2008 Woodie Awards
Silver Puck Weekend A Sweeping Success For Men's Hockey
Raiders Beat Ivy Rivals Brown And Harvard
Alex Clark '05
Issue date: 11/12/04 Section: Sports
After struggling through choppy waters for a couple of weeks, the Colgate men's hockey team found smooth sailing last weekend as it embarked on its journey towards reclaiming the ECAC crown.
The Raiders welcomed Brown and Harvard last weekend, the squad's first two league foes of the year. Having dropped two of its last three contests, Colgate seemed off course and out of sync. But a sweep of their New England opponents vaulted the Raiders back into the polls and to high spirits once again.
Brown entered Friday night's contest having beaten Colgate only once in the last 12 matches between the two clubs. This particular Bear squad seemed superior to those of years past, however. The visitors executed a trapping style that clogged the neutral zone and impeded the speedy Raider forwards.
Without much room to maneuver, Colgate tried to take advantage of the open ice afforded it during power plays. But the Raiders managed only one goal in eight chances with the man advantage.
"We struggled to capitalize on our chances," head coach Don Vaughan said. "When we didn't score on our power play chances, I thought it was going to be similar to the Army game where we had an opportunity to put the game away and didn't."
Despite taking an early lead thanks to a goal from senior tri-captain Dave Thomas, Colgate once again found itself in a late hole, down 2-1 with less than five minutes remaining in the third period. With prime scoring chances all but nullified by the Brown trap, the Raiders used a lucky break to jump back in the game.
"We talked all week about creating traffic in front of the net," Vaughan explained. "Our tying goal was just a result of [sophomore] Dustin Gillanders going hard to the net. [Senior] Eric Main threw a weak backhand towards the goal, and it went off of Dustin and went in. Once we got that we came back to life."
After killing off a Brown two-man advantage in the final minute of regulation, the Raiders drew from the energy of the home crowd and stole both points from their opponent. Colgate junior Jon Smyth, who leads the team with six goals and 10 points, scored his second overtime game-winning goal of the season after hacking a beautiful centering feed from classmate Kyle Wilson past Brown goalie Scott Rowan. Smyth led the Raiders in points last season and shows no signs of slowing in this new campaign.
The Raiders welcomed Brown and Harvard last weekend, the squad's first two league foes of the year. Having dropped two of its last three contests, Colgate seemed off course and out of sync. But a sweep of their New England opponents vaulted the Raiders back into the polls and to high spirits once again.
Brown entered Friday night's contest having beaten Colgate only once in the last 12 matches between the two clubs. This particular Bear squad seemed superior to those of years past, however. The visitors executed a trapping style that clogged the neutral zone and impeded the speedy Raider forwards.
Without much room to maneuver, Colgate tried to take advantage of the open ice afforded it during power plays. But the Raiders managed only one goal in eight chances with the man advantage.
"We struggled to capitalize on our chances," head coach Don Vaughan said. "When we didn't score on our power play chances, I thought it was going to be similar to the Army game where we had an opportunity to put the game away and didn't."
Despite taking an early lead thanks to a goal from senior tri-captain Dave Thomas, Colgate once again found itself in a late hole, down 2-1 with less than five minutes remaining in the third period. With prime scoring chances all but nullified by the Brown trap, the Raiders used a lucky break to jump back in the game.
"We talked all week about creating traffic in front of the net," Vaughan explained. "Our tying goal was just a result of [sophomore] Dustin Gillanders going hard to the net. [Senior] Eric Main threw a weak backhand towards the goal, and it went off of Dustin and went in. Once we got that we came back to life."
After killing off a Brown two-man advantage in the final minute of regulation, the Raiders drew from the energy of the home crowd and stole both points from their opponent. Colgate junior Jon Smyth, who leads the team with six goals and 10 points, scored his second overtime game-winning goal of the season after hacking a beautiful centering feed from classmate Kyle Wilson past Brown goalie Scott Rowan. Smyth led the Raiders in points last season and shows no signs of slowing in this new campaign.