No. 11 Colgate scored three straight goals in the third period to erase a 3-0 deficit, but Brown prevented the Raiders from getting the would-be winning goal as the Bears and the Raiders skated to a 3-3 tie in the consolation of the Providence College Hockey Holiday Classic Thursday at Schneider Arena.
Brown scored its first goal 17:44 into the first period. A Colgate turnover in the neutral zone led to the scoring opportunity. Jeff Prough took a pass from Ryan Garbutt at the top of the right circle and wristed the puck into the top left corner.
The Bears made it 2-0 8:58 into the second period. Raider goaltender Mark Dekanich stood up to a flurry of shots before Sean Dersch picked up the puck in the slot and slipped it around Dekanich stick-side.
Colgate initially withstood a Brown 5-on-3 power play, but got burned when it was back to 5-on-4. The Bears crashed the net, and Dekanich made two saves before the puck squirted out to Sean Hurley at the right of the crease, who banged home the rebound with just seven seconds left in the middle frame.
After taking a 22-13 shot deficit into the third period, the Raiders doubled up the Bears 12-6 in the third, and it paid off. Senior Eric Main got Colgate on the board 6:27 into the third period. Junior Liam Huculak centered the puck to Main in the high slot, and a hard slapshot beat Brown goalie Adam D’Alba.
Colgate’s reunited top line of senior Jon Smyth and sophomores Tyler Burton and Jesse Winchester combined to make it a one-goal game 41 seconds later. Burton buried a rebound off a shot by Winchester for his 14th goal of the season.
The Raiders tied it up on a lucky bounce 12:27 into the final stanza. Junior Marc Fulton found senior Ryan Smyth in the slot. Smyth’s shot proved to be difficult to handle as D’Alba bobbled it into the air and lost it over his shoulder.
