Hockey Game Central

HAMILTON, N.Y. (10/6/11) – The Colgate women's hockey team will open its 2011-12 season this weekend when it travels to New Hampshire and Northeastern for a pair of road matchups.
 
The Raiders will first take on New Hampshire on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. before facing Northeastern on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. Both teams received votes in the national polls, and were a few votes shy of a top-10 spot.
 
Colgate, which was picked to finish ninth in the ECAC Hockey Preseason Poll, is coming off a pair of home exhibition games, dropping its first game against the Toronto Jr. Aeros and then winning its second matchup over Queen's University.

The Raiders return 14 letterwinners from last season, including seven players that played in all 33 games. After narrowly missing out on the ECAC playoffs last season, the team will look to improve on its league play and clinch one of the eight playoff spots this season.
 
RAIDERS' OFFENSE
Colgate returns its top-two point scorers from last season with juniors Brittany Phillips and Jenna Klynstra. Phillips finished the season with a team high 33 points from 15 goals and 18 assists while Klynstra was second with 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points. The team also returns sophomore Rachel Walsh who was fifth on the team with 14 points. As a team, the Raiders completed the season with a total of 170 points, scoring 63 goals and 107 assists.

DEFENSEMEN
The blue line returns an experienced group of players with seniors Amanda Kirwan and Kristi-Lyn Pollock, as well as junior Jessica Hootz. Kirwan and Hootz played in all 33 games last season, while Pollock saw action in 28. Kirwan completed the season with 18 points from three goals and 15 assists and Hootz accumulated nine points from three goals and six assists. Alongside them are sophomores Shannon Doyle and Megan Wickens who played in 32 and 33 games respectively and were a contributing force to the team's defense.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
Leading the way between the pipes is senior Kimberly Sass who played in 24 games and had a total of 607 saves for a .899 save percentage. The senior finished the season with five shut outs, three of which were in a row at home, both of which were new school records, and is ranked seventh in program history in most saves in a season, fourth in career saves with 1626 and fifth in career wins with 24.

SERIES
New Hampshire leads the all-time series 2-5-0 since the teams first met in the 2004-05 season. The Raiders' two wins in the series were both at home, one of which was the most recent meeting last season when Colgate defeated the Wildcats 1-0 in overtime.
 
This will be the first meeting between the Raiders and Northeastern.
 
SCOUTING NEW HAMPSHIRE (2-0)
The Wildcats opened their 2011-12 season with a pair of wins last weekend. The team played Niagara on the road in a two-game set, defeating the Purple Eagles 6-4 on Friday and then 3-2 on Saturday.
 
New Hampshire is led by juniors Kristine Horn and Kristina Lavoie as well as sophomore Nicole Gifford who each have three points. Horn and Lavoie have two goals and one assist apiece while Gifford has one goal and two assists. The team also boasts this week's Hockey East Rookie of the Week, Heather Kashma, who scored a goal in both games last weekend. Defending the net are freshman Jen Gilligan and senior Lindsey Minton who have 21 and 22 saves respectively.
 
SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN (0-0)
The Huskies will open their season with Syracuse on Friday, Oct. 7 before taking on Colgate on Saturday. The team is coming off a 6-0 win over Ottawa in its only exhibition game of the season on Sept. 23.
 
This season, Northeastern returns its top-four point leaders from the 2010-11 season. Junior Rachel Llanes led the team with 31 points last season from 12 goals and 19 assists while sophomore Katie MacSorley was second with 15 goals and six assists for 21 points. The two were followed by junior Casey Pickett who had 20 points and junior Siena Falino who had 19. In goal, the team returns senior Florence Schelling who played in 28 games last season and had a total of 745 saves for a .930 save percentage.