A pair of tallies late in the contest by the nation’s leading goal scorer led to a tough loss on the road for the Clarkson University Hockey team as the Golden Knights fell 4-2 to 14th-ranked Colgate at Starr Rink in Hamilton, NY on Friday night.

The Golden Knights, who fall to 8-6-3 overall and to 2-4-1 in ECAC Hockey, play at Cornell on Saturday in a 7:00 p.m. game. Cornell defeated St. Lawrence 1-0 on Friday for its fourth consecutive shutout at Lynah Rink.

Clarkson held a 2-1 lead early in the third when freshman Joe Zarbo (Grand Island, NY) tallied his second goal of the season at 5:38 on a rising wrist shot from the left circle after taking a pass from junior Adam Pawlick (Utica, NY).

The Raiders (10-4-1, 5-2), however, gained the win with three straight goals. Colgate, which had three 5-on-3 power plays in the contest, connected for its second goal with a two-man advantage to tie the game as Robbie Bourdon score at 9:53.

Goals by Austin Smith at 16:42 and 19:52 of the third put the Raiders in front for the first time. Smith, who leads the nation with 17 goals, connected for the game-winner on a 2-on-1 rush after a Clarkson turnover at neutral ice. Smith closed on the scoring with an empty-net tally with eight seconds remaining.

The Knights started out strong and opened the scoring at 3:25 of the first. Sophomore Jarrett Burton (Echo Bay, ONT) took a pass in the slot from freshman Mitch Zion (Manotick, ONT) and scored on a hard wrist shot for his second goal of the season. Freshman defenseman James Howden (Edgeley, SASK) also assisted.

Clarkson lost momentum when it took back-to-back penalties midway through the period. Colgate made the most of the opportunity with Chris Wagner’s 5-on-3 power-play goal at 11:11.

Colgate was 2-of-6 on the power play while the Knights had four power plays, including a full five-minute major, but could not convert.

The Raiders outshot Clarkson 43-27. Senior Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) made 39 saves.