MEN'S HOCKEY GAME CENTRAL

HAMILTON, N.Y. (12/8/11) – The nationally-ranked Colgate men's hockey team will look to extend its win streak to six games as the Raiders welcome fifth-ranked Merrimack to Starr Rink on Saturday for a battle of 10-win teams.

The matchup is set for Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Starr Rink. Like all men's hockey games this season, game day information can be found by logging on to the Men's Hockey Game Central page.

TRIPLE-HEADER TOY DRIVE
Saturday's game will feature the annual toy drive for the Interfaith Council of Hamilton as part of a triple-header at Reid Athletic Center. Fans are encouraged to bring unwrapped toys throughout the day on Saturday with men's and women's basketball and men's hockey. For each unwrapped toy given, fans will receive one free general admission ticket to their choice of event.

GOALS FOR GOOD UPDATE
ECAC Hockey is about to wrap up conference play for the 2011 calendar year and at the moment, Colgate is in the lead with $1,458 raised. Fans can log on to goalsforgood.org to donate for their favorite ECAC Hockey team and their chosen charity. The project has raised almost $2,000 since the launch of the website back in October and a reminder that the team that raises the most money at the end of the year, gets an additional $1,500 from Belmont Hill School to donate to their local food bank, fire department or shelter.

TOP-5
Colgate        $1,458
Princeton     $192
Brown          $120
Quinnipiac   $81
Rensselaer  $50

COLGATE vs. CORNELL TICKETS ON SALE
Colgate Athletics has announced that tickets for the men's hockey game against Cornell on Jan. 28 are on sale now at the Colgate ticket office. Ticket prices are $16 for adult reserved and $9 for child reserved. If fans wish to sit in general admission sections, prices are $10 for adults and $5 for children. A block of reserved tickets will be put aside strictly for season tickets holders to purchase an additional (2) tickets. These seats will be held for season ticket holders until Dec. 29 at 4 p.m. and at that time, the left over tickets will be released to the general public. Fans can also save $5 if they buy the Hat Trick Package, which includes tickets to the two games against Harvard (Jan. 20) and Dartmouth (Jan. 21) before the Cornell matchup for a discounted price. The package is $35 for reserved and $20 for general admission for all three contests.

Fans can purchase the tickets by calling the Colgate ticket office at (315) 228-7600 or by stopping by Reid Athletic Center during the ticket office hours of 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2 p.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Online ticket purchasing for the game will not be available until Jan. 2 at www.gocolgateraiders.com.

THIS WEEK: #5 MERRIMACK COMES TO HAMILTON
The Raiders will play its final game before the Christmas holiday on Dec. 10, welcoming fifth-ranked Merrimack to Starr Rink. The Warriors have gotten off to a great start at 10-2-1 and were undefeated going into last weekend. They then skated against Providence and got swept in a two-game set. The Warriors had gone unbeaten in their first 10 games of the season and was ranked No. 1 before the two losses to the Friars. They dropped a tough overtime 2-1 decision in the first game and then got blown out at home by a 6-1 score. Merrimack rebounded with a 5-2 win over Vermont on Wednesday. The Warriors fell out of the top spot in Hockey East after the losses as Boston College took over the top spot. The Warriors are 7-2-1 in conference play for 15 points, which is tied with Boston University.

LAST WEEK: COLGATE EXTENDS WIN STREAK WITH WEEKEND SWEEP
Colgate increased its win streak to five games, which is the longest win streak since Colgate won five in a row in 2006. The Raiders started off the weekend with a 4-2 win over Clarkson as Austin Smith took over the game in the third period and scored twice to propel the Raiders to the win. He scored his fifth shorthanded goal and added an empty netter. The next night the roll continued with a convincing 6-2 win over St. Lawrence, which was won in the first period. The Raiders dominated the opening frame and they had a 3-0 advantage after 20 minutes. Smith and Chris Wagner were all over the ice and finished the game with four points a piece with Wagner tallying two goals and two helpers, while Smith had a goal and three helpers. Jeremy Price also had a good day with a goal and two helpers for three points. The defense has been exceptional during the streak as Colgate has outscored opponents 21-7 in the last five games.

NEXT UP: RAIDERS CLOSE OUT 2011 WITH CANISIUS
After the team enjoys a three-week break for finals and the Christmas holiday, the Raiders will be back at Starr Rink on Dec. 30 to face upstate rival Canisius. The game will be the last of a stretch of six home games in the team's last seven games. The Golden Griffins will play two games before they travel to Hamilton, but they are 4-8-3 this season with all four wins coming in Atlantic Hockey. They were blown out in back-to-back games against Quinnipiac to begin the season with 7-1 and 4-0 losses. Canisius is 2-3-2 in its last seven games with two wins over American International and ties with nationally-ranked Lake Superior State and Niagara. This will be the sixth meeting with Canisius and Colgate is 4-1-0 in the series and the teams last met back in 2009-10 with the Griffs winning 7-6 in overtime.

COLGATE BY THE NUMBERS
   454 - Votes received by Colgate in the USCHO.com National Poll.
   306 - Career wins for Raiders head coach Don Vaughan.
   158 - Votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Mag. Poll.
     21 - Goals during five-game win streak.
     19 - Players on the Raiders with at least one point.
     19 - Goals scored by Colgate in the first or last two minutes of periods.
     14 - Players on the team with at least one goal.
     13 - Active D-I coaches that have reached 300 wins.
     12 - Raiders that have multi-point games this year.
     11 - Games allowing two or less goals (8-2-1).
     10 - Colgate picked to finish 10th in both ECAC Hockey Preseason Polls.
       9 - Wins when leading after two periods.
       8 - Games left against current nationally-ranked teams.
       8 - Straight weeks in USCHO.com Poll.
       8 - Games with four or more goals (8-0-0).
       7 - Wins on Friday night this year (6-1-0)
       5 - One-goal games this season.
       4 - Power play goals against Niagara on Oct. 28, most in a single game since 2009.
       4 - Largest winning margin this season (twice)
       4 - Wins following a loss.
       6 - Shorthanded goals this season (5 by A. Smith).
       5 - Straight wins, longest win streak since 2006.
       3 - Overtime games this season (2-0-1).
       3 - Wins over nationally-ranked teams.
       4 - Weeks in the USA Today/USA Hockey Mag. Poll.
       1 - Shutouts this season.

RAIDERS RANKED
Colgate is ranked for the eighth-consecutive week, coming in at the 11th spot in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll and 12th in the nation according to the USCHO.com National Poll, which are both three spots ahead of where the Raiders were the week before. Colgate sits at 11-4-1 on the season with three wins over ranked opponents. The Raiders are joined by three other ECAC Hockey schools in the USCHO poll as Union is still tops in the poll among league schools at 10th, while Cornell sits at No. 16 and Yale at No. 17. Colgate has spent the last four weeks in the USA Today poll and is one of two ECAC Hockey schools in the rankings with Union at No. 9. The Raiders have eight games left against teams that were in this week's polls.

UNBEATEN STREAK AMONG COUNTRY'S BEST
The Raiders have been on their longest win streak since 2006 and currently the streak is among the country's best. Minnesota-Duluth and Ohio State are the only other schools that are playing better than Colgate. The Bulldogs are unbeaten in their last 12 games, while the Buckeyes have not lost in 11 contests. Colgate sits tied with Northeastern with a 5-0-0 record in their last five games.

SMITH EARNS PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Smith had an incredible month of November with eight goals and two assists. His goals also meant something as three were game-winners and three came shorthanded. He had more shorthanded goals in the month than Colgate had all of last season and more than any other team in the league this year. He recorded his second career hat trick against Quinnipiac on Nov. 18 and then followed that with two more scores against Princeton the next night. He had three multi-point games in the month and had points in 6-of-7 games and has scored at least one point in five-straight games. He is tied for the nation's lead in goals with 15 and is sixth in points with 21. He has been named player of the week twice this year.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME
Chris Wagner has enjoyed a great start to the season with seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points. He has already eclipsed his scoring from a season ago as he had 19 points. He enjoyed his best game as a Raider on Saturday against St. Lawrence with four points on two goals and two assists. He now ranks second in ECAC Hockey in points with 20, which is seven behind Smith. He has torn it up lately with seven points in his last three games and has scored at least one point in six of the last seven games and has 12 points over that span. 

STRIKING EARLY & LATE
This season, Colgate has started and ended periods with strong performances as 19 of the team's 55 goals have come in the first or last two minutes of periods. The lone time it happened last weekend was against Clarkson on Friday night with Smith's empty netter. Against Vermont on Nov. 25, Colgate scored goals in the first and last two minutes of the second period and then added a third goal with 1:26 left in the final period. When Austin Smith had a hat trick against Quinnipiac, he scored all three in the final two minutes of each period.

FROM THE BLUELINE
The Raiders have enjoyed success from their defensive group on both ends of the ice. The defensive pairs have tallied five goals and 36 assists for 41 points. Jeremy Price leads the way with 11 points on two goals and nine assists after a five-point weekend with two assists in the win over Clarkson and a goal and two assists against St. Lawrence. Spiro Goulakos is tied with Price with nine helpers and is tied for fourth among rookie scorers in ECAC Hockey. Thomas Larkin has also chipped in with nine points on two goals and seven helpers. On the defensive end, Colgate has been excellent during the win streak, allowing just seven goals and no more than two a game. The Raiders are 7-2-1 when allowing two or less goals to their opponents.

LEAGUE-LEADING OFFENSE
After eight league games this season, Colgate is tops in the league in goals and assists in conference games. The Raiders have scored 28 goals in eight games and have averaged 3.5 goals per game. They have also done a great job passing the puck when needed as they have 44 helpers on their 28 goals. Colgate leads the conference in goals per game at 3.5.

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 has combined for 63 points on 30 goals and 33 assists. The 60 points are almost half of the team's output and they are 55 percent of the goal scoring. Evin has done his job in net as a senior with a 4-1-1 record and a 1.48 goals against average.

SHORTHANDED KILLERS
After just one shorthanded goal all of last season, the Raiders have caught fire during penalty killing this year with six shorthanded goals in their first 16 games. Austin Smith has been a one-man wrecking crew with five of the six to lead the nation in shorties. Chris Wagner added his first career shorthanded goal against Vermont and Smith assisted on the score. The six shorties for Colgate is tied with Boston University for the most in the country and when scoring shorthanded, Colgate is 5-0-0 on the season.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Merrimack has been off to a great start at 10-2-1, but is 1-2-0 in its last three games after being swept against Providence and a win against Vermont. They were 9-0-1 in their first 10 games, including convincing wins over Northeastern, Connecticut, Vermont and Alabama-Huntsville. They have also won in overtime and sport a 2-1-1 mark in the extra frame. Merrimack is averaging over three goals a game and have allowed 1.69 per contest for one of the best scoring margins in the country. Special teams have been impressive with 15 goals in 69 chances on the power play for a 21.7 percent success rate. The penalty kill has killed off 75-of-86 power plays for opponents for a 87.2 success rate. Merrimack is ranked third in the country in combined special teams. 

The Warriors have four skaters with 10 or more points this season with Ryan Flanigan leading the way with 12 points on six goals and six assists. He has three power play goals and nine points in Hockey East play. Jesse Todd has five goals and five assists for 10 points on the year with three scores coming on the power play. Mike Collins leads the team with four power play goals and he has 10 points with five goals and five assists to tie with Todd and Karl Stollery for second on the team in points. Stollery has three goals and seven assists, but doesn't lead the team in helpers as Jordan Heywood has eight. The Warriors have gotten goal scoring from most of their roster as 18 skaters have tallied goals and 21 have at least one point.

In goal, Joe Cannata has started 12-of-13 games this season and has a 9-2-1 mark. He has given up 22 goals on 326 shots. He is second in Hockey East in both goaltending categories. He has a .933 goals against average and a 1.83 goals against average. Sam Marotta has started one game this season and he won that game with 26 saves and shutout UConn in a 5-0 win. He also had an assist in the win.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 16th meeting between Merrimack and Colgate since the first game in 1961-62. The Warriors have a slight advantage in the series with an 8-7 record against the Raiders. This will be the first matchup since the Syracuse Invitational back in 2001-02 and the first at Starr Rink since 1996-97. Colgate has a 3-2 record in the last five games, including a 10-7 win in 1997-98.