MEN'S HOCKEY GAME CENTRAL

HAMILTON, N.Y. (1/4/12) – The nationally-ranked Colgate men's hockey team will play its final non-conference games of the season this weekend as the Raiders travel to 17th-ranked Ferris State for a two-game set.

The series opens up on Friday night at 7:05 p.m., followed by a Saturday afternoon matchup at 4:05 p.m. at Ewigleben Arena. All necessary game day links will be available at the Men's Hockey Game Central page.

THIS WEEK: ON THE ROAD FOR TWO AT #17 FERRIS STATE
The Raiders will be on the road for two straight games for the first time since mid-November as Colgate travels to Michigan to take on nationally-ranked Ferris State. The two schools will be meeting for the 10th time in the series and it is knotted up at 4-4-1. The Raiders are unbeaten in the last three against the Bulldogs at 2-0-1 and the last time the two met was back in 2008-09 when the teams skated to a 3-3 tie. Ferris State started out on first with six-straight wins and a 9-2-1 start. Since that start, they have sputtered to a 2-6-0 record after dropping games to RIT and Vermont last weekend. The Bulldogs are 7-6-1 in the CCHA for the fifth spot in the standings. They are tough to play at home as they are 6-1-1 at Ewigleben Ice Arena.

LAST WEEK: RAIDERS WIN SPECIAL TEAMS BATTLE
Both teams combined to score six special teams goals and one 4-on-4 strike and it was the No. 11/12 Colgate men's hockey team that came out on top by a 5-2 score on Friday night against Canisius. Colgate got two goals and an assist from Robbie Bourdon, while Austin Smith extended his point streak to nine games with a goal and two assists for three points. Corbin McPherson scored his first of the season and Austin Mayer added a shorthanded goal in the third period and also had an assist. Eric Mihalik pushed aside 22 shots to earn his eighth win. The Raiders are on a seven-game unbeaten streak.

NEXT WEEK: BACK TO LEAGUE PLAY
League play reopens for the Raiders next weekend with visits to Princeton and Quinnipiac. It will be the first conference weekend since Colgate swept St. Lawrence and Clarkson in early December. This will be the second meeting this season between the Raiders and their two opponents. Colgate swept both teams during Silver Puck Weekend, outscoring the two teams by a 7-2 advantage. Princeton finished with two ties at the Mariucci Classic at Minnesota against Niagara and Northeastern and play Yale and Brown this weekend. Quinnipiac visited Nebraska-Omaha and earned a tie and took a loss. The Bobcats also travel to Yale and Brown this weekend.

COLGATE BY THE NUMBERS
   573 - Votes received by Colgate in the USCHO.com National Poll.
   307 - Career wins for Raiders head coach Don Vaughan.
   279 - Votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Mag. Poll.
     27 - Goals during seven-game unbeaten streak.
     20 - Goals scored by Colgate in the first or last two minutes of periods.
     19 - Players on the Raiders with at least one point.
     15 - Players on the team with at least one goal.
     13 - Games allowing two or less goals (9-2-2).
     12 - Raiders that have multi-point games this year.
     12 - Wins this season, fastest to 12 wins since 2004-05.
     11 - Straight weeks in USCHO.com Poll.
     10 - Wins when leading after two periods.
     10 - Goals allowed during six-game unbeaten streak.
       9 - Games with four or more goals (9-0-0).
       8 - Wins on Friday night this year (8-1-0).
       7 - Shorthanded goals this season (5 by A. Smith).
       7 - Games left against current nationally-ranked teams.
       6 - Weeks in the USA Today/USA Hockey Mag. Poll.
       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.
       4 - Overtime games this season (2-0-2).
       3 - Wins over nationally-ranked teams.
       1 - Shutouts this season.

RAIDERS RANKED
Colgate is ranked for the 11th-consecutive week, coming in at the seventh spot in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll and ninth in the nation according to the USCHO.com National Poll. The Raiders are one of nine teams with 12 wins this season. They are joined by Union, Cornell and Yale in ECAC Hockey in the top-20. They are at their highest ranking this season and highest since 1999-2000.

UNBEATEN STREAK AMONG COUNTRY'S BEST
The Raiders have been on their longest unbeaten streak since 2004 and currently the streak is among the country's best. Colgate went on a eight-game unbeaten streak in 2004 with a 6-0-2 record. The seven-game unbeaten streak is third in the nation behind top-ranked Minnesota-Duluth and Northeastern. The Bulldogs have not lost in 14 games and the Huskies are unbeaten in eight games.

AMONG TOP TEAMS
Colgate has really turned it around from last season and the defense has been a major factor. The Raiders are ranked eighth in the nation in scoring defense, as they are giving up 2.17 goals per game and have averaged 1.42 goals allowed during the unbeaten streak. The offense isn't far behind as Colgate has jumped to 10th in the nation in goals per game with 3.39. Put the two together and the Raiders are fourth in the country in scoring margin at plus-1.22. 

RISING THE RANKS
Austin Smith has 134 points in his career and continues to average a point a game in his career as he has played 132 games. He passed former teammate and recent NHLer, David McIntyre '10 for 23rd all-time on the Colgate scoring list. Smith has 62 goals and 72 helpers in his career for 134 points. Smith has tallied at least one point in all but one game and is riding a career-high nine-game point streak. He was named ECAC Hockey's Player of the Month for the second-straight month after 10 points in four games.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME
Chris Wagner has enjoyed a great start to the season with seven goals and 15 assists for 22 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 ranks second in ECAC Hockey in points with 22. He has torn it up lately with nine points in his last four games and has scored at least one point in seven of the last eight games and has 14 points over that span. 

DOMINANT DEFENSE
Recently, Colgate has one of the best defenses in the nation as they have given up just 10 goals during this seven-game unbeaten streak for an average of 1.42 per game. The Raiders have not allowed more than two goals since Nov. 12 against Harvard. It has been seven games and its a major reason for the current unbeaten streak. They are outscoring opponents 27-10 during the streak, including an 11-2 advantage in the third period. They have held their opponents to just 13 percent on the power play, allowing four goals on the kill, two of which came against Canisius.

STRIKING EARLY & LATE
This season, Colgate has started and ended periods with strong performances as 20 of the team's 61 goals have come in the first or last two minutes of periods. Robbie Bourdon scored a power play goal in the last two minutes against Canisius. 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.

POWER PLAY COMING AROUND
The Raiders have jumped to fifth in the conference in power play percentage with 20 goals on 96 opportunities for a 20.8 percent success rate. Colgate has eight goals with the extra skater during the seven-game unbeaten streak and had three against Canisius on Dec. 30. The Raiders have gotten goals on the power play from six different skaters during the streak and Bourdon leads the way with three, including two against the Griffs. When scoring on the power play, Colgate is 8-3-0.

LOOKING BACK AT 2011
With the win last Friday, Colgate finished the calendar year of 2011 with 20 wins. The Raiders rebounded from a nine-game winless streak in early 2011 to go 20-9-4 during the rest of the year, including a trip to the ECAC Hockey Championship weekend. Austin Smith scored 24 goals and had 45 points during the year for the most on the team. Mihalik was over .500 during the year with a 16-14-2 record in 32 starts.

SHORTHANDED KILLERS
After just one shorthanded goal all of last season, the Raiders have caught fire during penalty killing this year with seven shorthanded goals in their first 18 games. Austin Smith has been a one-man wrecking crew with five of the seven to lead the nation in shorties. Chris Wagner added his first career shorthanded goal against Vermont and Smith assisted on the score. Austin Mayer added one last week against Canisius for his first shorthanded goal of the year. Only Boston University has more goals skating a man down as the Terriers have eight this season. The Raiders have scored a shortie in four of the last six games.

BLUE LINE SCORING
Of the top 10 scorers for the Raiders, four are defensemen. The four have combined for 39 points this season, led by Jeremy Price, who has 12 points on two goals and 10 helpers. Spiro Goulakos has been a welcomed addition this season and has come through with 10 assists for his 10 points. He has four points in his last four games and has scored in three of the last four games. Thomas Larkin and Kevin McNamara has also contributed with nine and eight points, respectively and each skater has seven assists.

MAYER'S MARK
The senior has enjoyed his best season of his career with seven goals and seven assists. He has really been a force on special teams with four power play goals and he scored a shorthanded goal in last week's win over Canisius as he played in his 100th career game. He was leading the team in power play goals until Robbie Bourdon scored twice with the extra skater against the Griffs. He has scored eight points in his last six games, which included a four-game point streak that was snapped against Merrimack on Dec. 10. He has been the third line center all year with Nick Prockow and Matt Firman as his wings.

- Mayer on this week's ECAC Hockey Radio Show (1/5/12)

HOLDING A LEAD
The Raiders have gone into the third period with a lead in 10 games this season and have not given up the leads. In six of the 10 games, the lead has only been one-goal. That lead is important for the Raiders as they are 2-4-2 when tied or losing after two. They have come back once this season when down going into the third period as they force a 2-2 tie with two goals in the third period against Army on Oct. 22. Scoring three or more goals has been huge for Colgate as the Raiders are 12-1-0 when that happens.

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 71 of Colgate's 160 total points. The seniors have scored 33 goals and have tallied 38 assists. They have netted more than half of the Raiders' goals this year. Three seniors scored in the 5-2 win over Canisius, including Corbin McPherson, who netted the gamewinner and it was his fourth winner of his career. Four of his seven goals have been winners and Colgate is 5-1 in his career when he scores.

VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
The Raiders are off to a great start against ranked opponents after beating #4/5 Miami and #14 Nebraska-Omaha early in the season. Colgate still faces seven more games against teams that are in this week's USCHO.com Poll, including the two games this weekend. The Raiders have played six games against ranked opponents and they are 3-2-1 overall, with the last game against a ranked team came in a 1-1 with #5 Merrimack. Last season, Colgate faced 18 schools that were ranked in the top-20 and posted a 6-11-1 record, including a 4-4 record down the stretch during last year's playoffs.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Ferris State enters the weekend as the 17th-ranked team in the nation and has an 11-8-1 record overall and a 7-6-1 mark in CCHA games. The Bulldogs started off hot with nine wins in their first 11 games and was a highly ranked team. However, the last nine games have not been as friendly. They are 2-6-1 in those games, including a three-game losing streak in which they have scored just three goals. They are coming off a 3-0 loss to RIT and a 4-2 loss at Vermont in the Catamount Cup. Ferris State is averaging 2.5 goals per game and has given up just over two per contest. In five of the last six games, the Bulldogs have given up three or more goals, including three games with allowing four goals. All five of those games were losses.

Jordie Johnston and Travis Ouellette lead the team with 14 points apiece. Johston has eight goals, which is almost half of his career total of 18. He has also added six assists, while Ouellette has seven goals and seven helpers. Each skater leads the team with four goals on the power play and Johston is tops on the team with three gamewinners. Kyle Bonis is the team leader in goals with nine and has added three assists for 12 points. Chad Billins is tops on the team in assists with 11 on the year and he is the most experienced skater on the squad with 126 games played in his three-plus years. The Bulldogs have spread out their points scoring with all but two skaters posting points. Even goalie Taylor Nelson has an assist this year.

In goal, Nelson has started 11 games, while C.J. Motte has earned nine starts. Nelson has a 7-4-0 record with a 2.01 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. Motte has a 1.99 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. The two have split the last four games and neither has been able to over take the other as the top netminder. Each goalie has earned two shutouts this season.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 10th meeting between the Raiders and Bulldogs since the first meeting back in 1999-2000 and the series is tied at 4-4-1. In that first meeting, Colgate came out with a 4-1 win at Starr Rink during a two-game set, in which Ferris State took the second game by a 3-2 score. This is the first two-game series between these two schools since 2004-05. The teams last met at the Catamount Cup at Vermont in 2008-09 and played to a 3-3 tie. The Raiders are riding a three-game unbeaten streak against the Bulldogs and last lost to Ferris back in 2003-04.