OPENING FACE-OFF:  Colgate returns to action after splitting a pair of games last weekend against nationally-ranked foes, Tuesday evening as it travels to Ithaca to square off with arch-rival Cornell.  The match-up not only features the second and third ranked teams in the ECAC Hockey standings at this juncture, but two nationally ranked squads as well. It will mark the fourth-consecutive game Colgate has played against nationally-ranked opponents as Cornell brings the seventh-ranked squad into the clash, while Colgate climbed into the Top 20 of the most recent USCHO.com poll at #20.  The Raiders will be looking for their first victory over Big Red in eight tries overall and their first win at Lynah Rink in six opportunities.  Colgate will also be looking to extend its healthy string of games with three goals or more.  The Raiders have been limited to two or fewer goals the last seven games against Big Red and have scored three or more only once in the last 21 outings.

MEET THE HEAD COACH: Don Vaughan is in his 17th year at the helm of the Colgate Raiders.  The 1984 graduate of St. Lawrence enters the campaign as the program's all-time winningest coach with a 275-256-63 mark.  On February 16, 2008, he became the all-time winningest coach with his 252nd victory as Colgate blanked Union 8-0.  On November 11, 2007, former Colgate President, Rebecca S. Chopp, announced the creation of the Donald F. Vaughan Endowed Coaching Chair for Men's Hockey.

THIS DATE IN COLGATE HOCKEY HISTORY:  Colgate is 6-3 all-time in games played on November 24, but has lost two of the last three played on this particular date.

November 24, 2006 (Colgate 4, Ohio State 2) – Tom Riley netted a goal and dished out an assist and Nick St. Pierre tallied two helpers as Colgate downed Ohio State 4-2 in an opening round match-up at the Rensselaer/Bank of American Holiday Classic in Troy, N.Y.  The Raiders jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Buckeyes hit the scoreboard.  Mark Dekanich made 28 saves, including 11 in the opening period.  Current Raiders David McIntyre and Jason Williams posted assists in the penalty-fest as 26 penalties were called.  Both teams went 2 of 11 on the power play.

SERIES RECORDS VERSUS THE OPPOSITION: Tuesday's meeting will be the 135th clash between Colgate and Cornell with Big Red holding a 70-54-11 edge in the series that dates back to the 1920-21 campaign.  Cornell is 7-1-2 in the last 10 meetings versus the Raiders.  Colgate is 19-36-5 all-time against Cornell in Ithaca.  The Raiders will be in search of their first victory over Big Red since a 4-2 win in Hamilton on January 25, 2007 and first decision at Lynah Rink since a 2-0 win on January 30, 2004.

LAST YEAR VERSUS CORNELL:  Colgate went 0-1-2 overall against Big Red, falling 4-1 in Hamilton and posting a pair of 2-2 draws in Ithaca and in the final game of the Florida Collegiate Classic outside of Naples.  In the ties, Colgate held 2-0 advantages over Cornell in both meetings.

ALL-TIME SCORING VERSUS CORNELL: Eight current Raiders have at least one single point against Big Red in their respective careers.  Brian Day (2-1-3) and David McIntyre (1-2-3) are tied for the lead with three points each, while Wade Poplawski (1-1-2) Kevin McNamara (0-2-2), and Austin Smith (2-0-2) are a point back.  Sean Carty (1-0-1), Ethan Cox (1-0-1) and Jason Williams (0-1-1) have the others points.

CORNELL IN BRIEF: Cornell comes into Tuesday's evening's clash sporting a 5-2 record, 4-2 overall in ECAC Hockey play.  Like Colgate, Big Red split last weekend by defeating Princeton (5-2) and losing to Quinnipiac (3-2).  Cornell's offense, which ranks second nationally with 4.14 goals per game, has three players ranked among the top 20 nationally in points per game average.  The tandem of Colin Greening (3-9-12) and Blake Gallagher (7-5-12) are tied for first in the country in points per game, while Joe Devin (4-6-10) is 12th.  Once again, veteran goalie Ben Scrivens (2.01 gaa, .926 save %) is off to another solid start in the cage for Big Red.  Cornell's power play and penalty kill are both ranked second in the country.

POISON IVY: When Colgate heads to Ithaca to take on Big Red, the Raiders will carry an eight-game unbeaten streak versus the Ivy League into Lynah, which dates back to the 2008-09 season.  During this stretch, Colgate sports a 6-0-2 mark against “Ancient Eight”, including a 4-0-1 mark this season.  The last loss the Raiders have suffered versus an Ivy League opponent came on Friday, February 13 in a 3-2 loss to Harvard.  Colgate started the streak with a 1-0 victory on Valentines Day over Dartmouth at Thompson Arena.

A TEAM OF STREAKS:  First, it was eight overtime games in a row.  Next, it was 14 consecutive games determined by one goal or less; then a six-game unbeaten streak.  Colgate heads into Tuesday evening's game with Cornell having scored three or more goals in nine consecutive games. The last time a Raider team had this type of streak was back in 1999-2000 when they opened the season with 11-consecutive games of three or more goals.  The streak came to an end in the 12th game in a 2-0 loss at Yale. The 2001-02 and 2005-06 squads had a stretch of six consecutive games of three or more goals.  During this recent streak, Colgate has scored 35 goals, or 3.88888 goals per game.

LAST WEEKEND RECAP:  Colgate dropped its first league game of the year 5-3 to #13 Quinnipiac.  Down 4-1 in the third period, the Raiders made things interesting with back-to-back goals by Brian Day and Austin Smith at 5:53 and 8:33 of the third to cut the deficit to one.  With momentum on its side, Colgate made an unfortunate mistake with 2:16 left as it was whistled for a too many men on the ice call, which gave the Bobcats a power play.  Quinnipiac scored its fifth goal with 54 seconds left.

Colgate got an overtime goal from Francois Brisebois two minutes into overtime as the Raiders rallied from a one-goal deficit in the third period to down #19 Princeton 5-4.  The win snapped a six game losing streak at the hands of the Tigers.  Trailing 3-2 in the opening minute of the third, David McIntyre scored back-to-back goals within a 76 second span to give the Raiders their first lead at 4-3.  Princeton knotted the game at 18:36 on a deflection inside.  Alex Evin posted a career-high 43 saves in the victory, besting his previous high of 41 set last season in an overtime loss to Yale.  It was Colgate's seventh overtime win in the last two years.

COLLEGIATE FIRSTS: Four Raiders had collegiate firsts last weekend versus Quinnipiac and Princeton.  In the loss to the Bobcats, junior defenseman Wade Poplawski posted his first multi-point game of his career with two assists.  The following evening, Francois Brisebois tallied his first multi-goal game of his career, including the game winner in overtime versus the Tigers.  A pair of freshmen got into the assist mode against Princeton as Jeremy Price and Robbie Bourdon each tallied their first multi-point games of their young careers with two assists.

DAILY DOUBLE: When Francois Brisebois and David McIntyre scored two goals apiece in Colgate's 5-4 overtime victory over Princeton, it marked the first time two Raiders notched multi-goal games since another 5-4 victory in overtime at Starr Rink.  On January 8, 2009, Austin Smith and Jason Fredricks each posted two scores in a win over Lake Superior State.  The game with the Tigers marked the last home game in 2009, while the victory over the Lakers was the first home game of 2009.

DOUBLE BIG MAC: For the second time in three weeks, Colgate's David McIntyre was named as the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week.  The senior posted two goals and three assists on the weekend versus Quinnipiac and Princeton.  On November 9, he was honored with the recognition for the first time this season after tallying a five-point weekend in a sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth.  In the opening game that weekend, McIntyre posted a career-high four-point outing (a goal and three assists) as Colgate overcame a 4-1 third-period deficit to down the Crimson 5-4.  He scored a goal the following evening in a 3-2 win over Dartmouth.  That same day, teammate Thomas Larkin was named the league's rookie of the week.  He posted two points on the weekend, both coming versus Harvard (one goal, one assist).  It was his first multi-point game of his career.

MULTI-POINT GAMES: One Raider has posted at least two points in the last eight games.  Including Colgate's 4-4 overtime draw with Army, 22 multi-point games have been posted by 12 different Raiders.

Army – Kurtis Bartliff (2 assists)
Niagara – Austin Smith (2 goals), David McIntyre (2 assists), Nick Prockow (1 goal, 1 assist)
Harvard – David McIntyre (1 goal, 3 assists), Thomas Larkin (1 goal, 1 assist), Austin Smith (two goals, 1 assist)
Dartmouth – Brian Day (1 goal, 1 assist), Austin Smith (2 assists)
Brown – Austin Smith (1 goal, 1 assist), Brian Day (1 goal, 1 assist), Corbin McPherson (1 goal, 1 assist)
Yale – Jason Williams (1 goal, 1 assist)
Quinnipiac – Brian Day (2 goals), Wade Poplawski (2 assists), David McIntyre (2 assists)
Princeton – Nick Prockow (1 goal, 1 assist), Francois Brisebois (2 goals, 1 assist), Robbie Bourdon (2 assists), Jeremy Price (2 assists), David McIntyre (2 goals, 1 assist), Austin Smith (2 assists).

LAST YEAR AT THIS TIME: Heading into the 14th game, the Raiders sported a 4-7-2 mark and had scored 25 goals, or 1.79 goals per game.  David McIntyre had a team-best 11 points and no other Raider had more than nine.

RUN DMS: The line of Brian Day, David McIntyre and Austin Smith has combined for 37 points over the last eight games.  The trio posted 13 points in the weekend sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth. During this stretch, Smith (6-8) and McIntyre (4-10) have exploded for 14 points, while Day (5-3) has posted eight during this period of time.  Individually speaking, Smith has scored at least a point in nine consecutive games (6-10-16); McIntyre has an on-going eight-game point streak (4-11-15), while Day has at least a point in his last five outings (5-3-8) and all five goals have come in his last four performances.

PASSING THE CENTURY MARK: With his career-high four-point evening versus Harvard, David McIntyre became the 48th player in the program's history to surpass the 100-point milestone.  He heads into Tuesday's game with 110 career points, which ranks 38th on the all-time point list, one point behind Cory Murphy.  

NATIONALLY SPEAKING: As of November 23, Colgate had a strong presence in national statistical categories as eight players were ranked among the top 50 in the country.   Austin Smith is ranked among the top 30 in four categories – T16th in points per game (1.38), tied for sixth in shorthanded goals (1); tied for 29th in goals per game (0.62), and tied for sixth in game winning goals (2).  David McIntyre is tied for 16th in points per game (1.38) and ranked fourth in assists per game (1.08); Brian Day is tied for sixth in power play goals (4) and tied for 11th in goals per game (075); Jason Williams is tied with Smith for sixth in short handed goals (1); Thomas Larkin is ranked in a tie for 39th in points per game for a rookie (0.60).

POWER PLAY HEATING UP: After starting the season, 1 of 26 on the power play, Colgate has scored on eight of its last 40 attempts (.200) since the Army game.  The Raiders have posted at least one power play goal in eight consecutive appearances.  Brian Day leads the squad with four power play goals.

47TH IS GOOD; 51ST IS EVEN BETTER:  Usually, when talking about being ranked nationally, the lower number is better.  In the case of penalty minutes, it's just the opposite.  Heading into last weekend's games, Colgate ranked 47th out of 58 schools in penalty minutes per game (11.6).  After games versus Quinnipiac and Princeton, the Raiders now rank 51st (11.4 pmpg) overall. Alaska leads for fewest minutes per game (8.3 mpg).
 
FIRST WEEKEND SWEEP IN A WHILE:  When Colgate downed Harvard and Dartmouth to open its 2009-2010 ECAC Hockey slate, it was the first four-point weekend since February 15-16, 2008 when the Raiders blanked Rensselaer 4-0 and Union 8-0.  Colgate's last non-conference weekend sweep was over Robert Morris on December 1-2, 2007.
  
 FRESHMEN IMPACT: After 13 games, the Colgate freshmen have integrated themselves rather well as far as posting points. The freshman class is averaging two points per game at this juncture with a combined 9 goals 17 assists. Earlier, there was a four-game stretch where a freshman collected his first collegiate goal of his career. Kurtis Bartliff netted his first goal in the 1-1 tie with nationally ranked Nebraska-Omaha, while Christian Long found the back of the next the following night against the Mavericks. Against UMass-Lowell, it was Robbie Bourdon's turn to light the lamp and then it was Jeremy Price opening the scoring versus Army.  Bourdon leads the class with four goals, three coming in his last six games.  Thomas Larkin got into the act with his first goal against Harvard as well.  He is tied for 39th nationally in points by a rookie (0.60 ppg).

AHEAD OF PACE: Some people thought it was hilarious, while others shook their collective heads in disbelief regarding Colgate's national record 19 overtime appearances during the 2008-09 season. Don't look now, but the Raiders are ahead of their record pace of a year ago. Colgate posted its fifth overtime game of the year in its 13th outing. In the record-setting season, the Raiders tallied their fifth overtime game of the year in a 3-2 overtime victory versus Maine in the opening rounds of the Florida Collegiate Classic on December 27.
 
A RECAP OF THE OVERTIME STREAK: Colgate entered the 2009-2010 campaign having played seven consecutive overtime games, which dated back to the end of 2008-09 season.  The Raiders went 3-2-2 down the stretch in these games – the two losses coming to Quinnipiac in a best of three series in a first round ECAC Hockey Tournament clash in Hamden, Conn.  The streak began at home with a 2-2 tie versus Union on February 20.  Colgate would go on to beat Rensselaer (2-1); tie Brown 3-3 in Providence and then upset #11 Yale (3-2) in front of a national TV audience in New Haven all before the meetings with the Bobcats.  Quinnipiac won the opener 3-2; then Colgate rallied from a two-goal deficit late in the game for a 5-4 victory to force a third game.  The Bobcats prevailed 4-3 in the final game of the series.  The Raiders stretched the streak to eight with a 4-4 tie at Niagara last Friday evening, but was broken the following night in a 3-2 regulation victory at RIT. It was Colgate's first regulation victory since a 1-0 defeat of Dartmouth on Valentines Day at Thompson Arena.

SHOULD OVERTIME HAPPEN: If it happens, eyes need to focus on two of Colgate's best ever goal scorers in overtime in David McIntyre and Austin Smith.  McIntyre is tied for second all-time with three overtime game winners.  He needs one more to tie Jon Smyth for first.  One of McIntyre's goals lifted Colgate by Clarkson in the third and final game of an ECAC Hockey quarterfinal as the Raiders advanced to the Final Four as the seventh seed.  Smith is tied for sixth having scored two overtime winners as a freshman last season versus Lake Superior State and Quinnipiac.  McIntyre has six overtime points (3 goals, 3 assist) and five of them came last season.  The only game he didn't record a point in a game winner in overtime was Colgate's 5-4 victory over Quinnipiac in the second game of the three-game series.  

Player   G A P
David McIntyre  3 3 6
Ethan Cox  0 3 3
Austin Smith  2 0 2
Francois Brisebois 1 1 2
Brian Day  0 2 2
Kevin McNamara 0 1 1
Robbie Bourdon 0 1 1
Nick Prockow  0 1 1

PRESEASON HONORS: David McIntyre has been named a pre-season first team all-ECAC Hockey honoree by the coaches and media.  In addition, the senior has been named as a preseason first team all-American by Inside College Hockey and once again named to the all-College Hockey News first team.  In 2008-09, McIntyre finished with 21 goals and 43 points, both ranked among the leaders nationally.  His point total was the highest for a single season since Andy McDonald's 58 in 1999-2000.  He was a first team all-league honoree; a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, a first team AHCA/Reebok Eastern All-American, a first team all-American by Inside College Hockey and was a selection to the all-College Hockey News team.  In addition, McIntyre is one of 20 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for men's ice hockey. 

GETTING DRAFTY: Colgate has six NHL draft picks on its 2009-2010 roster.  David McIntyre was drafted in the fifth round of the 2006 Draft by the Dallas Stars.  Last year, his rights were traded twice in two months and now stands property of the New Jersey Devils.  Corbin McPherson (New Jersey, 3rd, 2007), Brian Day (New York Islanders, 6th, 2006), Austin Smith (Dallas Stars, 5th, 2007), Jeremy Price (Vancouver Canucks, 4th, 2009), and Thomas Larkin (Columbus Blue Jackets, 5th, 2009) round out the Raiders' draft picks. 

BLUELINE SHUFFLE:  Colgate will have a revamped defense for the 2009-2010 season.  Don Vaughan's squad lost five defensemen to graduation that combined to play close to 600 collegiate games.  With the return of Corbin McPherson, Wade Poplawski and Kevin McNamara, the Raiders have 132 games of collegiate experience.  Newcomers will need to make an impact on the blueline this season.  

OH BROTHER: Charles and Christian Long are the first set of brothers to play for Don Vaughan at the same time.   They hail from Cleveland Heights, Ohio and played junior hockey for the Brockville Braves of the CJHL.  Charles and Christian have played three years together at different levels including helping St. Edwards High School to an Ohio State High School title.