Colgate and Cornell preview

After winning the RPI tournament last weekend and going undefeated in the month of November, the Dutchmen will now try to take care of more important business as they face Colgate and #7 Cornell this weekend at Messa Rink. Both teams are ahead of Union in the ECAC standings, but have three games in hand. If the Dutchmen want to make their presence known in ECAC they must take at least two points this weekend.

Colgate: Even though the Raiders hold an advantage in the all-time series, the Dutchmen have had the upper hand recently having gone 3-1-1 in the last five match-ups. Last season the Dutchmen fared well against the Raiders as they went 2-0-1, including the victory at the championship game of the Governor's Cup. The last time Colgate beat Union at Messa Rink was February 2007.

The Raiders got off to a hot start this year having gone unbeaten in their first six games, but have cooled off lately as they have gone 1-2-0 in their past three games. They last played on November 24th in a loss to Cornell, so they should be fully rested.

Colgate is led by a usual suspect: David McIntyre. Last season McIntyre was first team all-ECAC, a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, first team AHCA/Reebok Eastern All-American, a first team all-American by Inside College Hockey, and was selected to the all-College Hockey News team. He hasn't stopped this season and has lived up to his preseason first team all-ECAC and preseason first team all-American (INCH) selections. This year the senior has tallied four goals and a team-high 14 assists. He also leads the team in penalty minutes (26) and shots (64). David leads all current Raiders with two goals and three assists all-time against Union. McIntyre is joined on top of the Colgate scoring list by sophomore Austin Smith. Smith, a Dallas Stars draft pick, leads the Raiders with eight goals and a .242 shooting percentage. Other Raiders to look out for are Brian Day and Francois Brisebois. Day has registered 12 points (9 goals (4 PP), 3 assists) this season in 12 games this season including a team high +9 rating, while Brisebois has tallied six goals and four assists.

The Colgate goaltending duties have been shared this season between senior Charles Long and sophomore Alex Evin. Long has gone 4-2-2 this season with a 3.09 GAA and a .902 Save Percentage, while Evin has gone 2-2-2 in seven starts with a 3.45 GAA and a .887 Save Percentage. Long started all three games against the Dutchmen last season.

Cornell: The Big Red are one of the best teams in college hockey today, and has one of the most rabid followings of any college hockey team in the nation. Don't be surprised if there are more Cornell fans at Messa on Saturday considering there will be no students because of winter break. Cornell comes off of a 3-3 tie to defending national champion Boston University last weekend in front of a sold out crowd at Madison Square Garden. The Big Red have dominated the Dutchmen owning a 27-12-5 record in the series, and having won the past four games against Union. Under Head Coach Mike Schafer Cornell has gone 18-8-4 against Union. The last Union victory over Cornell came on February 15, 2008.

Over the past few years Cornell has been the type of team that had minimal offensive production and would beat you with their stellar defense and get their 1-2 goals off of power-play opportunities. This year the defense (ninth in the nation with 2.22 goals allowed per game) and power-play unit (top in the nation with 31.9% conversion rate) is still the same, but the offense has caught fire as they are the third highest scoring offense in the nation with 4.00 goals per game. The Big Red offense is led by senior Blake Gallagher (9 goals (6 PP), 6 assists in 9 games), who is second in the nation with 1.67 points-per-game. His nine goals is a team high. Gallagher isn't the only senior forward who is lighting up the score sheet as Ottawa draft pick Colin Greening is fifth in all of college hockey with 1.56 points-per-game with 4 goals (3PP) and a team-high 10 assists. Also be aware of the Devin and Nash brothers. Forward Joe Devin has tallied four goals and six assists, while his brother Joe is a force to be reckoned with on defense. Junior forward Riley Nash is a play maker on offense having tallied 2 goals and 7 assists on the young season, while his older brother Brendon has been productive from the blueline with a goal and eight assists.

Senior Ben Scrivens has been the constant for the Big Red having been the starting goaltender for the past three seasons. Scrivens has been regarded as one of the top goaltenders in the ECAC and in the nation and has the statistics to prove it. Last year he was 22-10-4 with 1.81 GAA and a .931 save percentage, and this year has kept up the pace having gone 6-2-1 with a 2.10 GAA and a .925 save percentage while playing every minute this season.

If you can't make it to the game you can listen to it on 89.7FM WRUC, follow it on Live Stats (go to UnionAthletics.com), or watch it on Time Warner Sports Channel 3 in the Capital District.