Fri./Sat., Oct. 30th/31st – vs. Harvard, vs. Dartmouth at 3:30 p.m.

 

The Raiders will begin their ECAC Hockey league play this weekend, when they will play host to Harvard and Dartmouth, who are both ranked in the top-10 in national polls. Both Friday's game against Harvard and Saturday's versus Dartmouth will start at 3:30 p.m.

 

Harvard – This will be the first regular season contest for the Crimson, who have one 4-1 exhibition game win over McGill last weekend. In that game, senior captain Kathryn Farni contributed on all four Harvard tallies, recording one goal and three assists. The Crimson, who lost nine letterwinners from last seasons team, are picked ninth in the country in the USCHO Division I women's hockey.

 

Dartmouth – Much like their travel partner, Harvard, Dartmouth will also be opening its regular season this weekend in upstate New York. Prior to taking on the Raiders Saturday afternoon, the Big Green will head to Ithaca for an ECAC league game against Cornell on Friday. Dartmouth has also only played one exhibition game coming into the weekend, beating McGill, 4-2. Sarah Parsons and Amanda Trunzo racked up three points apiece in the game. The Big Green is ranked sixth in the USCHO hockey polls.

The Raiders are coming off two one-goal game losses to Wayne State last weekend in the team's home opener.  In game one, the Raiders held a 2-1 lead going into the third period, but couldn't hold on, dropping the contest, 4-3. Game two was unable to be settled in the first 60 minutes, as both teams played to a scoreless tie, taking Colgate to overtime for the first time this season. The Warriors wasted no time in the extra session, scoring 13 seconds in, to escape with a 1-0 win. Raider netminders Lisa Plenderleith (Ajax, Ont.) and Kimberly Sass (East Amherst, N.Y.) combined for 55 saves on the weekend.

 

Harvard – Colgate went 0-1-1 against the Crimson last season, playing to a 5-5 tie and most recently, a 2-1 loss at Starr Rink on Feb. 14. Hannah Milan (Great Barrington, Mass.) scored her eighth goal of the season just three minutes into the third period to even the score at ones, but in the final minutes of regulation Harvard's Sarah Wilson slipped one past Kimberly Sass for the Crimson victory.

 

Dartmouth – The Raiders will be looking to get a little revenge against the Dartmouth this weekend, as the Big Green ended Colgate's season last year in the ECAC tournament quarterfinals. In the best-of-three round, the Raiders took game one in thrilling overtime fashion, 7-6, but then dropped the next two to the Big Green, who went on to win the tournament.

The Raiders were selected to finish eighth in the ECAC Hockey Preseason Poll as chosen by conference coaches. The Raiders received a total of 52 votes, while top-choice St. Lawrence grabbed the No. 1 spot with 107 votes including three first place votes.

 

Head coach Scott Wiley enters his eighth season at the helm of the Raiders. He currently holds a Colgate career record of 104-116-25. Wiley led last year's team to a school record 19 wins, including an eight-game unbeaten streak in January. The 2003-04 ECAC Coach of the Year has high hopes for this year's team and will look to make this eighth straight ECAC playoff appearance.

 

Katie Stewart (Exeter Ont.) and Jessi Waters (Menlo Park, Calif.) lead the way for the Raiders in the points category, each tallying four thus far. Freshman Brittany Phillips (Lauder, Man.) is tops on the roster in goals, lighting the lamp twice. Ten other Raiders have scored goals this season, including three power play goals by Krista Dermott (Milton, Ont.), Stewart and Phillips.

 

The Raiders will hit the New York State Thruway next weekend, as their ECAC Hockey schedule carries on at Rensselaer and Union. Both of those contests are scheduled for 2:30 p.m.