Colgate will take on the league's top-ranked Golden Knights this weekend as they head to the north-country for ECAC action. The Raiders will first face Clarkson on Friday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. in Potsdam, N.Y. Colgate will meet with St. Lawrence for the second time this season, on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 4 p.m. in Canton, N.Y.

 

Clarkson – The Golden Knights sit atop the ECAC standings with an 11-1-1 mark in the league and a 17-5-3 overall record that places them at No. 3 nationally. Clarkson is 5-0-1 in their last six ECAC games and will look to extend its two-game win streak this weekend. The squad defeated Yale, 3-2, in overtime last Friday before earning their sixth shut-out in a 3-0 victory against Brown on Saturday. The Golden Knights' last loss came against non-conference opponent and nationally top-ranked Mercyhurst, a 6-3 setback on Jan. 15. ECAC Hockey Player of the Week, senior Dominique Thibault, leads the Golden Knights as well as the ECAC in points with 31 coming from a team-high 16 goals along with 15 assists. Classmate Britney Selina is second in scoring for Clarkson, and third in the league, with 26 points coming off of eight goals and a team-high 18 assists. Sophomore Juana Baribeau follows with 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points. Junior goaltender Lauren Dahm owns a 17-5-3 record with the Golden Knights including six shut outs. Her 1.54 goals against average and .937 save percentage each rank as third best in the league. Second year co-head coaches Shannon and Matt Desrosiers have guided Clarkson to its best season ever in the history of the program.

St. Lawrence – The Saints currently sit in seventh place in the league standings with 16 points, just one point shy of a potential four-way tie for fourth place. At 7-4-2 in the ECAC and 11-8-6 overall, St. Lawrence is looking to bounce back from a 1-0 loss to Yale last Saturday. The Saints split the weekend, winning Friday's meeting against Brown, 3-2. Vanessa Edmond has 28 points off of 14 goals and 14 assists, to lead the Saints and rank tied at second among all-scorers in the league. Britni Smith has contributed seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points so far this season. Maxie Weisz and Brittony Chartier have both spent time in the net this season with Chartier earning an 8-6-5 record and Weisz tallying a mark of 3-2-1. Chartier also owns a .909 save percentage and 2.26 goals against average while Weisz has a .907 save percentage and 2.05 goals against average. Head coach Chris Wells is in his second season at the helm of the St. Lawrence women's hockey program after guiding the team to the 2009 NCAA Tournament and a 24-11-3 record.

 

 

Clarkson – The two teams are split at 5-5-3 in their all-time series since its inception during the 2003-04 season. The Golden Knights came away with the win in their previous meeting this season, downing the Raiders 4-1 at Starr Rink. Senior Marissa Dombovy was the lone Colgate player to find the net in that meeting, while Dominique Thibault led the Golden Knights with two goals. Sophomore goaltender Kimberly Sass (East Amherst, N.Y.) finished the game with 26 saves for the Raiders.

 

St. Lawrence – At 14-5-2, the Saints hold a clear lead in the all-time series against the Raiders. In their previous meeting this season, the two teams skated to a 2-2 draw, their first tie since the 2004-05 season. Freshman Brittany Phillips (Lauder, Man.) and senior Marissa Dombovy had a goal apiece for Colgate. The Raiders held a 2-1 lead for most of the third period before St. Lawrence's Britni Smith scored the game-tying goal in the final two seconds of play. Lisa Plenderleith made 27 stops while the Saints' Maxie Weisz had 22 saves.

Katie Stewart leads the Raiders and is tied for second among scoring leaders in the ECAC so far this season with 28 points off 16 goals and 12 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, while five other players have scored in the double-digits for Colgate.Goaltenders Lisa Plenderleith and Kimberly Sass have split time between the posts this season. Plenderleith holds a 5-9-2 record along with a .880 save percentage and 3.62 goals against average. Sass is 2-6-2 on the season with a .852 save percentage and 4.57 goals against average.

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 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.

  

The Raiders will return home next weekend when they host ECAC opponents Princeton and Quinnipiac. Colgate has played just one game at home over the last 54 days with its last home series dating back to Dec. 4-5, 2009. The squad will first take on the Tigers on Friday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. followed by the Bobcats on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 4 p.m.

 

February 5-6 will also be Center Ice Club weekend. Center Ice Club is made up of loyal supporters of the Colgate women's hockey program including former players, coaches, parents and friends. The weekend will feature both home games against Princeton and Quinnipiac, an alumnae game, family skate, Center Ice Club meeting and a Club dinner following Saturday's game.  

For more information or to register for the weekend click here.