The Colgate Raiders and Quinnipiac Bobcats played an even game that resulted in a 1-1 tie on Friday night.
The story of the game was the goaltending. Colgate’s Mark Dekanich made 29 saves while Quinnipiac’s Peter Verti ended with 30.
“I thought our goaltenders were excellent,†Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “The game could have been 4-4 or 5-5. Dekanich was excellent in goal. The puck seemed to be bouncing a lot, but I thought both teams really competed hard.â€
The Bobcats struck first 7:53 into the second period when Quinnipiac’s Isak Tranvik took the puck at center ice and passed to Mike Atkinson near the left circle. Atkinson sailed down the left side, through traffic, and tucked the puck into the corner of the net just as Dekanich slid to react.
Colgate tied it up two minutes into the third when Tyler Burton forced a turnover in the Quinnipiac end to and stopped the Bobcats from sending it out. Burton sent the puck to Tom Riley who connected with it at the left circle and skated into the slot. Riley tried to maneuver around a defenseman and chipped the puck over his stick. The puck bounced into the net over Verti’s left shoulder, knotting the score, 1-1.
Colgate’s Brian Day drew a five minute checking from behind penalty just 48 seconds after the goal, giving the Bobcats the perfect opportunity to jump ahead. They, failed to capitalize, however, and the score remained tied.
Quinnipiac began the game in control, and dominated most of the first period. They spent the stanza on the attack, but the Colgate defense shined, allowing just eight pucks to get on net.
Colgate found its way into the Quinnipiac zone at the end of the period, and though the Raiders peppered the net with shots, none got past Verti.
The second and third periods were more of the same, with both teams battling in front of the net.
Despite several chances, neither team was able to score the go-ahead goal in the third, and Bobcats and Raiders found themselves playing an extra period of hockey.
The overtime period turned into a condensed version of the game itself, with lots of passing, and just a few shots on either side.
The Bobcats made three great shots that were stopped by Dekanich, and the Raiders came heartbreakingly close when they hit the left post twice.
At the final whistle, the score remained tied, 1-1.
Quinnipiac will take on Cornell Saturday evening in Ithaca, while the Raiders play a matinee against Princeton at 3 p.m., in Hamilton.
