Colgate University Men's Ice Hockey News

Thursday, Feb. 6, 2003
Contact: Kerry Van Malderghem
(315) 228-7566

HAMILTON, N.Y.— The Colgate University men's hockey team (9-14-3, 4-8-2 ECAC) faces the University of Vermont and Dartmouth College in two crucial ECAC home contests Friday and Saturday night at Starr Rink.

Currently tied for ninth in the conference standings with St. Lawrence, the results of this weekend will go a long way in determining Colgate's post-season fate.

Under the new playoff structure, the top four teams in the conference receive byes the first week of the playoffs. The next four teams, seeds five through eight host seeds nine through 12. The winners of the first round travel to seeds one through four with those winners advancing to the championship in Albany.

The Raiders must pick up at least two points if not four to have a chance to host a first round game. If the Raiders defeat Vermont Friday night, the two teams would be tied in the standings with 12 points. If the Raiders sweep the weekend, and Vermont loses both games, Colgate would move ahead in the standings.

Colgate is coming off a series split with fifth-ranked Cornell. Sophomore Adam Mitchell scored the game winning goal to lead the Raiders to a 2-1 victory on Thursday night. The Big Red came out firing on Saturday night and never look to back to a 3-1 win.

Senior captain Scooter Smith continues to lead the team in scoring with 24 points on 15 goals and nine assists. He also has a team-high eight power play goals. Junior Kyle Doyle is the team's top assist man with a career-high 14 assists.

Junior David Cann and sophomore Steve Silverthorn have split time in net with Cann appearing in 18 games with a 4-8-2 overall record and a 2.73 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. Silverthorn, the current ECAC Goaltender of the Week, is 5-6-1 overall in 13 games with a 3.87 goals against average and a .867 save percentage.