An Outlook on Women’s and Men’s Ice Hockey Postseasons:

It’s no secret that ice hockey has consistently been one of Colgate’s strongest varsity sports for decades. This year, both the men’s and women’s teams have continued that legacy.

Women’s hockey has had yet another spectacular season. The Raiders blew through the ECAC postseason with ease (after a rare loss to open the tournament). Colgate lost the first matchup in the best-of-three quarterfinals against Princeton but took the second two contests. In the semifinals, Colgate made easy work of the number eight seed Quinnipiac Bobcats, defeating them 5-1. And finally, the Raiders made the finals look like a cakewalk, beating Clarkson by a score of 8-2 (eight goals may sound like a lot for hockey, but for the women’s team, this is a common tally). Overall, it’s safe to say that the three-peat as ECAC champions wasn’t all that strenuous for the Raiders.

Amidst all this success, senior forward Danielle Serdachny was named Most Outstanding Player by the conference. Additionally, forwards Sara Stewart (First-Year), Elyssa Bierderman (First-Year), and Hannah Murphy (sophomore) were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Looking ahead, the team prepares for the NCAA tournament, as it has been named the three seed and awaits its opponent – the winner of the matchup between Wisconsin and Long Island University. Colgate will play the winner of this matchup on Saturday, Mar. 11. The winner of that the first round matchup will advance to the 2023 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four in Minnesota. Despite an extremely exciting season for women’s hockey thus far, the competition has only just begun.

Similarly, men’s hockey has been building anticipation, as the Raiders have only just started their journey through the ECAC postseason. Colgate started their playoff run off with a bang, as they defeated Dartmouth 5-3 in the first round on Friday, Mar. 3.

The men’s team will look to continue its journey through the ECAC tournament as their next matchup, a best-of-three series against St. Lawrence, begins Friday, Mar. 10 (game two will be Saturday, Mar. 11, and game three, if needed, will be Sunday, Mar. 12).

There is much to be excited about in the world of Colgate hockey right now. Hopefully, the two teams will continue to provide even more excitement in the coming weeks.

An Outlook on Women’s and Men’s Basketball Postseasons:

Colgate basketball has also impressed this season with both the men’s and women’s teams reaching the postseason Patriot League Tournament. 

Women’s basketball achieved a 16-14 overall regular season record this season, which marked a large improvement from last year’s record of 6-24. Their 10-8 record in the Patriot League earned them the No. 4 seed in the Patriot League tournament.

In her second year as head coach, Ganiyat Adedentan has greatly contributed to the team’s success. After a 1000-point collegiate career at Florida State, Adedentan has continued her collegiate success at the coaching level. Under Adendentan, the Raiders have reached the quarterfinal round in the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

One major area of success for the women’s team has been their defense: the best in the Patriot League, allowing only 54.6 points per game. The Raiders went on a four-game winning streak to cap off the season, allowing 56, 52, 47, and 50 points in those closing games. 

The Women’s basketball season, unfortunately, came to an end Monday, Mar. 5 in a 55-50 loss to Army in the Patriot League quarterfinals at Cotterell Court. The team has made major improvements this season and will look forward to competing again next season.

Men’s basketball has also continued its dominance in the Patriot League from the regular season into the playoffs. After setting a program and Patriot League record with a 17-1 conference record, the Raiders secured the No. 1 spot in the Patriot League tournament, guaranteeing home-court advantage through the playoffs. At the time of writing, ‘Gate has advanced to the Patriot League championship and will face No. 6 seed Lafayette on Wednesday, Mar. 8. Hopefully by the time you’re reading this, the Raiders will have secured the Patriot League title and a bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

To kick things off, Colgate faced No. 8 seed Loyola (Maryland) on Mar. 2 in the quarterfinals. 

The Raiders soared past the Greyhounds 92-73, earning head coach Matt Langel his 200th career win with the program. First-year guard Braeden Smith, who earned a spot on the Patriot League All-Rookie team, led the game with 19 points – alongside double-digit performances from five other Raiders. 

Colgate continued the momentum into its semifinals matchup against Army on Sunday, Mar. 5 winning 91-74. The “Cotterell Crazies” showed out for the semifinals matchup against Army, as the team saw its largest home crowd of the season. Seniors Oliver-Lynch Daniels, Ryan Moffatt and Keegan Records all reached 20 points in another impressive game from the Raiders. One aspect that was clear in these two blowout victories: Colgate leads one of the most efficient offenses in the nation, and ranks 1st in the country with 40.9 percent from the three-point range.

Excitement is building in the Colgate community for the men’s basketball team, who looks to earn its third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid.