HAMILTON, N.Y.  (1/13/09) –  Following playing six consecutive non-league games, the Colgate men's hockey team returns to ECAC Hockey action this Friday and Saturday as it travels to face Rensselaer and Union in an important league weekend.  Opening face-offs in Troy and Schenectady are both at 7 p.m.

Colgate, 6-9-5 overall, resides in a three-way tie for ninth in the league standings with a 1-4-3 ECAC record.  The Raiders will be squaring off with two teams ranked ahead of them in Union (11-8-1/4-4-0), which is seventh overall with eight points and Rensselaer (4-15-2/3-5-1), which is eighth with seven points.  Colgate is in a tie with St. Lawrence and Brown with five points.

“We are back in league play and the games aren't any easier,” said Colgate head coach Don Vaughan.  “We have played some very good minutes this year against good teams, but we need to focus on putting together 60 good minutes per game.  We have to find some consistency.

“This weekend, we are playing two teams that are coming off very good results at Quinnipiac and Princeton and we have to bring our very best to get some points out of these two games.”

The Raiders, 2-2-2 since their last ECAC Hockey game, head into the weekend following a two-game split with CCHA foe Lake Superior State.  Colgate rallied from a two-goal deficit  Thursday night and dumped the Lakers 5-4 in overtime following the 11th goal of the year by Austin Smith (Dallas, Texas) at the 2:49 mark of the extra session.  The freshman finished with two goals and an assist.  David McIntyre (Pefferlaw, Ont.) collected a career-high three assists in the victory.   It was Colgate's fifth overtime game in six contests.

The Raiders dropped a 6-1 decision the following night.  Jason Fredricks (Eagle River, Wisc.) finished off a successful weekend with his third goal of the series.  The senior tallied a career-high two goals in the victory the previous evening.

McIntyre (9-13-22) and Smith (11-10-21) have sparked the Colgate offense for the past 11 games.  During this stretch, both players have accumulated 15 points since a 2-2 tie with Harvard on November 22.  McIntyre had a streak of 10-consecutive games with at least one point snapped Friday evening by the Lakers.  Smith, who ranks second in all of collegiate hockey for points per game by a rookie, leads ECAC Hockey with 11 goals. 

Three other Colgate players have double figured point totals in Brian Day  (Danvers, Mass.) – 9-3-12, Francois Brisebois (Montreal, Que.) – 6-4-10 and Nick St. Pierre (St. Etienne, Que.) 0-10-10. 

In net, Colgate has used three goalies, but Charles Long (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) has the brunt of the minutes between the pipes for the Raiders.  The junior is 5-5-4, with a 2.59 goals against average and a .903 save percentage.  Long is stingier in league play with a 1.95 goals against average.

Colgate and Rensselaer have played 107 times with the Engineers holding a 55-49-3 advantage in the series.  However, Colgate has edged closer in the series by going 6-3-1 in the last 10 games.  The Raiders won two of three versus Rensselaer last year, both victories coming in the form of shutouts (4-0, 2-0).  The Engineers are coming into the week following an impressive road showing against Quinnipiac and seventh-ranked Princeton.  Rensselaer earned a 2-2 tie in Hamden, Conn., and then upset the Tigers the following night 5-1 for a three-point weekend.

The Raiders hold a commanding 34-13-1 lead in the meetings with Union, however, the Dutchmen have posted wins in two of the last three games, including a 4-2 victory over Colgate in the finals of the 2008 Governor's Cup in Albany, October 25.  McIntyre and Brisebois each scored goals for the Raiders in the loss.  Colgate has prevailed in eight of the last 10 meetings.  The Dutchmen enter Friday's meeting with fifth-ranked Cornell winners in their last three games, including posting a 3-2 victory over nationally-ranked Princeton and 4-2 win over Quinnipiac on the road last weekend.

Colgate's last weekend sweep in ECAC Hockey competition came against Rensselaer and Union, February 15-16, 2008 in Hamilton.  The Raiders defeated the Engineers 2-0 and then put up a convincing 8-0 decision over Union the following evening as Vaughan became the all-time winningest coach in Colgate hockey history.

Game Notes