Last week, the Colgate men’s hockey team faced three ranked opponents. On November 21, the Raiders fell to No. 13 Quinnipiac University, 5-3, broke a six-game losing streak against then No. 19 Princeton University the next day, taking a 5-4 victory in overtime, and then lost to No. 7 Cornell University, 4-2, last Tuesday. Senior co-captain David McIntyre had five points in the three-game span off two goals and three assists, and junior François Brisebois had four points off three goals and one helper. The Raiders scored power play goals in all three games, making it nine games in a row in which Colgate has scored on the man-advantage.

“We have made some slight changes on the unit, which has allowed us to get better control of the puck early in the power play,” Brisebois said. “I also think that the guys are just playing with more poise and confidence. The power play also seems to be using its points a little more and getting quality chances.”

On Friday night, the Raiders hosted the Quinnipiac Bobcats. The visitors controlled the play throughout the first period, outplaying the Raiders all over the ice. Although Colgate outshot the Bobcats by an 8-7 margin, Quinnipiac still had the best chances to score. They drew first blood at the 8:30 mark of the first period on a power play goal. That seemed to wake up the Raiders, who played with increased intensity throughout the rest of the period, but were unable to put one past Bobcat goaltender Dan Hartzell.

Early in the second period, Colgate was poised to take over the game. At the 3:40 mark, junior Brian Day tied the score at one, off of assists from junior Wade Poplawski and McIntyre. Over the next three and a half minutes, the Boys from Hamilton took shot after shot on Quinnipiac’s goalie but were unable to put the biscuit in the basket. At the 7:20 mark, the Bobcats retook the lead and began a spree that brought three goals in five minutes to change the tide of the game once again. Heading into the last twenty minutes of the game, the visitors held a 4-1 advantage over the Raiders.

Quinnipiac saw the best of the Raiders’ play in the final period, as they completely dominated the Bobcats, outshooting them 14-7. At the 5:53 mark of the period, Colgate showed signs of life as Day scored, assisted by first-year Jeremy Price and Poplawski. Almost three minutes later, Colgate pulled within one when sophomore Austin Smith netted his eighth goal of the season, assisted by sophomore Kevin McNamara and McIntyre. Throughout the rest of the period, the Raiders put pressure on the Bobcat backend, but Hartzell was a brick wall, stopping every shot. In the final minute of the game, Quinnipiac struck again on the power play to end the game at 5-3.

“We put ourselves in a tough spot early on with a couple of power play goals against,” Head Coach Don Vaughan said. “They were opportunistic, but we also took some untimely penalties.”

The following night, Colgate looked to bounce back against No. 19 Princeton, whom they had not defeated since the 2006-2007 season. Once again, the Raiders got off to a slow start, as the Tigers scored at the 2:50 mark of the opening period. Colgate was able to tie the game nine minutes later, however, when sophomore Nick Prockow scored on the power play off assists by Brisebois and first-year Robbie Bourdon. With a little less than two minutes to go in the first period, Princeton retook the lead on a power play goal.

The following night, Colgate looked to bounce back against No. 19 Princeton, whom they had not defeated since the 2006-2007 season. Once again, the Raiders got off to a slow start, as the Tigers scored at the 2:50 mark of the opening period. Colgate was able to tie the game nine minutes later, however, when sophomore Nick Prockow scored on the power play off assists by Brisebois and first-year Robbie Bourdon. With a little less than two minutes to go in the first period, Princeton retook the lead on a power play goal.

The second period saw great defensive play from both teams, but especially from the Raiders, lead by sophomore goaltender Alex Evin, who stopped the 21 shots he faced. The lone goal of the frame came at the 15:56 mark, when Brisebois scored his first of the night, assisted by McIntyre and Price.

The last twenty minutes of the game were once again the best of the evening. 59 seconds into the frame, the Tigers took their third lead of the contest. Three minutes later, however, Colgate knotted the game at three when McIntyre scored his first goal of the game, off assists from Smith and senior co-captain Ethan Cox. A little over a minute later, it was McIntyre once again, this time giving the Raiders the lead, assisted by Smith and Price. When it seemed like the Raiders were going to earn their first win in six tries against their Ivy League opponent, Princeton decided to make things interesting by sending the game to overtime with the score tied at four. Brisebois proved to be the night’s hero scoring two minutes into overtime, assisted by Bourdon and Prockow, to give Colgate its first win over a ranked opponent this season.

“I think that the key against Princeton was that all the lines were skating hard,” Brisebois said. “We have a very deep team this year and it shows when all four lines are having a good game.

Three days later, the then No. 20 Colgate Raiders traveled to Ithaca, NY to take on upstate rival Cornell at Lynah Rink. Colgate dominated the first period of the game, outshooting the Big Red 10-6, but was unable to score, just like their travel partners, and the contest was still scoreless after twenty minutes of play.

In the second frame, Cornell took the initiative from the beginning, but the Raiders did an excellent job of clogging the lines and keeping the Big Red from cashing in on their chances. Colgate stunned the 4,267 Lynah faithful when Brisebois scored on the power play to open the scoring, assisted by McNamara and first-year Thomas Larkin at the 11:07 mark. Six and a half minutes later, the hosts tied the game after a scrum in front of the net. A minute after tying the game, Cornell took the lead on a power play goal after a shot deflected off a Raider’s shoulder into the net.

Colgate knotted the game at two at the 1:40 mark of the third period when Prockow scored once again on the power play, off assists from Bourdon and Larkin. The Raiders outplayed the Big Red throughout the rest of the period, outshooting them 13-4, but were unable to add a third goal. After a controversial call led to a Big Red power play, the hosts scored what proved to be the game-winning goal at the 14:49 mark. Throughout the last five minutes, the Raiders did all they could to tie the game, but the Cornell defense stood tall. The Big Red added an empty net goal with four seconds left on the clock to make the final score 4-2.

“Cornell is always a tough team to play against because of its defensive awareness,” Brisebois said. “I have never played a team that is as sound in its defensive zone. I think if we would have had a couple of better bounces late in the game we would have been on top.”

Over the coming weekend, Colgate will travel to the Capital District to take on the Union Dutchmen and the Rensselaer Engineers. The Dutchmen and the Engineers are currently tied for fourth place in ECAC Hockey with six points apiece.

“This is a big weekend for all the teams involved,” Vaughan said. “There will be playoff type energy involved. We need to be prepared to match our opponents’ intensity, take care of the puck and have good awareness of the many different times that momentum could swing in order to take the two games.”

The Raiders (6-4-4, 4-2-1 ECAC) will attempt to make their way back into the national polls. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. tomorrow at Union and 4 p.m. on this Saturday against Rensselaer.