SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – For the second time this season, the Union College men's hockey team erased a three-goal deficit and won, earning a 7-6 victory over Colgate University in front of 2,107 fans at M&T Bank Center Friday night.
Sophomore Lucas Buzziol left his mark on the back-and-forth affair by scoring the quickest goal to open a game in program history 11 seconds into play and later tacking on the game-winning goal at the 10:05 mark of the third period. He notched his second-career two-goal game and was one of five Garnet Chargers with multiple points in the contest. Senior Nate Hanley led the way with one goal and two assists. Hanley netted the second of Union's two game-tying goals with a penalty shot at 17:00 in the second period, knotting things up 5-5. Hanley now has 20 multi-point games in his collegiate career, and Friday marked his second three-point game in a Union uniform.
Union outscored Colgate 5-1 in the second period, erasing its 4-1 deficit from the first stanza. It is Union's second three-goal comeback of the season after rallying from down 3-0 against Mercyhurst on Oct. 11. Prior to the Garnet Chargers' comeback in Erie, Union had not won a game after trailing by three since Dec. 1, 2013 against Penn State.
After Buzziol won the opening faceoff, senior Nick Young dumped the puck into the corner. Buzziol's classmate Connor Smith came up with the puck and fed the Mississauga, Ontario native for the bad-angle shot, opening the scoring in record time. According to the NCAA Division I men's hockey record book, 28 goals have been scored in the opening nine seconds or fewer of a game in the history of men's college hockey since the 1947-48 season.
Despite Union's scorching start, Colgate answered back with four straight goals before the first intermission. The Raider potted a short-handed score to cap their scoring outburst after three goals in a span of 1:22.
Hanley earned his first of three points early in the second when he fed junior Tyler Dunbar, kicking off Union's three-goal run to tie the game. Sophomore Ben Muthersbaugh scored unassisted to make the score 4-3, and sophomore Riley Brueck tied the game up at 4-4 on the power play.
Colgate retook the lead for 1:36 seconds, only lasting until Hanley's penalty shot. Muthersbaugh secured his third multi-goal game of the season 17 seconds later, thrusting his squad back in front.
While the Raiders were able to tie things up 6-6 early in the third, the Garnet Chargers benefited from a second power play goal midway through the final frame and take the lead for good. Buzziol tipped in a shot from Hanley, and Dunbar had the secondary assist on the play. Dunbar leads the team with 29 points as a defenseman, and Hanley's 69 career assists mean he is one helper away from becoming the 10th player in Union's DI history with 70+ assists.
Sophomore Cameron Korpi earned the win after making 20 saves, including 16 stops in the final 40 minutes. The South Lyon, Mich. netminder leads his team with 10 wins on the season.
Union posted its fifth game with multiple power-play goals this season and improved to 3-1 when allowing a short-handed goal. In the conference standings, Union moved to 7-9-1 and sit alone in seventh place with 24 points.
#9/10 Cornell University comes to town on Saturday, Feb. 14 after tying Rensselaer 1-1 Friday night but emerging victorious in the shootout. The faceoff between the Garnet Chargers and Big Red is set for 7 p.m. at M&T Bank Center.
