Colgate Men's Hockey Travels to Brown/Yale

Charles Long has saved 82 of his last 85 shots faced in his last three starts.

HAMILTON, N.Y. (2/25/09) – Playing its best hockey since the early stages of the 2008-09 campaign, the Colgate men's hockey team will conclude its regular-season schedule by travelling to face Brown (3-20-4/3-14-3) and 11th-ranked Yale (19-6-2/14-4-2) for Friday evening and Sunday afternoon games respectively. The game versus Yale will be broadcasted on ESPNU from Ingalls Rink.

Colgate, which is 10-16-6 on the season and 5-11-4 in league action, is 3-1-1 in its last five games, including a thrilling come-from-behind 2-1 overtime victory over Rensselaer on Senior Night, last Saturday evening at Starr Rink. The Raiders, who stand 10th in the league standings, could mathematically move up one spot with a pair of wins and two Clarkson losses. Colgate wins a tiebreaker over the Golden Knights since it went 1-0-1 against them this year. Clarkson finishes at Rensselaer and Union.

Last weekend, Colgate posted three of four possible points to overtake Rensselaer in the standings by one point. The Raiders overcame two deficits and rallied to post a 2-2 tie with Union as Austin Smith (Dallas, Texas) posted the game tying goal with 35 seconds left in regulation. The following night, seven graduating seniors were sent out with a victory in their last appearance at Starr Rink as David McIntyre (Pefferlaw, Ont.) provided both goals, including his third overtime goal of his career with 1:01 remaining, in the 2-1 win over the Engineers.

McIntyre leads the Colgate offense. The junior is ranked among the leaders in six offensive ECAC Hockey categories including ranking first in goals (19) and third in points (38). McIntyre is tied for eighth and 14th respectively in goals per game (0.59) and points per game (1.19). He has posted seven goals and four assists in his last nine games.

Smith ranks second among Colgate scorers with 12 goals and 13 assists. The freshman is tied for 10th in the league in goals and is just outside the top 10 in points. Smith ranks tied for 14th in the nation in points per game for a rookie.

Brian Day (Danvers, Mass.) rounds out Colgate's top three in scoring with 13 goals and 8 assists. The sophomore is tied for fifth in the league in goals. He has posted an assist in each of the last four games and has scored a point in eight of his last nine outings (4 goals, 5 assists).

Charles Long (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) has made the last three starts in net for Colgate and has posted a 2-0-1 record. The junior has saved 82 of his last 85 shots faced (.9647) since returning to the starting role. Long, 8-8-5 with a 2.42 goals against average and a .911 save percentage overall, is stingy against league opponents. In his outings against ECAC Hockey foes, he is 4-6-4 with a 2.02 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.

The Raiders head into weekend play with a national best 14 overtime appearances. Three other schools have over 10 and the next in line are Canisius and Clarkson each with 11. Colgate has played in a school-record 20 games decided by one or fewer goals, breaking the former mark of 19 set last season. The Raiders have played in six consecutive games of this nature.

When Colgate plays Brown, it will mark the 70th meeting between the two schools with the Raiders holding a commanding 47-18-4. Brown ended an 18-game winless streak at Starr Rink with a 4-1 victory over Colgate on January 23. Tom Riley (Ottawa, Ont.) was the lone goal scorer for the Raiders. McIntyre is the leading scorer on the current roster against the Bears with three goals and two assists in previous meetings.

Sunday will be the 82nd game played between Yale and Colgate with the Raiders holding a 44-35-3 edge in the series. The Bulldogs, who lead the ECAC Hockey standings and can clinch the regular-season title Friday evening, erased a four-goal deficit with less than 13 minutes in regulation to fight back to a 5-4 overtime victory over Colgate at Starr Rink, January 24. Nick Prockow (Montreal, Que.), Nick St. Pierre (St. Etienne, Que.), McIntyre, and Day all scored for the Raiders. Riley leads current Colgate players with five career points against Yale (1 goal, 4 assists).

Game Notes

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