HAMILTON, N.Y. – After an off week, the Colgate University men's hockey team is back in action this weekend when the Raiders travel to Albany for crucial ECAC contests with Rensselaer on Friday and Union on Saturday. Both contests start at 7 p.m.

The Raiders (7-11-2, 2-5-1 ECAC) currently stand in 10th place in the conference with five points and must build on the 3-3 tie with St. Lawrence two weeks ago in the north country. Down 3-1 midway through the third period, Colgate rallied behind Scooter Smith's (Calgary, Alberta) second goal of the night before freshman J.R. Bria (Monroe, Conn.) scored the game-tying goal with just 2.3 seconds left on the clock.

Union (7-10-4, 3-4-2) stands in seventh place with eight points while Rensselaer (8-12-2, 2-4-2) is tied for eighth with Vermont with six points. The two teams tied 3-3 last Friday night at Achilles Rink. 

Rensselaer leads the all-time series with the Raiders by a a 53-36-2 margin and also leads the series at Houston Field House, 31-14-0. The Engineers have won the last five meetings between the two schools including last season's 2-1 win at Starr Rink and the 3-1 win at home. Junior Kyle Doyle (Sarnia, Ont.) figured in both Colgate's goals against Rensselaer last season. Colgate's last win in Troy came on November 6, 1999 by a 4-2 score.

The Raiders lead the all-time series with Union by a 24-10-1 margin and the series is tied 8-8-1 at Achilles Rink. Colgate's last win in Schenectady came on February 26, 1999 by a 4-3 score. The two teams split the series last season as the Raiders won 2-1 at home before falling 5-2 at Union. Smith and Rob Brown (Brockville, Ont.) both scored power play goals in the 2-1 win while P.J. Yedon (Toronto, Ont.) and Darryl McKinnon (Port Elgin, Ont.) recorded goals in the loss.

Smith continues to lead the team in scoring and now has 19 points on a team-high and career-high 13 goals. Smith's career-high for points is 24, which he accomplished during his sophomore campaign. He has six multiple point games on the season, including two goals against St. Lawrence two weeks ago and has recorded a point in 11 of 18 games.

Junior David Cann (Brampton, Ont.) and sophomore Steve Silverthorn continue to split goaltending duties with each player earning a start up in the Clarkson/St. Lawrence series. Both players have started 10 games as Cann owns a 3-6-1 overall record and a 1-2-1 record in the ECAC. Silverthorn is 4-5-1 overall with a 1-3 record in league play.

Colgate's returns home next weekend to host St. Lawrence on Friday, Jan. 24 and Clarkson on Saturday, Jan. 25.