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HAMILTON – Colgate head coach Mike Murphy called Saturday's 18-5 thumping of Canisius a good team win, and the numbers don't lie.
 
On offense, the Raiders fired a season-high 55 shots and committed a season-low seven turnovers. Colgate's defense limited the Golden Griffins to five goals on 15 shots and just 13 ground balls – all season-lows for Raider opponents in 2018.
 
And Collin Orr led a blistering faceoff unit that won 16-of-20 draws over the first three quarters and 20-of-27 for the game. Five of Canisius' seven faceoff wins came on Colgate violations, and the Griffins didn't pick up their first actual faceoff and ground ball win until the fourth quarter.
 
Griffin Brown capped a brilliant Spring Break with a career-high seven goals on nine shots. Last Saturday, the sophomore midfielder scored five goals in Colgate's big road win over Boston University.
 
Duncan Hoskinson also had a career day with four goals on six shots. It's the junior midfielder's third career hat trick and second this season.
 
Mike Hawkins, Nicky Petkevich and Matt Donovan added two goals apiece for the Raiders, who continue to put up big numbers on offense. Colgate entered Saturday's play leading the Patriot League and ranked among the top three nationally in scoring offense, assists and points.
 
The Raiders were scoring 13.9 goals per game and put 18 on the board Saturday; they were averaging 8.3 assists and had nine; and they were averaging 22.1 points and posted 27. None of Saturday's numbers marked a season high, but it was enough to keep the pressure on Canisius all afternoon.
 
The Raiders led 6-1 after a quarter, 9-2 at halftime and 14-3 at the end of three quarters. Colgate pushed the lead to 18-3 before the Griffins tallied the final two goals.
 
Parker Baddley continued his fine play of late with a career-high eight ground balls, joining Orr as the team leader. Will Blumenberg added five ground balls.  
 
Bottom Line
Colgate 18, Canisius 5
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 5-3 with its second straight win.
• Canisius dropped to 3-2.
 
Raider Facts & Figures
• Sam Cleveland scored a goal and assisted on three others. Cleveland leads the team and ranks among the conference elite with 19 assists.
• Connor Mullen picked up his third victory in goal with a five-save performance.
• James Caddigan Jr., assisted on two goals and Chase Wittich one. Wittich saw his eight-game goal-scoring streak halted.
• Orr was 18-of-23 on faceoffs. Malcolm Feeney (1-of-2), Alessio Giovannetti (1-of-1) and Lucas Cooper (0-of-1) also contributed.
• Brown vaulted into the team lead with 22 goals and four man-up goals. Hawkins is second with 21 and three.
• Noah Cartwright played the last 3:59 in goal for the Raiders.
• Mathieu Boissonneault scored three goals to lead the visitors.
 
From the Source
• Colgate head coach Mike Murphy: (On the game) "It was a good team win. Coming off the Boston game, we needed to continue to clean some things up on offense, defense and special teams. I would like to have done a better job staying out of the (penalty) box. Watching the film, Canisius was very good in the extra-man situations.
 
"I was nervous defensively; they have three really talented attackmen. But Collin Orr was able to control the game from the faceoff-X, and that's always going to be important for us.
 
"Offensively, we did a nice job getting the shots we should have gotten because we knew they weren't going to slide. Some of our shot selection was good in terms of putting it away from the goalkeeper's stick. The one's he saved he saw really well. We've just got to shoot better in those situations.
 
"But I'm very proud of the way we came out and played. It's been a while since we had a full week to prepare, and that's going to be the norm moving forward. Plus, it's always good to be 2-0 on Spring Break."
 
• Colgate senior faceoff specialist Collin Orr: (On his performance) "It was another unit victory. My wings were incredible today. They communicated well to where they were; I was able to pull it right to them a couple of times. And on a few other ones, they just made really tough plays that turned a couple of faceoff losses into faceoff wins. They were awesome today.
 
"We just tried to keep getting the ball into the offensive end and keep hammering away, and then do it all over again. That was the plan."
 
Up Next
• Colgate returns to Patriot League action next Saturday against Army West Point.
• The Black Knights are 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the Patriot League after Saturday's 5-3 home victory over Holy Cross.
• Faceoff from Hamilton is noon, with the Patriot League Network carrying the action.