After a split last weekend, the Raiders are looking to build off the win on Saturday against Princeton as Colgate heads to Union and No. 10/13 Rensselaer for its second league weekend.
Fans will be able to view and listen to all the action and all the necessary links are available by logging onto the Men’s Hockey Game Central on GoColgateRaiders.com.
MOVEMBER ’STACHES
Led by John Lidgett, the men’s hockey team has teamed up with the Movember Foundation to raise money for men’s health by growing mustaches for the month of November. Fans can following along with the team as they grow their ’staches. The team will post pictures on the site as well as on Twitter. Fans are asked to donate through the team’s page on the Movember website: moteam.co/colgate-hockey.
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: CAPITAL DISTRICT TRIPS
The Raiders are making their first road trip in league play this weekend with a ride to Rensselaer and Union. The Engineers have earned five wins in their first eight games, inclduing a pair of 7-1 wins over Sacred Heart and Dartmouth. The Dutchmen are out of the national polls, but rebounded last weekend after a rough start with a sweep of the Big Green and Harvard by a combined score of 11-4.
NEXT WEEK: CONFERENCE PLAY CONTINUES
ECAC Hockey play continues next weekend with a visit to the North Country to skate against St. Lawrence and Clarkson. The Saints are off to a 4-2-2 start and earned two ties last weekend in league play at Yale and Brown. Both games were 3-3 ties. The Carey brothers lead the way with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Clarkson is off to a hot start at 7-2-1, which included a six-game unbeaten streak. The Golden Knights swept Niagara on the road and then did the same to Colorado College at home.
FINN WINS
Rookie goaltender Charlie Finn earned his first win in a Colgate uniform with 27 saves against Princeton last Saturday afternoon. He was in a goaltending duel for the first period against Princeton’s Colton Phinney. He had 21 saves in the final two periods with 10 in the third to preserve the 3-1 win.
MURPHY MARKS
Darcy Murphy has been Colgate’s best goal scorer as of late with two goals in his last two contests. He has three goals and two assists for five points. His goal against the Tigers started a three-goal third period, while his score against Quinnipiac cut the Bobcat lead to 3-2 early in the final frame.
GOING INTO THE THIRD
Colgate has seen success this season when going into the final period with a lead or tied. The Raiders are 3-0-1 when leading or tied after two periods. Colgate held on against Ferris State for a 1-0 win and then settled for a 1-1 tie with Bowling Green on the road for the two closer outcomes.
SOPHOMORE SURGING
Mike Borkowski has caught on quickly this season with nine points, which is tied for ninth in the league in total points. His seven assists are tied for sixth in the conference as well. Last season, as a rookie, Borkowski had three assists through the first seven games of the season.
PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF
Sophomore Kyle Baun has seven points on four goals and three assists, which is a career-high through the first eight games. Last season, the rookie led the Raiders in goals with 14 and had six points on three goals and three assists. He has four goals this year with three coming on the power play and both marks lead the team.
DOMINATING CLASS
SCOUTING THE DUTCHMEN
The Dutchmen host Colgate with a three-game unbeaten streak, all coming on the road. Union tied Connecticut 2-2 before beating ECAC opponents Harvard and Dartmouth 7-2 and 4-2, respectively. Union is 3-2-2 on the season.
Kevin Sullivan has yet to score a goal on the season, but he leads Union with 11 points. That being said, the Dutchmen have had no problem scoring, with four being their magic number; they are averaging four goals per game and have four players with four goals on the campaign. Combing his four scores with five assists, Daniel Carr ranks second on the team with nine points.
The Dutchmen have scored on nine of 41 power plays (22 percent), but are 0-for-10 in conference play. All four of freshman forward’s Michael Pontarelli’s goals have come on the advantage. Union has killed 23 of their 29 penalties, a rate of 79.3 success.
Three different goaltenders have manned the crease for Union this season with Alex Sakellaroupoulos getting the most time. The freshman netminder has played five games in goal, saving 87 shots while surrendering 16 scores. He has posted a 3.46 goals against average. In both of Union’s ECAC games, Colin Stevens has played in goal, making 35 saves against four goals allowed. The junior has a 1.90 goals against average for the season.
SERIES HISTORY
The Raiders and Union have matched up 62 times prior to this weekend and Colgate has had the advantage in the series with a 38-22-2 advantage since the first meeting back in 1928-29. The two teams split the season series last year and have faced eachother 10 times in the last three years.
SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
The Raiders travel to Rensselaer to play a team that has lost only once in its previous six games. The Engineers are enjoying a 5-2-1 start to the season.
The Engineers have scored eight times, seven of those coming from Haggerty and Higgs, in 35 chances on the power play (22.9 percent). Rensselaer has been especially stingy killing off their own mistakes. Opponents have scored on only four of 27 power plays, a kill rate of 85.2 percent.
Scott Diebold has seen the majority of the time in net for RPI, playing in seven of the team’s eight games. Diebold has made a season-high 31 saves on two separate occasions, a 3-1 win over Boston University on Oct. 18th and a 7-1 victory on Nov. 2nd over Dartmouth. He has a .946 save percentage for the season to go along with his 1.58 goals against average.
SERIES HISTORY
Rensselaer and Colgate will be playing for the 119th 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 sweeping the series last year, the Engineers lead the series, 59-56-3.
