THIS WEEK
Friday, January 15 - at Dartmouth, 7 p.m.
Saturday, January 16 – at No. 6 Harvard, 4 p.m.
Colgate stays on the road this week returning to its ECAC schedule with games against Dartmouth and No. 6 Harvard. The Raiders will first take on the Big Green Friday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. followed by an afternoon match-up with the Crimson on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 4 p.m.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Dartmouth – The Big Green will be looking for their first win of 2010 when they take on the Raiders this Friday. Dartmouth's last win came back on Dec. 30, a 4-2 victory against Vermont. Since then the squad has suffered losses to non-league opponent Connecticut as well as fellow ECAC members Quinnipiac and Princeton. Dartmouth also recorded a 3-3 tie in their second game against the Huskies. The Big Green are currently 6-8-2 overall with 4-6-1 mark in league play. Leading Dartmouth on the offensive end is senior forward Sarah Parsons with 20 points off of 10 goals and a team high 10 assists. Junior Amanda Trunzo leads the squad in goals with 11 and adds seven assists for 18 points. Mariel Lacina and Whitney Woodcox have both spent time in goal this season. Lacina has amassed a record of 4-8-0 with a .903 save percentage and 2.59 goals against average. Woodcox is 2-0-2 overall with a 3.18 goals against average and .863 save percentage.
Harvard- The Crimson will look to bounce back into the win column after falling to Quinnipiac last weekend, 1-0, and tying Princeton, 3-3. At 8-4-3 overall and 6-4-1 in the ECAC, Harvard can count recent wins against No. 2 Minnesota and No. 9 Connecticut. Kate Buesser leads the Crimson with a team high 11 assists along with six goals for 17 points. Buesser leads the ECAC in points during league games with 15 of her points including 10 of her 11 assists coming against conference opponents. Jillian Dempsey has recorded 13 points for the Crimson off of seven goals and six assists. Senior Christina Kessler will be back in goal after stopping 15 shots to earn the shutout in a 9-0 win for Canada's National Women's U-22 Team over Switzerland in the gold medal game of the 2010 MLP Cup. Kessler holds an 8-3-2 record for the Crimson this season as well as a .950 save percentage and 1.23 goals against average. Kessler leads all ECAC goaltenders and is third among all goaltenders in the nation.
LAST TIME OUT
The Raiders split a non-conference series against Niagara this past weekend, downing the Purple Eagles, 5-3, on Saturday after dropping the first game, 7-2, on Friday. Jenna Klystra (Edmonton, Alta.) picked up her first career goal in the loss on Friday with senior Beth Rotenberg (Toronto, Ont.) adding the Raiders second goal. Leading scorer Katie Stewart (Exeter, Ont.) scored two goals, including the game-winner on Saturday. Hannah Milan (Great Barrington, Mass.), Brittany Phillips (Lauder, Man.) and Jacquie Colborne (Calgary, Alta.) added a goal apiece while Jessi Waters (Menlo Park, Calif.) picked up three assists. Goaltender Lisa Plenderleith (Ajax, Ont.) made 25 saves for the Raiders.
LAST TIME AGAINST…
Dartmouth – The Big Green hold a 23-4-2 advantage in the all-time series against the Raiders. The two teams finished with a 5-5 draw earlier this season when the Raiders came from behind, 4-1, to tie the game with 55 seconds left on the clock.
Evan Minnick (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) led the Raiders with two goals including the game-tying tally. Stewart, Phillips and Rotenberg added a goal each while
Kimberly Sass finished with 31 saves. Dartmouth's Jenna Cunningham recorded a hat trick, netting the three of the Big Green's first four goals.
Last year the two teams split the regular season with Dartmouth winning the first meeting at home, 7-2. Colgate upset the then No. 8 ranked Big Green, 2-1, in their second meeting at Starr Rink. The Raiders then faced Dartmouth in the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals, earning a 7-6 overtime win in the first game before dropping the next two.
Harvard- The Crimson lead the all-time series 14-1-2 including a 2-1 victory at Starr Rink earlier this season on Oct. 30. Colgate's Minnick was the first to score giving the Raiders a 1-0 lead five minutes into the second period, but Harvard recorded two goals of its own to close out the period and claim the win after a scoreless third period. During the 2008-09 season Colgate tied the Crimson, 5-5, in overtime before falling on the road, 2-1.
STARTING THE YEAR RIGHT
The Raiders have tallied a record of 9-2-1 in the month of January dating back to the 2008-09 season. Colgate went 7-1-1 in the first month of the year last season and has started its January 2010 schedule off 2-1-0. The squad has already picked up non-conference wins against Syracuse and Niagara this month and looks to continue their January streak as they return to ECAC play.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Colgate freshman Brittany Phillips was named the ECAC Rookie of the Week as chosen by the league coaches, it was announced Monday, Jan. 4. Phillips had four points in a 5-4 overtime victory at No. 10 Syracuse on Jan. 2, posting two goals and two assists. Her first goal sparked the Raiders scoring after trailing 3-0 in the first period. Phillips' second goal was the game-winner, made with 10 seconds left on the overtime clock. She also had a hand in the last two regulation goals, earning an assist on the game-tying goal with 15 seconds left in the match. This is the first weekly award for Phillips and the first time a Colgate player has won a weekly award so far this season.
LEADING THE WAY
Katie Stewart leads the Raiders and is tied for the top spot among scoring leaders in the ECAC so far this season with 23 points off 12 goals and 11 assists. Freshman
Brittany Phillips follows with 17 points coming from 10 goals and seven assists while senior
Evan Minnick adds 14 points off seven goals and seven assists. Junior
Jessi Waters is tied with Stewart for a team-high 11 assists.Goaltenders
Lisa Plenderleith and
Kimberly Sass have split time between the posts this season. Plenderleith holds a 4-7-1 record along with a .877 save percentage and 3.37 goals against average. Sass is 2-6-2 on the season with a .852 save percentage and 4.57 goals against average.
PREASONS PICKS
The Raiders were selected to finish eighth in the ECAC Hockey Preseason Poll as chosen by conference coaches. The Raiders received a total of 52 votes, while top-choice St. Lawrence grabbed the No. 1 spot with 107 votes including three first place votes.
COACH WILEY
Head coach Scott Wiley is in his eighth season at the helm of the Raiders. He currently holds a Colgate career record of 105-120-27. Wiley led last year's team to a school record 19 wins, including an eight-game unbeaten streak in January. The 2003-04 ECAC Coach of the Year has high hopes for this year's team and will look to make this eighth straight ECAC playoff appearance.
UP NEXT
The Raiders will take on travel partner and No. 10 Cornell in a home/away series next weekend. Colgate will first host the Big Red on Friday, Jan. 22 at 3 p.m. in Starr Rink. The squad will then travel to Ithaca, N.Y. to face Cornell at James Lynah Rink on Saturday, Jan. 23. Start time is slated for 3 p.m.
