, sophomore Nick Dodge (Oakville, ONT) put Clarkson back on top at 4:47 when he knocked in his own rebound for his team-high 12th goal of the year and fourth shorthanded marker of the season.
With 3:52 remaining in the period, the Raiders knotted the game 2-2 with Marc Fulton’s goal just seven seconds after the Knights successfully killed off Colgate’s second power play of the stanza.
The Knights out shot the Raiders 43-27. Leggio posted 23 saves. Clarkson was 0-of-3 on the power play and killed off all four of Colgate’s man-advantage chances.
Clarkson, which has lost three straight, falls to 12-9-2 overall and to 5-5-1 in the ECAC Hockey League. The Knights play at defending conference champion Cornell University on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
