Saturday, Feb. 22, 2003
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HAMILTON, NY—Scooter Smith’s second straight two-goal game propelled the Colgate men’s hockey team to a weekend sweep, as the Raiders downed visiting Rensselaer 4-3 Saturday night at Starr Rink.

“He’s the real deal, and he’s done it all year long,” said Colgate head coach Don Vaughan of Smith. “He’s done it in some circle pretty quietly, but those of us who see him every night know what he’s made of. He’s been there every night for us, and he did it again tonight. I can’t say enough about him.”

A see-saw battle saw the game tied at 3-3 midway through the third period. Smith’s blast from just inside the left ring at 11:42 gave the Raiders (13-16-3, 8-10-2) a lead they would never relinquish, however. Colgate netminder Steve Silverthorn closed the door the rest of the way, stopping 10 in the final frame and earning his ninth victory of the season.

Colgate registered a 3-2 lead 47 seconds into the second period thanks to P.J. Yedon’s power-play redirection, but Rensselaer (9-22-3, 3-14-3)  answered back eight minutes later when Nolan Graham scored his team’s second goal on the man advantage.

Rensselaer played catch-up well throughout much of the night. Quick first period goals by Smith and freshman Kyle Wilson vaulted Colgate to a 2-0 edge less than three minutes into the contest. But the Engineers managed to fight back into the contest on tallies by Carson Butterwick and Alexander Valentin at 14:32 and 16:36 respectively.

Rensselaer failed to muster a final comeback, however, as it remains winless on the road in league play this season. Meanwhile, the victory pushes Colgate into soul possession of the eighth and final home playoff spot in the ECAC.

Colgate travels to Yale and Princeton next weekend while Rensselaer hosts Dartmouth and Vermont.