At the end of 2014, the Colgate Raiders were on the outside looking in when it came to the NCAA Tournament. The Raiders went 9-7 in 2014 before losing five of their last seven games to close out the season. That included two consecutive losses to Loyola in the Patriot League Semifinals and then Syracuse to end the year. What is in store for 2015? Well before we can take a look at the 2015 season, let’s see how they are preparing for the spring with a little fall ball check in.
The Raiders entered fall ball very talented on the offensive end. Last year they were quite young and at the end of the season, five of their top seven scorers were either sophomores or juniors. The lone seniors were ranked as the second and seventh leading scorers. Therefore, they bring back a wealth of talent and experience, specifically at attack.
Leading the charge for the offense will be senior Ryan Walsh who led the team with 45 points last season. Joining him back on attack is junior Eric Foote who had 27 points. Most likely, fellow junior Kevin Adams (22 points) will step in to replace departed senior Brendon McCann (35 points) on the attack line. In the midfield, senior Matt Clarkson will be the main threat from up top as he will look to improve upon a 26 point campaign from 2014. However, the rest of the midfield unit is very much uncertain as they got very little output from the midfield unit last season. Outside of Clarkson, graduated senior Justin Kirchner, sophomore Will Mette and senior Alex Kinnealey combined for 11 points. It will be interesting to see who can contribute on the midfield unit this season as that will take the pressure off a talented attack.
Defensively, the Raiders ranked No. 15 in team defense last season as they gave up 8.9 goals a game. However, the Raiders do lose Kevin Boyle who had six points last year and Honorable Mention All-American defenseman Bobby Lawrence. Luckily, the team does return Patriot League Rookie of the Year in goalie Brandon Burke who saved 146 shots and posted a 51 percent save percentage. They also return Leo Stouros, who was third on the team in caused turnovers as a sophomore last season with 10.
On the faceoff game, Alex Kinnealy won 60.7 percent of his faceoffs overall and he won 59.6 of his faceoffs during conference games only. He will give the Raiders some extra possessions on offense and help give a young defense some time to gel once the season starts.
In terms of new blood coming in, the Raiders bring in 15 freshmen including eight midfielders. The hope is that one or two of those middies can help contribute on the offensive end and become a second threat opposite Matt Clarkson.
The Raiders ended their fall ball by participating in the second annual “Faceoff for a Cause” event where they emerged with a pair of scrimmage victories over Division 3 opponent Western New England and fellow Division 1 school Siena.
