Team Notes: Colgate Welcomes North Country Foes

HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Colgate men's hockey team is set to host its neighbors to the north in St. Lawrence and Clarkson this weekend at Starr Rink as the Raiders are still looking for their first win in ECAC Hockey.

The Saints come to the village on Friday night for a 7 p.m. faceoff, while the Golden Knights take on Colgate at 7 p.m. Saturday night. Fans can access all game day links by logging onto the Men's Hockey Game Central page at gocolgateraiders.com. Both games this weekend will air live on Time Warner Cable Sports in Central New York. 

GATE BLACKOUT FRIDAY NIGHT
On Friday night, when the Raiders face St. Lawrence at 7 p.m., the first 1,000 fans will receive a black long-sleeve shirt courtesy of Preferred Mutual Insurance to turn Starr Rink black for the second annual Gate Blackout. Shirts will be handed out as fans receive their tickets at the entrance to the rink.

FREE ICE CREAM ON SATURDAY
Gilligan's of Sherburne will be handing out free ice cream at Saturday night's contest against Clarkson. Be sure to get to the rink early because the free ice cream is only while supplies last. 

COLGATE SWEPT ON THE ROAD
The Raiders continue to struggle this season and were swept by Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend as they were outscored 13-5 in the two games. The Crimson beat the Raiders by a 6-2 score, then the Big Green followed with a 7-3 win. Francois Brisebois took over as the team leader in goals and points with a pair of scores in the two games, while captain Brian Day had three helpers over the weekend. Colgate played three out of its four netminders in the two games as Alex Evin relieved each starter in both games. 

COLLEGIATE FIRSTS FOR A PAIR OF RAIDERS
Mark Nasca and Mike Leidl both scored their first collegiate goals in Saturday's loss to Dartmouth. With the goals, only one skater on the Raiders has yet to score a goal in their career. Leidl had played in 41 career games on the blueline before earning his first goal. His score tied the game at one in the first period. Nasca's came in his 20th career games and it was in the third period with an unassisted score in one of the most interested goals of the 2010-11 season. Nasca has two career points with a goal and an assist and both came at Dartmouth this season. Leidl has recorded two points this year and has a total of three career points. 

FULL TEAM EFFORT
Despite the team's record, the Raiders have gotten contributions from everyone on the team. After Mike Leidl tallied an assist against Cornell on Jan. 22, Colgate and top-ranked Yale are the only two teams in ECAC Hockey to have every skater score at least one point this season. With Leidl and Mark Nasca scoring goals at Dartmouth on Jan. 29, Colgate is the only team in the conference with each skater earning two points. The Raiders have a total of 176 points on the year, while the Bulldogs have 256. Dartmouth, Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence are close to joining Colgate and the Elis as the three need one more skater to earn a point. It is the first time since 1999-2000 that the Raiders have had all skaters score at least one point.

STAYING DISCIPLINED
Sophomore Kurtis Bartliff has yet to commit to penalty this season and has gone 51-straight games without a visit to the penalty box. Last season, he only went twice, which was the least amount by a player with 30 or more games played. His last penalty came as goaltender interference on Halloween of 2009 against Niagara in the second period. His first ever penalty came the night before against Army. So he had two-straight games with a penalty and hasn't gone to the sin bin since.

THIRD PERIOD MYSTERY 
The final 20 minutes for the Raiders has been very interesting this season. Colgate is outshooting its opponent by 52 shots in the period, which is the largest amount than any other frame. However, the net has been hard to find as the Raiders have just 21 goals on 271 shots. Meanwhile, opponents have scored 36 goals for a difference of 15. The 36 tallies is the most in any period for the enemy. 

BRISEBOIS MOVING UP 
The senior from Montreal currently leads the team in points and earned his 73rd career point with a goal against Dartmouth on Jan. 29, which came a day after scoring at Harvard. He is know tied for 88th on the all-time scoring list 32 goals and 41 assists for 73 points in 129 games. He is four points away from equaling his career-best in points, which was set last season (25). Brisebois' 12 helpers so far this year are a career-high. 

ONE MORE MILESTONE FOR DAY
Brian Day became the 30th player in program history to reach 50 goals and 50 assists in his career after adding an assists against Harvard on Jan. 28. The senior forward became the 33rd skater in Colgate history to record his 50th career goal, which came on Nov. 23 at Niagara. 

DAY TALLIES 100TH POINT
Brian Day became the 48th Colgate skater to reach 100 points in his career after recording an assist in Saturday's loss to Union. He reached the milestone in 131 games and averaged 0.76 points per game up to this point in his career. He has 52 goals and 48 assists.

SMITH TO PLAY IN 100TH GAME
Junior Austin Smith will become the third Raider this season to play in their 100th game in a Colgate uniform when he takes the ice on Friday night. He will be for the fifth member of this year's team to play in 100 games. Smith has 92 points in 99 games with 40 goals and 52 helpers. He is averaging just under a point per game in his career. 

VAUGHAN AGAINST ST. LAWRENCE & CLARKSON
Head coach Don Vaughan will be going up against his alma mater on Friday night for the 48th time since taking over at Colgate. Coming into the weekend, he is 20-25-2 in the previous 47 meetings. Recently, the Saints have had the Raiders number with five wins in a row in the series and six out of the last seven. Against the Golden Knights, it has been the total opposite, with Colgate going unbeaten in the last seven matchups with a 5-0-2 mark since the 2008 playoffs when Colgate beat Clarkson in a best-of-three series by winning the last two games after the Golden Knights took the first. Overall, Vaughan and the Raiders are 15-21-10 since 1992. 

PRICE IS RIGHT
Sophomore Jeremy Price has been a consistent blueliner on the stat sheet with 11 points this season after scoring the game-tying goal against Cornell on Jan. 21 to give Colgate a tie with its rival. He had his biggest day of the year at Princeton on Jan. 9 with a career-high three assists. Two of the helpers came on the power play. The blueliner posted four of his eight assists against the Tigers this year. He posted two points in the weekend against Brown and fifth-ranked Yale on Nov. 19-20. His eight assists this year has equaled his output from a season ago and he has two goals.

“LIFF”TING HIS GAME
With the season at the midpoint, sophomore Kurtis Bartliff has stepped up to become a scoring threat for the Raiders. He currently has a career-high 16 points on three goals and 13 assists with one power play goal. He has six points on the power play, which is tied for second on the team. He has one goal and five assists on the man advantage and both of his points came on the power play in the 5-4 loss to Princeton on Jan. 9. His 13 helpers is tied for the most assists on the team with Smith.

SHUFFLE UP AND DEAL
The Raiders have yet to find a consistent lineup this season. Overall the team has used 45 different line combinations in the four lines allowed. The three that have seen the most ice time together has been juniors Matt Firman and Nick Prockow and centered by senior Austin Mayer. The three have played 12 games together and are 3-8-1 with 12 points on five goals and seven assists. Kurtis Bartliff, Austin Smith and Chris Wagner have been the most consistent.

SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Colgate enters the weekend with a 3-21-2 mark and will be hosting its neighbors to the north in St. Lawrence and Clarkson. The Raiders are still looking for their first conference victory after an 0-12-2 start to the ECAC Hockey season. Colgate is averaging 2.5 goals per game and is giving up 3.58 a contest. The goal scoring has been down over the last six games as the Raiders are averaging 1.6 goals and have scored just one goal in three of those games.

Colgate and Yale as the only two teams in ECAC Hockey that have had every skater score a point, but the Raiders are the only team with two points for every skater. Brisebois took over as the leading scorer with two goals over the weekend is tops in goal scoring with nine to go with 21 points. Austin Smith and Kurtis Bartliff have the most assists with 13, while Smith is second on the squad with 20 points. Brian Day had three helpers last weekend and is third on the team in points with 19, including a team-high four power play goals. Jeremy Price is the top blueliner with 11 points on nine helpers and a pair of goals. Chris Wagner has hit double-digits with 10 points on four goals and six assists. 

In net, Rookie Eric Mihalik has been the choice by Coach Vaughan with five out of the last six starts. He is still searching for his first win as he is 0-8-1 this year with a 3.16 goals against average and a save percentage of .882. Junior Alex Evin has started 14 games for the Raiders and has a 3-10-1 mark. Evin came in relief both nights last weekend. He added his second career shutout on Dec. 4 against Army with 24 saves and has recorded an .891 save percentage and a goals against average of 3.22. JuniorBryan Bessette earned his second start against Dartmouth on Saturday, but was pulled in the second period. He is 0-3-0 and has a save percentage of .892 and a goals against average of 3.91. 

The Colgate power play continues to be hit or miss. Since scoring two goals in the first period against nationally-ranked Princeton on Jan. 9, the Raiders are one for their last 43 opportunities, which is just over two percent. Overall, they are last in the league at 12 percent (17/142). On the kill, Colgate is at 79.3 percent and gave up one goal in six chances in the two games last weekend. The Raiders and Union are the only teams without a shorthander in the league. 

SCOUTING THE SAINTS
St. Lawrence marches into Starr Rink this weekend with a 7-13-5 record with a 3-9-1 mark in ECAC Hockey. The Saints are winless in their last four games and have won one game in their last eight contests. The longest winning streak for the Saints came in late December to early January with three-straight wins over Vermont, nationally-ranked New Hampshire and Sacred Heart. They are averaging 2.6 goals per game and allowing just over three strikes per contest. 

Greg Carey leads the way for St. Lawrence with 26 points on 14 goals and 12 assists. He is the only player on the squad that has reached double-digits in goals and five of those strikes have come on the power play, which leads the team. Kyle Flanagan is the top assist-getter with 17 on the year, while he has a team-high 14 points in conference play. The most experienced player for the Saints is Aaron Bogosian, who has played in 127 career games and has 18 points this season with three power play goals. George Hughes is the top defensemen with 14 points on three goals and 11 helpers. He is the only blueliner to play in every game this year for St. Lawrence.

In net, rookie Matt Weninger has come on campus and played right away with 19 starts this year. He hasn't been that successful with a 4-12-3 mark, but continues to be the starter. He has a save percentage of .912 and has posted a respectable 2.52 goals against average. Robby Moss has started five games and got the start against Quinnipiac last weekend. He has a 2-1-2 mark on the year with a 3.52 GAA and a save percentage of .904. He earned the 2-2 tie against the Bobcats with 22 saves. 

On the power play, the Saints are in the middle of pact among ECAC Hockey teams with a 15.6 percent success rate on 17 goals in 109 chances. Colgate is tied for the amount of goals, but has had 33 more opportunities on the man advantage. The Saints strength has to be their penalty kill as they rank fourth in the conference at 86.4 percent. St. Lawrence has held its opponents to 18 goals in 132 chances. The Saints are averaging 14 penalty minutes per contest.

SERIES HISTORY
These two upstate New York schools will be playing for the 136th time since Colgate and St. Lawrence met back in 1927-28. The series is just about even with the Saints holding a 70-62-3 advantage. The Raiders have gone winless in the last seven matchups, including a two-game sweep in the first round of the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals a year ago. The teams last meet back on Nov. 6 with the Saints coming away with a 4-1 win at Appleton Arena.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Clarkson comes to Starr Rink this weekend with a 12-11-2 overall record and a 6-6-1 mark in conference play. The Golden Knights are 1-4-0 in their last five games with the lone win coming against Brown on Jan. 22. Last weekend, they were swept by Quinnipiac and Princeton as both games were decided by one goal. Clarkson is averaging 2.84 goals per game, but is allowing opponents 3.16 strikes a contest. The Golden Knights have not score more than three goals in their last eight games. 

Clarkson has seven players that have NHL rights. Nick Tremblay and Brandon DeFazio lead the way with 18 points on nine goals and nine assists apiece. Tremblay, a Boston Bruins draft pick has four of his nine goals are on the power play, which leads the team. He is also tied with Allan McPherson for the most points in ECAC Hockey games with 10. Jake Morley is the assist leader with 11 on the year and is tops with two shorthanded goals. Defenseman and Ottawa draft pick, Mark Borowiecki is the highest-scoring blueliner with 11 points on three goals and eight scores. The Golden Knights have nine skaters with 10 or more points this year. 

In net, junior Paul Karpowich has started all but one game this year and has a 12-10-2 record overall. The St. Louis Blues pick has a .913 save percentage and a 3.00 goals against average. Sophomore Cody Rosen has started just one game and has appeared in three. He is a pick by the Islanders and has recorded 47 saves on 50 shots in one loss. Karpovich got the start against the Raiders on Nov. 5 and made 36 saves on 40 shots. 

On the power play, Clarkson has struggled, but recently it has come alive to jump up to 10th in the conference after spending most of the year at the bottom. The Golden Knights have 15 goals with the extra man on 112 opportunities for a 13.4 percent success rate. The last time these two schools met, they had three power play scores. They lead the league in penalty minutes with 483, but are second in the conference on the kill at 87.1 percent. They have allowed 18 goals on 140 chances for its opponents. 

SERIES HISTORY
These two long-time hockey schools will be playing for the 140th time since Colgate and Clarkson met back in 1927-28. The Raiders have played the Golden Knights more than any other team in the history of the program. Clarkson has an 80-44-15 advantage in the series. The Raiders have put a dent in the series by going unbeaten in the nine of the last 11 games, including a 4-4 decision on Nov. 5 at Cheel Arena.