After earning a split last weekend against Ferris State, the Colgate men’s hockey team is playing its lone game of the week on Thursday night at 7 p.m. against RIT at Ritter Arena.
The game is going to be live on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel 2 in Central New York (Ch. 324), however RIT will be live streaming the game as well through America One.
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: THURSDAY NIGHT HOCKEY AT RIT
Colgate is on the road for the first time this season next Thursday night, but it isn’t a long road trip as the Raiders head to Rochester. This is the first time since 1985-86 that these two upstate schools will play in back-to-back years. Colgate defeated the Tigers last season by a 6-3 score. This will also be the first time since 1983-84 that Colgate is playing on RIT’s campus after playing in downtown Rochester the last three meetings away from Starr Rink. The game is the lone one for the Raiders against Atlantic Hockey this year.
NEXT WEEK: HITTING THE ROAD TO BGSU
The Raiders are back on the road next weekend with a long trip to Bowling Green, Ohio, to take on the Falcons of Bowling Green State University. The Raiders are returning the favor of a long trip after the Falcons came to campus last year. The two-game series was split with Colgate taking the second game by a 4-2 score. Bowling Green, like Ferris State, is now a part of the new WCHA. The Falcons face Union this weekend at Messa Rink and then host Ohio State next week prior to taking on the Raiders.
RAIDERS ON TV
Colgate is set to be on television twice this season with next week’s matchup against RIT on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel 2 (Ch. 324 in CNY). The next time the Raiders will be on the tube, will be at Minnesota on Jan. 4 on the first day of the Mariucci Classic, as Colgate takes on the Golden Gophers. The home dates for televised games has yet to be announced.
CORNWALL SOUTH
The Raiders have done a lot of their recruiting in Cornwall the last couple of years, and it has resulted in five players making the trip to Hamilton. Anthony Sanniti joined the Spink twins, Kyle Baun and Mike Borkowski as Cornwall alums on the team. All five started at least once last weekend and the four sophomores combined for 10 of the 15 points recorded over the weekend.
SECOND GAME SHUTOUT
Eric Mihalik and his defense played solid on Saturday night against Ferris State and earned a 1-0 shutout victory. It was the fourth career shutout for the senior netminder and first as a 1-0 victory. He made 25 saves in the win.
NOT MISSING A BEAT
The sophomore class that made a huge impact as rookies is back and got off to a great start last weekend. Kyle Baun and Mike Borkowski each had a goal and an assist for three points with Baun tallying a power play goal in game two, which was the gamewinner. The Spink twins added two points with a goal and an assist each. Two of the four goals scored by the class were power play tallies.
FAST START
Colgate wasted no time getting on the board in the first game against Ferris State with two goals in the opening eight minutes. The Raiders played good defense in the first period as they did not give up a goal in both games last weekend.
PENALTY KILL IMPACT
On Friday night, the penalty kill for Colgate gave up a pair of power play goals, but responded in Saturday’s game by shutting out the Bulldogs on five chances. The biggest moment in the game was a 5-on-3 chance for Ferris State late in the second period. However, the Bulldogs were unable to get on the board and then Colgate held them off twice in the third period to perserve the shutout.
RAIDERS PICK 9TH IN BOTH POLLS
ECAC Hockey released it preseason polls on Sept. 24 and the Colgate men’s hockey team was slated to finish ninth in the media and coaches’ polls. This year looks wide open for the league with six different teams earning first-place votes in the coaches poll with Yale leading the way with four votes, followed by Rensselaer, Quinnipiac and Union with two votes. The media poll also featured a lot of parity with Rensselaer earning the top spot with 18 first-place votes.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
RIT welcomes Colgate on Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend and the Raiders will be playing the final home opener at Ritter Arena as the team will move the new 4,500-seat Gene Polisseni Center in 2014-15. The Tigers played an exhibition matchup against Queen’s last weekend and lost by a 2-1 decision. RIT was picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic Hockey Association Preseason Poll. They finished behind Niagara, Mercyhurst, Air Force and Canisius.
The Tigers return a lot of experience with 19 skaters coming back from a season ago. Twelve of the returners are forwards, while six defensemen are back and Jordan Ruby, the starting netminder. Captain Matt Garbowsky is back as the top scorer from 2012-13 as he had 33 points on 11 goals and 22 assists. Joining Garbowsky as the top scoring threats are Mike Colavecchia, who scored 12 goals and added 18 assists, and Greg Noyes on defense. Noyes had 29 points for seventh in the nation among defenseman. Overall, eight of the 10 top scorers are back from last season.
In goal, Ruby will be the primary starter for the Tigers after playing in 21 games a season ago and earning a 8-10-1 record. He posted a 3.05 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. Josh Watson graduated, so Ruby is the most experienced goalie for the Tigers and is not going to share time to start the year.
SERIES HISTORY
Colgate is 8-1-0 against RIT all-time and has not played at Ritter Arena for the last 30 years with the last meeting coming in 1983-84. Colgate is undefeated at RIT’s home rink and has won the last four meetings, including a 6-3 win a season ago at Starr Rink. The lone win for the Tigers came in 1985-86 season with RIT shutting out the Raiders by a 3-0 score.
