BURLINGTON, Vt. – For the second straight game Colgate scored five unanswered goals and this time withstood a late charge by Vermont to secure a 5-3 victory on Friday night.
Josh McKechney led the Raiders with two goals, while Arnaud Vachon added two points with a pair of assists. Ben Raymond scored his first collegiate goal, joining Colton Young and Nick Anderson as the Raider goal scorers.
Vermont struck first on the power play, staking the Raiders an early 1-0 deficit two minutes in, but Raymond’s first goal turned the tides just over a minute later. Raymond beat a defender to a loose puck near center ice and drew a penalty as he raced in on goal before firing a low wrist shot inside the left post to tie the game at 1-1.
Raymond’s goal started a run of five straight tallies, as the Raiders added two more in the first and two in the second. McKechney gave Colgate its first lead and Anderson rifled a wrister through traffic in front to give Colgate a 3-1 advantage at the first intermission.
Colgate padded its lead just over a minute into the second period. Ethan Manderville took it behind the net and changed directions before finding Young for a one-timer from the doorstep.
Carter Gylander stopped all 12 shots in the second and McKechney made it 4-1 with his second goal of the night late in the second period. Vachon and Tommy Bergsland registered the assists on Colgate’s fifth unanswered goal.
The Catamounts made an attempt at a comeback with two goals less than a minute apart in the third, but Gylander was solid the rest of the way en route to 38 saves and Colgate improved to 2-0-0 on the young season with a 5-3 triumph.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Don Vaughan
“There is a saying in hockey ‘bend but don’t break’ and that’s what we did tonight in the third. I was so pleased with our play in the first and second periods and in a way I was okay with how we hung on in the last 10 minutes. Vermont played desperate hockey which we were not surprised by at all. Carter made the saves we needed and we found a way. Another first year, Ben Raymond scored and we again learned a lot about how hard it is and the sacrifices it takes to win at this level. We will enjoy it tonight and hit the reset button for tomorrow.”
UP NEXT
Colgate and Vermont cap off their weekend series in Burlington with a 7 p.m. faceoff on Saturday.
