Complete Game Notes
HAMILTON, N.Y. (1/10/07) - The Colgate men's hockey team gets back to ECACHL play with a league series at No. 9 Clarkson and St. Lawrence this weekend, Jan. 12-13. Both games begin at 7:00 p.m.
Fans in Central New York can listen to Skip Barlow call all the action of both games on WKXZ 93.9 FM. Saturday's game can also be heard on WMCR 106.3 FM/1600 AM. The broadcast is also available online via TeamLine. Both Clarkson and St. Lawrence will provide live stats, and the Saints offer live video. Links to all these services can be found on Colgate's athletics website,
www.goColgateRaiders.com.
Junior forward Tyler Burton (Langley, B.C.) will play in his 100th career game on Saturday, and is just two points away from his 100th. He is averaging exactly one point per game in his career, so he should reach that milestone this weekend. Burton netted his 50th career goal in Friday’s game against Niagara.
Clarkson has dominated the series with Colgate historically, 78-39-10, including a 35-15-6 mark in Potsdam. However, the Raiders are unbeaten in their last three games against the Golden Knights, including two ties. Last year’s series included a 1-1 tie at Cheel Arena and a 4-2 Raider win in Hamilton. The previous year’s game at Cheel also ended in a tie, 3-3.
Clarkson is on a seven-game winning streak, and also won its exhibition game against McGill last weekend, earning the team a top-10 ranking in both national polls. The Golden Knights returned from the holiday break with a decisive win over defending national champion Wisconsin and a victory against Lake Superior State to win the Badger Showdown.
Like Colgate, Clarkson is one of the most penalized teams in the nation, averaging 22.9 PIMs per game. However, when on the man advantage, the Golden Knights are deadly: they own the second-best power play in the country, clicking at 25.4 percent (31-of-122). Clarkson is beating its opponents by an average of 1.32 goals per game, which ranks sixth in Division I.
Junior Nick Dodge is Clarkson’s leading scorer with 23 points on 10 goals and 13 assists. Colgate won’t have to worry about him though, as he will miss the contest after picking up a game disqualification penalty during last weekend's exhibition game versus McGill. The Golden Knights aren’t short on offensive weapons though, as seven other players have posted double-digit points this season. The top player the Raiders will have to contend with is junior David Cayer, who has 21 points on nine goals and 12 assists. Junior Steve Zalewski is Clarkson’s top goal scorer with 11 tallies and 19 points.
After platooning with senior Kyle McNulty last season, junior David Leggio has grabbed the starting goaltender’s job. He owns a 12-3-1 overall record to go with a 2.24 goals against average and .929 save percentage.
St. Lawrence holds a 59-55-3 edge in the all-time series with Colgate, including a 31-19-1 advantage in Canton. Both meetings last year were one-goal games, including a 4-3 Colgate win in overtime at Starr Rink. The last game between the two clubs was at SLU’s Appleton Arena, where the Saints came away with a 3-2 victory.
The Saints won seven games in a nine-game stretch earlier this year, but are 1-4-1 in their last six contests. St. Lawrence returned from the break two weeks ago to compete in Dartmouth’s Ledyard Bank Tournament, where it advanced to the championship game after beating Boston University in overtime, but lost to North Dakota in the title tilt.
SLU has matched its opponents point-for-point this year (146-146), but no Saint has reached double digits in the goals column yet. Freshman Mike McKenzie sits atop the scoring chart with 17 points on seven goals and 10 assists. Six other players have posted 10 or more points, including senior Kyle Rank and sophomore Kevin DeVergilio who have 13 points each.
All three St. Lawrence goaltenders have seen playing time this season, with freshman Alex Petizian seeing the most minutes of the trio. He owns a 5-4-0 record with a 2.47 goals against average and .916 save percentage. Fellow rookie Kain Tisi has a 2-3-0 record to go with stats of 2.59 and .912, while junior Justin Pesony has a 2-2-1 mark with a 3.17 goals against average and .896 save percentage.
