2008 Woodie Awards
Raiders Split Weekend Homestand Yet Remain In First Place
Alex Clark
Issue date: 1/28/05 Section: Sports
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Entering the weekend with a two point lead in the ECACHL, the Raiders had a chance to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the league competition with a pair of victories. Despite dominating the then second place Vermont Catamounts on Friday, however, Colgate found its conference lead trimmed to one after losing the back end of the weekend doubleheader.
The Raiders looked forward to their match-up with Vermont as a chance to give themselves some breathing room at the top of the league. The game also represented a rematch from earlier this season when the Catamounts handed Colgate what had been up until last Friday its only ECACHL loss.
The only surprise, then, came in just how decisively Colgate rebounded against a team which had shut the Raiders down 3-1 at Bennington two months before. Colgate lunged at the Catamounts early, laying strong checks along the boards and creating turnovers and confusion amongst the visitors. An early line change by two Vermont players left the Raiders with a brief numbers advantage midway through the first period, and senior Joey Mormina found enough open ice to rip a slap shot past goalie Joe Fallon and into the net.
Sophomore Liam Huculak, who skated through his rookie season without ever recording a goal, buried his third of the season seven minutes into the second period on the power play. Fallon surrendered a long rebound off of a hard shot from first-year Jesse Winchester, and Huculak batted the loose puck past the netminder to give Colgate a 2-0 lead.
The Raiders struck on the man advantage once again in period two. Mormina eclipsed a personal goal scoring mark of his own, tallying his fifth goal of the season late in the middle frame. The 6'5" defender pinched in from his usual position on the offensive blue line and snapped home a one-timer set up by first-year Tyler Burton.
"That's one of our plays on the power play," said Mormina. "We've been working on it all year, and it finally happened for us tonight. It was a great pass by Tyler Burton."
The Raiders looked forward to their match-up with Vermont as a chance to give themselves some breathing room at the top of the league. The game also represented a rematch from earlier this season when the Catamounts handed Colgate what had been up until last Friday its only ECACHL loss.
The only surprise, then, came in just how decisively Colgate rebounded against a team which had shut the Raiders down 3-1 at Bennington two months before. Colgate lunged at the Catamounts early, laying strong checks along the boards and creating turnovers and confusion amongst the visitors. An early line change by two Vermont players left the Raiders with a brief numbers advantage midway through the first period, and senior Joey Mormina found enough open ice to rip a slap shot past goalie Joe Fallon and into the net.
Sophomore Liam Huculak, who skated through his rookie season without ever recording a goal, buried his third of the season seven minutes into the second period on the power play. Fallon surrendered a long rebound off of a hard shot from first-year Jesse Winchester, and Huculak batted the loose puck past the netminder to give Colgate a 2-0 lead.
The Raiders struck on the man advantage once again in period two. Mormina eclipsed a personal goal scoring mark of his own, tallying his fifth goal of the season late in the middle frame. The 6'5" defender pinched in from his usual position on the offensive blue line and snapped home a one-timer set up by first-year Tyler Burton.
"That's one of our plays on the power play," said Mormina. "We've been working on it all year, and it finally happened for us tonight. It was a great pass by Tyler Burton."