The Colgate men’s ice hockey team traveled to Hanover, New Hampshire and Cambridge, Massachusetts to take on the Dartmouth Big Green and the Harvard Crimson this past week as the team continued in its regular season.

On Friday, January 26, the Raiders came out strong against Dartmouth.  Early in the game, first-year forward Paul McAvoy scored his third goal of the season five minutes into the first period. He scored off a rebound shot, sneaking the puck past the Dartmouth goaltender, Devin Buffalo. However, the Big Green was able to retaliate with 7:24 to go in the first period when Corey Kalk redirected a shot from the right faceoff circle past Colgate sophomore goaltender, Colton Point, evening the score to 1-1. 

Despite the Raiders’ best efforts, Dartmouth’s Tim Shoup managed to score the game-winning goal with just 7:49 to go in the third period off a low shot from the right faceoff circle. The Big Green ultimately clinched a 2-1 win over the Raiders. Despite the loss, Point continued to shine for the Colgate men’s ice hockey team as he has done all season.

On Saturday, January 27, the Raiders beat the Harvard Crimson. Colgate was led by Point, who had a career-high of 51 saves to clinch a 2-0 shutout at Harvard’s home rink. The team played strong throughout the game, tallying a pair of power-play goals to clinch their 2-0 shutout as sophomore forward Bobby McCann collected his eleventh goal of the season and junior defenseman Willie Brooks, fired home his first goal of the season. Brooks notched the first Raider goal with just 4:34 to go in the first period when he fired a power-play goal past Harvard goaltender Merrick Madsen to secure a 1-0 lead. 

The Raiders were able to hold off the Crimson for the rest of the game with a strong defense and as aggressive offense,  going 2-for-4 on power plays and 5-for-5 in penalty kills. McCann gave the Raiders an insurance goal just 1:51 into the third period after a tripping penalty was called against Harvard. First-year Nick Austin passed the puck to McCann on his left after a slight hesitation, who then rocketed the puck through traffic and into the back of the net, clinching the Raiders’ 2-0 win over the Crimson. 

With this win, Colgate swept the season series with Harvard for the first time since the 2009-2010 season, and was the second time in history that the Raiders have shutout the Crimson, the first time being November 17, 2012. 

Additionally, Point led the ECAC with 93 saves on the weekend. Saturday’s game, a shutout with 51 saves, places Point on top for the most saves by a goaltender in a shutout in the NCAA Division I this season.

“Colton’s an elite-level goaltender and has a bright future. He is an unbelievable competitor but he’s a team-first guy,” head coach Don Vaughan said.

With a successful weekend behind them, the Raiders return home to host the Rensselaer Engineers on Friday night, February 2, at 7 p.m. and the Union College Dutchmen on Saturday night, February 3, at 7 p.m. and hope to build upon their success. 

Contact Dana Monz at [email protected].