2021–22 Colgate Raiders men's ice hockey season

The 2021–22 Colgate Raiders Men's ice hockey season was the 92nd season of play for the program and the 61st season in the ECAC Hockey conference. The Raiders represented the Colgate University and played their home games at Class of 1965 Arena, and were coached by Don Vaughan, in his 29th season as their head coach.

2021–22 Colgate Raiders men's ice hockey season
Conference	5th ECAC Hockey
Home ice	Class of 1965 Arena
Rankings
USCHO	NR
USA Today	NR
Record
Overall	18–18–4
Conference	9–9–4
Home	10–8–1
Road	8–9–3
Neutral	0–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Don Vaughan
Assistant coaches	Dana Borges Andy Boschetto Chris Azzano
Captain(s)	Paul McAvoy
Alternate captain(s)	Josh McKechney
Colgate Raiders men's ice hockey seasons « 2020–21 2022–23 »

Season

Colgate got off to a hot start, winning its first four games and nearly entering the top-20. The Raiders played a pivotal game against Western Michigan at the end of October and looked to be heading for a surprise win when the jumped out to a 5–0 lead. In the second half of the game, however, the Broncos completely took over the game and scored six unanswered goals to take the match. That loss kicked off a downward stretch for the team that saw them go 3–12–2 over a three month period. Other than a pair of shutouts in November, there was very little that went right for the Raiders. The team's offense was inconsistent, their goaltending was suspect and they sank towards the bottom of the conference standings.

After Carter Gylander lost his starting role in early January, both backups received time in goal but nothing seemed to work. Finally, at the end of the month, Mitch Benson put together a string of good games and allowed the team to get back on its feet. Over the final month of the season, Colgate started winning again and charged up the standings. The Raiders propelled themselves into a mediocre record, good enough for 5th in the ECAC. While they still had to play in the First Round of the conference tournament, they did so against the weakest opponent.

Colgate got a small scare in the first game when Yale tied the match in the last minute of regulation to force overtime. After escaping with a win, the Raiders were much better in the second game and swept the series. In the quarterfinals, Benson was assailed by the Cornell offense, facing 43 shots in the first match. After the loss, the team had no room for error and responded with a strong performance in game 2, tying the series with an offensive outburst. The final meeting looked more like the first, with the Big Red firing shot after shot on goal but Benson was equal to the task. He held Cornell scoreless for over 59 minutes, allowing the Riders to build a 2–0 lead, but lost his shutout bid with just 8 seconds to play. The result was what Colgate needed however, and the team advanced to the semifinals.

Because of the poor middle to their season, Colgate had no chance to make the NCAA tournament without winning the conference championship. To do that they would first have to get past Quinnipiac, who had been ranked #1 earlier in the season. The top seed didn't take pity on the Raiders and got out to a 2 goal lead in the first period. Colgate upped their game in the second, cutting the Bobcats' advantage in half, but the Raider offense couldn't net a tying goal. A third goal midway through the third put Quinnipiac back up by 2 Colgate's tournament hopes were dashed shortly afterwards.

Departures

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Nick Austin	Defenseman	United States	Graduate transfer to Massachusetts Lowell
Trevor Cosgrove	Defenseman	United States	Graduate transfer to Northern Michigan
Tyler Jeanson	Forward	Canada	Graduation (signed with Wichita Thunder)
Henry Marshall	Forward	United States	Graduation (retired)
Evan Tschumi	Defenseman	Canada	Graduation (signed with HC Lugano)

Recruiting

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
Nic Belpedio	Defenseman	United States	19	Skokie, IL
Tommy Bergsland	Defenseman	United States	20	Plymouth, MN
Alex DiPaolo	Forward	Canada	21	Oakville, ON
Cole Hanson	Forward	United States	21	Grand Forks, ND
Ryan McGuire	Forward	Canada	19	Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, QC
Daniel Panetta	Forward	Canada	20	Belleville, ON
Ben Raymond	Forward	Canada	20	Newton, MA

Roster

As of August 19, 2021.

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Mitch Benson	Senior	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-11-18	Windsor, Ontario	Brooks (AJHL)	—
2		Pierson Brandon	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2000-06-26	Irvington, New York	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
3		Anthony Stark	Junior	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1999-04-09	New York, New York	Madison (USHL)	—
4		Elliott McDermott	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	1999-02-03	Kingston, Ontario	Carleton Place (CCHL)	—
5		Paul McAvoy (C)	Graduate	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1996-09-17	Richmond, Kentucky	Surrey (BCHL)	—
7		Josh McKechney (A)	Graduate	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1997-05-29	Calgary, Alberta	Brooks (AJHL)	—
8		P. J. Garrett	Sophomore	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	2000-01-17	Duxbury, Massachusetts	Powell River (BCHL)	—
9		Nic Belpedio	Freshman	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	2001-10-09	Skokie, Illinois	Waterloo (USHL)	—
10		Arnaud Vachon	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1998-05-13	Ajax, Ontario	Brooks (AJHL)	—
12		Colton Young	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1998-08-23	Calgary, Alberta	Canmore (AJHL)	—
13		Matt Verboon	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-02-23	Geneva, Switzerland	Salmon Arm (BCHL)	—
14		Ethan Manderville	Junior	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	2000-07-01	Ottawa, Ontario	Ottawa (CCHL)	—
15		Jack Hoey	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-11-03	Fairfield, Connecticut	Choate Rosemary Hall (USHS–CT)	—
16		Griffin Lunn	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1997-11-15	Lockport, New York	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
17		Ross Mitton	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-07-05	Copiague Harbor, New York	Omaha (USHL)	—
18		Ben Raymond	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-08-22	Newton, Massachusetts	Powell River (BCHL)	—
19		Ryan McGuire	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2002-07-27	New Canaan, Connecticut	Penticton (BCHL)	—
20		Levi Glasman	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	1999-07-31	Lacombe, Alberta	Powell River (BCHL)	—
21		Alex Young	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-03-22	Calgary, Alberta	Canmore (AJHL)	SJS, 196th overall 2020
22		Cole Hanson	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2000-09-19	Grand Forks, North Dakota	New Mexico (NAHL)	—
23		Jeff Stewart	Senior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	1998-02-23	Surrey, British Columbia	Surrey (BCHL)	—
25		Tommy Bergsland	Freshman	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-03-23	Minnetrista, Minnesota	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
26		Liam Watson-Brawn	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-04-06	Vancouver, British Columbia	Prince George (BCHL)	—
27		Nick Anderson	Sophomore	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1999-01-04	Independence, Minnesota	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
28		Alex DiPaolo	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	2000-04-28	Oakville, Ontario	Victoria (BCHL)	—
31		Andrew Farrier	Senior	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1997-10-01	Montreal, Quebec	Kingston (OJHL)	—
32		Will Friend	Senior	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1999-08-02	South Hamilton, Massachusetts	Governor's Academy (USHS–MA)	—
37		Carter Gylander	Sophomore	G	6' 5" (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-06-05	Beaumont, Alberta	Sherwood Park (AJHL)	DET, 191st overall 2019

Standings

2021–22 ECAC Hockey Standings
	Conference record											Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OTW	OTL	3/SW	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#8 Quinnipiac †	22	17	4	1	0	1	1	54	71	14		42	32	7	3	139	53
#17 Clarkson	22	14	4	4	0	2	3	51	86	47		37	21	10	6	123	85
#15 Harvard *	22	14	6	2	0	0	2	46	69	46		35	21	11	3	116	82
Cornell	22	12	6	4	2	1	0	39	73	47		32	18	10	4	100	72
Colgate	22	9	9	4	1	0	3	33	55	57		40	18	18	4	111	112
Rensselaer	22	10	12	0	0	0	0	30	58	63		44	18	23	3	114	119
Union	22	9	11	2	3	1	0	27	52	66		37	14	19	4	89	110
St. Lawrence	22	7	10	5	2	0	2	26	44	60		37	11	19	7	72	110
Brown	22	6	12	4	0	1	2	25	36	61		31	7	20	4	50	100
Princeton	22	7	14	1	0	1	0	23	54	89		31	8	21	2	70	122
Yale	22	7	14	1	3	1	1	21	38	60		30	8	21	1	55	90
Dartmouth	22	5	15	2	0	3	1	21	45	71		32	7	22	3	69	110
Championship: March 19, 2022 † indicates conference regular season champion (Cleary Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Whitelaw Cup) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Decision	Result	Attendance	Record
Regular Season
October 2	7:05 PM	at RIT*		Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York		Gylander	W 5–2	3,176	1–0–0
October 8	7:00 PM	at Vermont*		Gutterson Fieldhouse • Burlington, Vermont		Gylander	W 5–3	2,705	2–0–0
October 9	7:00 PM	at Vermont*		Gutterson Fieldhouse • Burlington, Vermont		Farrier	W 2–1	2,728	3–0–0
October 15	7:00 PM	Merrimack*		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Gylander	W 2–1 OT	917	4–0–0
October 16	4:00 PM	Merrimack*		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Farrier	L 3–5	614	4–1–0
October 22	7:00 PM	Arizona State*		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Gylander	W 8–3	1,081	5–1–0
October 23	7:00 PM	Arizona State*		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Gylander	L 3–4	1,394	5–2–0
October 29	7:00 PM	#13 Western Michigan*		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Gylander	L 5–6	1,022	5–3–0
October 30	5:00 PM	#13 Western Michigan*		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Benson	L 1–2 OT	844	5–4–0
November 5	7:00 PM	at Dartmouth		Thompson Arena • Hanover, New Hampshire		Gylander	L 2–3	990	5–5–0 (0–1–0)
November 6	7:00 PM	at #13 Harvard		Bright-Landry Hockey Center • Boston, Massachusetts		Farrier	L 1–5	1,587	5–6–0 (0–2–0)
November 12	7:00 PM	Rensselaer		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Gylander	W 5–2	350	6–6–0 (1–2–0)
November 13	3:00 PM	Union		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Gylander	L 0–2	528	6–7–0 (1–3–0)
November 19	7:30 PM	Yale		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Gylander	W 3–0	628	7–7–0 (2–3–0)
November 20	7:30 PM	Brown		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Gylander	W 6–0	523	8–7–0 (3–3–0)
November 27	7:00 PM	at Connecticut*		XL Center • Hartford, Connecticut		Benson	L 1–6	3,134	8–8–0
December 3	7:00 PM	at #19 Clarkson		Cheel Arena • Potsdam, New York		Gylander	L 1–2	2,669	8–9–0 (3–4–0)
December 4	7:00 PM	at St. Lawrence		Appleton Arena • Canton, New York		Gylander	L 3–4	1,031	8–10–0 (3–5–0)
January 7	6:37 PM	at Northern Michigan*		Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan		Gylander	L 2–4	1,832	8–11–0
January 8	6:37 PM	at Northern Michigan*		Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan		Gylander	L 3–6	2,227	8–12–0
January 16	7:00 PM	at Yale		Ingalls Rink • New Haven, Connecticut		Benson	T 2–2 SOL	0	8–12–1 (3–5–1)
January 21	7:00 PM	#1 Quinnipiac		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Benson	L 1–5	607	8–13–1 (3–6–1)
January 22	7:00 PM	Princeton		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Farrier	T 2–2 SOW	0	8–13–2 (3–6–2)
January 28	7:00 PM	Harvard		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Farrier	L 5–3	808	8–14–2 (3–7–2)
January 29	7:00 PM	Dartmouth		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Benson	W 2–1	606	9–14–2 (4–7–2)
February 4	7:30 PM	#11 Cornell		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Benson	W 3–2	1,292	10–14–2 (5–7–2)
February 5	7:00 PM	at #11 Cornell		Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York		Benson	T 2–2 SOW	3,201	10–14–3 (5–7–3)
February 11	7:00 PM	at Union		Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York		Benson	W 6–4	1,325	11–14–3 (6–7–3)
February 12	7:00 PM	at Rensselaer		Houston Field House • Troy, New York		Benson	W 3–2	430	12–14–3 (7–7–3)
February 14	7:00 PM	at Brown		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Benson	T 1–1 SOW	207	12–14–4 (7–7–4)
February 18	7:00 PM	#15 Clarkson		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Benson	L 1–4	996	12–15–4 (7–8–4)
February 19	7:00 PM	St. Lawrence		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Benson	W 4–2	927	13–15–4 (8–8–4)
February 25	7:00 PM	at Princeton		Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey		Benson	W 4–3	1,151	14–15–4 (9–8–4)
February 26	7:00 PM	at #5 Quinnipiac		People's United Center • Hamden, Connecticut		Benson	L 0–4	3,061	14–16–4 (9–9–4)
ECAC Hockey Tournament
March 4	7:00 PM	Yale*		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York (First Round game 1)		Benson	W 3–2 OT	1,002	15–16–4
March 5	7:00 PM	Yale*		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York (First Round game 2)		Benson	W 5–1	848	16–16–4
Colgate Won Series 2–0
March 11	7:00 PM	at #18 Cornell*		Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York (Quarterfinal game 1)		Benson	L 1–3	3,550	16–17–4
March 12	7:00 PM	at #18 Cornell*		Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York (Quarterfinal game 2)		Benson	W 4–2	4,034	17–17–4
March 13	4:00 PM	at #18 Cornell*		Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York (Quarterfinal game 3)		Benson	W 2–1	2,735	18–17–4
Colgate Won Series 2–1
March 18	4:00 PM	vs. #6 Quinnipiac*		Herb Brooks Arena • Lake Placid, New York (Semifinal)		Benson	L 1–3	4,256	18–18–4
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source:

Scoring statistics

Name	Position	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	PIM
Colton Young	F	38	15	17	32	24
Alex Young	C	39	10	21	31	51
Matt Verboon	C/RW	40	10	18	28	6
Josh McKechney	F	40	14	13	27	21
Griffin Lunn	D	32	12	7	19	14
Nick Anderson	D	35	1	18	19	23
Ethan Manderville	C	39	4	12	16	6
Pierson Brandon	D	37	6	9	15	18
Arnaud Vachon	C	40	6	8	14	55
Alex DiPaolo	LW	31	4	9	13	33
Elliott McDermott	D	40	2	11	13	22
Ross Mitton	F	35	5	7	12	0
Jeffrey Stewart	LW	40	5	7	12	41
Tommy Bergsland	D	40	4	7	11	33
Nic Belpedio	D	36	4	5	9	16
Paul McAvoy	F	29	2	6	8	12
Ben Raymond	C/LW	20	2	2	4	2
Ryan McGuire	C	37	1	3	4	29
Levi Glasman	LW	24	3	0	3	22
Cole Hanson	F	24	1	2	3	6
Liam Watson-Brawn	D	20	0	3	3	10
Anthony Stark	D	29	0	2	2	10
P. J. Garrett	D	13	0	1	1	12
Carter Gylander	G	16	0	1	1	0
Jack Hoey	C	1	0	0	0	0
William Friend	G	1	0	0	0	0
Andrew Farrier	G	5	0	0	0	0
Mitch Benson	G	20	0	0	0	0
Bench	-	-	-	-	-	0
Total			111	189	300	466

Goaltending statistics

Name	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	SV %	GAA
Mitch Benson	20	1203	10	7	3	48	571	0	.922	2.39
Carter Gylander	16	911	7	8	0	42	414	2	.908	2.76
Andrew Farrier	5	301	1	3	1	17	152	0	.899	3.38
Will Friend	1	1:08	0	0	0	1	1	0	.500	52.94
Empty Net	-	23	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-
Total	40	2441	18	18	4	112	1138	2	.910	2.75

Rankings

Main article: 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings

Poll	Week
	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25 (Final)
USCHO.com	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	-	NR
USA Today	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.

Players drafted into the NHL

2022 NHL Entry Draft

Round	Pick	Player	NHL team
4	111	Noah Laba†	New York Rangers
6	169	Jared Wright†	Los Angeles Kings

† incoming freshman