Team Notes: No. 18 Colgate Hosts Harvard and Dartmouth

HAMILTON, N.Y. (1/18/12) – The 18th-ranked Colgate men’s hockey team will be back Starr Rink this weekend, hoping to get back on track as the Raiders host Harvard and Dartmouth.

Colgate starts the weekend off with a visit from the Crimson on Friday night at 7 p.m., followed by a Saturday night matchup at 7 p.m. against the Big Green. All necessary game day links are available at the Men’s Hockey Game Central page.

THIS WEEK: TIME FOR SOME HOME COOKING
Colgate returns home for the first time since Dec. 30 and it couldn’t come at a better time as the Raiders wish to halt their recent skid. Starr Rink has been a welcomed sight for Colgate. The Raiders are 6-2-1 at home this season and they are getting a visit from Harvard and Dartmouth. The Crimson are on a six-game winless streak with a 0-3-3 record. They dropped two games to ranked opponents last week. First up was a 2-0 loss to Union at Fenway Park and then a 4-3 loss to Boston University. Ties have been the story of the season for Harvard as they are 4-6-6 overall and all six overtime games the Crimson has played have ended in ties and five of its last nine games have ended in ties. The Big Green dropped its lone goal of last weekend against New Hampshire in the annual Riverstone Cup matchup. Dartmouth is 3-2-1 in its last six, but has been outscored 11-2 in its last two games.

LAST WEEK: TOUGH LEAGUE ROAD TRIP
The Raiders had a tough road trip last weekend at Princeton and Quinnipiac. Colgate came out winless in the two games with a 6-2 loss on Friday night at Hobey Baker Rink, despite two goals from Austin Smith. That was followed by a 7-1 loss at Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon. The two losses dropped the Raiders to fourth in ECAC Hockey, but Colgate has a few games in hand against teams ahead of them. Colgate played good first periods in the two losses, but the second period was different. Both the Tigers and Bobcats netted four goals in the second frame, which proved to be the difference.

NEXT WEEK: AN UPSTATE RIVARLY RENEWED
The Raiders will have its annual home-and-home weekend series with rival Cornell. A visit to Lynah Rink is up first as the teams take to the ice on Friday night on CBS Sports Network. Then its back to Starr Rink on Saturday for a 7 p.m. faceoff between the two ranked teams. The ninth-ranked Big Red are tops in ECAC Hockey after taking three points last weekend with a win at Quinnipiac and a tie at Princeton. Cornell leads the conference with 16 points and has a 10-4-3 record overall and a 7-1-2 league mark. For Saturday tickets, call the Colgate Ticket Office at 315-228-7600.

COLGATE BY THE NUMBERS
  307 - Career wins for Raiders head coach Don Vaughan.
  156 - Votes received by Colgate in the USCHO.com National Poll.
    45 - Goals in the final two periods.
    37 - Goals by seniors (54% of scoring)
    21 - Goals scored by Colgate in the first or last two minutes of periods.
    20 - Players on the Raiders with at least one point.
    16 - Players on the team with at least one goal.
    13 - Games allowing two or less goals (9-2-2).
    12 - Raiders that have multi-point games this year.
    12 - Wins this season, fastest to 12 wins since 2004-05.
    13 - Straight weeks in USCHO.com Poll.
    10 - Wins when leading after two periods.
      9 - Games with four or more goals (9-0-0).
      9 - Players with power play goals.
      8 - Wins on Friday night this year (8-2-0).
      7 - Shorthanded goals this season (5 by A. Smith).
      6 - Skaters with at least 100 games played in career.
      4 - Games left against current nationally-ranked teams.
      4 - Largest winning margin this season (twice)
      4 - Wins following a loss.
      4 - Overtime games this season (2-0-2).
      4 - Number of players in the top-25 on the all-time scoring list that have worn or are wearing the #9
      3 - Wins over nationally-ranked teams.
      1 - Shutouts this season.

RAIDERS RANKED
Colgate is ranked for the 13th-consecutive week, coming in at No. 18 in the USCHO.com National Poll. The Raiders fell out of the top-15 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine National Poll after the two losses on the road. They are receiving 156 in the UCSHO poll and are getting seven votes outside the top-15 in the USA Today/USA Hockey National Poll.

AMONG TOP TEAMS
Colgate has really turned it around from last season on both sides of the ice. The Raiders are currently fifth in the conference in scoring offense and sixth in scoring defense. The Raiders are averaging 3.09 goals per game and are third in total goals with 68 in 22 games. On defense, they are giving up 2.68 goals per game and that went up due to the 13 goals given up last weekend.

RISING THE RANKS
Austin Smith has 138 points in his career and continues to average a point a game in his career as he has played 136 games. He passed former teammate and recent NHLer, David McIntyre ’10 for 23rd all-time on the Colgate scoring list. Smith has 65 goals and 73 helpers in his career for 138 points. Smith has tallied at least one point in all but two games in 2011-12 and had his career-high 12-game point streak snapped in the loss at Quinnipiac. He still leads the nation in goals, but Minnesota-Duluth’s Jack Connolly has a one-point advantage for the nation’s lead in points.

VOTE SMITH FOR HOBEY
Fan voting for the Hobey Baker Award, which is given to the nation’s top player, has begun and Colgate’s Smith is among the names you fans can vote for. Your vote accounts for a full one percent for the total ballot. Award criteria include candidates emulating the exceptional character traits exhibited by the award’s namesake, Hobey Baker, a World War I flying star better known as America’s greatest amateur athlete in his day.  Award candidates must demonstrate strength of character both on and off the ice, contribute to the integrity of his team and display outstanding skills in all phases of the game.  Consideration should be given to scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.

DON’T FORGET ABOUT ME
Chris Wagner has been just as consistent as Smith with eight goals and 18 assists for 26 points, which is second in the league behind his linemate. He has already eclipsed his scoring from a season ago as he had 19 points. He posted three points in the two losses with a goal and two helpers. Wagner has scored in 10 of the last 12 games and has 18 points during that stretch to average 1.5 points per game in the last 12 contests. He has scored in the last three games.

PRICE IS RIGHT
Jeremy Price has flown under the radar for most of the season for Colgate and he has 14 points on two goals and 12 assists to lead all defensemen on the Raiders. Price is tied for seventh in the league among blueliners in points and is tied for third in assists. He has eight points in his last eight games, including a three-point outing against St. Lawrence on Dec. 3. He added two his totals with an assist in each game last week.

STRIKING EARLY & LATE
This season, Colgate has started and ended periods with strong performances as 21 of the team’s 68 goals have come in the first or last two minutes of periods. Austin Smith added to the total with a goal in the final minutes of the first period against Princeton.

POWER PLAY COMING AROUND
The Raiders are fifth in the conference in power play percentage with 23 goals on 114 opportunities for a 20.2 percent success rate.  Colgate scored on the power play in both games last weekend. The Raiders have gotten goals on the power play from nine different skaters and Austin Smith, Robbie Bourdon and Austin Mayer lead the way with four goals apiece with the extra man. When scoring on the power play, Colgate is 8-4-0.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
Harvard makes the trip to Hamilton with a 4-6-6 overall record and a 3-4-4 mark in conference play. The Crimson is coming off two losses last weekend against Union and Boston University. It’s not that the Crimson are not scoring, Harvard averages 3.12 goals per game, but allows 3.5 per contest. The Crimson’s strength is definitely the power play as it is tops in the nation at 34.3 percent with 24 goals on 70 opportunities.

The Crimson are led by senior Alex Killorn, who has 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points. Seven of his 10 goals have come on the power play to lead the team. Danny Biega has emerged as a top scoring defenseman in the conference with 19 points on four goals and 15 assists and two of his goals have been gamewinners. Patrick McNally is also a high-scoring blueliner as the freshman has 15 points on four goals, all on the power play, and 11 helpers for 15 points. The four top point-getters for the Crimson are all NHL draft picks.

In goal, Steve Michalek has started 13 games in his first season with the Crimson and has a 4-5-5 record.  The Minnesota Wild draft pick has recorded a 3.28 goals against average and a .891 save percentage. Raphael Girard is the backup and he has seen action in four games and has a 0-1-1 record.

SERIES HISTORY
Colgate and Harvard will be facing each other for the 74th time since the first meeting back in 1960-61, which was the opening season of ECAC Hockey. The Crimson hold a 46-21-6 advantage in the series, but the matchup has been even as of late with it tied at 3-3-2 in the last eight meetings, including Harvard’s 4-2 win on November 11. The two teams have played 10 overtime contests with Harvard owning a 4-1-5 record in those games.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth enters the weekend with a 7-7-2 overall record and a 4-4-1 mark in conference play. The Big Green has lost its last two games with a 7-1 loss at Union and a 4-1 defeat at the hands of New Hampshire in the Riverstone Cup. The two losses stopped a four-game unbeaten streak. The Big Green is averaging 2.44 goals per game and have given up just over three scores a contest.

Dartmouth has five skaters with 10 or more points and three tied for the team lead with 11 apiece. Eric Robinson and Tyler Sikura both are tops on the team with seven goals. They have four helpers as well for a total of 11 points. Matt LIndblad has enjoyed a good sophomore season with two goals and a team-high nine points. Doug Jones and Dustin Walsh are second on the team with 10 points each.

In goal, all three netminders have seen action. James Mello, a preseason all-league selection, saw his first action in over a month against New Hampshire and took the loss. He has a 3-5-1 record with a .895 save percentage and a 3.10 goals against average. Cab Morris has been the starter recently with starts in five of the last six games. He is 3-1-1 with a 2.92 GAA and a .902 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
The Dartmouth-Colgate series is one of the most competitive in the country as the series is tied at 42-42-5 after Colgate’s win in November. The series has gone to overtime 13 times with Colgate holding a 5-3-5 advantage. These two teams played the longest game in Colgate history as it was just over 121 minutes long with Kyle Wilson ’06 scoring the gamewinner in 2003 in a 4-3 win. The series began in 1928-29 with Dartmouth winning 9-1 in Hamilton.