THIS WEEK
Friday, January 22 – vs. Cornell, 3 p.m. (Colgate All-Access)
Saturday, January 23 – at Cornell, 3 p.m.
Colgate will make a short-lived return to Starr Rink this weekend when they take on area rival Cornell in a home-and-away series. The Raiders will host the Big Red on Friday, Jan. 22 before traveling to Ithaca on Saturday, Jan. 23 for the second game held at the James Lynah Rink. Both games are scheduled for 3 p.m.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Cornell – The Big Red are 9-7-3 overall with an 8-1-3 mark in the ECAC. The squad downed Dartmouth 3-1 last Saturday after finishing in a 4-4 tie against sixth-ranked Harvard the day before. The Big Red had previously been on a three-game losing streak after dropping two games at Providence and one in overtime against a visiting Syracuse squad. Cornell's only conference loss came against St. Lawrence back on Nov. 14 when they fell to the visiting Saints, 3-2.
Sophomores Chelsea Karpenko and Catherine White lead the Big Red's offense with 18 points apiece. Karpenko tops the squad in goals with 10 along with eight assists, while White has a team-high 13 assists to go with five goals. Cornell is without its top scorer from last year, Rebecca Johnston, who is currently competing for Team Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Amanda Mazzotta has been the primary netminder for the Big Red this season, earning a 9-6-3 record and five shutouts. She holds a .912 save percentage and a 1.77 goals against average.
LAST TIME OUT
The Raiders returned to their ECAC Hockey slate this past weekend splitting the weekend's games with a 6-4 win against Dartmouth followed by a 5-1 loss at Harvard. Colgate's Lisa Plenderleith (Ajax, Ont.) finished the weekend with 75 saves including 45 saves against Dartmouth, just one shy of her career-high 46. Senior Katie Stewart (Exeter, Ont.) had two goals against the Big Green with Beth Rotenberg (Toronto, Ont.), Brittany Phillips (Lauder, Man.), Jenna Klynstra (Edmonton, Alta.) and Jordan Brickner (Lake Forest, Ill.) tallying one goal a piece. On Saturday, Krista Dermott (Milton, Ont.) scored the lone goal for the Raiders.
LAST TIME AGAINST…
Cornell – The Raiders hold an 11-3-2 advantage against the Big Red in the all-time series. Colgate has won eight of the last nine meetings dating back to the 2004-05 season. Cornell's last victory against the Raiders was during the 2007-08 season when they split the series with the Big Red earning a 3-2 win at home.
Colgate first defeated Cornell on the road last year at the James Lynah Rink earning a 2-1 victory as
Katie Stewart scored the game-winning goal with 1:41 remaining.
Lisa Plenderleith had 21 stops for the Raiders in that game. The following day,
Beth Rotenberg tallied two goals, including the game-winner, to lead the Raiders to a 4-3 win at Starr Rink.
Sam Hunt and
Evan Minnick (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) added a goal each while Plenderleith had 26 saves.
STARTING THE YEAR RIGHT
The Raiders have tallied a record of 10-3-1 in the month of January dating back to the 2008-09 season. Colgate went 7-1-1 in the first month of the year last season and has started its January 2010 schedule off at 3-2-0.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Colgate freshman Brittany Phillips was named the ECAC Rookie of the Week as chosen by the league coaches, it was announced Monday, Jan. 4. Phillips had four points in a 5-4 overtime victory at No. 10 Syracuse on Jan. 2, posting two goals and two assists. Her first goal sparked the Raiders scoring after trailing 3-0 in the first period. Phillips' second goal was the game-winner, made with 10 seconds left on the overtime clock. She also had a hand in the last two regulation goals, earning an assist on the game-tying goal with 15 seconds left in the match. This is the first weekly award for Phillips and the first time a Colgate player has won a weekly award so far this season.
LEADING THE WAY
Katie Stewart leads the Raiders and is tied for third among scoring leaders in the ECAC so far this season with 25 points off 14 goals and 11 assists. Freshman
Brittany Phillips follows with 19 points coming from 11 goals and eight assists while senior
Evan Minnick adds 16 points off seven goals and nine assists. Junior
Jessi Waters has a team-high 13 assists to go along with two goals.Goaltenders
Lisa Plenderleith and
Kimberly Sass have split time between the posts this season. Plenderleith holds a 5-8-1 record along with a .880 save percentage and 3.52 goals against average. Sass is 2-6-2 on the season with a .852 save percentage and 4.57 goals against average.
PREASONS PICKS
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.
COACH WILEY
Head coach Scott Wiley is in his eighth season at the helm of the Raiders. He currently holds a Colgate career record of 105-120-27. 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 the eighth straight ECAC playoff appearance.
UP NEXT
The Raiders will be back on the road after this weekend, traveling up north to take on Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Colgate will face the Golden Knights on Friday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. followed by a 4 p.m. match-up against the Saints on Saturday, Jan. 30.
