Men's Lacrosse Central
 
HAMILTON, N.Y. (2/8/12) – The No. 19 Colgate men's lacrosse team will open its 2012 campaign with a home contest against Bryant on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m.
 
The Raiders, who were picked to finish third in the Patriot League Preseason Poll, will look for their first win of the season in their first matchup in program history against Bryant.
 
RAIDERS' POINT LEADERS
The team returns two of its top-five leading scorers from last season. Junior Peter Baum completed the season with a team-best 49 points from 34 goals and 15 assists. He is on a 27-game point streak that started on Mar. 2, 2010, which is ranked 11th nationally. He has recorded at least one point in 11 of the team's 13 games in the 2010 season and in all 16 games in 2011. Baum is followed by senior co-captain Jeff Ledwick who was fifth on the team with 12 goals and three assists for 15 points, and by sophomore Jimmy Ryan who was sixth on the team with 11 points from seven goals and four helpers.           
 
DEFENDING THE NET
Senior Jared Madison will lead Colgate in net this season. The goalie started in all 16 games in 2011 and completed the season with 31 groundballs and a total of 151 saves for a .539 save percentage. He led the Patriot League in saves per game (9.44) and was third in save percentage.
 
ALL EYES ON BAUM
Peter Baum, who was named the 2012 Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, was also selected to the Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-America Second Team that was released in the 2012 Face-Off Yearbook. Last season, Baum was a preseason All-America honorable mention, was named to the All-Patriot League First Team, and was a Top-25 Finalist for the 2011 Tewaaraton Award.

COLGATE RECEIVES NATIONAL RECOGNITION
The Raiders were recently ranked No. 19 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Preseason Poll that was released at the end of January. Prior to that, the team was ranked No. 18 and 20 in the Inside Lacrosse 2012 Face-Off Yearbook Rankings. Colgate clinched the No. 18 spot in the Division I Top 20 Rankings and the No. 20 rank in the Coaches' Division I Top 20 Rankings.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The team will play four of its first five games at home. Following Bryant, the team will then play Vermont and Dartmouth, travel to Robert Morris and then return to Hamilton, N.Y. to face Hobart on Mar. 6. The Raiders will play only five of their 14 regular-season games on the road.
 
SCOUTING BRYANT
The Bulldogs (0-0), who will also be opening their season on Saturday, finished the 2011 season with an 8-9 overall record. The team completed Northeast Conference regular-season play with a 4-4 league record to enter the NEC Tournament as the No. 4 seed, but fell to No. 1 seed Mount St. Mary's 14-9 in the semifinals.
 
Bryant returns three of its top five point leaders with junior Peter McMahon and seniors Max Weisenberg and Travis Harrington. McMahon, an All-NEC Second Team selection, led the team with 50 points from 20 goals and 30 assists. He was followed by first-team member, Weisenberg, who was third on the team with 34 points from 21 goals and 13 assists while Harrington was fifth with 16 goals and nine assists for 25 points. Leading the way in goal is senior Jameson Love who played and started in all 17 games, had an 8.70 goals against average, and a total of 144 saves for a .493 save percentage.
 
PL PRESEASON POLL
The Colgate men's lacrosse team was picked to finish third in the 2012 Patriot League Preseason Poll that was released today, while junior Peter Baum was selected as the PL Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. The Raiders landed the third spot behind defending champion Bucknell and Army. The Bison were picked to win the title once again with 72 points, the maximum point tally possible, and 12 first-place votes while Army received 54 points and two first-place votes. Following Colgate, which had 52 points, were Lehigh (44), Navy (38), Lafayette (19) and Holy Cross (15).