Maybe the alternate jerseys that the Colgate men’s hockey team last Friday night helped the Raiders crush 17th ranked St. Lawrence 6-2. Skill might have had something to do with it too, but the jerseys, sold as part of a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, may prove to be good luck charms. However, those same jerseys weren’t enough to put the Raiders past eighth ranked Clarkson, who beat Colgate 2-1 on Saturday.

The St. Lawrence game did not start well for the Raiders, as the Saints jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with the help of first-year Sean Flanagan’s goal at the 1:24 mark of the first period. After junior Jordan Hack’s goal 15:43 into the second period, the Raiders looked flat and seemed to be headed towards a disappointing loss. However, Colgate’s top line of junior Tyler Burton, senior Marc Fulton, and senior Jesse Winchester had other ideas. Less than a minute after St. Lawrence’s second goal, Burton found pay dirt to cut the deficit in half. Then, 2:51 into the third period, Burton again found the net. Fulton sent the puck to Winchester, who found Burton. Colgate’s points leader then snapped the puck top shelf past first-year goalie Alex Petizian. The Raiders were now on fire and subsequently scored a flurry of goals. First, Winchester deflected senior defenseman Alex Greig’s shot into the back of the net for the 3-2 lead. First-year Ethan Cox, who organized the weekend’s fundraiser, netted his first career goal halfway through the period to double the Raiders’ advantage. Winchester added his second and third goals in the final five minutes to gain his first career hat trick. Goalie Mark Dekanich put in another stellar performance, stopping 26 of St. Lawrence’s 28 shots.

“The win over St. Lawrence felt great,” Burton said via e-mail. “The team had a huge night and it was nice to get a little revenge on them.”

Colgate came out firing Saturday night, but Clarkson’s junior goalie David Leggio was up to the task, as he sent back 33 of Colgate’s shots, including 14 in the decisive third period. The Raiders jumped out to the early lead when Cox scored his second goal of the season after receiving a pass from first-year David McIntyre 7:31 into the first period. Just 2:21 later, Clarkson senior Mike Sullivan beat Dekanich to even up the score on the power play. In the second period, Clarkson’s Steve Zalewski scored the game-winning goal when he put the puck past Dekanich. Colgate attacked Clarkson furiously, but could not find the net on any of their shots. Dekanich’s 29 saves were not enough for the Raiders, as Leggio was simply unbeatable for Clarkson in net.

Colgate’s record is now 12-14-4 overall and 6-7-3 in league play. While the Raiders couldn’t secure the weekend sweep, they are clearly playing their best hockey of the year and look to ride this wave of confidence when they play at RPI and Union next weekend.

“I think we are getting better all the time,” Burton said via e-mail. “We have played some of our best hockey over the last three weeks and if we continue to play this way and improve on the little things, we can definitely make a good run for the title.”