MENS ICE HOCKEY

The 1999-2000 Red Raider Men's Hockey Team

1999-2000 game by game report

October 16th- U-Mass Amherst
   The Raiders kicked off the season looking a little weak against a much lower ranked school.  U-Mass beat Senior goalkeeper, Shep Harder twice but could not stop the Red Raider offense from scoring three goals to get the win.

October 22nd and 23rd - At Colorado College
  I had the opportunity to be at these games against the CC Tigers.  Colorado had a huge home field advantage.  The combonation of a higher altitude and a larger rink leaves many teams struggling for air.  They also have a large and loud fan following, ranks right up there with Cornell as far as the hostility of the environment. Colgate scored first but then slowly faded away.  In the end, sophmore goaltender Jason Lefeve let in 6 compared to the 3 scored by Colgate.
    The second game started simmilarly.  Colgate with an early lead...but the Tigers could not get a puck in the net.  Harder was in this game and played one of the best games in goal I have ever seen anyone play.  He simply could not be beat.  This frustrated the Tigers who began to play a much poorer game and even tried hitting Shep a number of times.  It should be noted that this was also one of the most biased games I have ever seen officiated.  When it comes down to it, not many people respect the ECAC as a serious threat.  Did theofficials not want to see thier team lose?  Or am I just wrong.  From where I sat it looked like the same play made by each team did not get the same treatment.  Colgate held off all the powerplays and pulled off an amazing 3-0 shutout of the Tigers at home.  It was the first time they lost at home in a year and the athletic director of CC says he cannot remember the last time they were shutout at home.  Shep payed the heaviest price for the win.  He was repeatedly hit and even vomited inside the net.  There were several times when he was knocked down and was very slow to get up but he stuck it out and played to the very end.  I would not be surprised to see him continue on after his time at Colgate is up.

Novemeber 5th - At Union
  Colgate kicked off their ECAC schedule with a surprise loss to perrenial celler dweller, Union.  Was it the two week layoff?  Colgate has never been able to get that psyched up for the small games.  Shep and Jason both let in 4 goals a piece.  Colgate still scored 6.  From what I hear the players just weren't into the game that night, very unfortunate.  Union has gone on to win some more games but is doing so in very unorthodox ways.

November 6th - At RPI
  The next night Colgate was set to play the highest ranked team in the ECAC, the RPI engineers.  Colgate played Shep in net and he turned in another stellar performance.  Poor officiating took both teams away from their usual playing style which might have hurt the technically sound Engineers more.  Colgate was looking sharp in all aspects of the game though and went on to a 4-2 win.

November 12th - Harvard
  Harvard might not be the highest ranked team in the league, but they know how to win ECAC games and are always a threat to win on any given night.  Colgate was still playing sharp and took home a 5-4 win.  The last minutes being played with a Harvard power play made for an exciting finish.

November 13th - Brown
  If its Brown...oh nevermind.  Another high scoring game.  I gotta say that Brown was not playing with a lot of class.  With about 5 minutes left and Colgate up by one a seemingly harmless hit against the boards resulted in a Brown player laying motionless on the ice.  I didn't see what was so hard about the hit but the Brown player, who was also the team captain, looked like he was hurt badly.  He was finally helped off the ice and Colgate was charged with a 5 minute major.  Upon hearing this, the Brown player turned to the fans, winked, and stuck out his tounge.  I guess he was fine the whole time judgeing by how hard eh was laughing.  Colgate held on the full 5 minutes and walked away with a 7-6 win.

Novemeber 19th - Clarkson
  What's going on with the Golden Knights this year?  No one knows for sure but they are not the ECAC champions of old.  They managed some really good plays but for the most part they looked very unpolished.  Starting goaltender, Shaw Grant is falling apart this season.  The coach will not play the backup goalie due to attitude problems from what I hear, which left him to put in a 3rd string goalie after he pulled Grant.  Both teams were hungry for a win but Clarkson just had too many problems to pull it off. 4-3 Raiders

Novemeber 20th - St. Lawrence
   Another top team skated to Starr rink in the hopes of ending the Raider home unbeaten streak.  The score was the same, but St. Lawrence looked a lot cleaner in doing so.  Colgate had a large lead early but then might have gotten too confident and let in two more goals witch led to the final of 4-3.

November 27th and 28th -  at SIT Tournament vs Merrimack and Niagra
   Colgate wins the tournament for the first time in 15 years.  Shep won a 3-0 shutout against Merrimack.  From what I hear the team did not play so well but still managed to win on the road.  The next night they faced Niagra, a ranked team that had beaten Cornell to get to the finals.  Colgate won 3-2.

December 3rd - At Yale
  Colgate once again let down their guard after a big win agianst a lower ranked opponent.  Penalties and sloppy playing cost Colgate a number of opportunities.  After a scorless first, Yale went on to score twice and held off every Red Raider attack.  Yale was highly motivated for this game and Colgate just was not.

December 4th - At Princeton
  The Raiders faced another highly motivated team, and again they lost.  This time the goaltending was Colgates weakness as both goalies saw ice time and let in a total of 5 goals.  Colgate did score once but turned in another lackluster performance.

December 10th and 11th - Ferris State
   Colgate returned home for some tough, out of conference competition.  Several people who saw these games have called them some of the best college hockey they've seen.  The Ferris state team has some incredible shot takers, and Shep was on his guard all game.  The first night he held off Ferris state almost the entire game before finally letting on in.  The Ferris state goals made a mistake or two that made the score a lot more lopsided than it should have been.Colgate won 4-1, but the score was no indication of how close the game really was.  The next night was another classic game.  Ferris State took the lead and Coglate could not crack them.  The crowd was not nearly as large or into it due to finals being next weak, which might have cost Colgate some of its home ice advantage.  The third period saw a Colgate comeback and come within one goal of catching up to the Bulldogs.  The fans who were at the arena were on teh edge of their seat all the way to the final buzzer.  Coglate did not catch up though and lost 3-2.  This ended a home game unbeaten streak that was about a year long.

Mid Season report
Here's what I think so far, and your certainly welcome to state your own opinion on the message board.  Colgate definitly has big game potential.  Unfortunalty the wins against RPI and St. Lawrence get balenced out by losses against Union and Princeton.   The Red Raiders are currently one point behind Harvard for the lead of the ECAC.  Will the January curse once again ruin Colgates chances of winning the ECAC crown?  Colgate has a fairly light schedule over break and then returns home to face Dartmouth and the Vermont Catamounts, who are embroiled in controversy right now.  A win over both these teams in necessary.  Colgate will be on home ice, but without a lot of thier fans as it is the weekend before classes start.  After that Colgate will face ECAC arch rival Cornell.  If Colgate can win both of these games then they should be able to do anything.  I personally am dying to see a win at Cornells Lynah rink.  After Colgate plays Army on Jan 14th they will not be playing another non conference team until the NCAA's if they make it.  The team has been ranked as high as 6th in the nation and is currently at number 10.  This could be a very exciting finish so pay atterntion!

December 30th- MercyHurst
Mercyhurst gets a little taste of Division 1 hockey.  Colgate scores twice in the first 5 minutes and again in the second period.  Shep Harder was flawless in goal and tied a regular season record with his third shutout.  Colgate wins at home, 3-0.

January 7th - At Ohio State
Let me give you the recap by the numbers here.  Colgate is a great hockey team, thats one point for us.  Colgate does not like to win on the road, Colgate does not like to win in the month of January.  Colgate has a problem beating teams lower ranked then them.  Thats three points against us.  See what the final score is here?  Colgate struck first of the stick of Cory Murphy but could not keep any sort of momentum going throughout the game.  For those of you who like excuses they were playing in an amazing arena packed with over 7000 fans.  And also the refs seemed to be a bit biased.  3-1 Ohio.

January 15th - At Army
Colgate scored early and often in the first period and looked very good.  They were up 3-0 at the first break.  The second period saw a small change of fortune for the team.   Colgate scored very early in the period but the refs seemed to have a change fo heart.  After calling just one penalty in the first they would go on to call an additional 13 in the rest of the game, most being on Colgate.  Colgate started Jason Lefevre in net and looked decent, giving up only two goals, both on power plays.  Unfortunatly, he only saw 12 shots so this will keep his save percentage below 85%.  Colgate looked like they lost part of thier edge when they had the early lead and were only able to put away Army 5-2 after a late game empty netter.  3 is still the largest margin of victory for the team.  But they won on the road, in January, against a weaker team!  Now they will go on to face the rest of the ECAC for the rest of their season!

January 22nd - Dartmouth
Colgate looked very good the first two periods.  The defense was tight and did not allow Dartmouth to get off many good shots.  Two Red Raiders scored their first goal of the season to give CU a 2-0 lead going into the third.  Colgate responded slowely on two loose pucks in front of thier own net and saw the scoerd get tied.  With 8 minutes left Andy MacDonald scored a beautiful goal to put Colgate up.  Less than a minute later another nice looking Colgate goal, less than a minute after that colgate dened the top of the net with a 3rd goal within 3 minutes.  Colgate goes on to win 5-2.  This was also the closest I've seen to a game with a real fight this year.  Colgate played one of the most complete games I've seen them play so far and did not show any real weaknesses.

January 28th - Cornell
What a series! Colgate got on the board early when Sean Nolan and Erkki Rajamaki each scored in the first 10 minutes.  Colgate would then relax a bit and Cornell took over on offense for a while but just could not beat Shep Harder.  As we have seen many times in the past, Shep was able to frustrate the other teams offense who were taking quality shots, but then they got frustrated and lost some focus.  Cornell would give up another goal and took out thier starting goalie and put in one who hadn't played yet, but did surprisingly well.  Colgate did get one past him in the 3rd.  Cornell then abandoned thier normal game plan and began to playa  lot rougher.  There was an especially vicious hit on Sean Nolan that sent him head first into the boards, not smart,  a 5 minute major was called.  Shep only begame more focused and would go on to get a 4-0 shut out win.  Not only was this Colgates biggest win this season, but it was also a milestone for Harder, who broke a school record for shutouts in a season.

January 29th - At Cornell
This home and home weekend ended at the always intimidating Lynah rink.  Colgate took just 4 shots in the first period.  One did get by the line though and Colgate took a 1-0 lead.  The second period was almost all Cornell.  Shep was in net again and made some amazing saves.  He also let two past him to give the bears a brief lead.  Colgate scored early in the third and the teams were deadlocked for a time.  Shep continued to make great saves in net which prompted Cornell to make another mistake.  They started getting too physical with Shep, wich always seems to make him play even better.  Andy McDonald would score the go ahead goal with about 4 minutes left.  Colgate added another almost immediatly which took Cornell out of the game.  That's when the inevitable happened. Shep got hit one too many times and a brawl broke out. * At one point Shep was taken out of the fight, but he went headlong right back in there to mix it up some more.  As he was being taken off the ice he raised a skate behind him and waved to the Cornell fans, he had done his job, Colgate sweeps the big red for the first time in 5 years after a 4-2 win.

* We got this footage from www.hockey.cornell.edu

February 4th - At Brown
Colgate had to be patient for this one.  The first goal in this one was scored by Sean  Nolan on the power play in the third period.  Brown tied it up but Chad MacDonald reclaimed the lead for the Red Raiders.  Andy McDonald would add an empty netter before time expired.  Jason Lefevre had a great night in net, stopping 23 out of 24 shots.  Colgate won 3-1.

February 5th - At Harvard
Colgate seemed to be a little slow, especially in our own zone.  Harvard scored first but Colgate did not back down.  Sean Nolan evened things up with a power play goal early in the second.  Colgate had good offensive pressure but Harvard kept making good use of the chances they got.  Colgate took the lead but gave it up twice.  Cory Murphy had a very nice goal.  After a great begining to the third period Colgate would score no more.  The game went to OT, where it ended in a 4-4 tie.

February 11th - At St. Lawrence
CU skated into this one without Sean Nolan, Andy McDonald, and a whole bunch of our defensemen.  Not good against the best team in the league.  SLU scored early on a power play and Colgate found themselves on defense most of the game.  Colgate ammased a good amount of shots but had no one there to chip in the rebounds they were getting.  Both teams played a very mistake free game, only 4 penalties a piece.  Darryl Campbell scored Colgates only goal in the second.  Shep made a lot of good saves in net but it was not enough as Colgate losses 5-1.

February 12th - At Clarkson
The Golden Knights have been struggling this year, but are still a capable opponent, especially at Cheel Arena in the north country.  Colgate and Clarkson both scored in the first on a power play.   Colgate scored again before the end of the period.  The second was controled by the Knights, who tied up the score.  The game continued to be tied until Andy McDonald connected with Kevin Johns on a pass that led to a no angle shot...that went in with about 7 minutes left in the game.  Clarkson would not go quietly and turned it up even more, forcing Shep to make some great saves.  One empty netter later, and Colgate wins 4-2.

February 18th - RPI
Many people considered this the battle for second place in the ECAC.   It was also billed as a battle of the goalies, Hobey Baker canidate Joel Laing against our own, Shep Harder.  Lots of action in the first,  Morin finally scored on a power play with about a minute left to send RPI, frustrated, back to the locker room.  RPI was unfocused at the start of second and Colgate would enjoy some 5 on 3 hockey.  Bryon Long was the one to finally put the puck in the net.  Campbell scored soon after that.  Colgate's luck would change when RPI scored 6 seconds into a power play, then again on an almost identical shot about a minute later.   Colgate wouldn't increase the lead again until after both teams traded goals early in the 3rd when Andy McDonald put the puck in the net.  RPI's Offense didn't fare so well in the third. They scored with 2 seconds left in the game after pulling a tiring Laing.  Colgate wins 5-4.

February 19th - Union
Remember when we lost to them 8-6 earlier in the season?  Time for some sweet revenge!  Colgate just scored twice in the 1st, but had a lot of missed passes on some good set ups.   Colgate also scored the first three goals in the second period before Union broke the shutout.  Colgate just dominated, scoring agian and again and again.  Yet Unions goalie looked very surprised and pissed off when he was pulled.  Shep also got pulled, but that was just to give Jason some time in net.  Penalties just killed Union, who gave Colgate 9 power plays.  Scoring leaders for Colgate were Darryl Campbell, with two goals, Sean Nolan, two goals and an assist and Andy McDonald, also two goals and an assist.  Colgate wins 9-3, it was the most goals we've scored this season and the largest margin of victory.

February 25th- At Dartmouth
Colgate's only game this weekend due to the Vermont situation.   A bit of a slow start for Colgate, who trailed twice in the first period.  Like the first game, Colgate remained level headed and even added an offensive flurry to close the second.  Colgate scored 3 times in about 2 minutes.   Darryl Campbell led the scoring with 2 goals and Andy McDonald made 3 big assists.  Shep buckeled down in net after letting in a soft goal at the end of the first.  Looks like Colgate has found thier killer instinct!  6-2 Colgate.

March 3rd- Princeton
Princeton was ready to put up one last fight as they tried to get into position for the post season.   Cory Murphy and Andy McDonald both scored on a  powerplay and had an assist each.   Shep let in two off 33 shots and the game went to overtime.  And there it ended, 2-2.  Perhaps a little wake up call for Colgate?  The tie ensured that Colgate would finish second in the regular season.

March 4th- Yale
Colgate was looking to get back on track.   This was a very rough game.  Take into consideration that if Colgate wins then they will be facing Yale next weekend at home in a best of 3 series.  Think there was some stradgey going on in this game?  Colgate dominated.  Three power play goals, lots of pressure.  Scoring two goals for Colgate were Bryan Long and Andy McDonald.  Give Sean Nolan and Etienne Morin two assists each.  Shep let in one at the start of the second.  He made 17 saves before Jason Lefevre was put in for the final 14 minutes. Jason stopped all 5 shots he faced.  Perhaps we will see him in one of the games next weekend.  Another blowout for Colgate 7-1.

March 10th - Yale
ECAC Championships, first round
This certainly was not the Yale team we saw last weekend.  Colgate's game failed to click early on.  The passes and shots were not there.  Towards the middle of the second Colgate was looking at a 3-0 deficit.  Campbell and McDonald would tally two power play goals for Colgate to get back in the game.  Yal added a PP goal of thier own early in the third.   It was time for Colgate to buckle down and take the game back into thier hands.   Sean Nolan would be the go to guy.  He scored a few minutes in, and then again on a power play ten minutes later.  The third period ended in a a tie.  Colgate kept the momentum as the ice was resurfaced.  53 seconds into OT Nolan was fed an up ice pass, which he slipped into the net for a natural hat trick and the game. 5-4 Colgate

March 11th - Yale
ECAC Championships, first round
Colgate would not get off to a slow start this time.  Campbell scored early to maintain the momentum from last night.  Murphy had the next goal of the night, it was also Chad MacDonalds second assist.  Yale scored a weird power play goal when there was a pile in front of the net and a Yale player found the puck first.   Yale then scored again on a wrap around.  The game moved on until about 7 minutes left in the third when Andy McDonald scored his first of the night.   Shep did look good in net all night.  McDonald raced ahead to get an empty netter as the game was ending.  Colgate moves on to Lake Placid to face RPI. 4-2 Colgate.

March 17th-  RPI
Lake Placid NY, Semi Finals
RPI looked like they were playing better all first.  Colgate got off 5 shots, Chad MacDonald putting one in near the end of the period.   Colgate held off the RPI attck for about 7 minutes of the 2nd until RPI scored on the power play.   Then again about 2 minutes later.  Colgate stayed with the game, but was not controling it.  For Colgate, there just wasn't any flow on offense and the transition from defense to offense seemed to be giving the team problems.  RPI scored with about a minute left to end Colgates ECAC hopes, 3-1.

March 18th- Cornell
Lake Placid, consolation game
The big red went into this game with 73 more minutes played than Colgate and they opted to play lots of thier freshman.  Colgate was more than happy to help them end their season and beat them for the third time in one year.  Sean Nolan scored the first goal on a  power play 15 minutes in.  McDonald put one in about a minute later.  Shep only faced three shots.  The second saw another fight almost break out, and another goal by Nolan.  Darryl Campbell outmanuvered the Cornell goalie to score in the third.  That was about it,  Shep shuts out Cornell with a score of 4-0 for the second time this year.  Colgate recieves a bid to play in the NCAA tournament.

March 25th- Michigan
At Albany, regional NCAA first round game
Colgate advances to the NCAA's for the first time in 10 years .  A large fan base was on hand in Albany to provide Colgate with some home ice advantage.  Colgate got off to a very slow start.  Michigan scored twice in the first and the game was not going well.  Michigan scored a second power play goal early in the second.   Colgate was playing a lot tougher though, and a comeback was in order.  Andy McDonald put the puck in on a powerplay and soon Darryl Campbell added a power play tally.  The game winded down and Colgate was obviously in  control, barely missing the net on several occasions, while Shep really turned it on in the third to keep the team one goal back.   When all seemed lost, Campbell scored his second goal of the night with jsut 48 seconds left.  This game was going to overtime.  Colgate's aggresive game had worn down Michigan and Colgate had better conditioning and the momentum.  About 6 minutes in, Mike O'Mally slipped the puck in the side of the net to turn the light on.  Only one problem, the puck slid in between the goallies skate and the post after a struggle in front of the net.  In short, the ref lost sight of the puck because it was hidden in the net from his angle.   He blew the whistle and waved off the goal.  Replays will show the puck over the line and before the ref blew the whistle.  Still, he refused to consult the goal judge or allow for a replay.  Colgate continued to have the the momentum though.  Michigan was not done yet though.    They made a break for the net, a slapshot got deflected, and Colgates season ended.   The crowd was silenced in disbelief for a couple of seconds before they started chanting for Colgate again to cheer the team off the ice in appreciation of a great season.

Season review
Colgate had a wild ride this year.  They were led by a great group of seniors and strong suporting cast.  Early in the season, Colgate split with Colorado College, at that point in the season, that was a huge win for us, and Colgate threatened to break into the top ten.  The ECAC season began with aunfortunate loss to Union, then a victory over RPI at home, it was a sign of things to come and the begining of a wild ride for the ECAC.  Colgate then ammased a nice wining streak, beating Harvard, Brown, Clarkson and SLU.  Colgate then captured its first Syracuse Invintational Tournament crown in a long time by beating Merrimack and Niagra.  The streak could not last when Colgate resumed ECAC competition.  Two big losses to Yale and Princeton pushed Colgate down in the standings.  Colgate split with Ferris State, the loss was Colgates only home loss all year.  Colgate entered winter break, which is the time the team usually starts to lose games.  Thinks did not look good after CU got beaten pretty badly by an unranked Ohio State.  That was it for the January curse though, after that Colgate would beat Army at West Point.  There was concern  for how Colgate would play after having a lot of time off, but CU played like champions against Dartmouth, holding the lead, losing it, then piling on three in three minutes.  After thatit was time to tangle with Cornell.  Colgate would sweep the series for the first time in 5 years, but a Cornell instigated brawl would cost Colgate several players in the games to come.   Don't look now, but Colgate is near the top of the ECAC and is pushing its way back into the top ten.  After a rather lackluster series with Harvard and Brown that resulted in a win and a tie, Colgate invaded the north country in an important series.  Unfortunatly, without several top players, Colgate was no match for SLU.  CU would win a  very close game at Clarkson the next night to prove Colgate was still a top team.  Colgate finished the regular season strong, but it wou not be enough to top SLU, Colgate finished second overall.  The first round of the playoffs brought Yale back to Starr rink.  Colgate woke up in time to win teh first game in OT and got a hard fought win the next night to move onto Lake Placid.   RPI was the opponent, and they were ready,  a mistake free game gave them the win and ended Colgates ECAC title hopes.  After shuting out Cornell again in the consolation game, the Red Raiders awaited the NCAA tournament selections.  Based upon Colgates performance all year, Colgate was given the number 4 seed in the eastern bracket.  Michigans the opponent and CU suffed an OT loss after a hard fought struggle.  Even in defeat, Colgate earned a lot of respect from the entire College hockey community.  It was a great season, and the Colgate team and fans have a lot to be proud of.

Senior forward Andy McDonald netted his 10th goal and 18th assist against Dartmouth Saturday night, strengthening his case as a Hobey Baker candidate.

Senior goalie Shep Harder turned aside 68 of 70 shots in a 2 game sweep of the Cornell Big Red.  He set a Colgate record by picking up his 4th shutout of the season Friday night, and then led Colgate to their first win at Lynah rink in 5 years on Saturday night.  Shep stunned the "Big Red Faithful" crowd, and was simply unbeatable despite taking many hard hits from a rough Cornell team.

Cornell goalie Matt Underhill dreds another encounter with theRed Raiders.  Colgate would score 4 goals in each of the 3 games against the big red this season.

A new tradition was started as me and Mike ran the Colgate flag around the rink after a goal.  The fan support for this was incredible and it really brought the Colgate fans together.

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