Team Notes: Raiders Travel to Niagara for Tuesday Night Face Off

HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Colgate men’s hockey team will get a break from league action on Tuesday night as the Raiders head to Niagara for a 7 p.m. faceoff with the Purple Eagles. 

The game will be shown locally on Time Warner Sports in both Western and Central New York. For fans not in Upstate New York, all important links for tomorrow’s game are located at Men's Hockey Game Central. 

RAIDERS DROP TWO AT STARR
Colgate continues to struggle on its home ice with a sweep at the hands of Brown and fifth-ranked Yale. On Friday night, the Raiders took two costly penalties in the first two periods to go down 5-on-3 and the Bears capitalized to take a 2-1 lead into the final period. Brown then netted a shorthanded goal and an empty netter, along with an even strength tally to take home a 5-2 win. The Bears had won for only the fifth time at Starr Rink. On Saturday, Yale scored three goals in the final seven minutes to win 6-4 after Colgate came back from two down in the second period.

LOOKING FOR A MILESTONE
Senior Brian Day is seven points away from reaching the 100-point plateau as he has 49 goals and 44 assists for 93 points. He is looking to become the 48th Colgate skater to reach the milestone. The last player to reach 100 points was David McIntyre last season as he posted 41 points to post 131 points in four years. He is one goal away from 50 scores and will become the 33rd player to reach that number.

A STREAKING BOURDON
Sophomore Robbie Bourdon is currently on the longest point streak for the Raiders this season as he has scored at least one point in the last four home games. He tallied assists in each of the games against Princeton and Quinnipiac, while putting home goals against Brown and Yale last weekend. With the streak, the sophomore is ranked 21st in the league in points per game. 

SHOWING NO FAVORITES
Bourdon scored his first goal of the 2010-11 season in the second game at LSSU with a power play goal coming in the third period. He has now scored 12 goals in 12 different games in his career. He has the most against Brown and Yale with three goals apiece against the Bears and Bulldogs for six of his 12 goals. He is still searching for his first career multi-goal game. 

POWER PLAY SNAPS SCORELESS STREAK
The Colgate power play has recently seen better days as the Raiders came into Saturday’s game against Yale, scoreless in its last 22 opportunities. However, right off the faceoff, the Bulldogs took a penalty and Day took advantage with his second power play goal of the season. Junior Nick Prockow netted the second for the Raiders on the man advantage with a nice tip in. 

FIRST PENALTY SHOT 
Colgate faced its first penalty shot of the season against Brown on Nov. 19. it was the first one since Dec. 4 of last season against Union. Alex Evin made the save on Union’s player. This time it was Evin again and he stoned Bobby Farnham of the Bears in the second period after being tripped on a breakaway. 

COLGATE-CORNELL RIVALRY TAKES NEW STEP
This season the upstate New York rivals will be taking their series south to Newark, N.J. The teams will be playing a non-conference game at the Prudential Center, which is the new home of the New Jersey Devils. This will make it to neutral site games to be played by the Raiders this season. The two teams will now be facing each other three times this season, which the series did back in 2008-09 when the two schools played at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. 

OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN
Sophomore Thomas Larkin and junior Corbin McPherson have played in all 10 games together on the blueline and both have already equaled their goal output from a season ago. Larkin has three this year, which leads defensemen and is second on the team, while McPherson netted two against Sacred Heart. The NJ Devils draft pick leads all Colgate defenseman with six points. The Raiders have five defensive players with at least one point.

TOY DRIVE COMING SOON TO STARR
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 every unwrapped toy donated. The Prudential Center will also be joining the holiday effort with a toy drive for Newark Now. The venue is asking attendees to bring a new and unwrapped toy to the game on Saturday.

SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Colgate will be playing out of conference for the first time since a 5-0 win over Sacred Heart on Oct. 30. The Raiders are looking for its first win since beating the Pioneers as they are on a six-game winless streak. The Raiders are averaging 2.80 goals a game, which is fourth in ECAC. After giving up 11 goals the last two games, Colgate has dropped to last in the league in scoring defense, allowing 3.4 goals per game. 

The Raiders have 18 different skaters with at least one point with eight earning five or more points. Day is on top of the scoring list with eight points on five goals and three assists after scoring against Yale. He is tied for 21st in the league averaging 1.17 points per game, along with Bourdon. Bourdon has been the most consistent scoring for the Raiders in the last four games with two goals and two assists in those games. Senior Francois Brisebois and junior Austin Smith are tied for third on the squad with seven points. Smith has two goals and five assists, while Brisebois leads the team with six assists. 

In net, junior Alex Evin has started 7-of-9 games for the Raiders and has a 2-5-1 mark. He posted his first collegiate shutout against Sacred Heart on Oct. 30 and has recorded a .898 save percentage and a goals against average of 2.87. Rookie Eric Mihalik got his second straight against the Bulldogs on Saturday with a 6-4 loss. He is 0-2-0 on the season and has a save percentage of .852 and a goals against average of 4.59.

On special teams, the power play is trying to get back on track after two goals against Yale in five chances. The Raiders are 7-for-57 on the man advantage for a 12.3 success rate. The penalty kill continues to struggle allowing four power play goals in 11 chances to Brown and Yale. Colgate has given up 12 PPGs in 47 opponent chances.

SCOUTING THE PURPLE EAGLES
Niagara enters the weekend with a 6-4-2 overall record and a 5-2 mark in their first season in Atlantic Hockey. The Purple Eagles are coming off a 7-4 loss against Air Force on Saturday. Prior to the loss, they posted five-straight wins, including a 4-1 win over Northeastern. Niagara averages 3.67 goals per game and is giving up 3.42 a game. 

Niagara is a young team with 17 skaters that are sophomores or rookies, which makes them one of the youngest teams in the nation. However, it has been two seniors leading the way. Paul Zanette is the nation’s leading goal scorer with 12 on the season and his average of a goal a game is also tops in the country. Overall he has 16 points to lead the team, while the Purple Eagles have five skaters with 10 or more points. Bryan Haczyk is second on the team in points with 13 on seven goals and six assists. He has four power play goals, which ties him with Zanette and Giancarlo Iuorio for the most on the team. Defenseman Ryan Annesley is first in assists with 10 on the season. 

In net, freshman Carsen Chubak has started six-of-12 games and has a 4-3-1 mark in eight games played. He has a 3.00 goals against average and a save percentage at .891. Andrew Hare and Chris Noonan have also seen action. Hare has a 2-0-0 mark with a 3.50 GAA, while Noonan has a 0-1-1 record with a 3.39 GAA. 

The power play has been consistent with 16 goals in 68 opportunities for a 23.5 percent success rate. They also have a good penalty kill allowing just six goals in 61 chances for its opponents. 

SERIES HISTORY
Colgate and Niagara will be playing for the 13th time since the first meeting back in 1997-98. The series is tied at 5-5-2. The teams have played seven neutral site games in the series and will be competing for only the third time at Dwyer Arena. Both times at the home rink for Eagles, the teams have tied. The two schools started the series with four-straight games at the Syracuse Invitational Tournament.