By CHRIS MILLS
With one final conference game on tap in the 2013 calendar, the men’s icers are looking to extend their three-game ECAC winning streak heading into the New Year.
The No. 15 Red (7-4-1, 4-3-1 ECAC), on the heels of a 3-2 loss to Boston University at Madison Square Garden in the Red Hot Hockey Classic, will play host to rival Colgate (7-7-1, 5-3-0) this Saturday at 7p.m. in a matchup with significant ECAC implications. Colgate and Cornell rank third and fourth in the conference standings, respectively.
“Colgate’s always a tough game for us,” said junior forward Cole Bardreau. “They play a hard-nosed game.”
Bardreau and the Red will have their hands full with a young and feisty Raiders squad. Colgate’s five leading points scorers — featuring 2012-2013 ECAC All-Rookie Team nominee Kyle Baun — are all sophomores, but what the Raiders lack in college experience, they’ve made up for in wins — claiming five of their past seven games.
“They’re always a team that’s good in transition,” said head coach Mike Schafer ’86, who worked alongside current Colgate head coach Don Vaughan when both were serving as assistants for the Red in 1988. “They’ll get up and down the ice — they’ll make plays. They pack it in around the front of the goaltender. They make it very difficult to get shots through to the paint and get them into the net.”
Brian Stern / Staff PhotographerTeam chemistry | Junior forward Cole Bardreau said he and his fellow linemates have gelled on a personal levelthis year.