Riding a season-high six game winning streak, the No. 4 men’s hockey team (16-3-0, 11-1-0 ECAC) will play its travel partner, Colgate, in Hamilton, N.Y. tonight and at home Saturday night. After tonight’s game, the Red will have played every ECAC team at least once.
While the Red had one less day to practice as a result of a Thursday game, Cornell head coach Mike Schafer ’86 was not concerned.
“At this time of year, everyone wants to play,” he said. “The faster the games come up this time of year, the better off it is for everybody. The short week from that aspect is good because we get to play a day earlier.”
The Raiders (8-13-3, 3-7-2) have been in freefall recently, having won just one of their past nine games. During that stretch, Colgate has been outscored by a 32-14 margin. However, the club has also had its moments, including a 3-0 win over Brown.
“They’re an unknown. They’ve been pretty inconsistent in the sense that they’ve played some great games this year, and I know they’ve had some letdowns. You’ve got to be prepared for the team that you think is going to show up and that’s the one you know they’re quite capable of playing,” Schafer said. “If you go in there and think that it’s the team that’s been inconsistent, you’re going to get yourself into trouble.”
The Red is no stranger to playing back-to-back games against the same opponent. Cornell has already accomplished that task twice this season, with the Red sweeping previous series on the road against Western Michigan and at home against Boston University.
“The first game is really important. In the first game, you want to set the tone not only for the first game, but also the second game,” senior co-captain Stephen B