60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Colgate

Colgate

2018-19 Record: 10-23-3 (7-12-3, 10th in ECAC)
Head Coach: Don Vaughan, 27th Year
Top returning scorer: Bobby McMann (8G-15A)
Top returning goaltender: Mitch Benson (So.)

Putting it mildly, Colgate could use a boost of offense throughout the lineup. The only teams to score fewer total goals than the Raiders' 55 over the past five seasons were Alaska Anchorage last season, a first-year Arizona State program and a four-win Princeton team in 2014-15. (ASU had more if counting by goals per game.) Only two players ended the year with more than five goals. The team was one of two (St. Lawrence the other) who failed to score an empty-net goal.

That's the kind of year it was as Colgate, who swept New Hampshire to begin the year and won twice more before the holidays, dropped from 17 to 10 wins and down five spots in the ECAC standings. Sometimes things get weird. It was a year where Colgate combined for nine goals in weekend wins over Quinnipiac and Princeton. It then took the next nine games to match that total.

Weirdly enough, being that kind of year, the goaltending and defense didn't drop as much as one might expect when needing to replace a Mike Richter Award finalist in Colton Point, who signed with the Dallas Stars. While expecting anyone to match Point's .944% save percentage would be a fool's errand, it's difficult to complain about freshman Mitch Benson's season. Of full-time freshmen starters, only Minnesota State's Dryden McKay and RPI's Owen Savory had a better save percentage.

What's New: To find some of the lost offense, a six-person freshman class includes five forwards. (The Raiders have an NHL draft pick in the pipeline. Goalie Carter Gylander was drafted by Detroit in the 7th round, however, Gylander will play another year of juniors.) Matt Verboon scored over a point per game for Salmon Arm (BCHL) and represented Switzerland at the 2019 World Juniors. Colton Young had 27 goals in 57 games for Canmore (AJHL). Arnaud Vachon played junior hockey with Cale Makar, which ends today's Pierre McGuire hockey trivia question.

Colgate also has a new assistant coach. Brett Riley, who was on the ground floor recruiting and building a new D-III Wilkes University program, joins Dana Borges and Vaughan on the Raiders bench.

Finally, the Raiders return to Northern Ireland over Thanksgiving. Colgate and Northeastern become the first two teams to repeat in the Friendship Four. Both played in the inaugural 2015 version. (Princeton and New Hampshire complete the field.)

Closing Thoughts: Sometimes on paper, it makes sense for a team to struggle in one area and instead the opposite happens. Questions about replacing a top goalie turned into seeing a Colgate team returning nine of its top 10 scorers score 32 fewer goals.

Injuries affected a couple players, but that can't speak for everyone having a down year in the same year. It's hard not to expect a few Colgate players to bounce back. At the same time, it's fortunate for Vaughan that Benson has claimed the number one goalie job to take some pressure off that end. With October games against Ferris State, Boston College, and Miami, there might be opportunities early to rekindle a lost boost of offense.

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