Raiders To Face Saints In ECAC Semis

Colgate Makes Its Fourth Championship Weekend Appearance in Six Seasons Friday When it Faces St. Lawrence in the ECAC Semifinals

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - Colgate Men's Hockey continues its quest for the Whitelaw Cup this weekend as it joins Harvard, Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence for the 2015 ECAC Men's Hockey Championship at 1980 Rink - Herb Brooks Arena.

The fourth-seeded Raiders open the weekend Friday with a 7:30 p.m. contest against the second-seeded Saints. The winner of that contest will face the winner of the first semifinal between the No. 1 seed Bobcats and the No. 6 seed Crimson Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for the tournament championship and the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

ECAC Hockey has partnered with Fox College Sports (FCS) to televise the 2015 semifinals and championship game March 20-21 at the 1980 Rink - Herb Brooks Arena. Games will be on DirecTV (608) and Dish (452) as well. FCS Atlantic on all other cable subscribers.

The Men's Championship semifinals and final contest will be streamed on Fox Sports Go in the United States and on Sportsnet.ca in Canada.

Colgate enters the weekend as one of the hottest teams in the nation as it extended its unbeaten streak to seven games with a sweep of Dartmouth last weekend. The Raiders pulled away from the Big Green in the third period of both contests, scoring twice in the opener to break a 1-1 tie and post a 3-1 decision. In the series finale, junior Mike Borkowski scored less than three minutes into the third to snap a 2-2 deadlock and give the Raiders a 3-2 victory and the series.

The top line of juniors Kyle Baun, Tylor Spink and Tyson Spink continued its recent streak of dominant play against Dartmouth as the trio combined for six points (2 G/4 A) versus the Big Green. During Colgate's current unbeaten streak, the pairing has accounted for 26 points (9 G/17 A) of the team's 55 points in those seven contests.

Colgate has become a regular at championship weekend in recent years as the 2015 event marks the Raiders fourth trip to championship weekend in the last six years. It also marks the 11th time under head coach Don Vaughan that Colgate has made it to the ECAC semifinals.

Picked 11th in both preseason polls, St. Lawrence has been the surprise of the league in 2014-15 as it claimed second place in the regular season standings and advanced to championship weekend with a sweep of RPI in quarterfinal round action last weekend at Appleton Arena.

Freshman goaltender Kyle Hayton has been a revelation in net for the Saints as the Mike Ritcher Award finalist ranks among the nation's leaders in save percentage (.939/T-1st), goals against average (1.90/6th) and shutouts (5/T-3rd).

Offensively, junior Brian Ward ranks first on the team in scoring with 25 points thanks to a team-best 16 assists. Senior Gunnar Hughes paces the squad with 12 goals while freshman Mike Marnell is second with 10.

One of the longest-standing battles on Colgate's books, the two teams have been facing off since 1927, and the Raiders have gone 69-75-4 all-time with St. Lawrence throughout their 148 games played. The Raiders have won six straight against the Saints, including a sweep of the season series that saw Colgate post a 5-2 victory at Starr rink on Nov. 14 and a 2-0 triumph at Appleton Arena on Jan. 10 to improve coach Vaughan's record to 27-30-3 against his alma mater.

In the ECAC Hockey playoffs, the two schools have split their pervious 18 matchups. Colgate and St. Lawrence will face each other in the playoff for the second consecutive season and fourth time in the last six years. Last season, the Raiders swept the Saints in a best-of-three quarterfinal round series at Starr Rink.

The first postseason game between the two schools was back in 1994. Colgate won, 4-3, with current assistant coach Mike Harder scoring the decisive tally.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Kyle Baun: F; 6' 2"; Junior

#21 Mike Borkowski: F; 6' 0"; Junior

#18 Tylor Spink: F; 5' 10"; Junior

#8 Tyson Spink: F; 5' 10"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#12 Kyle Baun
: 6' 2"; Junior
: F

#21 Mike Borkowski
: 6' 0"; Junior
: F

#18 Tylor Spink
: 5' 10"; Junior
: F

#8 Tyson Spink
: 5' 10"; Junior
: F