Lacrosse Game Central

HAMILTON, N.Y. (4/14/11) – The No. 16/16 Colgate men's lacrosse team will attempt to remain undefeated in Patriot League play when it travels to Lafayette for its fifth league matchup of the season on Saturday, April 16 at 7 p.m.

The Raiders will look to improve on their four-game winning streak and match its best league start in program history. The team's best start was in the 2009 season when it went 5-0 in league play before losing its final regular-season league game.

Colgate (8-3, 4-0 PL) is coming off an 11-8 win over Lehigh last weekend. Senior Ben McCabe led the team in scoring with four goals while sophomore John Donnally was second with two goals. Seniors Andrew Mould and Dave Tucciarone as well as freshman Jimmy Ryan, junior Jeff Ledwick and sophomore Matt Baker had one goal each.

CLIMBING THE POLLS
The Raiders climbed the polls this week, landing the No. 16 spots in both the USILA Coaches' Poll and the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll that were released on Monday (April 11). The team, which jumped into the polls last week after defeating No. 9/9 Army on April 2, moved up in the rankings with its 11-8 win over Lehigh on Saturday.

TEAM LEADERS
Sophomore Peter Baum, who is second in the league in goals per game (2.64) and points per game (3.45), leads the team with 38 points from a career-high 29 goals and nine assists. He is on an 11-game point streak, having recorded at least one point in every game this season and is ranked 6th in the country in goals per game and 14th in points per game. Baum is followed by Mould and McCabe who both have 18 points from 15 goals and three assists apiece. McCabe has a .484 shot percentage which has him ranked 8th nationally.

DEFENDING THE NET
Junior Jared Madison has started in all 11 games for the Raiders, playing all but eight minutes this season. He has made 102 saves and is one of three goalies in the league to have made more than 100 stops this season. Named the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week on March 14, Madison is ranked 12th in the nation in goals-against average (7.65) and is third in the league in save percentage (.551) and saves per game (9.27).

LEAGUE STANDINGS
The team is currently tied at first with No.12/12 Bucknell in the league standings, both with 4-0 league records. Following them is No. 18/17 Army and Lehigh who both have 2-2 records, with Navy, Holy Cross and Lafayette rounding off the final three spots. If both Colgate and Bucknell win their games this weekend, the regular season title and No. 1 seed for the 2011 Patriot League Tournament will come down to next Saturday's game, when they face each other in Hamilton, N.Y.

RAIDERS' STATS
Colgate leads the league in penalty-killing percentage (.757) and is second in save percentage (.551) and faceoff percentage (.537). The team is also ranked 10th nationally in win percentage (.727), 11th in scoring defense (7.64) and 12th in man-down defense (.757).

MOOSE ON THE FIELD
Senior Jim Carroll, otherwise known as "Moose" because his strength and aggressive play in faceoffs and when he is running, leads the team with a 106-190 faceoff record for a .558 faceoff win percentage. He is third in the league and ranked 20th nationally in faceoff win percentage and is also third in the league in total faceoff wins. Carroll also leads the team with 55 groundballs this season and is ranked 25th nationally in groundballs per game (5.00).

THE SERIES
Colgate leads the all-time series, owning a 24-5 record against the Leopards. Since the teams first met in 1961, the Raiders have won 12 of the 14 meetings in Easton, Pa. for a 12-2 away record. The team has won the last five meetings with its most recent win coming in the 2010 season when it defeated Lafayette 14-9 at home.

SCOUTING LAFAYETTE
The Leopards (2-9, 0-4 PL) are coming off a 6-0 loss to Holy Cross last weekend. The team, which was picked to finish sixth in league's preseason poll, has wins against Binghamton and Wagner, and has suffered losses to Fairfield, No. 14 Penn, Navy, Bucknell, Drexel, Army, Providence and Marist.

Lafayette, which is on an eight-game losing streak, is led by seniors Tom Perini and Stefan Bauer. Perini, who is 3rd in the league in goals per game (2.27), leads the team in points with 22 from a team-high 21 goals and one assist while Bauer is second with eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points. In net the team sports freshman Andrijko Andrusko who is second in the league in saves per game (9.44).

PATRIOT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
Colgate was selected to finish fourth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll that was released on Jan. 26. Defending champion, Army, was picked to finish first with 78 points and 12 first-place votes. Following the Black Knights was last season's runner-up, Navy, with 58 points and one first-place vote and Bucknell with 51 points and one first-place vote as well. The Raiders rounded out the top four with 39 points, while Lehigh (31), Lafayette (30) and Holy Cross (13) had the final three spots. Army seniors Jeremy Boltus and Bill Henderson were selected as the Patriot League Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year.

NAGLE MAKES MARK IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Head coach Jim Nagle is now ranked first in program history for most wins by a Colgate men's lacrosse coach. The win against Navy on March 26, gave him his 81st win which is one more than Harvey Potter (1955-65). Nagle now sports an 83-62 record and is 148-101 in his career as a head coach.