The Colgate men’s hockey team is ready to kick off 2014 in the Mariucci Classic at Minnesota as the Raiders start with the top-ranked Golden Gophers tomorrow night.
The Raiders take on the top team in the country at 8:07 p.m. and can be seen live on Fox College Sports Central. There will be live audio and live stats for the game, but no live video.On Saturday, Colgate takes on either Rensselaer or #2 Ferris State and that game will be at 5 p.m. from Mariucci Arena.
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: MARIUCCI CLASSIC
Colgate takes its longest road trip of the season with a visit to Minnesota for the Mariucci Classic on Jan. 3 and 4. The Raiders take on top-ranked Minnesota on Friday night and then face either Rensselaer or No. 2 Ferris State on Saturday. Colgate has already played RPI and the Bulldogs this season and has a 1-2-0 mark, which included a win over Ferris State in the second game of the year.
NEXT UP: OLD RIVAL VISIT STARR RINK
The Raiders are back home next weekend with Vermont coming to Starr Rink for a single game on Jan. 11. The Catamounts were an old member of ECAC Hockey before moving onto Hockey East. Vermont jumped into the national polls this week at No. 20.
FAMILIAR FOES AT CLASSIC
Colgate has already faced two of the three other teams at the Mariucci Classic as the Raiders split with now No. 2 Ferris State at home on the first weekend of the season. After a 7-4 defeat in the season opener, Colgate responded with one its best games with a 1-0 win as Eric Mihalik pushed aside 25 shots for his fourth career shutout. The Raiders took on the Engineers on its first road conference weekend of the year and were beaten by RPI at Houston Fieldhouse.
LAST MINUTE WIN
In their last game of 2013, the Raiders hosted the Russian Red Stars and needed three goals in the third period to come away with a 3-2 win on New Year’s Eve. Colgate scored all three goals in a seven-minute span and the comeback was complete with Tylor Spink scoring the gamewinner with 19 seconds left.
POWERING UP THE POWER PLAY
Colgate has had its struggles on the power play recently, but got its offense going with the extra skater against the Red Stars. The Raiders scored twice on the man advantage and both goals came at critical times in the game. Kyle Baun and Tylor Spink scored the two power play goals and it was a good showing as the Raiders look to improve in the area during the second half of the season.
BORKOWSKI BRIGHT SPOT
Mike Borkowski finished off the UMass series with his first career multi-goal game in the 3-2 loss on Dec. 15. The sophomore second liner has already equaled his point total from his rookie year with 17 and he has posted a career-high five multi-point games. Two of his multi-point games have been three point outings against St. Cloud State and Union.
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 79 points out of the 121 scored this season, which is 65 percent of the scoring output. They have scored 32 of the 45 goals this year and all top five scorers for Colgate are sophomores. All seven sophomore skaters have tallied points this season.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GOPHERS
Top-ranked Minnesota enters its home tournament with a 12-2-2 mark and a 3-0-1 record in the inaugural year of the Big Ten Conference. The Gophers have gone unbeaten in their last four games and in eight of their last nine. They are coming off a three-point weekend at Michigan State with a 3-2 win on Dec. 7 after a 2-2 tie the night before. Minnesota has done it with a struggling power play at 15.6 efficiency. The defense is the strong point as the Gophers have outscored their opponents 63-34 in 16 games. They are in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense and defense.
Sam Warning leads the way with 20 points on the year with five goals and 15 assists. Seth Ambroz is tops in goals with eight on the year. Justin Kloos is second on the team in points with 17. The top two scorers are not NHL draft picks, while the Gophers have 15 on the roster.
One of those picks is goalie Adam Wilcox, while has started 15 of the 16 games played for Minnesota. He has an 11-2-2 mark with a 2.17 goals against average. He has also posted a .923 save percentage and has one shutout.
SERIES HISTORY
The Raiders and Gophers have faced off six times previously with Minnesota winning all six matchups. The most interesting game of the series came in the early 70s with the teams going to overtime and the Gophers winning a wild 7-6 game.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Ferris State has been on a roll since the Raiders last saw the Bulldogs on the first weekend of the season. They have the longest unbeaten streak in the country at 15 with a 12-0-3 mark. The run has put them as the No. 2 team in the nation. Special teams have been great for Ferris State with a 21.7 percent success rate on the power play and have killed off 85 percent of opponents extra man chances. The Bulldogs are fourth in the nation in combined special teams.
SERIES HISTORY
Ferris State leads the series at 7-5-1 after the teams split at Starr Rink in the first weekend of the season. Colgate earned its first shutout in the series to halt a three-game winning streak by the Bulldogs. The teams could be facing off for the 14th time since their first meeting back in 1999.
SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
Rensselaer enters the tournament with an 8-6-4 record overall and has spent some time in the national rankings this season. The Engineers are 3-3-3 in league play and have gone unbeaten in three of its last four games and played the USA Under-18 National Team on Dec. 15 and earned a 2-1 win. They have no problems scoring goals as they have averaged 3.44 goals per game after 18 games.
Ryan Haggerty has been dominating on the scoresheet all season with 18 goals, which leads the nation by five goals. He has a total of 26 points. He leads ECAC Hockey with eight power play goals and he has also posted four gamewinners. Brock Higgs is second on the team with 20 points on 12 goals and eight assists. Jacob Laliberte has a team-high 13 helpers.
In goal, Scott Diebold has earned 16 starts and has a 7-5-4 mark, while Jason Kasdorf is 1-1-0 on the year. Diebold has a 2.17 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY
Rensselaer and Colgate could be playing for the 120th time on Friday night since 1915-16 and this series is the oldest in Raiders hockey history as it stretches 98 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. With Rensselaer earning an early season win over the Raiders, the Engineers lead the series, 60-56-3.
