Friday, Feb. 7, 2003

HAMILTON, N.Y.--The Colgate University men's hockey team scored three straight third period goals in a two-minute span en route to a 4-1 win over the University of Vermont Friday night at Starr Rink.

With the win, the Raiders (10-14-3, 5-8-2 ECAC) pick up two crucial points and are now tied for eighth place in the standings with the Catamounts (9-13-3, 6-9 ECAC) with 12 points.

Adam Mitchell opened up a tight 1-1 tie at 15:27 of the third period, tallying his second game winning goal in three games. He received a pretty backhanded pass from Scooter Smith and chipped it past Vermont goaltender Shawn Conschafter to give Colgate a 2-1 edge.

Ryan Smyth recorded the second goal of his career at 17:01 to put Colgate ahead 3-1. Tony Masotto dug a puck free along the Vermont boards and found a wide open Smyth who buried a wrist shot high to the glove side of Conschafter.

Smith finalized the night's scoring, lifting a backhand into the net for his 16th on the season at 17:49.

Following a scoreless first period, Vermont briefly jumped out to a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the second period when Baron Becker found a loose puck in the slot and fired it past Colgate netminder Steve Silverthorn.

But Colgate answered back, as Dmitry Yashin took a centering pass from P.J. Yedon and sent a laser into the net for the equalizer at 11:42.

Vermont put pressure in the final frame but Silverthorn stopped 12 third period shots and 21 overall. Conschafter finished with 33 saves.

The Raiders entertain Dartmouth Saturday night at Starr Rink. The Big Green lost to Cornell 6-1 Friday night at Lynah Rink.