Grumet-Morris seemed physically and emotionally weary after the goal, prompting Mazzoleni to announce that Daigneau would make his first start in almost two months.

“I tried not to work myself into a nervous [state], to just go out and have fun and play hard for the guys in front of me.” Daigneau said. “It’d been a while since I’d seen game time...so I just went out and focused on things I could do well and tried to keep the game simple.”

But he struggled to shake off the rust early on, despite a strong showing from the defenders in front of him, who held the Raiders without a shot on net for the first 9:53 of the first period.

Unfortunately for the Crimson, its rusty sophomore keeper wasn’t quite back on his game just yet and, handcuffed by the shot, Daigneau allowed the wrister off Jon Smyth’s stick to sneak over his right shoulder and into the net for the equalizer.

“It was a good shot,” Daigneau said. “I should have had it, but I didn’t dwell on it. I mean, those shots from the top of the circle, two-on-one, are the ones you’ve got to have in the long run. But I got it out of the net and focused on the next one.”

It was the only mistake Daigneau would make all evening, thanks in large part to the same defense that had left Grumet-Morris vulnerable the night before.

“I definitely got more comfortable as the game went on,” Daigneau said. “[I] got a little sweat going and whatnot. There definitely were spots where they didn’t have a lot of shots, like the first 10 minutes.”

Colgate managed just 18 shots on net for the game and only one from right on the doorstep despite five power-play opportunities.

In the second period in particular—when the Raiders attempted the most shots—the vast majority were launched from out beyond the circles and not in close, allowing Daigneau to make relatively easy saves while attempting to find his comfort zone.

“I thought he played steady,” Mazzoleni said. “I didn’t think we gave them a lot. I mean, they had 18 shots. I just thought we played real hard defensively and took away their space.”

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.