Raiders Head to ECAC Championship

The top four teams in the standings made the final four for the second-straight year. Top-seeded Union takes on fourth-seeded Cornell in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. and then second-seeded Colgate hits the ice against third-seeded Quinnipiac. All four teams are ranked in this week’s USCHO National Poll.

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.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND ON FOX COLLEGE SPORTS
ECAC Hockey has partnered with Fox College Sports (FCS) to televise the 2014 semifinals and championship game March 21-22 at the 1980 Rink – Herb Brooks Arena. Eric Frede will be the play-by-play announcer with Cap Raeder providing color commentary and Sonny Waltrous on the sideline. Games will be on DirecTV as well. The channel location will be released the week of the championship. FCS Atlantic on all other cable subscribers.

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STREAMING ALSO AVAILABLE
ECAC Hockey tournament games will be available for viewing by a global audience and be aired through www.ecachockey.com. Fans can watch all games from the ECAC Hockey tournaments on mobile devices as well as standard PCs and Macs. The games will be available on iOS devices as well as Androids. Fans can either purchase a game for $9 (US) for viewing directly on a mobile device or purchase for viewing on a standard computer and add the mobile option for an extra dollar.

THIS WEEK: CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND
ECAC Hockey returns to the Olympic Center at Lake Placid for the league semifinals and championship this weekend. Colgate is back in the final four after missing it last season. The Raiders have made it three of the last four seasons. Cornell and Union have done the same over the same period, while Quinnipiac makes it for the second-straight year.

RAIDERS RANKED
Colgate jumped up three spots in the USCHO.com National Poll to 14th, while earning the same spot in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine National Poll. The Raiders are one of four ECAC Hockey teams heading to Lake Placid and all four are ranked in the top-15. Union got bumped up to No. 2 in the country and received first-place votes. Quinnipiac is sitting at fifth, while Cornell dropped to 13th after going the distance in its quarterfinal series against Clarkson. Colgate has been ranked for five-straight weeks, but it is only the second time this season the Raiders are in the top-15.

AGAINST PLAYOFF FOES
Colgate saw success against the teams that are left in the ECAC Hockey Tournament. The Raiders are 3-1-2 against Union, Quinnipiac and Cornell this season. Colgate has beaten all three teams and have only lost to the Bobcats. The Raiders beat Union and Quinnipiac on their home ice, while taking down Cornell on home ice by a 6-1 score.

TIP OF THE HAT TRICK
Colgate saw Darcy Murphy tally the fourth hat trick of the season on Saturday night’s win over St. Lawrence. Colgate is now tied with New Hampshire for the nation’s lead in hat tricks with four. Murphy became the fifth Raiders in hockey history to register a postseason hat trick and the first since Sean Nolan ’01 had one against Yale in 2000.

WINNING THE CLOSE ONES
The Raiders have played 10 games decided by one goal this season. Recently they have needed the success in close games to advance in the playoffs as the last four games have been one-goal contests. Three of the games have been 2-1 games. Overall Colgate is 7-3 in one-goal games and 3-1 in its last four.

GOALTENDERS DOING WORK
Colgate has two capable goalies entering the ECAC Hockey semifinals. Rookie Charlie Finn has been the primary netminder for most of the season with 25 starts and a 15-6-4 record. He is a two-time ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month and became the first goalie since Mark Dekanich ’08 in 2007-08 to win 15 games in a season. He was also named a finalist for ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year. Senior Eric Mihalik is no slouch with 83 career games played and earned a win on Senior Night with 34 saves against Dartmouth.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Quinnipiac enters the weekend with a 24-8-6 overall record and is ranked fifth in the nation. The Bobcats are making their second-straight appearance in the final four of the ECAC Hockey Tournament. They made it to Lake Placid after an impressive sweep of Yale with a 6-2 win in game one and a 5-3 victory in game two. Quinnipiac has played up-and-down over the last month with a 4-4-1 record, but is still a dangerous team that made the NCAA Finals last season.

ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year finalist Sam Anas leads the Bobcats with 42 points on 21 goals and 21 assists in 28 games. Nine of his 21 goals have come on the power play and he recorded two in game two against Yale. The Jones brothers have always been top players for Quinnipiac and this year has been no different. Kellen Jones has 41 points, while Connor Jones has 37 points. Matthew Peca has 37 points as well with 12 goals and 25 assists.

In net, Martin Garteig has started all 38 games for the Bobcats and has six shutouts on the season. He ranks first in goals against average in ECAC Hockey at 1.88, while posting a .912 save percentage. He leads the penalty kill unit that is among the best in the nation, allowing only 17 goals in 169 chances for a 89.9 percent efficiency.

SERIES HISTORY
The series continues to go back-and-forth with the two teams with Quinnipiac leading it by one at 14-13-2. Colgate was able to stop a three-game winning streak by the Bobcats with a 3-1 win on Feb. 22 in Hamden. The series started back in 2005-06 and Quinnipiac and Colgate have met 29 times, which is the most for the Raiders against any team since 2005-06. This will be the 11th meeting in the last four years between Quinnipiac and Colgate. This will be the first meeting in the semifinals for these two schools. They have met three times in best-of-three series with Colgate winning two of them. All three series went to game three and the Raiders have a 5-4 advantage in the playoffs overall.

SCOUTING THE DUTCHMEN
Union jumped up to No. 2 in the national polls this weekend and received some first-place votes. The Dutchmen are 26-6-4 overall and won the Cleary Cup as the regular-season champion. They ended Dartmouth’s season with a sweep at home, winning 3-0 and 4-2. Union is tied for the nation’s leading unbeaten streak at 11 games as the Dutchmen have gone 10-0-1 over that span. Union has made the ECAC Hockey semifinals three-straight times and won the title back in 2012.

Daniel Carr is tops on the team with 40 points on 20 goals and 20 assists. He has six on the power play and two have been gamewinners. Carr recorded three goals and an assist for four points in the sweep over Dartmouth. Daniel Ciampini has had his best season at Union with 33 points on 18 goals and 15 assists. He came into the season with 27 career points in two seasons. He has two shorthanded goals and three gamewinners. Mat Bodie leads the defensive unit as a senior and has 29 points on four goals and a team-high 25 helpers.

In net, Colin Stevens has started 30 games this year and has a 22-4-2 record, which is the top-ranked winning percentage in the league. He has a 1.95 goals against average and six shutouts, including a 3-0 win against Dartmouth last weekend. He has a .931 save percentage as well.

SERIES HISTORY
The Raiders and Union have matched up 64 times and Colgate has had the advantage in the series with a 39-22-3 record since the first meeting back in 1928-29. The Raiders have gone unbeaten in the last three meetings, including a 4-4 tie at home in the last game. The Raiders scored three goals in the third period against the Dutchmen on Nov. 8 to earn a stunning 5-3 win over Union. The Dutchmen reeled off nine-straight wins after that loss. Colgate has played Union four times in the playoffs and the series is tied at 2-2. The Raiders eliminated the top-seeded Dutchmen in 2011 in three games as a 12th seed in the quarterfinals, but Union knocked out Colgate the next year in the semifinals.

SCOUTING THE BIG RED

Cornell had the toughest road to Lake Placid with its series against Clarkson going into overtime in game three. The Big Red pulled it out with Brian Ferlin scoring 12:32 into the extra frame for the 1-0 win. Cornell comes to Lake Placid with a 17-9-5 record and has a 5-5-0 mark in its last 10 games. The Big Red are averaging 2.42 goals per game, which is the lowest among the four teams in Lake Placid, but the 2.23 goals allowed per game is one of the best.

Ferlin is the team leader with 27 points in 31 games played. He is the lone player with double-digit goals with 13 on the year. Six of his goals have come on the power play and he has been great in the clutch with six gamewinning goals. John McCarron and Joel Lowry are tied for second on the team with 24 points. Both skaters have seven goals and 17 assists and they will be playing in their 100th game on Friday night, along with Joakim Ryan.

In net, Andy Iles has played in 117 career games for the Big Red and has 58 victories. This season he has posted a 16-9-5 record with starts in 30 games. He has a 2.11 goals against average and a .921 save percentage. He had two shutouts denied by penalty shots, but earned his first of the season in game three against Clarkson with 23 saves, including four in overtime.

SERIES HISTORY
Colgate and Cornell have met 146 times in the series with the Big Red holding a 75-57-14 advantage. The Raiders have gone unbeaten in the last three matchups, which includes a 6-1 defeat at home on Feb. 8.  The teams have played a lot recently with 11 games in the last four-plus seasons. The series against Cornell has the second-most games played, only second to Clarkson.