MEN'S HOCKEY GAME CENTRAL

HAMILTON, N.Y. (11/23/11) – The No. 15/16 Colgate men's hockey team will be taking a small break from conference play with a visit to Gutterson Field House to face Vermont at 7 p.m. on Friday night.

THIS WEEK: COLGATE TRAVELS TO VERMONT FOR OLD ECAC MATCHUP
For the first time in three weeks, the Raiders will be playing a non-conference game as Colgate hits the road to play former ECAC-foe Vermont on Friday. The Raiders will be facing the Catamounts for the first time since 2008-09 and the first time at Gutterson Field House since the two schools were both ECACHL members in 2004-05. Vermont has had a rough go of it this season with a 2-7-1 record, but they ended a seven-game winless streak on Tuesday night with a 2-1 win over UMass for its first conference win of the year. Fans can view all necessary game day links by logging onto Men's Hockey Game Central.

LAST WEEK: RAIDERS SWEEP ON SILVER PUCK WEEKEND
Colgate earned its first weekend sweep of the season as they defeated Quinnipiac and Princeton during Silver Puck Weekend. The Raiders outscored both teams 7-2 and Austin Smith single-handedly had more goals with five of Colgate's seven on the weekend. The victories stopped win streaks by both teams against the Raiders. Smith had a natural hat trick on Friday night against the Bobcats and has two career hat tricks and both have come against Quinnipiac. He then took the ice on Saturday and netted two goals in the 4-1 win over Princeton. Alex Evin and Eric Mihalik each recorded wins as they made 31 saves apiece. With the two wins, Colgate moved into second place in ECAC Hockey with eight points on a 4-2 record and the Raiders have the most wins (8) in the conference.

NEXT WEEK: BACK AT STARR FOR CLARKSON & ST. LAWRENCE
After a short trip to Burlington, the Raiders will be back on home ice on Dec. 2 and 3 as they host north country foes Clarkson and St. Lawrence. The Golden Knights have gotten off to good start at 7-4-3 overall, but they are 2-3-1 in ECAC Hockey and are 1-3-1 in their last five games. The game on Friday night against Clarkson can be seen on Time Warner Cable Sports in the central New York area. The Saints are the total opposite as they started out slow, losing five in a row to begin the season with four of the six coming against ranked teams. Recently, they have rebounded and are tied with the Raiders, sitting 4-2 in ECAC Hockey. St. Lawrence has won four of its last five games and three have come by one-goal. They have a tough test this coming weekend with No. 18 Michigan Tech coming to town.

GOALS FOR GOOD WEEK 3 UPDATE

Colgate $854
Brown  $73
Quinnipiac $68
Princeton $50
Rensselaer $26

Log on to Donate: goalsforgood.org

COLGATE BY THE NUMBERS
   303 - Career wins for Raiders head coach Don Vaughan.
   266 - Votes received by Colgate in the USCHO.com National Poll.
     52 - Years since the first Silver Puck, which was given to J. Howard Starr in 1960.
     19 - Players on the Raiders with at least one point.
     14 - Players on the team with at least one goal.
     13 - Active D-I coaches that have reached 300 wins.
     11 - Raiders that have multi-point games this year.
     11 - Power play goals in the last 11 games.
     10 - Colgate picked to finish 10th in both ECAC Hockey Preseason Polls.
       8 - Games left against current nationally-ranked teams.
       7 - Wins when leading after two periods.
       6 - Straight weeks in USCHO.com Poll
       5 - One-goal games this season.
       4 - Wins on Friday night this year (4-1-0).
       4 - Power play goals against Niagara on Oct. 28, most in a single game since 2009..
       4 - Largest winning margin this season (W, 4-0).
       4 - Wins following a loss.
       4 - Shorthanded goals this season (all by A. Smith).
       3 - Overtime games this season (2-0-1).
       3 - Wins over nationally-ranked teams.
       2 - Weeks spent in the USA Today/USA Hockey Poll.
       1 - Shutouts this season.

RAIDERS RANKED
Colgate is ranked for the sixth-consecutive week, coming in at 15th spot in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll and 16th in the nation according to the USCHO.com National Poll, which is one ahead of last week's ranking. The Raiders are back in the top-15 for the first time since they were 14th in mid-October. Colgate sits at 8-4-1 on the season with three wins over ranked opponents. The Raiders are joined by three other ECAC Hockey schools. Yale was bumped up to No. 8 and Union dropped to No. 13 and Cornell is at No. 17. Colgate earned 266 points in the USCHO poll and 61 in the USA Today poll. The Raiders have eight games left against teams that were in this week's polls.

SMITH NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Smith finished the week with five of Colgate's seven goals scored in a weekend sweep of Quinnipiac and Princeton. He tallied his second career hat trick against the Bobcats and both have come against Quinnipiac. Smith had all three of Colgate's goals in the 3-1 win Friday night. He then returned Saturday against Princeton and scored two more goals, including his NCAA-leading fourth shortie, in a 4-1 win over the Tigers. Smith recorded his fourth and fifth multi-goal games of the season and 12th and 13th of his career. He had both game-winners during the weekend.

MAYER'S MARK
Austin Mayer has turned it on this year for the Raiders, especially on the power play. Colgate has scored 14 goals on the man advantage and Mayer has a team-high four of those goals. He also has two helpers for six points as six of his eight points have come with the extra skater. He is two points away from equaling his total from last year. Mayer has three multi-point games and one multi-goal game.

OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN
The Raiders have enjoyed the emergence of its blueline as major offensive contributors. The top eight scorers for Colgate are split between forwards and defensemen. Thomas Larkin leads the way with eight points after four assists in the weekend sweep. Jeremy Price and Kevin McNamara have six points on a goal and five helpers apiece. Spiro Goulakos has grasped the college game well and has six assists in his first 13 games.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP
The seniors have really stepped up as leaders this season and the scoresheet shows how. All eight skaters have earned points this year with Smith leading the way. The class have combined for 45 points on 23 goals and 22 assists. The 45 points are almost half of the team's output and they are 56 percent of the goal scoring. Alex Evin has done his job in net as a senior with a 2-1-1 record and a 1.46 goals against average.

CONFERENCE PARITY
ECAC Hockey showed it has great parity from top to bottom after the first three weekends of league play. Every team has at least two points. There are six teams within four points with Cornell at the top with 10 points, followed by Colgate and St. Lawrence with six points. There isn't a single team with an undefeated record after the first six or seven games depending on the school. The Raiders have played the third most overall games in the league and have the most wins with eight.

SMITH OFF TO CAREER START
Austin Smith is off to his best point-scoring start in his career with 15 goals and five helpers for 20 points in 13 games. He has scored a point in 12-of-13 games this season and has six multi-point games and five multi-goal games. Four of his goals have come on the power play. He is a two-time ECAC Hockey Player of the Week this year.

SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS
Vermont enters Friday night's matchup with two wins in its first 10 games and earned its first win in conference play on Tuesday night. The Catamounts earned their other win against Minnesota early in the year and didn't win a game for the next seven times taking the ice. Last weekend, they dropped games to Boston University and Northeastern. They have also played five games against ranked opponents. Vermont is having a tough time scoring goals and keeping its opponents off the scoreboard. The Catamounts have scored just 21 goals and have given up 41.

Sebastian Stalberg leads the team with four goals and four assists for eight points. Three of his four goals have come on the power play and one was a gamewinner. Rookie Kyle Reynolds has jumped on the scene with three goals, including two in the win on Tuesday over UMass, and a team-high four helpers for five points. He is tied with defenseman Anders Franzon for the team lead. Connor Brickley, the Florida Panthers draft pick, is tied with Stalberg for the team lead in goals with four. Two of his scores have come on the power play. Vermont has spread out its scoring as 10 different skaters have scored goals.

In goal, Robe Madore has earned seven starts and is 2-5-1 in those starts. He features a 4.12 goals against average and a .864 save percentage. He continues to be the starting netminder as he played in both losses to the Terriers and Huskies. Alex Vazzano has seen the ice in three games with two starts. He is 0-2-0 with a 3.61 goals against average.

SERIES HISTORY
Colgate and Vermont will be playing for the 67th time since the first meeting back in 1971-72. The Raiders hold a 35-26-5 advantage in the series and the teams last meet back in 2008-09 with Vermont taking a 6-4 win at the Catamount Cup. These two used to play frequently as Vermont was a member of ECAC Hockey from 1979 to 2005. The series is tied at 13-13-4 when playing at Gutterson Field House.