Colgate crests past Rensselaer in overtime

A valiant Rensselaer rally was not quite enough to beat rivals Colgate, ending in a 4-3 defeat. The Engineers, fighting to clinch a playoff game on home ice, faced a Raiders team looking to secure a first-round bye.

While Colgate would put the Engineers in a two-goal deficit in the first period, the game felt much closer than what the score suggested. Rensselaer effectively controlled the puck, contrasting the more aggressive, direct approach that they usually employed. This would eventually pay off in the second period as the puck would fall to a wide open Felix Caron, who squared it to Dovar Tinling, putting it away to put the Engineers on the board a minute into the second period.

Ten minutes later, Rensselaer would fall victim to a familiar foe—the power play, as a penalty to Tyler Hotson gave Colgate an advantage they would quickly exploit, scoring just five seconds into the power play. Colgate would also be hit by the power play bug, as two penalties in quick succession—including one for their goaltender—would give the Engineers a five-on-three man advantage, allowing an unmarked Max Smolinkski to fire it in from range to put RPI within one.

Rensselaer continued to heap on the pressure on the malleable Raider defense throughout the rest of regulation, leveling the score halfway through the third period thanks to Arvils Bergmanis, who fired it in from distance to make it 3-3. Rensselaer was handed a further advantage with 27 seconds left in the third period as Colgate’s Simon Labelle was penalized for boarding, giving RPI a crucial 4 on 3 advantage for 93 seconds in overtime.

The Engineers were unable to make the most of this, managing only two shots on target during the power play. Rensselaer lost possession after the power play, and Colgate would never relinquish it. Not even a minute later, the Raiders would score to end it in overtime. The box score for the game can be found here.