Team Notes: Silver Puck Weekend Features Princeton and Quinnipiac

HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Colgate men’s hockey team returns home to face Princeton and Quinnipiac during the annual Silver Puck Weekend.

The Raiders take on the Tigers at 7 p.m. on Friday night, followed by the Bobcats on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Starr Rink. All links for live audio and live stars are available through Men’s Hockey Game Central at gocolgateraiders.com.

SILVER PUCK WEEKEND
On the weekend of Nov. 12-13 against Princeton and Quinnipiac, Colgate will be hosting its annual Silver Puck Weekend. The Silver Puck Club is the principal fundraising arm of the men’s hockey program, which exists for the betterment of the men’s hockey program and Colgate University as a whole. The Colgate Silver Puck Club at Colgate was founded in 1958 as a booster club for the University’s varsity hockey program.

THIRD JERSEY SALE
The Colgate men’s hockey team will be donning its new third jersey this weekend and the worn jersey’s will be on sale with the proceeds going to the Silver Puck Club, the Interfaith Council and Hamilton Food Cupboard. 

FOOD & TOY DRIVE COMING SOON TO STARR
On Saturday, November 20, the Colgate men’s hockey team will be hosting a food drive for the Hamilton Food Cupboard. Fans are asked to bring can goods or non-perishable items to Starr Rink for the matchup against third-ranked Yale and for their generosity, Colgate athletics will hand out one free general admission ticket for the game. The Raiders will also be collecting toys for the Interfaith Holiday Council on Dec. 11 during the Niagara game, which the items will then be dispersed to the families within Madison County. Fans will again receive a free general admission ticket for their help. 

CONFERENCE DROPS THE PUCK
ECAC Hockey kicked off last weekend and third-ranked Yale showed why the Bulldogs are picked to win the league. The Bulldogs outscored Princeton and Quinnpiac by a 10-4 margin in the two games. St. Lawrence came into the weekend without a win and ended up sweeping Cornell and Colgate to earn four points. Every team earned a point this weekend.

IN NEED OF AN EARLY LEAD
In both wins this season, the Raiders have jumped out to an early lead. When Colgate fails to take the first lead, the Raiders are 0-3-1. Last weekend at Clarkson and St. Lawrence, they surrendered lead in both games. 

SECURING THE LEAD
Colgate has taken a lead into the third period in three games this year and is 2-0-1 in those games. The wins came against Army and Sacred Heart with the tie happening last weekend at Clarkson The Raiders had a two-goal lead going into the final frame. Colgate gave up two power play goals, but was able to right the ship and secure one point. 

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
Colgate ranks third in the league in the least amount of penalty minutes and the Raiders committed just one offense against Sacred Heart, but the team is struggling on the kill. Colgate ranks 10th in ECAC Hockey with six power play goals against in 25 opportunities for a 76 percentage success rate. The Raiders surrendered three to the Golden Knights, who came into game without a score with the advantage.

SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Colgate continues league play this weekend with visits from Princeton and Quinnipiac during the annual Silver Puck weekend. The Raiders are averaging three goals a game, which is fourth in ECAC. Yale leads the league at six tallies a game. Colgate is in the middle of the conference on defense, allowing 2.67 goals against. 

The Raiders have 16 different skaters with at least one point with five earning four or more points. Senior captain Brian Day (Danvers, Mass.) is on top of the scoring list with seven points on four goals and three assists. He is tied for 14th averaging 1.17 points per game. Junior Austin Smith (Dallas, Texas) netted his second goal of the season in the 4-4 tie against Clarkson and he has six points on two goals and four assists, while senior Francois Brisebois (Montreal, Que.) also has six points, including a team-high five assists. Sophomore Billy Rivellini (Great Falls, Va.) has played an important role on the fourth line and has two goals in the last three games, after only playing in two games a year ago. 

In net, junior Alex Evin (Castlegar, B.C.) has started all six games for the Raiders and has a 2-3-1 mark. He posted his first collegiate shutout against Sacred Heart on Oct. 30 and has recorded a .912 save percentage and a goals against average of 2.47. He made 32 stops against Clarkson with 16 in the first period. 

On special teams, the power play has slowly come around as Colgate has a goal with the extra man in three of its last four games. The Raiders are still struggling in the area, however, with just 5 goals in 35 opportunities. The penalty kill let them down against St. Lawrence, allowing a season-high three goals. Colgate dropped to 76 percent on the kill.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Princeton makes the trip north with a 1-3-0 overall mark and a 1-1-0 record in ECAC Hockey play. The Tigers split last weekend at Yale and Brown with a 5-3 to the nationally-ranked Bulldogs and a 4-3 win over Brown on Saturday. They suffered two tough 2-1 decision to start the year at the Ivy Shootout against Dartmouth and Brown. Princeton played an exhibition game against nearby Morrisville State and beat Colgate’s neighbors by a 7-1 margin. 

Princeton is averaging 2.25 goals per game, while allowing three. Rookie Andrew Calof leads the team with seven points and six assists, while senior Matt Arhontas has five goals, which is second in ECAC Hockey. Three of his goals came on the power play. Calof and senior Kevin Lohry are the only two to add shorthanded goals on the year and for Lohry it is his only score. 

In net, the Tigers have had three different goaltenders start games with sophomore Mike Condon earning the nod two times. He is 1-1-0 with a 2.53 goals against average and a save percentage of .921. Condon has stopped 58-of-63 shots in 118 minutes of action. Senior Alan Reynolds and freshman Sean Bonar have each earned a start and both came out on the losing end. 

Princeton has seen some success on the power play in the first four games of the year with four scores in 21 chances for a 19 percent success rate. The Tigers’ penalty kill has given up three goals in 21 opponent opportunities for a 89 percent kill rate. 

SERIES HISTORY
Princeton and Colgate will be matched up for the 95th time since the two schools first met back in 1935-36. The Raiders hold a 47-41-6 advantage in the series. The teams have split the last three meetings with three of the four going to overtime. The longest winning streak for either team is nine, which was Princeton in the mid-90s. The Raiders longest streak was seven from 1966 to 1970. 

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Quinnipiac comes to Hamilton with a 4-3-1 overall record and a 0-1-1 mark in ECAC Hockey play. The Bobcats started the season with four wins in their first five games, including three straight against Bentley, Holy Cross and St. Cloud State. Since that last win over the Huskies, Quinnipiac is winless with an 0-2-1 mark. The Bobcats opened ECAC play with a 3-3 tie at Brown and a 5-1 loss to fifth-ranked Yale. 

Quinnipiac has spread out its scoring in the first eight games with 19 skaters with at least one point and the highest point total at six. Rookie Kellen Jones is the team leader in points and goals with six and three, respectively. He has one power play on the year. Junior Yuri Bouharevhich is tops in assists with five on the season and also has six points to share the lead with Jones. Sophomore Clay Harvey and Spencer Heichman are even with Jones in goals scored with three apiece. Harvey has a power play goal, while Heichman has netted two gamewinners. 

In net, junior Dan Clarke has started 7-of-8 games with a 3-3-1 record. He has a goals against average of 3.08 and a .892 save percentage. He has given up 21 goals on 195 shots. Sophomore Eric Hartzell earned one start earlier this season and made 28 saves on 30 shots in a 4-2 win over St. Cloud State, who was ranked at the time of the matchup. 

The Bobcats are getting opportunities on the power play with 37 chances and they have six goals for a 16.2 success rate. They were 2-for-10 last weekend. The penalty kill has been a weakness with 11 goals against on 43 opportunities for opponents, which is a 74.4 percent rate. 

SERIES HISTORY
Quinnipiac and Colgate will be hooking up for the 18th time since the Bobcats joined ECAC Hockey in 2005. The Raiders hold a slim 8-7-2 advantage in the short series. Quinnipiac has sliced the Raiders’ advantage down to one with three-straight victories. The teams have played seven overtime games out of the 17 in the series with Colgate holding a 3-2-2 advantage. The two teams played four extra-period games in one season back in 2008-09. The scoring is also very even with the Raiders scoring 43 goals in the series to the Bobcats’ 42.