Team Notes: Colgate Looks to End Streak

HAMILTON, N.Y. – After earning one point last weekend at Cornell, the Colgate men's hockey team is still looking for its first win in conference play as the Raiders visit two more Ivy schools in Harvard and Dartmouth.

Fans can access all game day information by logging onto the Men's Hockey Game Central link at gocolgateraiders.com.

ALUMNI TAILGATE IN CAMBRIDGE
The Colgate Club of Boston will be hosting all alumni at the Gordon Track and Tennis Center, which sits next to Bright Hockey Center. All interested alumni are asked to get all information and register at www.colgateconnect.org/harvardhockey.

COLGATE TAKES ONE POINT IN CORNELL SERIES
The Raiders earned one point in the ECAC Hockey standings last weekend after forcing overtime in the final minute on Friday night and getting the tie with the Big Red at 1-1. Jeremy Price scored the game-tying goal with 1:35 remaining. The next night, Colgate made it a game until Cornell scored three goals in the final 20 minutes and came away with a 5-2 win at Lynah Rink. The Big Red won the season series 2-0-1, which included a 4-3 win at the Prudential Center on Nov. 27.

FULL TEAM EFFORT
Despite the team record, the Raiders have gotten contributions from everyone on the team. After Mike Leidl tallied an assist in Saturday's game at Cornell, Colgate and top-ranked Yale are the only two teams in ECAC Hockey to have every skater score at least one point this season. The Raiders have a total of 163 points on the year, while the Bulldogs have 244. 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 49-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 48 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 19 goals on 251 shots. Meanwhile, opponents have scored 31 goals for a difference of 12. The 32 tallies is the most in any period for the enemies. 

ONE MORE MILESTONE FOR DAY
Brian Day can become the 30th player in program history to reach 50 goals and 50 assists in his career with two more helpers. The senior forward became the 33rd skater in Colgate history to record his 50th career goal, which came on Nov. 23 at Niagara. 

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 face three nationally-ranked opponents in the next three weeks, while Clarkson is receiving votes in the poll as well. The Raiders are 0-5-0 against ranked opponents this year. Those five losses have been by an average of 1.2 goals and four have come by one goal with the highest margin at two with a 6-4 loss to Yale. Colgate had three-straight losses to ranked opponents by one goal in the beginning of the month. 

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.

McNAMARA PLAYS 100TH GAME
Kevin McNamara joined Wade Poplawski, Brisebois and Day as the only players on the squad with 100 games played after the game at Cornell on Jan. 22. He started his Colgate career in 2007-08, but missed the 2008-09 season due to injury. He has four goals and 29 helpers in his career. His best season came as a freshman with two goals and 15 assists for 17 points. All three are current career-highs. This season he has a goal and three assists for four points. 

BRISEBOIS MOVING UP 
The senior from Montreal currently leads the team in points and earned his 71st career point with an assist on the game-tying goal in the 1-1 tie against Cornell on Jan. 21. He is sitting in 92nd on the all-time scoring list. He has scored four points in his career against the Big Red with a goal and three assists. 

VAUGHAN AGAINST HARVARD & DARTMOUTH
Colgate has played 40 games against the Crimson since 1992 and has a 13-22-5 mark in 17 seasons. Against the Big Green in 45 games, the two teams are just about even with Vaughan having a 20-21-4 record after falling in overtime on New Year's Eve this season. During the Vaughan tenure, neither team has had more than a four-game winning streak in the series. 

PRICE IS RIGHT
Sophomore Jeremy Price has been a consistent blueliner on the stat sheet with 10 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 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 two goals.

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 Dartmouth, but has a goal and an assist against the Crimson.

PUT THE PUCK ON NET
The Raiders have outshot their opponents in 15-of-24 games and after a streak of three games, Colgate has rebounded with more shots in three of the last four games. The largest difference the Raiders have been outshot was against Princeton on Jan. 9 with the Tigers having a 44-21 advantage. The most shots Colgate has put on net was against Sacred Heart on Oct. 30 with 55. The Raiders had a 34-shot advantage in the game. 

SMITH BACK ON TRACK
Junior Austin Smith had his season-high six-game point streak snapped against Quinnipiac on Jan. 7 after scoring eight points during the streak. He has three multi-point games this year after scoring two goals against Cornell. He ended a five-game drought on Jan. 22 at the Big Red with the 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 15 points on three goals and 12 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 12 helpers is tied for the most assists on the team with Brisebois and Smith.

SHUFFLE UP AND DEAL
The Raiders have yet to find a consistent lineup this season. Overall the team has used 42 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 3-19-2 mark and will be traveling to face a pair of Ivies in Harvard and Dartmouth. The Raiders are still looking for their first conference victory after an 0-10-2 start to the ECAC Hockey season. Colgate is averaging 2.5 goals per game and is giving up 3.33 a contest. The goal scoring has been down over the last five games as the Raiders are averaging 1.8 goals and have scored just one goal in three of those games.

Colgate joined Yale as the only two teams in ECAC Hockey that has had at least one point from every skater this year after the Saturday game at Cornell. Austin Smith tallied his first two-goal game of the season in the loss to Cornell on Saturday and tied Francois Brisebois for the team lead in points with 17. Both Smith and Brisebois are even withKurtis Bartliff for the lead in assists at 12. Captain Brian Day got back on track with three points in his last four games after a small scoreless streak. He leads the team in goals with eight, four on the power play, and has 16 points. Robbie Bourdon went without a point in the two against Cornell, but is tied with Day with 16 points on seven goals and nine assists. 

In net, rookie Eric Mihalik has taken over as the primary netminder for the Raiders with four straight starts. He is still searching for his first win as he is 0-7-1 this year with a 2.98 goals against average and a save percentage of .888. junior Alex Evin has started 14 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. Junior Bryan Bessette earned 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. 

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 without a score in the 28 opportunities to drop their success rate to 12.3 percent. The power play has been better lately and only gave up one goal in nine chances over the weekend. They upped their number to 79.1 percent, but are still last in the league in the category.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
Harvard hosts the Raiders on Friday night with a 3-15-0 mark overall and a 2-11-0 record in ECAC Hockey and have a two-point lead in the standings on Colgate for last in the conference. The Crimson is scoring just 1.78 goals per game and is giving up over three, which puts them last in the league in scoring margin. Harvard is currently on a seven-game losing streak and has lost 14 of its last 15 games with the lone win coming against Army on Jan. 1 at the Catamount Cup. 

The Crimson has only three skaters with double-digit points this year. Michael Biega and Alex Killorn lead the team with 14 points apiece on six goals and eight assists. Both are tops on the team with two power play goals. Killorn has all three game-winners for the Crimson. Danny Biega is leading the defensemen with 12 points on three goals and nine helpers. 

In net, Kyle Richter has started 13 games and has a 3-9-0 mark with one shutout. He has a goals against average of 2.93 and a .909 save percentage. He has not been the consistent starter he was during the first part of the season. Harvard has gone with all three netminders in the last three games. Raphael Girard earned his first collegiate start against Northeastern on Jan. 19 and lost 3-0. Ryan Carroll has started two of the last three games and has started four this year. He has a 4.01 goals against average and a save percentage of .903 with a 0-5-0 record. 

On the power play, the Crimson is one of only two teams in the nation that has not reached double digits in scoring. Harvard is 9-for-70 (12.9%) on the year on the man advantage. Bentley is the other team with under 10 power play goals as the Falcons have seven. The penalty kill has been a bright spot for the Ivy Leaguers, giving up 13 goals in 73 opponent chances for a 82.2 success rate. 

SERIES HISTORY
Colgate and Harvard will be facing each other for the 71st time since the first meeting back in 1960-61, which was the opening season of ECAC Hockey. The Crimson hold a 44-20-6 advantage in the series, but the matchup has been even as of late with the Raiders posting a 2-1-2 record in the last five meetings. The two teams have played 10 overtime contests with Harvard owning a 4-1-5 record in those games. 

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth is ranked 18th in the nation coming into the weekend and its the first time this year the Big Green has been ranked in back-to-back weeks. The team is 11-6-2 overall and is tied for third in the league with 15 points on a record of 7-4-1. The Big Green is 4-1-0 in its last five games, but lost to Rensselaer 4-1 in its last game. Dartmouth is averaging 3.53 goals per game which is third in ECAC Hockey and fifth in scoring defense, allowing 2.58 a game. 

Scott Fleming leads the Big Green with 22 points on 10 goals and 12 assists and is three from 100 points in his career. His 10 goals is the most on the squad and his is tied with Matt Linblad for the team lead in power play goals with four. Eight players have scored 10 or more points this year. Matt Reber and Doug Jones are both leaders in the assist department with 13 apiece. Adam Estoclet is tied with Reber for second on the team in points with 17. The senior forward has eight goals and nine assists. Evan Stephens is the only defenseman with double-digit points with 10 on two goals and eight assists.

In net, James Mello has started 15 games and has a 9-3-2 overall record with one shutout. He has become one of the top goaltenders in the league with a 2.08 goals against average and a save percentage of .934, which is second in the conference. Jody O'Neill, who got the start in the first meeting against Dartmouth on Dec. 31, has a 2-2-0 mark this season. He has posted a 3.55 goals against average and a save percentage of .861. 

On the power play, the Big Green is fourth in ECAC Hockey with a 21.6 success rate, but is tied with the Raiders with 16 goals. However, Dartmouth has done it with just 74 opportunities with the extra skater. It is the second fewest chances in the league behind Harvard's 70. The Big Green is in the middle of the pack on the penalty kill. The team has allowed 12 goals in 73 chances and has two shorthanded goals. 

SERIES HISTORY
The Dartmouth-Colgate series is one of the most competitive in the country with the Raiders holding a game lead in the series at 40-40-5 in 85 games in the series. The teams have played exciting games the past two seasons with three games decided by one goal and one tie, which was a 6-6 score at Thompson Arena last season. The series has gone to overtime 13 times with Colgate holding a 5-3-5 advantage, which includes Dartmouth's triumph in the consolation game of the Ledyard Classic on New Year's Eve. These two teams played the longest game in Colgate history as it was just over 121 minutes long with Kyle Wilson scoring the gamewinner in 2003 in a 4-3 win. The series began in 1928-29 with Dartmouth winning 9-1 in Hamilton.