OPENING FACE-OFF
It's been two years since Colgate has made the trip to Albany to play in the semifinals of the ECAC Hockey Tournament. As the puck drops Friday evening, the Raiders are only two wins away from making the drive once again. First thing first – Colgate must dispatch fifth-seeded St. Lawrence in a best of three quarterfinal series at Starr Rink. It will be the fifth time these two schools have hooked up in the play-offs in the last eight years. The Raiders gained the first round bye, February 26 with a 3-2 victory over Rensselaer at Starr Rink and a St. Lawrence loss to Dartmouth the same evening. This weekend marks the first time since the 2006 tournament in which Colgate will host a quarterfinal matchup. The Raiders recovered from an opening loss to post two consecutive victories over Quinnipiac to gain a berth in the semifinals of the ECAC Hockey tournament. Colgate heads into the best of three series riding a three-game win streak and has scored 18 goals in its last four contests. The Raiders will also be looking to snap a four-game losing skid to the Saints. The last win against St. Lawrence came on March 9, 2008 as Colgate closed out a three-game series with a 3-1 win at Starr Rink to advance to a quarterfinal series at Clarkson.
MEET THE HEAD COACH
Don Vaughan is in his 17th year at the helm of the Colgate Raiders. The 1984 graduate of St. Lawrence enters the campaign as the program's all-time winningest coach with a 284-266-65 mark. On February 16, 2008, he became the all-time winningest coach with his 252nd victory as Colgate blanked Union 8-0. On November 11, 2007, former Colgate President, Rebecca S. Chopp, announced the creation of the Donald F. Vaughan Endowed Coaching Chair for Men's Hockey.
THESE DATES IN COLGATE HISTORY
Colgate has a combined 8-7-1 record in games played on March 12, 13, and 14. The Raiders are 4-1 on the 12th; 2-3 on the 13th and 2-3-1 in games played on the 14th.
March 12, 1995– Brad Dexter posted a goal and an assist in the third and final game of the series to lead Colgate to a 4-1 victory over Vermont. The victory clinched a spot in the ECAC Hockey semifinals in Lake Placid. Earl Cronan's goal at 13:16 of the first proved to be the game winner. Dan Brenzavich, who saved 29 in the victory, outdueled current Boston Bruin Tim Thomas in net. Other names on the ice for the Catamounts include Martin St. Louis and Eric Perrin.
March 13, 1999 – Darryl Campbell posted his lone collegiate hat trick, while Cory Murphy added a goal and an assist as Colgate dumped Yale 7-2 in New Haven to advance to the ECAC Hockey semifinals in Lake Placid. Up 2-0 after the first period, the Raiders poured it on with five in the second. Andy McDonald and Sean Nolan each assisted on two goals in as Colgate improved to 19-11-4. Shep Harder posted 20 saves in the win.
March 14, 2003 – Kyle Wilson scored his fourth goal of the year 1:05 into the fourth overtime to lead the Raiders to a 4-3 victory over Dartmouth in the first game of a best of three quarterfinal at Thompson Arena. This classic is the longest game in Colgate hockey history as the extra sessions were each 20-minute periods. The Raiders never had the lead in the game until Wilson's score as both teams answered the other's score. Scooter Smith knotted the game at 1-1 in the first; Adam Mitchell scored to tie the game 2-2 in the second and Ryan Smith's third goal of the year at 14:01 of the third eventually sent the game into overtime. Colgate threw 70 shots on Dartmouth goalie Nick Boucher, while Steve Silverthorn turned aside 55 shots, 10 coming in the first overtime and 11 in the third. P.J. Yedon tallied three assists in the victory.
COLGATE AT A GLIMPSE
Colgate comes into the quarterfinal matchup with the 12th best scoring offense in the country averaging 3.35 goals per outing. The offense is led by the trio of Austin Smith (15-25-40), David McIntyre (11-26-37) and Brian Day (20-14-34). Junior Francois Brisebois (15-10-25) added to his point total with a pair of goals versus #15 Union, while fellow Quebecian Robbie Bourdon (8-15-23) became the fifth Raider to reach 20 or more points on the year with an assist February 16 versus Cornell. Colgate is tied for 43rd in scoring defense (3.32). Alex Evin (9-7-3, 3.02, .901) has started 13 of the last 14 games in net for the Raiders. Colgate's power play jumped up 10 spots and now ranks 32nd nationally (.183) while the penalty kill is 46th overall (.783).
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The two teams have met 132 previous times with St. Lawrence holding a 68-61-3 lead in the series that dates back to the 1927-28 campaign. Colgate holds a 36-26-2 advantage in games played in Hamilton, however the Raiders have dropped the last two meetings to the Saints at home. Including play-off meetings, Colgate is 11-4 versus Saint Lawrence at Starr Rink in the last 15 meetings.
LAST TIME VERSUS ST. LAWRENCE
Mike McKenzie scored the game winner as the puck deflected in the cage off his skate at 4:18 of overtime in a 3-2 St. Lawrence victory January 30 at Starr Rink. Colgate held two leads in the contest at 1-0 on a goal by Matt Firman at 10:31 of the second and at 2-1 on Brian Day's 16th at 1:57 of the third. Brandon Bollig tied the game at 2-2 with his fifth at 8:07 of the final period. Colgate outshot St. Lawrence 33-31. The Raiders' power play went scoreless in six attempts.
COLGATE SCORING VERSUS THE SAINTS
Nine Raiders have scored points versus St. Lawrence in previous meetings with Brian Day (4-3-7) leading the way. David McIntyre (2-3-5), Jason Williams (2-3-5) and Kevin McNamara (1-4-5) are two points behind the junior co-captain. Rounding out the scoring are Ethan Cox (2-1-3), Austin Smith (0-2-2), Wade Poplawski (1-0-1), Matt Firman (1-0-1), Corbin McPherson (0-1-1), and Nathan Sinz (0-1-1).
PLAY-OFF HISTORY VERSUS THE SAINTS
This series will mark the fifth time in the history of the ECAC Hockey tournament that the Raiders and Saints have squared off. Colgate is 3-1 in best of three series versus its foe from the North Country. All three series wins have something in common – they were all played at Starr Rink and the Raiders had to win the final two games to advance further in the ECAC Hockey tournament. Colgate prevailed in 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2007-08. The win over the Saints in 2003-04 earned the Raiders a trip to the league semifinals. The lone time St. Lawrence has defeated Colgate in a series was in 2006-07 when the Saints won the first two games at Appleton Arena.
ST. LAWRENCE IN BRIEF
The Saints come to Hamilton with a 17-14-7 record and finished fifth in the ECAC Hockey regular-season standings with a 9-8-5 mark. Since posting a 3-2 overtime victory at Starr Rink on January 30, the Saints have gone 3-5-3 in their last 10 games, including winning three of their last four outings. St. Lawrence's scoring offense ranks 33rd in the country (2.92 gpg). The offense features two players with 30 or more points. Third team all-league honoree Travis Vermeulen (17-23-40) scored 13 of his goals in league play while fellow senior Mike McKenzie (12-21-33) has a team-best four game winners – two of which have come against the Raiders this year. Like its scoring offense, St. Lawrence is surrendering 2.92 goals per game, which is 31st nationally. Senior goalie Kain Tisi (9-8-5, 2.51 gaa, .912 save percentage) has allowed only two goals in two starts versus Colgate this season. The Saints' power play has connected on 37 of 189 man advantages (.196 – 22nd) and their penalty kill is right behind Colgate at 47th (152 of 194 - .784).
PLAYOFF POINTS
Ten Raiders have combined for 19 goals and 43 points in previous post season contests. David McIntyre (6-2-8), Ethan Cox (2-4-6), Brian Day (1-5-6), and Jason Williams (4-2-6) all have had success in play-off games. As a sophomore, McIntyre tallied back-to-back two-goal efforts to lead the Raiders to an upset of Clarkson and punch their ticket to Albany. He scored the game-winning goals for Colgate in both wins, including his 15th of the year at 7:36 of double overtime to clinch the series win. Kevin McNamara (0-5-5) had a big post season back in 2007-08, his freshman season, while Austin Smith (4-1-5) had a strong series in the three-game series loss at Quinnipiac in March of 2009. In the second game, he posted his first collegiate hat trick as Colgate rallied late to win a 5-4 decision in overtime to force a third game. Francois Brisebois (0-3-3), Wade Poplawski (1-1-2), Sean Carty (1-0-1), and Corbin McPherson (0-1-1) round out the rest of the postseason scorers.
LAST TIME OUT
Colgate posted its second home ECAC Hockey weekend sweep of the year with a pair of victories over Rensselaer (3-2) and 15th-ranked Union (5-2). With the win, the Raiders stretched their home unbeaten streak to 10 games over the Engineers (9-0-1). Austin Smith scored a pair of goals and Nick Prockow netted the game winner at 10:24 of the third. Colgate went three of six on the power play. Alex Evin saved 27 shots in the victory.
The day after his 22nd birthday, Francois Brisebois celebrated with a two-goal outing versus the 15th-ranked Dutchmen, while Kurtis Bartliff netted the game winner at 14:15 of the second with his first goal since Rensselaer on December 5. Prockow and David McIntyre added goals in the victory as well. In his first start since January 15 versus St. Lawrence, Charles Long posted 34 saves in the win on Senior Night. It marked the second consecutive season in which Colgate posted an upset in the regular-season finale. Last year, the Raiders bested #11 Yale 3-2 in overtime. The victory also stretched Colgate's home unbeaten streak versus Union 12 (11-0-1).
FEELING THE POWER
During the recent four-game unbeaten streak, the Colgate power play has proven to be a big weapon. Colgate has converted five of its last 16 man advantages into goals (.3125). Two players have accounted for those goals in Austin Smith (3) and Nick Prockow (2). The Raiders went a combined four of nine in their weekend sweep of Rensselaer and Union. All three goals scored against the Engineers were on the power play.
KILLING THE POWER
Since surrendering three power play goals to Yale at Starr Rink on February 12, Colgate's penalty kill has stiffened. In their last six contests, the Raiders have killed off 26 of 31 (.839) opponent power plays, including holding Brown to a one of nine effort in a 6-2 win February 13.
A LOOK BACK AT THE PROGNOSTICATORS
While the ECAC Hockey head coaches and media got the top two spots in the regular season right in their preseason poll, they swung and missed with regards to Colgate. The Raiders were chosen seventh in the coaches poll and eighth in the media poll.
THE LAW FIRM OF DAY MCINTYRE AND SMITH
These three players enter the play-offs with impressive point totals over a recent stretch of games. While having a five-game point streak snapped in the 5-2 victory over Union, Brian Day has four goals and four assists in his last six games. In his last five appearances, Austin Smith has posted seven points on four goals and three assists. David McIntyre brings a seven-game scoring streak into the play-off series. The senior has amassed two goals and seven assists during this stretch.
DMAC – ALL-LEAGUE
For the second consecutive season, David McIntyre garnered all-league honors. The senior was named to ECAC Hockey's second team a year after being a first team honoree in 2009. He becomes the seventh Raider to post first or second team honors in consecutive seasons. Current Colgate assistant coach Brad Dexter also accomplished the feat in 1995 and 1996. The others include Chris Renaud (81-82), Mike Harder (97-98), Cory Murphy (2000-01), Tyler Burton (2006-07) and Mark Dekanich (2006-07).
10 SOMETHING
The Raiders' ended their league schedule with a 12-8-2 record, which was their best record since the 2005-06 season when they went 14-6-2. Colgate hadn't reached double digit win totals in ECAC Hockey play the three previous years before this season.
20 SOMETHING
When Brian Day netted his 20th goal of the year in the 4-2 victory at Harvard, it marked the third straight year Colgate has had at least one 20-goal scorer. The Raiders haven't had a stretch like this since having eight consecutive seasons where at least one player had 20 goals from 1993-94 to 2000-2001.
40 SOMETHING
Colgate fired 83 shots on goal the weekend of February 19-20 – 41 versus Dartmouth and 42 at Harvard. It marked the first time the Raiders had posted back-to-back shot counts of 40 or more since October 19 and 25, 2002 when they recorded 43 on UConn and 40 versus Sacred Heart.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
As of March 7, Colgate had a strong presence in national statistical categories as six skaters were ranked among the top 50 in the country. They are as follows …
Austin Smith – T24 in assists per game (0.74), T27 in points per game (1.18); T40 in shorthanded goals (1), T34 in game winning goals (3), T47 power play goals (6)
Brian Day – T10 in goals per game (0.62), T47 power play goals (6), T40 shorthanded goals (1)
Thomas Larkin – T35 in points per game for a rookie (0.58), T45 in points per game by defenseman (0.57).
David McIntyre – T13 in assists per game (0.79) and T36 in points per game (1.12)
Robbie Bourdon – T34 in game winning goals (3) and 14th in points per game for a rookie (0.72)
Jason Williams – T8 in shorthanded goals (2)
EXTRA ATTACKERS
Brian Day's goal versus Cornell, February 16 was Colgate's fourth goal on the season with an extra attacker. Francois Brisebois (vs. Yale – 2/12), Austin Smith (vs. Robert Morris – 1/23) and Corbin McPherson (vs. Brown – 11/13) are the others.
PLAYING SHORTHANDED
Brian Day and Jason Williams scored shorthanded goals 45 seconds apart on the same penalty kill early in the third period versus Brown. It marked the first time Colgate has posted two shorthanded goals in the same game since a 4-0 victory at Rensselaer on January 12, 2008. Mark Anderson and Ethan Cox did the damage. The last Time the Raiders had two shorthanded goals in the same period happened in the second when Ben Camper and Tyler Burton accomplished the feat in a 9-0 victory over Canisius at Starr Rink October 24, 2006.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE
Colgate enters this weekend with a 15-13-6 overall record and finished 12-8-2 in league action. A year ago after 34 games, the Raiders were 11-16-7 overall and completed the 2008-09 ECAC Hockey slate with a 6-11-5 mark. During the 2008-09 season including play-offs, Colgate's offense manufactured 89 goals. Heading into this weekend, the Raiders have accounted for 114 in only 34 games. Brian Day (20), Francois Brisebois (15), Nick Prockow (8), Jason Williams (7), Matt Firman (5), Ethan Cox (5), Corbin McPherson (2), Wade Poplawski (2) and Sean Carty (2) have more goals this year than last. The Raiders are two goals from Robbie Bourdon or Prockow away from accomplishing something they haven't done since the 2005-06 campaign – having five goal scorers with 10 or more (Kyle Wilson – 23; Tyler Burton – 22; Marc Fulton – 14; Jesse Winchester – 14 and Jon Smyth – 11).
FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME
Colgate closed its 2009-2010 ECAC Hockey slate with four skaters having 10 or more goals in league competition. Brian Day (13) led the way in league goals with David McIntyre, Austin Smith and Francois Brisebois all posting 10 against ECAC Hockey members. It bested the feat of the 1999-2000 squad which had three – Andy McDonald (16), Darryl Campbell (11) and Sean Nolan (11).
WEED WACKERS
Since blanking Dartmouth 1-0 on February 14, 2009 at Thompson Arena, Colgate's success against the Ancient Eight has been impressive. During this stretch, the Raiders are 9-3-3 in games played against Ivy League competition. The only slip ups were a 4-2 loss to Cornell in Ithaca on November 24, a 6-3 loss to sixth-ranked Yale, February 12 at Starr Rink followed by a 6-2 loss to Cornell February 16. During the stretch, Colgate has two wins versus Brown, Princeton, Harvard and Dartmouth and one versus Yale. The Raiders are 7-3-2 versus the Ivy League this year including posting the first season sweeps of Princeton, Brown and Harvard. It's the first time Colgate has secured a regular-season winning record versus the Ivy League since 2004-05.
A GOOD OMEN FOR THE RAIDERS
The last time Colgate swept three regular-season series versus Ivy League schools was back in the 2004-05 season, a year in which it advanced to its last NCAA tournament. Somewhat ironic, those three schools were Brown, Harvard and Princeton.
AUSTIN “EXTRA ATTACKER” SMITH
On January 23, Austin Smith's extra attacker goal with 49 seconds left versus Robert Morris was his third such goal of his career. As a freshman, Smith scored two extra attacker goals in the closing minute to force overtime. On February 20, he scored at 19:21 of the third against Union to knot the game up at 2-2. Two weeks later, Smith scored with 19 seconds left as Colgate rallied from two down in the closing moments to force overtime in a potential elimination game at Quinnipiac. Smith would go on to score the game-winner less than a minute into overtime to force a third game in the opening round of the 2009 ECAC Hockey Tournament. Colgate has scored two extra attacker goals this season. Before Smith, Corbin McPherson was the last to post such a goal for the Raiders this season at 2:28 of the third in a 5-3 victory at Brown on November 13, 2009.
CONTINUING THE CLIMB
With his career-high four-point evening versus Harvard, David McIntyre became the 48th player in the program's history to surpass the 100-point milestone. With his goal and two assists in victories over Rensselaer and Union on Senior Weekend, he moved within one point of tying Clarkson Associate Head Coach Greg Drechsel for 24th. Joey Cry is in 23rd with 133 points.
GEE WILLIE
It seems every time he steps on the ice, Jason Williams continues to climb up the all-time charts for games played at Colgate. Heading into the quarterfinal matchup, he has played 151 games, which is fifth all-time. Williams is one game away from moving into a three-way tie with Matt Torti and Adam Mitchell for third. Should the series go the distance, Williams could move into a tie for second all-time with Ryan Smith. Tyler Burton is the career leader with 158. David McIntyre (149) is tied for sixth with Jason Fredricks, while Ethan Cox (148) ranks eighth all-time.
FROM THE POINT
With his assist in the victory over Union, Thomas Larkin moved into third on the all-time single season point list for a rookie defenseman. The freshman, who has 18 on the year, is one point short of tying current Raiders' assistant coach Brad Dexter for second. Dexter tallied 19 in the 1991-92 campaign. Larkin's 15 assists is in a three-way tie for third with current Raider Kevin McNamara (2007-08) and Larry Gibson (1975-96).
PRICE IS RIGHT
When Jeremy Price netted his fourth goal at Dartmouth, he moved into a tie for fifth on the all-time single season list at Colgate for goals by a rookie defenseman. The freshman tied David Sloane and Mike Campaner and is one away from moving into a tie with Scott Young for fourth.
FRESHMEN IMPACT
After 34 games, the Colgate freshmen have integrated themselves rather well as far as posting points. Including the combined performances versus Rensselaer and Union, the freshman class has posted 71 points, or 2.09 points per game (20 goals, 51 assists). Earlier, there was a four-game stretch where a freshman collected his first collegiate goal of his career. Kurtis Bartliff netted his first goal in the 1-1 tie with nationally ranked Nebraska-Omaha, while Christian Long found the back of the next the following night against the Mavericks. Against UMass-Lowell, it was Robbie Bourdon's turn to light the lamp and then it was Jeremy Price opening the scoring versus Army. Bourdon (8-15-23) and defenseman Thomas Larkin (3-15-18) lead the scoring charge for the first year players. Jeremy Price (4-8-12) joined the duo with double figured point totals with a two-point weekend versus Dartmouth and Harvard, while Kurtis Bartliff (3-6-9) could become the fourth with 10 or more points with one more goal or assist.
DIGGING OUT OF A HOLE
When Colgate rallied from two three-goal deficits at Dartmouth on February 19, it wasn't the first time this season that the Raiders turned what appeared to be sure defeat into either a tie or a win. The Raiders overcame a two-goal deficit in the second period to battle to a 3-3 tie with Robert Morris (1/23). In the season opener, Colgate posted a 4-4 tie at Niagara after trailing by as many as three late in the second period. On November 6, Colgate posted a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Harvard after trailing the Crimson 4-1 at the start of the third period.
STREAKING RAIDERS
The 2009-2010 season has seen the Raiders either continue old streaks or put together new ones.
Went into overtime in the season-opener at Niagara to continue streak dating back to last season of eight consecutive overtime appearances.
First three games were determined by a goal or less to increase the consecutive streak to 14 consecutive dating back to last season.
Had a six-game unbeaten streak from October 30-November 20 going 4-0-2.
Posted three goals or more in nine consecutive games from October 23-November 24.
Had a power play goal in nine-consecutive games from October 30-December 4
Had a streak of nine consecutive games in which at least one Raider posted a multi-point game from October 30-December 4.
A RECAP OF THE OVERTIME STREAK
Colgate entered the 2009-2010 campaign having played seven consecutive overtime games, which dated back to the end of 2008-09 season. The Raiders went 3-2-2 down the stretch in these games – the two losses coming to Quinnipiac in a best of three series in a first round ECAC Hockey Tournament clash in Hamden, Conn. The streak began at home with a 2-2 tie versus Union on February 20. Colgate would go on to beat Rensselaer (2-1); tie Brown 3-3 in Providence and then upset #11 Yale (3-2) in front of a national TV audience in New Haven all before the meetings with the Bobcats. Quinnipiac won the opener 3-2; then Colgate rallied from a two-goal deficit late in the game for a 5-4 victory to force a third game. The Bobcats prevailed 4-3 in the final game of the series. The Raiders stretched the streak to eight with a 4-4 tie at Niagara last Friday evening, but was broken the following night in a 3-2 regulation victory at RIT. It was Colgate's first regulation victory since a 1-0 defeat of Dartmouth on Valentines Day at Thompson Arena.
SHOULD OVERTIME HAPPEN
If it happens, eyes need to focus on two of Colgate's best ever goal scorers in overtime in David McIntyre and Austin Smith. McIntyre is tied for second all-time with three overtime game winners. He needs one more to tie Jon Smyth for first. One of McIntyre's goals lifted Colgate by Clarkson in the third and final game of an ECAC Hockey quarterfinal as the Raiders advanced to the Final Four as the seventh seed. Smith is tied for sixth having scored two overtime winners as a freshman last season versus Lake Superior State and Quinnipiac. McIntyre has six overtime points (3 goals, 3 assist) and five of them came last season. The only game he didn't record a point in a game winner in overtime was Colgate's 5-4 victory over Quinnipiac in the second game of the three-game series.
GETTING DRAFTY
Colgate has six NHL draft picks on its 2009-2010 roster. David McIntyre was drafted in the fifth round of the 2006 Draft by the Dallas Stars. Last year, his rights were traded twice in two months and now stands property of the New Jersey Devils. Corbin McPherson (New Jersey, 3rd, 2007), Brian Day (New York Islanders, 6th, 2006), Austin Smith (Dallas Stars, 5th, 2007), Jeremy Price (Vancouver Canucks, 4th, 2009), and Thomas Larkin (Columbus Blue Jackets, 5th, 2009) round out the Raiders' draft picks
.
BLUELINE SHUFFLE
Colgate will have a revamped defense for the 2009-2010 season. Don Vaughan's squad lost five defensemen to graduation that combined to play close to 600 collegiate games. With the return of Corbin McPherson, Wade Poplawski and Kevin McNamara, the Raiders have 132 games of collegiate experience. Newcomers will need to make an impact on the blueline this season.
OH BROTHER
Charles and Christian Long are the first set of brothers to play for Don Vaughan at the same time. They hail from Cleveland Heights, Ohio and played junior hockey for the Brockville Braves of the CJHL. Charles and Christian have played three years together at different levels including helping St. Edwards High School to an Ohio State High School title.
