Team Notes: Raiders Welcome Two Ranked Teams to Starr Rink

HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Colgate men's hockey team returns home after a six-game road trip to face two ranked teams in #13/14 Union and #9/10 Rensselaer at Starr Rink, beginning on Friday night. 

Both games this weekend will be played at 7 p.m. with the Dutchmen on Friday night and the Engineers on Saturday evening. Fans can access all game day information, including live stats, live video and live audio by logging onto the Men's Hockey Game Central at gocolgateraiders.com.

RAIDERS FALL TWICE ON THE ROAD
Colgate continues to have a tough season with a pair of losses last weekend at Quinnipiac and Princeton. On Friday night against the Bobcats, the Raiders got their lone goal from Robbie Bourdon to tie the game, but once again could not get over the hump as Quinnipiac took the lead for good late in the second to hand Colgate a 3-1 defeat after an empty net score. At Princeton, the team's combined for five power play goals, but the Tigers had one more on the man advantage and one more on the scoreboard as the Raiders fell 5-4 for its seventh conference loss. 

TOUGH DEFEATS FOR THE RAIDERS RECENTLY
Colgate had its chance to win each of its last nine games despite the team's record. The Raiders have lost six one-goal games in the last eight contests. Five of the last seven losses have been by one goal and three losses have come in overtime. Colgate has also had leads in three of the last four games, including two-goal advantages against Boston College and Dartmouth. 

DOESN'T GET ANY EASIER
The schedule isn't on the Raiders' side as the team looks for its first conference win of the year. Colgate will be facing two nationally-ranked teams this weekend and third in a row after losing to #19 Princeton on Sunday. Currently the Raiders have faced three ranked opponents in Yale, Boston College and Princeton and is 0-3 in those games. Two of those games have been by one goal and Colgate had a lead in the game against all three teams.

GAME WITHIN THE GAME
On Friday night, the Raiders will be facing the nation's top power play unit in Union as the Dutchmen are currently posting a 31 percent success rate with the extra man. Colgate on the other hand is last in the conference in penalty kill at 77.7 percent but the Raiders have remained disciplined for most of the season, averaging just over 12 penalty minutes a game, which is sixth in the conference in least penalty minutes. 

PRICE IS RIGHT
Sophomore Jeremy Price has been a consistent blueliner on the stat sheet with nine points this season after a career-high three assists in the loss to Princeton on Sunday. Two of the helpers came on the power play. The blueliner has had 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 one goal to give him nine points on the year. 

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 16 goals in 16 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 16 goals. He is still searching for his first career multi-goal game and has not scored against Union and Rensselaer in his career. 

PUT THE PUCK ON NET
The Raiders have outshot their opponents in 13-of-20 games, but recently Colgate has gotten away from putting pucks on net. They have been outshot in the their last three games and four of their last seven contests. They have reached 30 or more shots 15 times this season, but have averaged 22 in the last three. 

ALL IN THE FAMILY
Brothers Kevin and Jack McNamara played together for the first time in the game against Niagara. The siblings are one of seven sets of brothers in ECAC Hockey. Last game against the Purple Eagles, both teams had a set of brothers with Paul and Marc Zanette and the McNamaras. Kevin and Jack will be playing their father's alma mater in the coming weeks at the Ledyard Bank Classic at Dartmouth on Dec. 30 as the Raiders take on Boston College. John McNamara played hockey for the Eagles from 1982-86.

DAY LOOKING FOR CAREER MILESTONE
The senior forward became the 33rd skater in Colgate history to record his 50th career goal, which came on Nov. 23 at Niagara. Day scored on the power play in the third period. He has 52 goals and 46 assists for 98 points and is two points away from reaching the 100-point plateau. He will be the 49th skater to obtain the milestone. He had his longest scoring streak of the season snapped on Dec. 11 against Niagara after scoring in four straight. He has scored in six of his last seven games. 

SMITH CATCHING FIRE
Junior Austin Smith had his season-high six-game point streak snapped against Quinnipiac after scoring eight points during the streak. He has two multi-point games in the last eight games and has scored three times. Smith has actually scored points in eight of the last 11 contests and has taken over as the team's leading scorer. He has jumped to 21st in the league in points with 17 and he is 15th in assists with 12. He now has 89 points in his career, which is second behind Day on this year's squad.

“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 14 points on three goals and 11 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 mad advantage and both of his points came on the power play in the 5-4 loss to Princeton on Jan. 9.

SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Colgate enters the weekend with a 3-16-1 mark and will facing back-to-back nationally-ranked opponents and third in a row after #19 Princeton on Sunday. The Raiders jumped back into conference play with Quinnipiac and Princeton and are 0-7-1 in ECAC Hockey. Colgate is averaging 2.75 goals per game and is giving up 3.5 a contest. 

Colgate has 21 different skaters with at least one point with 12 earning five or more points. Junior Austin Smith has taken over as the team's leading scorer with 17 points on the year. He has a team-high 12 assists, to go along with five goals. Smith had his season long six-game point streak snapped last weekend. Senior Francois Brisebois had a goal and an assist against the Tigers and is now second on the team with 16 points on six goals and 10 assists. Sophomore Robbie Bourdon returned to the scoring column with two goals in the two games to give him seven on the year, to go with eight helpers for 15 points. Senior captain Brian Day has been stuck on 13 points, but still leads the team in goals with eight. 

In net, junior Alex Evin has started 14-of-20 games for the Raiders and has a 3-10-1 mark. He added his second career shutout on Dec. 4 against Army with 24 saves and has recorded an .893 save percentage and a goals against average of 3.23. Rookie Eric Mihalik earned back-to-back starts for the first time this year with the two games at Robert Morris. He made a season-high 39 stops in the 3-2 overtime loss on Saturday. Mihalik dropped his GAA to 3.78, but remains winless at 0-4. Junior Bryan Bessetteearned starts in losses at Dartmouth and Quinnipiac and posted 39 saves in each contest. He is 0-2-0 and has a save percentage of .919 and a goals against average of 3.78. 

On special teams, Colgate scored twice at Princeton on the power play for the fifth time this season and jumped to ninth in the conference with a 15 percent success rate on the man advantage. On the kill, the Raiders gave up three goals for the first time this season against the Tigers on Sunday and dropped to last in the league. They have allowed 11 goals in 94 chances for 77.7 percent rate.

SCOUTING THE DUTCHMEN
Union comes to Hamilton with a 13-6-3 overall record and is ranked 13th in the USA Today/ESPN the Magazine National Poll and 14th in the USCHO.com National Poll. The Dutchmen have been as high as 12th in the nation this year and hold a 5-2-1 mark in conference play for fifth with 11 points. Their average of 3.73 goals per game is fourth in the nation, while the scoring defense is just as good, allowing only 2.09 goals per contest. 

Union is led by the Jeremy Welsh, who is second in ECAC Hockey in scoring with 27 points on 12 goals and 15 assists. He is tied with three others for the top goal scorer in the conference. Welsh is averaging 1.23 points per game and leads the nation with 13 points on the power play. Daniel Carr is one of those others tied with Welsh as he has 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points. Seven of his goals have come on the power play, which leads ECAC Hockey. Rookie defenseman Mat Brodie is tops on the team among blueliners with 20 points and a team-high 17 assists. The Dutchmen have racked up the assists this year as seven different skaters have 10 or more assists, while on two have double-digit goals. 

In net, Keith Kinkaid has started 19-of-22 games and had a 12-6-2 mark overall and has earned all five conference wins as well. He has a 2.01 goals against average and a save percentage of .918 with both numbers putting him in the middle among league netminders. Troy Grosenick and Corey Milan have split time between backing up Kinkaid as each has played in three games. Milan is the brother of Hannah Milan, who is a captain on the Colgate women's hockey team. 

The power play has been on fire for the Dutchmen this season and they currently lead the country in the category with 31 goals in 98 chances for a 31.6 percent success rate. They are four percentage points ahead of Wisconsin, who is second. They have 12 different skaters that have scored on the power play. On the penalty kill, Union is 12th in the nation and fourth in ECAC Hockey at 85.9 percent. The Dutchmen have given up 13 goals to their opponents and them and Colgate are the only two teams in ECAC Hockey without a shorthanded goal. 

SERIES HISTORY
The Raiders and Union have matched up 52 times prior to this weekend and Colgate has dominated the series with a 35-15-2 advantage since the first meeting back in 1928-29. The two schools have played just about even the last 10 games as the Raiders hold a slim 5-4-1 lead. Starr Rink has been a house of horrors for Union as Colgate has won 20 of the 22 games at its home rink in the series. The Dutchmen have gone winless in the last 12 games here in Hamilton with a 0-11-1 mark since 1997-98. The lone win for Union at Starr came in a 6-0 win in 1997-98. 

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
Rensselaer travels to Colgate as the ninth-ranked team in the country according the USA Today/ESPN the Magazine National Poll and 10th in the USCHO.com Poll. The Engineers are coming off a split between Clarkson and St. Lawrence at home. They lost to the Golden Knights, but earned two points with a win over the Saints. RPI is averaging three goals a game, which is sixth in ECAC Hockey and is giving up 2.10 goal per contest for third in the conference. 

The Engineers have the top scoring threat in ECAC Hockey in Chase Polacek, who has 28 points on 10 goals and 18 assists. The 18 helpers is tied for the conference lead in the category. Eleven of his 28 points have come in league play and four of his ten goals are on the power play. Tyler Helfrich is tied with Polacek for the most goals on the team with 10 and has 19 points, while defenseman Nick Bailen is tops in the league among blueliners with 23 points on eight goals and 15 assists. The Engineers feature four NHL draft picks, led by Mike Bergin, who has 15 points on two goals and 13 helpers as a defenseman. 

In net, Blue Jackets draft pick Allen York has started all but one game between the pipes and has an 11-5-3 record in those games. He has posted a 1.87 goals against average and is one of four goalies in ECAC Hockey with a GAA under two and he has played the most minutes in the league. His .928 save percentage is fifth in the league. 

On the power play, Rensselaer is in the middle of the pack in the conference with 19 goals in 113 opportunities for a 16.8 percent success rate. Eight different skaters have scored goals with the extra man with Polacek and Helfrich leading the way with four apiece. On the kill, RPI is seventh in ECAC Hockey, allowing 18 goals on 105 chances, which translates into a 82.9 success rate on the kill. 

SERIES HISTORY
Rensselaer and Colgate will be playing for the 110th time since 1915-16 and this series is the oldest in Raiders hockey history as it stretches 96 years. Colgate has played more games against Clarkson and Cornell, but those two series began in 1927. Colgate's first ever game was against the Engineers in 1915-16 with the Raiders winning 6-1. It was the only game of the season. The Engineers have a slight advantage at 54-52-3. Only the series with Dartmouth is closer (40-40-5). The Raiders are 7-3-0 in the last 10 games, which featured three overtime games.