HAMILTON – The Colgate men’s hockey team will look to get back into the race for a top spot in the ECAC Hockey as the Raiders visit Harvard and 17th-ranked Dartmouth this weekend.
THIS WEEK: NEW ENGLAND TRIP TO HARVARD & #17 DARTMOUTH
Colgate will travel on one of its longest trips of the regular season with visits to Harvard and 17th-ranked Dartmouth this weekend. The Crimson have struggled this season with a 6-15-2 record, but earned a 1-1 tie against the Big Green and then smoked Boston University, 7-4, in the consolation game of the Beanpot. Prior to last week, the Crimson had lost eight-straight games. The Big Green started off the season on fire with an unbeaten streak of six games and was in the single-digits in the rankings. However, Dartmouth has faltered a little in league play with a 7-6-3 mark, but the Big Green is 3-5-2 in the last five conference weekends.
NEXT TIME OUT: UNION & RENSSELAER ON TAP FOR SENIOR WEEKEND
The Raiders will host Union and Rensselaer on Senior Weekend in the final regular season weekend at Starr Rink for 2012-13. The Dutchmen have been pushed out of the rankings for the first time in a while as they sit at 13-10-5 after getting swept last weekend at Clarkson and St. Lawrence. They dropped a 2-1 game at Clarkson and then the Saints beat Union, 4-2, on Saturday night. The Dutchmen are hosting Yale and Brown this weekend and are 6-6-4 in conference. The Engineers have enjoyed a second-half resurgence with six wins in their last seven games, including a four-game winning streak with two wins over the Golden Knights and Saints in their last two games. Rensselaer is in the mix for a first-round by now with 17 league points, which is tied for third in the standings.
LAST TIME OUT: DROPPING TWO AT HOME
Colgate saw its four-game unbeaten streak come to an end with a pair of losses to Princeton and #2 Quinnipiac. On Friday night, the Tigers scored twice in the second period to break a 1-1 tie and came away with a 3-2 win. Joe Wilson continued to get on the scoreboard with a goal and Thomas Larkin tallied his third of the year. The next night against the Bobcats, the game was very physical and ended with 74 combined penalty minutes. Quinnipiac took a 3-1 lead early in the third period and Tylor Spink was able to get the Raiders back to within one, but the Bobcats were able to hold on for the win.
GET YOUR PHOTOS AND COLGATE GEAR HERE!
Looking for a place to get all your Raider gear? Colgate Athletics has recently launched a new online store. Get your hockey gear or any Colgate athletic T-shirts, hats and sweatshirts at shopraidergear.com. The Raiders also if you are interested in purchasing any photos of this year’s team visit the photo store at gocolgateraiders.com.
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 LEAVES TEAM FOR TREATMENT
Sophomore Spiro Goulakos has left the team and will be out the remainder of the 2012-13 season after being diagnosed with Hodgskins lymphona. The Montreal native will head home to receive intense chemotherapy over the coming months and will hope to rejoin his teammates next season. The sophomore had 15 points on six goals and nine assists. He was a big part of the power play with four goals.
HARVARD GAME ON LOCAL TV
The matchup on Saturday night at Bright Hockey Center will be broadcast live in the Boston and Manchester, N.H., area on WBIN-TV. Check your local listings if you are in the viewing area, most cable providers have WBIN-TV as channel 18.
WILSON ON STREAK
Sophomore Joe Wilson has been able to turn it on lately and is currently on a five-game scoring streak with five points in the five games. He has two goals and three assists, including a goal against Princeton last weekend. He has posted points in eight of his last 11 games and has 21 points for third on the team. He is two points away from last season’s production. He has not lost a beat after playing with two of the best players in the nation last year. Wilson has seven goals and 14 assists on Colgate’s top line.
SCORING SOURCES
Colgate has 12 skaters with 10 or more points this season and recently the Raiders have gotten goals from multiple sources. The last nine goals scored by Colgate have been by nine different skaters. There are 10 players that have scored five or more goals. Last season, a total of seven skaters had five or more goals.
STILL AT THE TOP
After scoring two goals in each game over the weekend, the Raiders didn’t drop as the top scoring team in ECAC Hockey. They are one of four teams in the league that average over three goals a game. Colgate is averaging 3.25 goals per contest, while Yale and St. Lawrence are second at 3.04. The Raiders have scored 91 goals this year, which is six more than Union, who is 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-18. The third period has been especially good with a plus-12 with a 34-22 advantage and the Raiders are 9-0-2 when leading after two frames. Colgate has 66 goals of its 91 overall, 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. Quinnipiac and Colgate are the only teams in ECAC Hockey to have over 30 goals in any period.
BOURDON CLOSE TO MILESTONE
The senior forward currently has 95 points in 142 career games after tallying nine points in the last 10 games. He has scored 41 goals and has handed out 54 assists in his career. Bourdon will look to become the 51st player to reach 100 points in his career. He got closer with a goal against Quinnipiac last Saturday.
NO ADJUSTMENT NEEDED
Rookie Darcy Murphy came to Colgate in the fall after leading the Ontario Junior Hockey League in goals with 52 in 48 games and his smell for the goal has continued into college. The rookie from Marysville, Ont., is tied for third on the team with nine goals and has four on the power play for second on the squad as well. He tallied his fourth man advantage goal against St. Lawrence and Murphy has four points in his last seven games with two goals and two assists.
CONSISTENCY FROM PRICE
Senior Canucks draft pick Jeremy Price has been a point producer for the Raiders as of late with one point in 12 of the last 16 games for a total of 12 points on four goals and eight assists. Price is one goal away from his career-high of six that came during his rookie year. He has also been a force on the defensive side with a plus-15 to lead the Raiders and he has become the top power play point man with Goulakos out and Colgate hasn’t missed a beat with three goals with the extra skater last weekend. He is second in the league among defensemen at a plus-15.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
Harvard welcomes the Raiders to the Bright Hockey Center on Friday night with a 6-15-2 and is unbeaten in its last two games after suffering through an eight-game losing streak. The Crimson defeated Boston University, 7-4, in the consolation game of the Beanpot Tournament. That came after a 1-1 tie against Dartmouth. The win over the Terriers was only the second victory in the last 17 games for the Crimson. The defense has been a concern as Harvard is giving up 3.39 goals per game and the Crimson has been outscored by 10 goals in both the second and third periods.
Harvard is like the Raiders when it comes to its high scorer as both squads have a rookie leading the way. Jimmy Vesey has a team-high 14 points on 10 goals and four assists in 19 games. Vesey missed some time as he was competing for Team USA at the World Junior Championships in Russia. Tommy O’Regan is the team’s top assist-gettter with 10, while Brian Hart and Alex Fallstrom has 13 points apiece with four goals and nine helpers. Harvard has eight NHL draft picks on its roster.
Raphael Girard has been the primary netminder all season with 21 starts and a 5-14-2 record. He has recorded a 3.25 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. He has two shutouts, which came against Rensselaer and Bentley earlier in the year.
SERIES HISTORY
Colgate and Harvard will be facing each other for the 76th time since the first meeting back in 1960-61, which was the opening season of ECAC Hockey. The Crimson hold a 46-22-7 advantage in the series, but the matchup has been even as of late Colgate leading by a slim 4-3-3 margin in the last 10 meetings, including the Raiders’ first-ever shutout in the series the last time the teams met in November. The two teams have played 11 overtime contests with Harvard owning a 4-1-6 record in those games.
SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth hosts the Raiders at Thompson Arena on Saturday with an 11-8-4 and the Big Green has been able to hold onto its national ranking at No. 17, but Dartmouth has slipped somewhat after a 3-6-2 mark over its last 11 contests. The Big Green was last in action at Harvard and played to a 1-1 tie. Dartmouth has the ability to score a lot of goals as they are averaging just under three a game.
Tyler Sikura leads the team with 26 points on nine goals and 17 assists. Four of the goals have come on the power play and 17 of the 26 points have been in league play. Eric Robinson is the lone skater with double-digit goals with 10 and four have been gamewinners, while Matt Lindblad has been productive with 23 points on nine goals and 14 assists.
In net, Cab Morris has started 15 games and has an 8-4-3 record with one shutout. He was the goalie of record in the 5-4 loss to the Raiders earlier in the year when he allowed four goals in the final period. He has a very respectful .929 save percentage and a 1.97 goals against average.
SERIES HISTORY
The Dartmouth-Colgate series is one of the most competitive in the country with the Big Green leading the series at 44-42-5. The series has gone to overtime 14 times with Colgate holding a 5-4-5 advantage after the 14th time came last season in January with Dartmouth earning a 5-4 win. These two teams played the longest game in Colgate history as it was just over 121 minutes long with Kyle Wilson ’06 scoring the gamewinner in 2003 in a 4-3 win. The series began in 1928-29 with Dartmouth winning 9-1 in Hamilton.
