Colgate Game Notes; Feb. 28/Mar 1

Senior Weekend on Tap for #15/16 Raiders
Mike McCann & Eric Mihalik Honored on Saturday

HAMILTON – The Raiders will recognize its two seniors on Saturday as Colgate hosts Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend with seedings on the line for the league playoffs.

The Raiders have clinched a bye, but these games will have playoff implications. Colgate can finish anywhere from the second to the fourth seed. The Raiders face the Crimson on Friday night at 7 p.m., followed by a matchup with the Big Green on Saturday night for a 7 p.m. faceoff.

Both games are going to be live on the Patriot League Network. Fans can also listen online at wkxzfm.com.

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: SENIOR WEEKEND AT STARR
The Raiders will be in action for the final time in the regular season this weekend as Colgate hosts Harvard and Dartmouth. Both schools are tied for 10th in ECAC Hockey with 14 points, but are still alive in the hunt for a home playoff series in the first round of the conference tournament. The Crimson are coming off a weekend sweep by Yale and Brown at home, while the Big Green earned three league points with a win over the Bears and a tie versus the Bulldogs.

NEXT UP: A WEEK OFF BEFORE QUARTERFINALS
Colgate is set to take a week off after this weekend as the Raiders earned a first-round bye in the ECAC Hockey Tournament. Colgate’s possible opponent will not be determined until the first round is over due to the re-seeding of teams after the opening series. The Raiders face the second-lowest seed to advance in the quarterfinals. Tickets are on sale now for the weekend of March 14-16.

NOW IN BOTH POLLS
The Raiders joined both polls for the first time this season as Colgate is ranked 15th in the USA Hockey/USA Hockey Magazine National Poll. The Raiders are in the USCHO National Poll for the third-straight week at No. 16, which is a season high. Colgate is one of five teams in the league that are ranked, joining Union, Quinnipiac, Cornell and Yale.

SENIOR NIGHT SATURDAY
Colgate will honor two of its seniors on Saturday night as they will be playing in their final regular season game at Starr Rink. Eric Mihalik and Mike McCann have made significant contributions to the program since arriving on campus. Mihalik ranks 10th all-time in wins with 31 in his career and has played in 82 career games, which is fifth all-time. He currently ranks fourth in goals against average at 2.85 and his .901 save percentage is in the top-10. McCann has appeared in 138 games for the Raiders entering the weekend. He has 29 career points on 15 goals and 14 helpers. His seven goals this year are a career best.

LEAGUE VICTORIES
This year has been one of the most successful conference years under head coach Don Vaughan. The Raiders have 12 wins in ECAC Hockey with a 7-2-2 mark in the second half of the season. The 12 victories in league is the most since Colgate had 14 in 2005-06. The Raiders won their second Cleary Cup title that year and made the final four of the conference tournament.

BYE CLINCHED
Colgate has earned a first-round bye in the upcoming ECAC Hockey Tournament for the second time in the last three seasons. The Raiders can finish between the second and fourth spots in the standings after this weekend. Union has already clinched the Cleary Cup for regular season champions. The Raiders will not know their opponent until the conclusion of all four first round series as the league reseeds.

SPINK TWINS TAKE TURNS
Friday night at Princeton it was Tyson Spink and then on Saturday it was Tylor Spink at Quinnipiac that led the Raiders to each win. Tyson tallied his first career multi-goal game with a hat trick at Hobey Baker Rink with one of the goals coming on the power play. Tylor had two assists against the Tigers, but turned in his best performance against Quinnipiac with two goals, including the gamewinner.

SECOND HALF SUCCESS
The Raiders have enjoyed success in the second half of the season with a 9-2-3 record to get them in the top-20 in the country. It has not come easy with many games against ranked opponents. However, this team is 5-1-2 against top-20 teams in 2014. The Raiders have averaged 3.5 goals per game during the second half and are allowing just under two per game.

THE IMPORTANT FIRST GOAL
Colgate scored the first goal in both games last weekend and has done it in 17 games this year. The Raiders have won 12 of those games and tied three. In 15 of the 16 wins, Colgate has had the lead or has been tied after the first period. The Raiders are 15-1-4 with the lead or tied after 20 minutes. The lone come-from-behind win was again Union on Nov. 8when the Raiders scored three in the final period to win 5-3 on the road.

DOMINATING CLASS
The sophomore class continues to put up numbers and it continued last weekend as the Class of 2016 tallied eight of the nine goals in the two wins with five coming from the Spink twins. Overall the class has 59 of the 94 scored by the Raiders, which is 63 percent of the scoring output on the team. They have 89 assists for a total of 148 points. That number is 60 percent of the points scored this season. The top five scorers for Colgate are sophomores and all have over 20 points. The top line of the Spinks and Kyle Baun have accounted for 77 point this year.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
Harvard is coming off a weekend sweep at the hands of Yale and Brown at home. The Crimson lost to the Bulldogs by a 5-2 score and then was shutout by the Bears at 2-0. Harvard had built momentum into the weekend with a four-game unbeaten streak. The Crimson had wins over Clarkson and St. Lawrence on the road during the streak and a 6-2 win in the consolation game of the Beanpot Tournament against Boston University. Harvard is still alive for a home playoff series with a 5-11-4 conference mark and a 9-14-4 overall record.

The Crimson’s roster is loaded with NHL draft picks with nine of them, which is the most among ECAC Hockey teams. Jimmy Vesey leads the way with 22 points on 13 goals and nine assists. Five of his 13 goals have been gamewinners and four have come on the power play. Kyle Criscuolo is tied with Vesey for the team lead in power play goals and has 19 points on 11 goals and eight assists. Sean Malone has 18 points on five goals and 13 helpers as a rookie. The power play has had its struggles this season with only 16 goals in 110 chances for a 14.5 percent efficiency.

In goal, Harvard has had two capable netminders all season in Steve Michalek and Raphael Girard. Michalek has played in 15 games and has a 2.41 goals against average and a .922 save percentage. Girard has great conference numbers with a 1.99 GAA and a .938 save percentage. Both lead the league.

SERIES HISTORY
Colgate and Harvard will be facing each other for the 78th time since the first meeting back in 1960-61, which was the opening season of ECAC Hockey. The Crimson hold a 47-23-7 advantage in the series, but the matchup has been even as of late with Colgate having a slim series lead at 5-4-3 margin in the last 12 meetings. The two teams have played 11 overtime contests with Harvard owning a 4-1-6 record in those games.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth had a rough start to the season with eight-straight losses and had a winless streak of five games in January, but the Big Green has seen success as of late. Dartmouth is riding a four-game unbeaten streak into the weekend. The Big Green beat Brown and tied Yale at home in its last two games. The tie with the Elis helped Colgate secure a first-round bye in the ECAC Hockey Tournament. Defense has been an issue as Dartmouth has allowed around 3.5 goals per game this season. With the recent success, the Big Green is 10th in the standings with 14 points and is three points back of hosting a first-round series.

Eric Neiley leads the way with 22 points on 12 goals and 10 assists. He has four power play goals, which is tied with Brandon McNally for tops on the team. McNally has 17 points for second on the team with five goals and a team high 12 helpers. Rookie Grant Opperman has been a bright spot with 15 points on eight goals and seven assists. Dartmouth has missed its top scorer from a season ago in seven of its games as Tyler Sikura has nine points in 18 games played. He had the gamewinner on Friday night against Brown in the 2-1 win.