FAIRFIELD, Conn. (October 14, 2023) – On Friday night, the first period was the problem at Martire Family Arena. On Saturday night, the trouble was periods two and three. The Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team leveled the game at 1-1 just 92 seconds into the second period, but it was all downhill from there. Visiting Colgate poured in the final five goals of the game – and generated a 37-12 advantage in shots over the final 40 minutes – to roll to a 6-1 victory.
 
Despite the final score line, the game was competitive early on. SHU (0-2-0) put together a far better first 20 minutes than it did on Friday, as the Pios posted an 11-7 edge in shots in the first. Once again, however, they trailed 1-0 at the first intermission. Colgate opened the scoring at 10:49, when Tommy Bergsland found Pierson Brandon in the left circle for the latter's second goal of the weekend.
 
SHU battled back coming out of the break, as Kevin Lombardi (Schwenksville, Pa.) tallied his second goal of the weekend as well, at 1:32 of the second. The large winger picked off a pass in the defensive end and executed a criss-crossing give-and-go with Mark Cheremeta (Parkland, Fla.) through the neutral zone. The play culminated with Lombardi in possession in the high slot and he picked the top-right corner to even the score.
 
From there though, Colgate turned into a runaway freight train. The Raiders struck twice in the second half of the middle stanza to open up a 3-1 lead through 40 minutes. First, Ben Raymond fired a big shot from the right side, which allowed Ryan McGuire to finish off a rebound at 12:07 for his second of the season. Later, inside the final minute of the frame, Ryan Sullivan tried a wraparound at the left post, and Ross Mitton eventually jammed home the rebound for his second of the year. The play went to video review to see if Chase Clark (Williamsville, N.Y.) had been able to cover the puck, but the goal stood.
 
SHU was unable to bounce back out of the second intermission, as Colgate piled up a 21-6 shots advantage in the third and scored three more times to win going away. Sebastian Tamburro finished from the right circle at 2:33, Jake Schneider roofed a backhand on the rush at 13:43, and Bobby Metz capped things off with a power-play tally at 19:28.
 
Clark (0-2-0) finished with 38 saves – giving him 79 on the weekend – but was still beaten six times, as he was under siege for much of the second half of the contest. Carter Gylander (2-1-1) stopped 22 of 23 shots in the victory for Colgate.
 
The Pios dive into Atlantic Hockey play next weekend, in an early-season clash of the top two teams in the league's preseason coaches' poll. SHU visits preseason favorite RIT for a two-game set on Oct. 20-21. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. on Friday and 5:05 p.m. on Saturday at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, N.Y.