NEW HAMPSHIRE EXPLODES FOR FIVE THIRD PERIOD GOALS TO TAKE THE 2000 ICE BREAKER CUP 

Oct. 7, 2000

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -  The No. 9-ranked University of New Hampshire men’s ice hockey team exploded for five third-period goals to defeat No. 16-ranked Colgate University 7-3 in the championship game of the Ice Breaker Cup held at Michigan’s Yost Ice Arena Saturday evening. 

After holding a 30-12 shot advantage after the second period including 22 in the period, it looked as though it was going to only be a matter of time before UNH’s offensive attack would break through goaltender Jason Lefevre (Rome, N.Y.) and the Colgate defense’s armor.  This was certainly the case as the Wildcats broke through for five third-period goals on 17 shots.

UNH took its first lead of the game just 49 seconds into the third period igniting its offensive onslaught with a goal by Lanny Gare.

Lefevre still had a very strong weekend performance stopping 30 shots against Michigan and 28 saves against UNH.  Despite giving up five goals on the night, Colgate head coach Don Vaughan didn’t fault Lefevre’s performance but actually attributed the UNH's scoring to his squad’s defensive breakdowns enabling three odd-man rushes.  The odd-man rushes directly led to three consecutive goals at the end of the second and beginning of the third period. 

After falling behind 2-0, UNH evened the score in the second period with two goals by Darren Haydar his second and third of the season.  Haydar deflected Garrett Stafford’s shot to record a power-play marker cutting the lead to 2-1.  Then with just 50 seconds left in the second, Haydar recorded the equalizer with a three-on-two rush by the Wildcats with helpers from Gare and Sean Austin.  Gare skated up the left wing into the Colgate zone and fed a pass to Haydar just inside the right circle beating Lefevre five-hole.

Colgate did show solid play in the first two periods of the contest, but as was a troubling aspect of Friday’s game against Michigan, the Red Raiders ended the game with 12 penalties for 24 minutes.  The time in the sin bin attributed to wearing out Colgate’s forwards and the Wildcats capitalized on their strong depth especially in the second period with four penalities over an eight-minute stretch.

Another odd-man rush ended with Gare and Matt Swain worked a pretty give-and-go as Swain slid a pass through the Colgate defense in front of the goal to Gare who was trailing on the backdoor at 3:04 of the third to take a 4-2 lead.  Then the Wildcats’ offensive explosion continued when UNH’s Corey-Joe Ficek carried the puck behind the Colgate net and found Colin Hemingway in the high slot where he cranked a shot over Lefevre’s shoulder at 4:12 to build a 5-2 advantage.

The Wildcats scored their sixth goal and fifth in the seven-minute stretch between the end of the second and beginning of the third when David Busch connected on a pass from Johnny Rogers at 6:26.

The Red Raiders first goal came on the first career shorthanded goal by sophomore Scooter Smith (Calgary, Alb.) at 12:01 of the first period.  With UNH on the power-play, a Wildcat defenseman slid a pass to the arch near the end line which bounced over his teammate’s stick and off the boards to Colgate’s Smith who turned quickly ripping a shot over Conklin’s right shoulder.

Paul Kelley (Grand Forks, B.C.) deflected Cory Murphy’s shot from the right point past Conklin just outside the right side of the crease to give Colgate a 2-0 advantage at 7:42 of the second.  Kelley became the first Colgate freshman to get on the board this season after a strong 56-point season last year with the Quesnel Millionaires of the BCHL.

Colgate’s final goal was a power-play marker by Chad MacDonald (Oshawa, Ont.) with helpers from Murphy (Kanata, Ont.) and Smith at 19:13 of the third.

The Red Raiders will resume action in the home-opener at Starr Rink on Oct. 14 when they host Sacred Heart with face-off at 7 p.m.