Cornell held a lead with less than five minutes to play, but Colgate came swarming back to earn a 2-2 tie on Saturday night at Lynah Rink.
Cornell captain John McCarron’s first goal of the season gave the Big Red a narrow margin in the third period, but Kyle Baun found the equalizer to deny the hosts a weekend sweep.
McCarron, who had six assists on the season, but no goals, put his stick firmly down on the ice midway through the final period to give Cornell the lead on a power play. The play started with Holden Anderson, who sent a feed over to Jacob MacDonald at center point. MacDonald’s wrist shot went toward the center of the net, but McCarron put a stick to it and deflected it past Colgate goalie Charlie Finn.
“I don’t think he’s been struggling,” said Cornell coach Mike Schafer when asked about his captain. “He does a lot of the basic things that you want your captain to do, which is to come to every game ready to compete, as well as blocking shots and having big hits.”
With Cornell yielding less than two goals per game so far this season, a Raiders comeback was an uphill battle, but sometimes you get the right bounces at the right time, which led to Baun’s team-leading 11th goal of the season.
Tyson Spink got the puck to the left point, which is where Jake Kulevich fired a shot toward goal. The original shot hit a pair of bodies just a few feet in front of Cornell goalie Mitch Gillam, then fell on the ice in the slot. Baun swung his body around and swept the puck toward the cage, which eluded the legs of Gillam, knotting the score at two.
A scoreless overtime period following Baun’s goal meant that Colgate avoided a weekend sweep at the hand of the Big Red, as Cornell knocked off the Raiders on Friday night in overtime in Hamilton.
“It’s a confidence booster,” said Colgate coach Don Vaughan in regards to his team’s avoidance of a sweep. “We’re in the thick of it, it’s a tough league and this point tonight could turn out to be a huge one by the end of the season.”
The Big Red were certainly dedicated to that weekend sweep. Cornell came out flying in the opening frame, outshooting the Raiders 13-6, which included more than half of their shots coming from the center of the ice, while Colgate was held to the outer edges of the zone.
It did not take long for Cornell to finally push through in the second period, as continued pressure led to Christian Hilbrich’s team-leading seventh goal of the year.
Cole Bardreau set up a one-timed shot to Joakim Ryan with time winding down on a power play and Ryan’s shot was tipped by Hilbrich in front, as the 6-foot-7-inch forward was screening the goaltender.
That height of Hilbrich actually was a disadvantage for the Big Red a few minutes later, as it kept Cornell from taking a 2-0 lead. An airborne puck was touched by the hand of Hilbrich, which then fell right on the tape of Jake Weidner, who fired a shot past the glove hand of Finn. A lengthy video review determined that a hand pass was the correct call, which ignited the Colgate comeback.
“Prior to that goal, we were starting to feel it a little bit on the bench,” said Vaughan. “We could feel the momentum swinging, but the disallowed goal definitely gave our guys a bit of a charge.”
That charge was enough for the Raiders to even the score late in the second period.
Daniel Gentzler won a draw in the offensive zone, then gained possession of the puck himself just a few feet in front of the faceoff dot. A quick shot from Gentzler barely squeezed through the arm and body of Gillam before narrowly crossing the goal line. The goal marked the first of the season for the senior and the sixth of his career.
The Gentzler tally came with just 24 seconds left to play in the second period and it started the trend of the two clubs trading blows in the final frame, but an overtime session did not alter the course for either club.
