Streaking Raiders Return Home
Colgate Brings Five-Game Unbeaten Streak Back to Starr
HAMILTON – The Colgate men’s hockey team stayed on pace with the top teams in ECAC Hockey with two wins last weekend and the Raiders hope to continue their winning ways at home.
Colgate takes on No. 13 Clarkson on Friday night at 7 p.m. and that game will be on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel in Central New York (Channel 55 in Hamilton). St. Lawrence is in town on Saturday night for a 7 p.m. faceoff. Both games feature live free video, live audio and live stats.
COLGATE HOCKEY ON TWITTER
Colgate men’s hockey is on Twitter. Fans can follow along for behind the scenes photos and facts, while also getting game day updates and alumni stories. Search for the Twitter handle @Colgate_Hockey and follow the Raiders today.
THIS WEEK: CLARKSON & ST. LAWRENCE AT HOME
The Raiders are back on home ice this weekend with a visit from No. 13 Clarkson and St. Lawrence. The Golden Knights had struggled a bit since the beginning of December, but they are coming off a weekend sweep of Yale and Brown at home. St. Lawrence has hit on hard times with seven-straight losses, including being swept by the Bulldogs and Bears last weekend.
NEXT UP: LEAGUE SLATE CONTINUES ON THE ROAD
Colgate is back on the road next weekend with a trip to Brown and Yale. The Bears have been a hot team as of late with a 4-1-2 mark over the last seven games. The lone loss was against Clarkson in a 3-2 loss last Saturday. Yale has been on the identical streak with a 4-1-2 record in the last seven. They also lost 3-2 to Clarkson, but on Friday.
ANOTHER ROAD SWEEP
Colgate had struggled recently on the road in league contests, but the Raiders have turned that around with two-straight ECAC Hockey road sweeps. Colgate has been impressive on the road in league with a 5-1-1 mark away from Starr Rink.
ROAD WARRIORS
Colgate has been a great team away from Starr Rink with a 7-2-3 mark on the road. The Raiders are unbeaten in their last seven games away from Hamilton. They have scored two or more goals in all five games, which included putting four goals on Dartmouth and Harvard last weekend.
THE PUCK STOPS HERE
Charlie Finn has been impressive as of late with a 4-0-1 record and over the last five he has a 1.38 goals against average and a .947 save percentage. Finn has allowed seven goals in the five games and has not allowed more than two goals during the recent win streak. He has dropped his GAA from 3.27 to 2.57 over the past five games.
JOHNSTON JUMPS UP
Sophomore Ryan Johnston had a great weekend at Dartmouth and Harvard with two goals and an assist and has 10 points overall to lead all defenseman. He has three goals and seven assists this season and his 10 points is a career high. He started 2014 out great with the shootout goal that beat No. 1 Minnesota and has five points in his last six games. He is riding a career long three-game point streak.
DOMINATING CLASS
After leading the team in total points last season, the sophomore class has been putting the goals and assists on the board once again. The Class of 2016 has recorded 98 points out of the 165 scored this season, which is 59 percent of the scoring output. They have scored 41 of the 61 goals this year and all top six scorers for Colgate are sophomores. All seven sophomore skaters have tallied points this season. The sophomores scores four of the eight goals last weekend with Ryan Johnston getting two of the four.
GOAL SCORER’S TOUCH
Darcy Murphy has emerged as a great goal scorer for the Raiders and leads the team with 11 on the year. He has already eclipsed his goal output from a season ago. Murphy has scored goals since arriving on campus as he has 30 career points with 21 goals and nine assists. He has six goals in his last 11 games with two coming on the power play.
POWERING UP THE POWER PLAY
Colgate has struggled on the power play this season, but the Raiders saw some improvement over the last four games with six goals with the extra man on 20 chances. The Raiders are still at the bottom of the league in power play efficiency at 14.4 percent. Colgate scored twice on the man advantage to defeat Dartmouth by a 4-1 tally, but couldn’t find the net against Harvard.
TEAM DEFENSE
The Raiders have buckled down recently on the defensive end allowing only 1.7 goals per game in their last nine games. The defense was a major reason for the Maricucci Classic win as Colgate held two of the top scoring teams in the nation to just two goals in two games. The Raiders have played great defense with a lead in the third period as they are 9-0-3 being tied or ahead after the second period. The Raiders are also 7-2-1 when scoring first this season.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Clarkson has won three of its last four and is ranked 13th in the nation. After wins over Yale and Brown last weekend the Golden Knights improved their record to 15-7-2 and 8-2-0 in the conference.
The Golden Knights are paced offensively by Ben Sexton and Allan McPherson. Sexton leads the team with 19 points from five goals and a team-high 14 assists. McPherson is just a step behind at 18 points from a team-best eight goals, including three game-winners, to go along with 10 assists. Clarkson has also gotten strong contributions from Jeff DiNallo, who has 14 points on seven goals and seven assists, and Joe Zarbo, who has scored five goals, including three game-winners, and eight assists for 13 points.
Ten different players have scored for Clarkson on the power play, with Sexton’s four advantage goals leading the pack. As a whole, the Golden Knights are scoring on 20 percent of their power plays, with 19 goals in 95 advantages. Their penalty kill, however, has not been as effective; opponents have cashed in on 22 of Clarkson’s 100 penalties.
SERIES HISTORY
These two long-time hockey schools are playing for the 146th time since Colgate and Clarkson met back in 1927-28. Clarkson has an 81-48-16 advantage in the series. The Raiders have put a dent in the series by going unbeaten in 14 of the last 17 games, including a three-game unbeaten streak. Colgate came from behind up in Potsdam earlier this season with three goals in the final period to earn a 4-3 win on Nov. 16.
SCOUTING THE SAINTS
A once-promising season for St. Lawrence has collapsed, as the Saints have lost seven in a row and 10 of 12 to fall to 8-12-2. St. Lawrence has not won a game in nearly two months; their last victory was a 5-2 triumph at North Dakota on November 29.
The Saints’ main issue has come on the defensive end, as St. Lawrence gives up a whopping 3.8 goals per game. With 18 starts and 951:20 minutes in net, Matt Weninger has spent the majority of the season as the team’s goaltender. He has surrendered 60 goals against 377 stops, a save percentage of .863, while posting a 3.78 goals against average.
Despite their defensive shortcomings, St. Lawrence has put up some prolific offensive numbers. The Carey brothers have a whopping 67 points between them, with Greg contributing 40 to the cause from 14 goals and 26 assists and Mike putting up 14 goals, including eight on the power play, and 13 assists for 27 points. Jeremy Wick has scored 11 goals, with a team-best nine on the power play, to go along with 11 assists for 22 points. Meanwhile, Justin Baker and Gavin Bayreuther have each scored five goals, with the former dishing out 15 assists for 20 points and the later tallying 14 helpers for 19 points. St. Lawrence also has three other players with double-digit points.
With Wick and freshman Matt Carey, the Saints’ power play has been especially lethal, scoring on 30.2 percent of their advantages from 32 goals in 106 opportunities. However, like their five-on-five defensive issues, their penalty kill unit has also struggled, allowing 29 power play goals in 106 chances, killing off only 72.6 percent of their penalties.
SERIES HISTORY
These two upstate New York schools will be playing for the 144th time since Colgate and St. Lawrence met back in 1927-28. The series is just about even with the Saints holding a 75-64-4 advantage. The Raiders halted a five-game unbeaten streak by the Saints in November with a 5-3 win at Appleton Arena. Colgate has a 39-28-9 advantage at home and Coach Vaughan is 22-30-3 against his alma mater.
