MEN'S HOCKEY GAME CENTRAL

HAMILTON, N.Y. (2/24/11) – The Colgate men's hockey team has won four of its last five games and hopes to continue its late-season push to the playoffs in the last regular season weekend at third-ranked Yale and Brown.

All game day links for live video, audio and stats can be accessed through the Men's Hockey Game Central link at gocolgateraiders.com. Friday night at 7 p.m., the Raiders will be at Ingalls Rink to take on Yale, followed by the final regular-season game at Brown at 7 p.m.

RAIDERS SWEEP FIRST HOME SERIES OF THE YEAR
The Raiders are one of the hottest teams in ECAC Hockey and it continued this past weekend with wins over #16 Dartmouth and Harvard. Colgate has know won four of its last five, including wins over two ranked teams in its toughest portion of the schedule this year. Francois Brisebois and Jeremy Price paced the Raiders to the 5-3 win over the Big Green as Brisebois had two goals and Price tallied three points on a goal and two helpers. Nick Prockow had two assists in the 2-1 win over Harvard the next night, while Robbie Bourdon tallied the gamewinner.

MAKING'EM COUNT
In the current stretch of four wins in the last five games, the Raiders have scored 16 goals. All but one of those goals tied the score, gave Colgate the lead or increased the advantage. Also in the stretch, Kurtis Bartliff has three goals and seven points, Brisebois has three goals and six points, and Kevin McNamara has two goals and four points. Colgate has had 10 different goal scorers during the recent success as well. Most of the goals have come in the first and third periods. Seven first-period goals, two second period goals, six third period goals and one in overtime.

MIHALIK NAMED GOALIE OF THE WEEK
Eric Mihalik was named ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week for the second time this season. He posted a 2.00 GAA and a save percentage of .938 in two wins over the weekend. He pushed aside 60-of-64 shots, including 33 stops against #16 Dartmouth. He was given the honor in late December after the two-game set at Robert Morris.

POISON IVY
Robbie Bourdon should get excited when he sees an Ivy League school on the upcoming schedule for the Raiders. He has 10 of his 17 career goals against Ivy League oppenents with six coming against Brown and Yale. He has played a total of 25 games against the Ancient Eight and has been held scoreless in only six of those games. Bourdon has not scored in four games against Dartmouth for the least amount of success. He has played best against Harvard with four goals and two assists for six points.

BRISEBOIS ENJOYING SUCCESS
The senior from Montreal currently leads the team in points and added to his total with a pair of goals against #16 Dartmouth in the 5-3 win. His 27 points this season is a career-high and he has led the team in points for three weeks. Brisebois has scored in two-thirds of the games this season with points in 21 games. He is now tied for 79th on the all-time scoring list with 35 goals and 44 assists for 79 points in 135 games. He has never led the team in points in his career.

BARTLIFF HAVING BREAKOUT SECOND HALF
Sophomore Kurtis Bartliff has enjoyed his best season as a Raider with career-highs in all offensive categories. He has six goals, with three on the power play, a team-leading 17 helpers and 23 points. Since posting a goal and an assist against #5 Boston College at the Ledyard Classic, Bartliff has recorded 14 points on five goals and nine assists. He has had five multiple point games since then and is tied with Brisebois for the team lead in points during the stretch. He has seven points in five of his last six games.

FIRMAN PLAYS NO. 100
Junior Matt Firman played in his 100th game as a Raider on Saturday night in the win over Harvard. Overall, the local product of Fayetteville, N.Y., has amassed eight goals and seven assists for 15 points as a winger for the Raiders. He became the sixth player this season to reach 100 games played. This season he has played in all 32 games with two goals and two assists for four points.

SMITH UP NEXT
With four points in his last three games, Austin Smith is inching closer to 100 points in his career. He hopes to become the 49th player in Colgate history to reach the milestone after teammate Brian Day achieved the record earlier this year. In 103 games, he has 41 goals and 55 assists for 96 points. He is averaging just under a point a game in his career at 0.9.

McNAMARA COMES THROUGH
Kevin McNamara finished the weekend with a pair of goals and for the first time in his career he had goals in back-to-back games. Friday night's goal was the first overtime gamewinner of his career, but third overall gamewinner. The score was the first score since the overtime loss to Dartmouth on Dec. 31. His three goals this season is a career-high.

MIHALIK GETTING COMFORTABLE
The Rookie netminder has started 11 of the last 12 games and has a 4-6-1 record in those nine games. Since taking over he has a 2.64 goals against average, which is below his season average of 2.95. His save percentage is around his season average at .896. Every game has been solid, except for a rough start at Harvard when he was pulled after 30 minutes of action in a 6-2 loss. He is the first rookie netminder to start 15 games since David Cann started 15 in 2000-01.

PRICE IS RIGHT
Sophomore Jeremy Price has been a consistent blueliner on the stat sheet with 15 points this season after his second three-point outing of the year against Dartmouth with a goal and two assists. He is 11th in the conference with 15 points and is averaging just under a half a point a game. All three goals have come against Ivy competition, while 12 of his 15 points have come against the Ancient Eight this year.

SHOWING NO FAVORITES
Bourdon scored his first goal of the 2010-11 season in the second game at LSSU with a power play goal coming in the third period. He has now scored 17 goals in 17 different games in his career. He has the most against Brown and Yale with three goals apiece against the Bears and Bulldogs for six of his 17 goals. He is still searching for his first career multi-goal game. Bourdon had a goal and an assist in his last outing on Saturday against Harvard.

FULL TEAM EFFORT
Despite the team's record, the Raiders have gotten contributions from everyone on the team. After Mike Leidl tallied an assist against Cornell on Jan. 22, Colgate, St. Lawrence and second-ranked Yale are the only teams in ECAC Hockey to have every skater score at least one point this season. With Leidl and Mark Nasca scoring goals at Dartmouth on Jan. 29, Colgate is the only team in the conference with each skater earning two points. The Raiders have a total of 216 points on the year, while the Bulldogs have 320 and the Saints have 227. Dartmouth, Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence are close to joining Colgate and the Elis as the three need one more skater to earn a point. It is the first time since 1999-2000 that the Raiders have had all skaters score at least one point.

STAYING DISCIPLINED
Bartliff has yet to commit to penalty this season and has gone 57-straight games without a visit to the penalty box. Last season, he only went twice, which was the least amount by a player with 30 or more games played. His last penalty came as goaltender interference on Halloween of 2009 against Niagara in the second period. His first ever penalty came the night before against Army. So he had two-straight games with a penalty and hasn't gone to the sin bin since.

THIRD PERIOD MYSTERY
The final 20 minutes for the Raiders has been very interesting this season. Colgate is outshooting its opponent by 36 shots in the period, which is the largest amount than any other frame. However, the net has been hard to find as the Raiders have just 27 goals on 329 shots. Meanwhile, opponents have scored 44 goals for a difference of 17. The 44 tallies is the most in any period for the enemy. The Raiders have turned it around recently with six goals in the final frame to seven by the opponents in the last five. Take away the loss to Union and they are outscoring the enemies 5-3 and all four have been wins.

SHOWING SOME FIGHT
Prior to 2-1 win at Rensselaer on Feb. 11, the Raiders were 0-13-0 when trailing after two periods, but came back for the win. The one-goal win was also the first after going winless in their previous 11 close games. Colgate also earned its first win over a ranked opponent in six tries. Prior to the weekend, they had lost four games against ranked opponents by one goal. The Raiders won their second game against a ranked opponent against Dartmouth and was able to fight off a late charge by the Big Green. Colgate then came back from a goal deficit against Harvard to win its second game when the opponent scores first.

COACH VAUGHAN AGAINST YALE & BROWN
Under Coach Vaughan, the Raiders have played Yale 42 times and hold a 22-17-3 advantage in those games coming into the weekend. Against Brown, Colgate has its best winning percentage in the league under Vaughan with a 30-9-5 record and a .738 winning percentage. The Raiders will look to rebound after dropping the two first contests against these two Ivies.

SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Colgate enters the weekend with a 7-23-2 mark and will be facing its fourth ranked team in the last five games as its visits #3 Yale on Friday and Brown on Saturday. The Raiders dropped their second ranked opponent in two weeks with a win against Dartmouth last Friday. Colgate is averaging well over their season average in the last five games with 3.2 goals per game and is allowing 2.6 a game.

Colgate is one of four teams in ECAC Hockey that have had every skater score a point, but the Raiders are the only team with two points for every skater. Francois Brisebois is the team leader in goals and points with 12 scores and 27 points. He set a new career-high for points in a season after two goals against Dartmouth. Four of his goals came on the power play and he has at least one point in 10 of his last 13 games. Austin Smith is second on the team with 24 points on eight goals and 16 assists. Kurtis Bartliff leads the squad in assists with 17 and has seven points in his last five games. Brian Day added to his career total with an assist on Saturday night and has 21 points this season and 106 in his career. Jeremy Price leads all blueliners on the team with 15 points on three goals and 12 helpers after a three-point night against the Big Green.

In net, Rookie Eric Mihalik has taken over as the primary netminder with 11 starts in the last 12 games. He has a 4-10-1 overall record with a 2.95 goals against average. He earned his first weekend sweep of his Colgate career with 60 saves in the two wins. Junior Alex Evin has started 14 games for the Raiders and has a 3-10-1 mark. He added his second career shutout on Dec. 4 against Army with 24 saves and has recorded an .891 save percentage and a goals against average of 3.22. Junior Bryan Bessette earned his second start against Dartmouth on Jan. 29, but was pulled in the second period. He is 0-3-0 and has a save percentage of .892 and a goals against average of 3.91.

The Colgate power play had glimpses last weekend with two goals against Dartmouth in four chances. It was the first time since Jan. 9 at Princeton that the Raiders had two goals with extra man. Overall, they are tied with Clarkson for 11th in the league at 12.6 percent (21/167). On the kill, Colgate gave up two power play goals last week in nine opponent opportunities. The Raiders dropped to last in the league in the category with a 78.9 success rate, killing off 112 power plays in 142 chances.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Yale welcomes the Raiders with a 22-5-0 and the Bulldogs are third in the country in both polls. In league, they are 16-4-0 and have been up and down lately after sweeping through the first half of the season with nine-straight conference wins. Since then, Yale is 7-4 in league and is on a three-game winning streak. The Bulldogs still lead the nation in scoring at 4.41 goals per game and are the only team above four goals. They are fifth in defense, allowing 2.22 goals per game.

Yale is led by two scorers in Brian O'Neill and Andrew Miller as both players have 35 points, which is tied for third in the league. O'Neill has a team-high 17 goals, eight on the power play, and has added 18 helpers. Miller has a league-best 27 assists to go with eight goals for his 35 points. Broc Little has also been a huge contributor with 31 points on 14 goals and 17 assists. Little has 130 points in his career in 122 games on 67 goals and 63 assists. Denny Kearney and Chris Cahill have reached 29 points apiece and Cahill has 23 of his 29 points in ECAC Hockey play.

In net, Ryan Rondeau has earned 25 starts and is 21-4-0 with three shutouts this season. He has given up just 50 goals in 1457 minutes for a 2.06 goals against average, which is third in the league. His .925 save percentage is third as well. Rondeau's 21-4-0 record is the best winning percentage in the country, beating our Keith Kinkaid of Union (23-7-2). Jeff Malcolm has played in eight games with two starts as the backup. He is 1-1-0 with a 4.02 GAA and a save percentage of .837.

On the power play, the Bulldogs rank second in the league with 36 goals in 146 opportunities for a 24.7 percent success rate. Only Union is higher at 29.5 percent. If there is a flaw with this team it is the penalty kill. They are eighth in the conference at 81.2 percent. Yale has given up 24 goals in 128 chances.

SERIES HISTORY
These two schools will be playing for the 91st time in the series history, which dates back to 1916-17. The series against Rensselaer is the only other rivalry that has lasted longer than Yale as Colgate has played the Engineers since 1915-16. The Raiders hold a 47-39-4 advantage over Yale and the Bulldogs have a 3-1-1 over the last five with three of the games going to overtime. Yale earned the 6-4 win in the last meeting in early November at Starr Rink.

SCOUTING THE BEARS
Brown enters the weekend with a 8-14-5 overall mark and a 6-12-2 record in conference play. The Bears are winless in their last three games at 0-2-1 and their last win came at St. Lawrence on Feb. 12 with a 5-1 victory. The win ended a five-game skid. Brown is averaging 2.74 goals per game, while giving up 3.44 a contest.

The Bears have 11 skaters in double-digits in points and they are led by Jack McClellan with 31 points on a team-high 14 goals and 17 assists. He has 17 points in league on eight goals and nine helpers. McClellan has three power play goals and two as shorthanders. Barry Zolnierczyk is enjoying a great season with 27 points on 12 goals and 15 assists. He leads the team with four power play goals. His 27 points is seven points higher than his previous season-high of 20, which happened last year. Chris Zaires has continued to be a key contributor for the Bears in his second season. He has 19 points on five goals and 14 assists.

In net, Mike Clemente has started 22 games and has posted a 6-11-5 mark. He has posted a 3.18 goals against average and a save percentage of .900. Rookie Marco DeFilippo has also seen action with five starts and is 2-3-0. He has a 3.42 GAA and a .902 save percentage.

Brown is near the bottom of the league on the power play. The Bears are 10th at 15.5 percent with 18 goals in 116 opportunities. On the kill, they are last in the league at 78.8 percent, allowing 29 goals in 137 chances. Brown has given up seven power play goals in their last three games, including three at Princeton and both of Harvard's goals in a 2-1 loss on Tuesday.

SERIES HISTORY
Colgate and Brown will be facing off for the 74th time since the first meeting back in 1934-35. The Raiders hold a commanding 49-19-5 advantage over the Bears. The .705 winning percentage for Colgate over Brown is the best against any ECAC Hockey team for the Raiders. They are 3-1in the last four and the longest unbeaten streak for Colgate against Brown is 11, which was from 2003-04 to 2006-07. The teams met back in early November with the Bears winning 5-2. Colgate has never finished the regular season at Brown or against the Bears at home. In 2008-09, the Raiders played Brown and then Yale to end the season, but that's as close as it has come.