No. 12 Colgate scored three third-period goals to defeat Air Force, 3-0 Sunday in the consolation game of the 13th annual Wells Fargo Denver Cup at Magness Arena.
Air Force fell to 9-7-2 overall while Colgate, the defending ECAC champion, improved to 13-5-0.
The first and second periods of the game were completely different. The first period was very even with Colgate taking nine shots and Air Force taking five in an up-tempo opening period. The second period was all Colgate, but the game remained scoreless after the first 40 minutes.
The Raiders outshot the Falcons, 16-3, in the second period and held a 25-8 advantage after the first two periods. Falcon goalie Peter Foster made 16 stops in the second period but did not allow a goal.
In the third, the Raiders took advantage of all their shots as two bouncing pucks beat Foster. The first Raider goal came at 2:54. Mike Campaner took a shot from the point that was initially deflected by a Falcon defenseman. The puck bounced through the crease, off of Colgate’s Ben Camper’s leg and went into the net. Despite a huge shot advantage for Colgate, the score remained 1-0 until late in the game.
Colgate put the game away with another bouncing puck that found the net. Joey Mormina took a shot from the neutral zone, between the blue line and the red line, near the penalty box. The puck bounced over Foster’s stick and between his legs for a 2-0 lead at 13:09. Air Force pulled Foster from the net with 43 seconds remaining and the result was an empty-net goal for Liam Huculak.
The Raiders outshot Air Force, 32-8, in the final two periods and 41-13 in the game as Foster made a career-high 38 saves. Colgate netminder Steve Silverthorn made just 13 stops for the shutout.
Colgate was 0-for-3 on the power play while Air Force was 0-for-2. The teams combined for just seven penalties.
