The Colgate men’s hockey team has won four of its last five games and returns to home ice after two weeks on the road to take on ninth-ranked Yale and Brown.

Both games are going to be streamed live for free on the Patriot League Network and live stats will be available at game time. For all the necessary links visit the men’s hockey game central page ongocoglateraiders.com.
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SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs come to campus after becoming the first ECAC Hockey school to win the national title since Harvard in 1989. They have continued their momentum into this season as they are 4-1-2 and have gone unbeaten in their last six contests. Like Colgate, Yale has been scoring goals at will recently with five or more goals in three of its last four games. The Bulldogs were in action once last weekend and defeated Sacred Heart by a 5-1 score. Yale has five NHL draft picks on its roster.

Yale has played well as a team as no player has double-digits in points in the first seven games. The team has had 14 different goal scorers. Anthony Day leads the way with seven points on three goals and four assists. Jesse Root is the top goal scorer for the Bulldogs with four goals to go with two helpers for six points.

In goal, the Bulldogs are very young with two rookies on the roster. Yale lost Jeff Malcolm to graduation and have filled him in with Alex Lyon and Patrick Spano. Lyon has started four games and is 1-1-2 with a 2.41 goals against average, while Spano is undefeated at 3-0-0 with a 2.33 goals against average.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 97th meeting between these two schools, dating back to Colgate’s second season as a varsity program back in 1916-17. Yale has recorded a 5-2-2 record over the last eight games and the teams have played a very entertaining series in the last 10 matchups with five overtime games. The season series last year was split. The Raiders won 4-2 on home ice and then Yale came away with an overtime win at Ingalls Rink.  Colgate leads the series, 49-42-5.

SCOUTING THE BEARS
Brown makes the trip to Hamilton with a 3-3-1 overall mark and a 1-2-1 record in ECAC Hockey. The Bears have struggled as of late with one win in their last five games after starting the year with two wins at the Liberty Invitational against Yale and Dartmouth. They will have taken 10 days off between games as Brown last played at UNH on Nov. 12 before taking on Cornell on Friday night.

The Bears have two players in double digits in points with Mark Naclerio leading the way with 12 points on five goals and seven assists. Nick Lappin has 10 points in six games on three goals and seven helpers. Both top scorers are sophomores. Matt Lorito has nine points on the year with four goals and five assists, while Maple Leafs draft pick, Dennis Robertson has five points.

In goal, Marco DeFilippo has returned for his senior season and is 1-3-0 so far this year with a 2.81 goals against average and .929 save percentage. Rookie Tyler Steel has seen action in three games and is unbeaten at 2-0-1. He has a 2.92 goals against average and a .985 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
Colgate leads the series 52-21-3 in the previous 76 meetings. The first game between these two schools came back in 1934-35. The Raiders have dominated at home with a 30-5-2 record, while Colgate has a smaller advantage in Providence with a 20-12-1 record. Colgate earned its 50th win over the Bears in 2011-12 and Brown became the fourth school Colgate had earned its 50th win over, joining Cornell (56), Rensselaer (56) and St. Lawrence (64).

Mercyhurst (7-4-2, 2-1-1 CHA) used a three-goal third period to get past the Syracuse ice hockey team (6-5-1, 2-1-1 CHA), taking a 5-3 victory on Saturday afternoon at Mercyhurst Ice Center. The teams were tied for most of the game until the Lakers notched the game-winning goal with 2:56 left in the contest.

The Orange converted on two of 10 power play opportunities and limited the Lakers to just two chances. Both teams put 31 shots on target with SU outshooting Mercyhurst in both the second and third periods.

Kallie Billadeau (3-5-1) was the goalie in charge, making 26 saves and allowing four goals in the loss.  This is just the third time this season that she has played two consecutive games.

Eight different Orange recorded a point against Mercyhurst. Caitlin Roach was the only SU player to record two points in the game.

Mercyhurst was the first to score, shooting one from five yards out past Billadeau to take a 1-0 lead with 7:20remaining in the first period. Nicole Ferrara would tie the game at 1-1 midway through the second with an assist by Allie LaCombe.

Syracuse sent in another one in with 8:08 remaining in the second stanza to take a 2-1 lead. Larissa Martyniuk scored her first goal of the season when she slapped one from just in front of the blue line through defenders and into the goal. The Lakers wouldn’t settle for a deficit, however, and scored the second Mercyhurst goal of the game just 27 seconds later.

The Lakers came out strong in the third period, scoring the go-ahead goal 1:58 into the final 20 minutes. SU came right back to tie it when Nicole Renault scored her second goal of the season, assisted by Kaillie Goodnough and Margot Scharfe, bringing the score to 3-3 with 14:20 left in regulation.

With 2:56 remaining in the game, Kaleigh Chippy shot the game-winning goal. The Lakers scored an empty net goal with 11 seconds left to bring the score to 5-3.

The Orange returns home next weekend to take on Robert Morris University on Friday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. andSaturday, Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. at Tennity Ice Pavillion.

ERIE, Pa. – The Niagara hockey team were handed its second loss in conference play as the Purple Eagles fell to Mercyhurst, 4-2, Tuesday evening at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

The teams headed into the final frame knotted at two, and the shot count just as close with Niagara (3-7-1; 3-2-1 AHA) holding a slim 22-21 advantage.  Despite a strong middle frame, the Purple Eagles came out slow in the final period, allowing the Lakers (4-6-1; 3-1-0 AHA) to pepper Niagara goaltender Jackson Teichroeb with early opportunities.

Mercyhurst would regain the lead just 1:10 into the stanza as Zac Frischmon corralled a bouncing puck in front of the net and lifted it top shelf to make it a 2-1 game.  The Lakers would not relinquish the lead as Frischmon put the Lakers up 4-2 just under three minutes later with a high-rising wrist shot that flew over the glove of Teichroeb for his second of the contest with 16:14 remaining in the game.

Niagara had a short-handed goal disallowed with 1:09 remaining in regulation as it was deflected past Mercyhurst netminder Jimmy Sarjeant by a high stick.

“Mercyhurst certainly took it to us in the first 10 minutes of the game, but we certainly settled in the second half of the first period, and we played our game during the second frame,” head coach Dave Burkholder said.  “I thought we played the better game, but unfortunately in the third period we looked like a team that’d played three games in five games.  Mercyhurst is a tremendous team up front with a lot of weapons and their forwards made two more plays than we did in the third period which was the difference in the game.”

A fast-paced opening period saw a trio of goals scored, two by Mercyhurst to put the Lakers up, 2-1 heading into the first break.

Mercyhurst broke through the scoreless game at 8:09 of the first period as Kyle Dutra’s slap shot from the point beat Teichroeb low, stick-side.

It didn’t take long for the Purple Eagles to respond as Chris Lochner cashed in on his second goal of the year via an assist from Mike Conderman 28 seconds later.  Mercyhurst netminder Jimmy Sarjeant gave up a big rebound off Conderman’s long shot, and Lochner made a diving play across the blue paint to pop the puck past  Sarjeant to make it 1-1.

The first power play of the game went in favor of Niagara, but it was the Lakers that capitalized on a struggling Purple Eagle power play midway through the stanza.  Daniel O’Donogue dished a pass to Matt Zay from behind the net, and the junior’s deke put Teichroeb down before he slid a backhand underneath the goalie’s pads.

The Niagara power play was put to work for the third time in the game 34 seconds in the second period, and this time the Purple Eagles were able to benefit while on the man-advantage.  Sargeant once again allowed a rebound off a Conderman shot and Isaac Kohls pounced on the rebound to tie the game at two apiece 56 seconds into the second.

Teichroeb snuffed 28 Mercyhurst shots, while his counterpart pushed aside 27 Niagara looks on net.  The Purple Eagles went 1-for-3 on the power play, and kept the Lakers scoreless on the man-advantage (0-for-2).

Niagara will continue its eight-game road trip on Friday when the Purple Eagles take to the ice against No. 5/5 Michigan at Yost Arena.  Puck drop is scheduled for 7:07 p.m.

The Canisius College hockey team rallied from an early two-goal deficit and finished with the final five tallies of the game in a 5-2 victory over RIT on Tuesday night. With the win, the Griffs improve to 3-7-0 and 2-3-0 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Tigers drop to 1-6-2 and 1-3-0 against league foes.

Senior Kyle Gibbons (Westlake, Ohio) led the Griffs with three points on the night, scoring two goals to go along with one assist. With his three points, Gibbons became the eighth player in the program’s Division I history and the 28th Griff overall to record 100 career points. The senior from Westlake, Ohio now has 47 goals and 53 assists during his collegiate tenure.

Senior Ben Danford (Stillwater, Minn.), sophomore Mathew Backhouse (Thompson, Manitoba) and freshman Jack Hidi (Toronto, Ontario) also scored for the Griffs in the 5-2 victory.

Senior netminder Tony Capobianco (Mississauga, Ontario) stopped 34 shots to earn his first victory of the season.

“Our senior leadership and penalty kill were two big reasons why we won tonight,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “Our seniors responded with great leadership not only when we were down early but also after we evened the game and took the lead. Kyle Gibbons and Ben Danford both provided big goals. Tony Capobianco looked confident in net no matter what the score was and both Ryan Bohrer and Patrick Sullivan provided great leadership on the bench and with their play. We also created a hole with three-straight penalties in the second period but our penalty kill responded and was key for us in the second.”

The Tigers grabbed the early momentum in the game with two quick strikes from Dan Schuler, who knocked in a pair of rebounds just 2:06 apart to give RIT the 2-0 lead less than nine minutes into the contest.

Canisius, however, quickly answered back with two goals of its own in a 1:42 span. Backhouse opened the scoring for the Griffs with 7:20 remaining in the first, netting his second goal of the season. Junior Matthew Grazen (East Amherst, N.Y.) won a face-off back to the point and Backhouse ripped a shot into the top corner above the goaltender’s left shoulder, cutting the Griffs’ deficit in half, 2-1.

Danford then quickly knotted the game with his second tally of the season, scoring on the power play. The senior defender one-timed a shot from the point into the back of the net to square the contest at two with 5:38 remaining in the opening period. Gibbons and junior Cody Freeman (Toronto, Ontario) both posted assists on the game-tying tally.

In the second frame, it was the Canisius penalty kill that came up big to keep the game knotted up. The Griffs were whistled for three-straight penalties in the second half of the period but responded with three-straight kills. The Tigers, who entered the game with the nation’s third-ranked power play also had 56 seconds of 5-on-3 action, could only muster one shot on net during the three extra-man opportunities.

Canisius then took advantage and ran away with the game early in the third period. Gibbons opened the scoring with a power-play tally 4:35 into the stanza, netting his fourth goal of the campaign. From the corner, sophomore Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario)found Gibbons open on the back door and the senior knocked it in for the go-ahead goal. Danford also registered an assist on the power-play goal.

Just 48 seconds later, Hidi added his first collegiate goal to extend the Griffs lead to two, 4-2. On a 2-on-1 rush, senior Carl Larsson (Anderstorp, Sweden) fed the rookie and Hidi knocked the puck in for the goal. Junior Braeden Rigney (Singhampton, Ontario) also added an assist on the goal 5:23 into the stanza.

The Griffs then sealed the victory when Gibbons netted his second of the day – and his 100th career point – with 10:17 remaining in regulation. On a rush, Cuddemi passed back to the senior and Gibbons finished from the slot for the 5-2 final score. Freeman also added his second assist of the night to complete the three-goal period for the Griffs.

Canisius finished the game with a 43-36 advantage in shots, including a season-high 17 shots in the third period. The Griffs also won the special teams battle, going 2-for-5 on the power play and killing all five RIT extra-man chances.

Jordan Ruby finished with 38 saves for the Tigers in the defeat.

Canisius returns to action on Friday, Nov. 29, hosting Connecticut in Atlantic Hockey play. The Griffs and Huskies are set to meet at Buffalo State Sports Arena at 7:05 p.m.

Game Notes: Canisius has now killed off its opponent’s last 13 power plays after starting the season at just a 68.8 rate (22-of-32) … The Griffs fired a season-best 43 shots on net after entering the game averaging 24.2 shots per game … Hidi is the first Canisius freshmen to score a goal this season … The Griffs had two goals from defensemen for the first time this season … Canisius has won its first two home games of the season for the first time since the 2007-08 season … The Griffs extended their longest winning streak against RIT to four games.

ALBANY, N.Y. – After a weekend sweep at St. Lawrence and Clarkson, Emilio Audi was given Colgate’s first weekly honor from ECAC Hockey as he was named rookie of the week.

Audi tallied three points on a goal and two assists in a weekend sweep of the Saints and Golden Knights for the Raiders. He had an assist against the Saints and then recorded a season-high two points against Clarkson, including the first goal of a third period comeback that featured three goals. Audi had the assist on the first goal of the game. He finished with a plus/minus rating of +2 on the weekend.

He has four points in his last five games played with two goals and two assists. Audi’s four points is tied with Andrew Black and Jake Kulevich for the team lead among rookies.

Colgate has won four of their last five and is now tied for third in ECAC Hockey with a 4-2-0 record and moved back to .500 overall with a 6-6-1 mark. The Raiders have scored three or more goals in the four wins. Colgate scored nine goals over the weekend and swept two ranked opponents.

The Raiders are back in action against No. 9 Yale on Friday night, followed by Brown on Saturdaynight. On Friday against the Bulldogs, Colgate hockey is hosting Youth Day. Children under the age of 14 who wear a hockey jersey get FREE admission. Players will sign autographs after the game as well.