Senior Weekend Showdowns for Raiders with #20 Union & RPI
HAMILTON – The Colgate men’s hockey team will be honoring its seniors this weekend as the Raiders welcome No. 20 Union and Rensselaer to Starr Rink.
SUPPORTING THE FIGHT AGAINST HODGKIN’S LYMPOMA
During Saturday night’s game against Rensselaer, Colgate Athletics is supporting Spiro Goulakos’ fight against Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a dollar will be donated for every student that attends the final regular season home game of 2013.
THIS WEEK: UNION & RENSSELAER ON TAP FOR SENIOR WEEKEND
The Raiders will host Union and Rensselaer on Senior Weekend in the final two regular-season home games at Starr Rink for 2012-13. The Dutchmen were out of the top-20 last week, but jumped right back in at No. 20 after a home sweep of Brown and Yale. They won pretty handily with a 4-2 win over the Bulldogs on Friday night and shutout the Bears on Saturday with a 2-0 victory. The Engineers have turned it on in the second half as they are currently riding a six-game winning streak after demolishing Brown and Yale. Rensselaer outscored its opponents by a 9-2 score over the weekend. The Engineers are in the mix for a first-round bye with 21 league points, which is second in the standings. Since the second half began, they have earned 17 league points out of a possible 22.
NEXT TIME OUT: REGULAR SEASON FINALE AT BROWN & #13 YALE
The ECAC Hockey regular season will come to an end next weekend with a trip to Brown and Yale on tap. In the first matchup between Colgate and these two schools, the Raiders won both games, including a convincing 4-1 win over the Bulldogs on home ice and it was the last weekend sweep by Colgate. Yale is up first and the Bulldogs are having a tough stretch with just one win in their last six games after going unbeaten in six games prior to the lull. Even with the problems, they are still ranked in the top-20. Brown is coming off a weekend sweep at the hands of RPI and Union and the Bears are at Princeton and Quinnipiac this week. They have been up-and-down all season as they had a four-game unbeaten streak prior to the two losses.
LAST TIME OUT: TOUGH LOSSES ON THE ROAD IN NEW ENGLAND
During the longest road trip of the ECAC Hockey season, the Raiders dropped a 4-1 decision to Harvard on Friday night and then turned in a great effort against No. 17 Dartmouth, but the Big Green came out with the 5-4 win. At Harvard, the teams entered the second period scoreless and then the Crimson tallied three goals in the frame and earned a 4-1 win. Against Dartmouth, there were three lead changes and four ties. Colgate had a 4-3 third-period lead, but the Big Green scored two goals in a four-minute span to earn the victory.
COLGATE HOCKEY ON TWITTER
Colgate men’s hockey is now on Twitter. Fans can follow along for behind the scenes photos and facts, while also getting game day updates. Search for the Twitter handle @Colgate_Hockey and follow the Raider23s today.
GOULAKOS RETURNS TO THE ICE
Sophomore Spiro Goulakos missed the previous five games before the Dartmouth game on Saturday night. He made his first appearence since being diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma. He was given clearance from his doctors to continue to play after chemotherapy treatments. The defenseman logged good minutes against the Big Green, but didn’t record any points in his return.
BOURDON CLOSE TO MILESTONE
The senior forward currently has 96 points in 144 career games after tallying 10 points in the last 12 games. He has scored 41 goals and has handed out 55 assists in his career. Bourdon will look to become the 51st player to reach 100 points in his career. He continues to get closer after an assist this weekend at Dartmouth.
NOT ROOKIES ANYMORE
The eight skaters in the rookie class have been thrown into the fire with all eight seeing significant minutes this year. Spencer Finney has become the starting netminder and has started the last 17 of the last 18 games between the pipes. The skaters have done their part as five of them are in the top-10 in scoring among rookies in ECAC Hockey. Tylor Spink leads the way with 27 points, which is tied for fifth in the nation among first-year players. Mike Borkowski has come on lately with five points in his last seven games, while Darcy Murphy has 10 goals on the year.
WILSON STEPPING UP
Sophomore Joe Wilson has been able to turn it on lately and is has recroded a point in six of the last seven games for a total of six points. He has three goals and three assists, including a score at Dartmouth that knotted the game for the third time. He has posted points in nine of his last 13 games and has 22 points for third on the team. He is one point away from last season’s production. He has not missed a beat after playing with two of the best players in the nation last year. Wilson has eight goals and 14 assists.
SCORING SOURCES
Colgate has 12 skaters with 10 or more points this season and recently the Raiders have gotten goals from multiple sources. There are 10 players that have scored five or more goals. Last season, a total of seven skaters had five or more goals. The last multi-goal game from a Colgate player was against Sacred Heart on Jan. 5. The Raiders had a streak of nine-straight goals from nine different players. The streak was from the Clarkson game on Feb. 1 through the Princeton contest on Feb. 8.
STILL AT THE TOP
After scoring five goals in the two games this past weekend, the Raiders didn’t drop as the top scoring team in ECAC Hockey. They are only one of two teams in the league that average over three goals a game. Colgate is averaging 3.2 goals per contest, while St. Lawrence is second at 3.00. The Raiders have scored 96 goals this year, which is six more than the Saints, which are in second place in the league in the category.
FINISHING STRONG
The Raiders continue to play well in the final two periods as they are outscoring opponents by a plus-15. The third period has been especially good with a plus-10 with a 35-25 advantage and the Raiders are 9-0-2 when leading after two frames. Colgate has had 70 of its 96 goals come in the second and third periods. The Raiders have held teams scoreless in the third period in 13 games this year and are 8-3-2 in those games.
SCOUTING THE DUTCHMEN
Union enters the weekend with a 15-10-5 overall record and an 8-6-4 conference mark after sweeping Yale and Brown last weekend. The sweep ended a short three-game unbeaten streak. Despite the slow second half, the Dutchmen are still in the running for a first-round bye as they are tied for second with St. Lawrence with 20 points. The last time Union was on the road, the Dutchmen didn’t fair too well as they were swept at Clarskon and St. Lawrence.
The visitors from Schenectady have a great power play with 35 goals on 140 chances to lead ECAC Hockey with a 25-percent efficiency. Wayne Simpson, Daniel Carr and Greg Coburn each have five power play goals to lead the way. Simpson is the team’s leader in goals and points with 13 and 29, respectively. Kyle Bodie is one of the top assist-getters in the conference with 21 on the season and he has three power play goals and two shorthanded goals. Carr has been great in his junior season with 11 goals and assists for 22 points. Shayne Gostisbehere missed four games with the team to be at the World Junior Championships in Russia and he has five goals and 12 helpers for 17 points.
In net, Troy Grosenick has been the starter in 24 games this year and has a 11-7-5 record. He has one shutout and has a 2.18 goals against average with a .922 save percentage. Colin Stevens has seen time as well with two shutouts in 10 games played with six starts.
SERIES HISTORY
The Raiders and Union have matched up 61 times prior to this weekend and Colgate has had the advantage in the series with a 37-22-2 advantage since the first meeting back in 1928-29. The two teams faced each other in the playoffs the last two seasons. Colgate eliminated Union in 2011 by winning a best-of-three series in the quarterfinals of the ECAC Hockey Tourament, while the Dutchmen knocked out the Raiders in the ECAC Hockey Semifinals in Atlantic City. Union has won the last four meetings, but Colgate has dominated at home with a 22-3-1 record at Starr Rink against the Dutchmen.
SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
With the exception of top-ranked Quinnipiac, Rensselaer is the hottest team in the league as the Engineers have jumped all the way to second place with an 8-2-0 record in their last 10 ECAC Hockey games. They have a total of 21 points and have been on a six-game win streak and have been dominant with five of the six wins coming by three or more goals, including a 6-2 win at Clarkson and a 5-1 victory over Brown last weekend.
Jacob Laliberte and Matt Neal lead the way for Rensselaer with 25 points apiece. Laliberte has nine goals and 16 helpers, while Neal leads the team in assists with 18 on the year. Ryan Haggerty is the goal scorer for the Engineers with 12 on the year, while Nick Bailen has 10 on the year and both Haggerty and Bailen have 24 points. Six of Bailen’s 10 goals have come on the power play, which leads the team, and Laliberte has five of his own.
In net, rookie Jason Kasdorf has taken over the top netminder spot and has 15 starts and two shutouts. He has a 10-2-2 mark and is tops in the league in save percentage at .942 and is close to the top in goals against average at 1.52. He has allowed just 23 goals in over 900 minutes played and hasn’t allowed more than three during the Engineers’ winning streak.
SERIES HISTORY
Rensselaer and Colgate will be playing for the 119th time on Saturday night since 1915-16 and this series is the oldest in Raiders hockey history as it stretches 97 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’s 2-1 win in Troy earlier this season, the Engineers lead the series, 58-56-3, however, since 2003-04 the Raiders hold a 19-8-1 advantage.
