Colgate Announces 2009-10 Schedule

Photo by Tim Roske

HAMILTON, N.Y. -- A trip to Chicago and match-ups with a few non conference instate rivals are on tap for the Colgate men’s hockey team, as the 2009-2010 schedule was announced Friday afternoon.

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The 34 regular-season slate features 17 games to be played at Starr Rink, 15 road games, and two neutral site contests. In addition, the Raiders will host two home exhibition games as well.

“Scheduling has become almost as important as recruiting,” said Colgate head coach Don Vaughan, who will enter his 17th season at the helm of the program for the 2009-2010 campaign. “Like most programs, we are constantly looking into the crystal ball to develop the non league portion of our schedule so that we have a good balance against quality opponents.

“It’s not an exact science, but we all attempt to do it in order to give ourselves a chance at an at large bid to the NCAA tournament should we not win the ECAC Hockey Tournament,” he continued. “We feel that we have accomplished that with this schedule. In the end, we still need to win games both in the non league portion of our schedule and within the ECAC, which is one of the most competitive conferences in the country.”

After hosting an exhibition game on October 3 at Starr Rink, the regular-season gets underway Friday, October 9 as the Raiders travel to face Niagara. After playing the following evening at Rochester Institute of Technology, Colgate will open its home slate with a two-game set versus Nebraska-Omaha beginning Friday, October 16.

The following weekend presents a huge challenge for the Raiders. On Friday, October 23, Colgate will travel to face UMass-Lowell before returning home the following evening and hosting the United States National Developmental Program’s Under 18 team, a roster which will be stocked with future NHL hopefuls. NTDP posted seven victories over NCAA Division I programs such as Colorado College, Michigan State, Alaska-Anchorage, as well as a tie with Cornell during the 2008-09 season.

The Raiders remain home for the next weekend, October 30-31 as both Army and Niagara invade Starr Rink on successive evenings.

In keeping with the non-conference schedule, following a date at Canisius on December 20, the Raiders will travel to participate in the 2010 Shillelagh Tournament at the Sears Centre in Chicago. The Raiders will play either CCHA regular-season champion and host school Notre Dame, or WCHA regular-season champion North Dakota, or even Niagara in the opening round. The pairings have yet to be announced.

Colgate’s non-conference schedule concludes with a pair of home games versus Robert Morris, January 22-23 at Starr Rink.

The Raiders will begin their 22-game ECAC Hockey schedule at home as Harvard and Dartmouth come to Hamilton, November 6-7. Colgate will play nine league games before the holiday break, the last two being on the road at Union and Rensselaer, December 4-5. The regular-season will end at Starr Rink against the Dutchmen and Engineers on February 26 and 27.

Colgate and Cornell match-ups will be split this season. The first meeting will happen Tuesday evening, November 24 in Ithaca, while the second clash is set to occur, Tuesday February 16 at Starr Rink.

The Raiders are expected to welcome back 17 lettermen off last year’s 12-18-7 squad which set the all-time national record with 19 overtime games. Redshirt sophomore Kevin McNamara (Chestnut Hills, Mass.) will also return to the lineup following season ending surgery which sidelined him for the 2008-09 campaign.