THIS WEEK
Friday, February 5 – vs. Princeton, 7 p.m. (available on Colgate All-Access)
Saturday, February 6 – vs. Quinnipiac, 4 p.m.
Center Ice Club Weekend
The Colgate women's hockey team returns to Starr Rink for the first full weekend of home action since Dec. 5-6. The Raiders have played just one game at home, Cornell on Jan. 22, over the past 60 days. Colgate will take on ECAC opponent Princeton on Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. The Raiders will then host Quinnipiac at 4 p.m. on Feb. 6.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Princeton – The Tigers are currently tied for third in the league alongside Harvard and Rensselaer. The squad currently holds an 8-4-4 mark in ECAC play and a 10-9-4 overall record. Princeton is unbeaten in their last three games after defeating Union, 3-0, and tying Rensselaer, 1-1, last weekend. Before this past weekend the Tigers' most recent game was on Jan. 9, during which they outlasted Dartmouth 4-3. Danielle DiCesare leads Princeton in scoring with 22 points off a team-high 14 assists to go along with eight goals. Paula Romanchuk has seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points while Heather Landry leads the team in goals with 10. Rachel Weber and Cassie Seguin have split time in goal. Weber owns a 6-4-1 record including one shutout to go along with a .912 save percentage and 1.72 goals against average. Seguin is 4-5-3 in goal with three shutouts, a .906 save percentage and 2.18 goals against average. Head coach Jeff Kampersal is in his 14th season at Princeton, directing the Tigers to a 204-156-36 record in his 13 years.
Quinnipiac – The Bobcats are a spot down from Princeton in the ECAC standings, tied for sixth place with 19 points alongside St. Lawrence. Quinnipiac is at 7-4-5 in league play and 14-8-6 overall. The squad had a six-game win streak heading into last weekend but split their games, falling to Rensselaer, 1-0, before downing Union, 3-1. Janine Duffy and Heather Hughes lead the Bobcats offense with 23 and 20 points, respectively. They have contributed 11 goals apiece with Duffy collecting a team-high 12 assists while Hughes has nine. Kallie Flor follows with 16 points off of 10 goals and six assists. Victoria Vigilanti has earned a 13-8-6 record in net to go with a .940 save percentage and 1.46 goals against average. Head coach Rick Seeley is in his second season at the helm of the Quinnipiac women's hockey program after accepting the job in April 2008.
LAST TIME OUT
Colgate is currently in ninth place in the ECAC standings with 12 points, three points back from the eighth place team Yale, which has 15 points. The Raiders hold a 4-8-4 mark in the league and an 8-16-4 overall record. The squad split their conference games last weekend, falling to third-ranked Clarkson, 3-0, before taking down St. Lawrence, 2-1. Sophomore Heidi Peterson (Hastings, Minn.) was the first to score in the Raiders win, tallying her first career goal. Senior Katie Stewart (Exeter, Ont.) put in the game-winning goal late in the first period as junior goaltender Lisa Plenderleith (Ajax, Ont.) picked up 26 saves as Colgate outlasted the Saints. Sophomore Kimberly Sass (East Amherst, N.Y.) made 25 stops in the game against the Golden Knights.
LAST TIME AGAINST…
Princeton – The Tigers hold a 16-3-2 advantage in the all-time series against the Raiders including a 3-2 win against Colgate back on Nov. 21, 2009. The two teams picked up one goal apiece in each of the first and second periods but the Tigers earned the win with an unanswered goal four minutes into the third period.
Amanda Kirwan (Mississauga, Ont.) and
Katie Stewart scored a goal each while
Hannah Milan (Great Barrington, Mass.) made two assists.
Lisa Plenderleith made 25 saves for the Raiders while Cassie Seguin had 22 for the Tigers. Melanie Wallace, Paula Romanchuk and Danielle DiCesare all scored for Princeton, with DiCesare picking up the game-winner
Quinnipiac– Colgate holds a 13-1-3 lead in its all-time series against the Bobcats. Earlier this season the Raiders skated to a 1-1 draw in their first meeting at Quinnipiac back on Nov. 20. The two teams were scoreless for the first two periods, with the Bobcats' Melissa Perry scoring first at 11:39 in the third period. Colgate's
Brittany Phillips (Lauder, Man.) picked up her sixth goal of the season a few minutes later with just 2:30 left on the clock.
Kimberly Sass had 23 saves in the game including three in overtime, while Victoria Vigilanti made 28 stops for Quinnipiac.
LEADING THE WAY
Katie Stewart leads the Raiders and is tied for third among scoring leaders in the ECAC so far this season with 29 points off of 12 assists and a league-high 17 goals. 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 6-9-2 record along with a .884 save percentage and 3.47 goals against average. Sass is 2-7-2 on the season with a .858 save percentage and 4.32 goals against average.
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.
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. 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 wrap up their travel schedule next weekend when they take on Yale and Brown, Feb. 12 and 13. Colgate will face the Bulldogs on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. followed by the Bears on Feb. 13 at 4 p.m. The Raiders will then host two more games at Starr Rink to close out the regular season slate.
NATIONAL GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY
Colgate athletics will hold its annual celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day this Saturday, Feb. 6, beginning at 1 p.m. Starting at 1 p.m. anyone 12 years old and younger is invited to join Raider for free bowling and pizza at the Reid Athletic Center bowling alley. At 2 p.m. the women's basketball team will host Army at Cotterell Court. All kids 12 and under will get a free regulation sized basketball. Following the women's basketball game is the Colgate women's ice hockey game versus Quinnipiac. Fans are invited to head over to Starr Rink for a 4 p.m. face-off, with kids earning another free gift, a women's hockey water bottle.
CENTER ICE CLUB
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.
