ALLENTOWN Pa. — Colgate’s season concluded Friday evening in the NCAA Regional Finals at the PPL Center.
The Raiders fell 11-1 to No. 1 seed Michigan, who will now play Penn State in the Regional Finals Sunday.
Colgate (19-6-5, 11-8-3 ECAC) ended a fantastic season that saw the Raiders earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after winning the ECAC Hockey championship for the first time since 1990.
Nic Belpedio scored Colgate’s lone goal three minutes into the third. The sophomore fired a shot in from the point off a pass from Colton Young.
Michigan got on the board first with a goal from Nick Granowicz, with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first. Nolan Moyle passed to Luke Hughes, who wrapped around the net and dished a pass to Granowicz for a shot he finished off in front of the net.
Carter Gylander made 16 stops in the first period to shut down the Wolverines on several scoring chances. The junior finished with 33 saves in the game.
The Raiders had seven shots in the opening period, including a breakaway chance from Ross Mitton, but his shot got saved by Michigan’s goalie.
Colgate also had a few good looks at the start of the second that it couldn’t capitalize on.
Michigan’s offense then took off, netting seven goals from seven different scorers in the middle frame. Adam Fantilli opened it up, scoring at the 8:30 mark. Three minutes later, the Wolverines put in three goals in a minute-and-a-half.
In the third, Michigan scored three more after being awarded a five-minute power play.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS:
• Colgate made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2014 season
• After tonight’s performance, Gylander finished the season with 1,044 saves, breaking the program record for saves in a season by one. He also finished second in program history for minutes played in a season, logging 3,885 between the pipes. Additionally, his 19 wins were the fifth most in a season.
• Alex Young scored nine power-play goals, which finishes as the most in program history since the 2006-07 season.
• Nick Anderson tallied 26 assists on the year, which ranks tied for fifth-most by a defender in a season in program history.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Don Vaughan
“I liked our first period; I think we did a lot of what we wanted to and thought we were defending well. I’m proud of our team and think that one game will not define us. We’re champions and won the ECAC against some very good teams. It didn’t end how we wanted, but we’re still very happy with this group and what they accomplished.
