Men’s hockey surprises

Labeled as young and inexperienced, the men’s hockey team surprised many by finishing second in ECAC Hockey. In two ECAC preseason polls, Colgate had been picked to finish ninth; with the team’s 17 rookies and sophomores, voters had their doubts.

The Raiders struggled in the start of the season, with a 7-9-2 record. But, after a home sweep at the hands of UMass before winter break, they hit the reset button.

At the Mariucci Classic in January, Colgate tied top-ranked Minnesota and advanced with a shootout win. The next night, the Raiders dismantled the No. 2 team in the nation, Ferris State, to capture the tournament title with a 3-0 shutout.

That weekend started the team’s turnaround in 2014 with a 10-3-3 run. They finished second in the league, including five wins over ranked opponents. The most notable was a 6-1 drubbing of rival Cornell.

The Raiders won 13 games in conference play for the fifth time under Head Coach Don Vaughan — the most since their 14 wins in 2005–2006. Colgate scored 72 goals in league play this season — 20 more than last season.

“The success has a lot to do with great leadership from our captains [Spiro Goulakos ’15 and Joe Wilson ’15],” Vaughan said. “[It was] those two, combined with a big sophomore class that gained a lot of experience last year in learning how consistent the effort must be to win on the road.”

Away from Starr Rink, the Raiders recorded a 9-4-3 tally. During the regular season, they went unbeaten in seven straight games on the road and swept Clarkson and St. Lawrence for the first time since President Bill Clinton’s first term. The sophomores were responsible for much of the scoring, with 61 goals and a total of 154 points.

“In many programs, it takes until junior year to gain that experience,” Vaughan said, “but for us, with a relatively small roster compared to other schools, our freshmen play. Their talent level and experience helped them get off to a good start this year.”

Vaughan also cited a good defensive strategy. Colgate finished the season allowing only one goal on the power play in the final 38 power play attempts of the regular season. The team had a streak of 28-straight kills over seven games.

Colgate made it to the ECAC Hockey title game for the first time since 1990 after a double-overtime victory against Quinnipiac. After falling short against top-seeded Union in the championship game, the Raiders made their fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament as they earned an at-large bid into the field of 16. At the Midwest Regional in Cincinnati, they lost 1-0 to second-seeded Ferris State. Colgate finished the season with a 20-14-5 overall record. (Photo above: In the game against rival Cornell in February, captain Spiro Goulakos ’15 (#6) tallied his first career hat trick, helping the Raiders beat the Big Red. Photo by Andrew Daddio)


 

Vaughan named Coach of the Year

Don Vaughan standing behind the hockey bench

Don Vaughan, men’s hockey head coach

For the second time, Don Vaughan has been awarded ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year. He was last given the honor in 2000 when the Raiders had their best season, reaching the NCAA Tournament.

“I am extremely honored to be ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year in a league that boasts some of the best coaches in the country,” said Vaughan, who finishes his 21st season as head coach this year. “I have spent my entire adult life in this league, starting as a player in 1981. This league means everything to me.”

Vaughan credited his staff, whose members have been together for eight seasons. He noted that they helped turn a 6-13-3 conference team into the opposite — 13-6-3 — this season.
“I accept this award knowing that my assistant coaches Brad Dexter, Jason Lefevre, Mike Harder, and Steve Chouinard share it with me,” Vaughan said. “I also often say that good players make good coaches, and we have a lot of good players, so I share this award with them as well.”

ECAC Hockey had one of its best years nationwide, with as many as six teams ranked at one time and the league coming off its first national title since 1989.


 

Men’s basketball closes out season in quarterfinals

At the Patriot League Quarterfinals in March, Colgate rallied from a 17-point deficit to make it an exciting final three minutes in the game against American. Unfortunately, the Raiders couldn’t complete the comeback and they dropped a 59-50 decision to the Eagles on their home turf.

Damon Sherman-Newsome '15 attempts a layup

Two clutch free-throws from Damon Sherman-Newsome ’15 (#25) iced the Raiders’ 57-51 victory over Navy in the Patriot League quarterfinals. It was their first postseason win since 2009. (Photo by Bob Cornell)

“I’m really proud of our guys for the perseverance that they showed,” said Head Coach Matt Langel. “Our group stuck together, led by our seniors, Murphy [Burnatowski], Chad [Johnson], and Clayton [Graham].”

Burnatowski finished his two-year Raider career with 984 points. The Waterloo, Ontario, native scored 1,356 total points as a collegian, counting his two seasons at Maine. While at Colgate, he registered 50 double-digit scoring games and 18 games of 20 or more points. This year he moved into 10th all-time in Colgate history with 133 career 3-pointers, while moving into 10th on the season list last year with 557 season points.

Johnson closed out his Colgate campaign having seen action in 99 games, while notching 200 points and 108 rebounds throughout his four years. He posted a career-high 12 points, twice.

Graham played in 68 games, posting 168 points and 157 rebounds, while also handing out 45 assists. He notched a career-high 11 points earlier this year when he went 5-of-5 from the floor against Ursinus. He posted 16 career blocks — eight of them coming this season, including two against No. 9-ranked Syracuse.

The Raiders accomplished a lot over the course of this campaign: breaking a 20-year program record for 3-pointers made in a season, twice recording a four-game winning streak, and being one of the most prolific shooting teams in the country.


 

Castiglione named Red Sox Hall of Famer

Joe Castiglione '68 on the mic at Fenway Park
 
Boston Red Sox radio play-by-play announcer Joe Castiglione ’68 has been elected to the team’s hall of fame — alongside three players whose careers he covered in their entirety.

Castiglione, who has been in the Red Sox booth since 1983, will be inducted in August alongside Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, and Nomar Garciaparra.

Plenty of Colgate people follow the Red Sox simply because of Castiglione’s affiliation, but one campus supporter is closer to home: Caroline Potolicchio ’14, a women’s ice hockey player, is his niece.

“We’re all so proud of him,” Potolicchio said. “He’s the most deserving person. He’s so dedicated to his job, he loves it, and has so much fun with it.”

Castiglione, who got his start in broadcasting by calling games inside Reid Athletic Center as a Colgate student, returned to campus to announce the starting lineups at Starr Rink before a 2012 game — the day Potolicchio just happened to be making her first starting appearance.

“It was probably the most memorable experience during my Colgate athletics career,” she recalled.


 

Baum signs with Ohio Machine

Peter Baum '13

Peter Baum ’13

Former Colgate star Peter Baum ’13 is joining the Major League Lacrosse organization that drafted him last year. In February, the Ohio Machine announced the addition of Baum to their playing roster for the 2014 season.

He became Colgate’s first student-athlete to be drafted No. 1 overall by a professional sports franchise when the Machine made Baum the top overall pick in the January 2013 draft.

An Oregon native, Baum became the all-time Colgate and Patriot League leader in goals scored, with 164. He received the prestigious 2012 Tewaaraton Award, becoming the first Colgate, Patriot League, and West Coast player to win. He was also given the Lt. Raymond J. Enners Award as the nation’s top player in 2012. After graduation, Baum spent his first summer playing on the LMX Pro Tour.

“The Ohio Machine are one of the most exciting franchises in the league to me,” Baum said. “The team has a young and talented roster, and I am looking forward to getting into training camp and doing my best to make an immediate impact.”


 

Usher syndrome won’t keep her down

Hannah Fitton '14 swimming

Despite having Usher syndrome, Hannah Fitton ’14 has overcome all obstacles.

Swimmer Hannah Fitton ’14 has not once let Usher syndrome — a rare genetic disorder that results in hearing loss and visual impairment — stand in the way of pursuing her dreams.

Fitton lives by a simple motto: swim fast, have fun. And she has learned to overcome certain limitations in the pool — not only with hearing, but also with an inability to see her competitors because of a lack of peripheral vision — to great accomplishment. This year’s co-captain has been a four-year member of the team. Outside of Colgate, she was a member of the Great Britain team at the 2009 Deaflympics, where she won three bronze medals and a silver. In 2011, she again competed for Great Britain and medaled at the Deaf World Championships.

The sociology and anthropology major has also studied forensic anthropology in the Balkans as an Alumni Memorial Scholar. Having played the cello since the fourth grade, she’s a member of the Colgate University Orchestra. After being diagnosed at age 13 with Usher syndrome, Fitton learned to use music as a way to improve her hearing because instruments provide many different sounds and vibrations. “I picked the cello because it has the lowest vibrations, so I can feel that part of it — and I love the sound,” she said.


 

Women’s hockey

Women's hockey team celebrates a goal

Women’s hockey forward Tayler Volpe ’14 (#22, second from right) notched the game winner in overtime to lift the Raiders 3-2 over Brown on January 31. She finished the season tied for leading the team, with 26 career goals. Volpe ended her career tied for 10th all-time in the Colgate records book, with 11 career power play goals and tied for fifth with eight game winners. The Raiders closed out the season after a loss to Quinnipiac at the end of February, finishing with an overall record of 10-22-2 and 7-15-0 in conference play. (Photo by Bob Cornell)


 

Football schedule shift

A slight change to Colgate’s 2014 away football schedule will switch the dates for two games. The Raiders now open the season August 30 at Ball State of the FBS Mid-American Conference, and will play October 25 at Albany.

Set to play a 12-game regular-season schedule in 2014, the Raiders will return to an 11-game schedule in 2015. Dan Hunt will debut as head coach for the Raiders in the August 2014 opener, following the retirement of Dick Biddle.

The full 2014 football schedule is available online.

For other sports schedules and information, visit Raiders Athletics.


 

Women’s basketball

Lauryn Kobiela '14 pulls up for a jumper Lauryn Kobiela ’14 (#1) finished her career with more than 600 points, 200 rebounds, 100 steals, and the fifth-best assist total in Colgate women’s basketball history: 363. In this home game against Lafayette in January (Colgate lost 90-75), Kobiela scored 16 points and had three assists. The Raiders closed their 2013–14 campaign with a loss to Lehigh in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament in March. (Photo by Bob Cornell)

 

 

 

 


 

Former Raiders add color to basketball

Two alumni, Katie Garman Kammerdiener ’10 and Pat Campolieta ’02, returned to Cotterell Court this past season. But, instead of dribbling up and down the court, the former basketball players sat in as the color commentators.

Both are university employees and were asked by John Painter, director of sports communications, to partner up with Eric Malanoski from WKXZ-FM.

“Eric does a terrific job on play-by-play with our football and basketball broadcasts,” Painter said. “But color analysts add so much to your listening enjoyment and understanding of the game.”

Eric Malanoski and Katie Garman Kammerdiener ’10 speak into mics on the sideline of a women's basketball game

Eric Malanoski and Katie Garman Kammerdiener ’10 (Photos by Bob Cornell)

Kammerdiener covered the women’s home games, while Campolieta gave analysis for the men’s team.

“It’s something I never thought I’d do — I’m not really a chatty person,” said Kammerdiener, who is program coordinator in the Center for Leadership and Student Involvement. But, “eventually, it felt like more of a conversation with Eric than something I was sharing with the world,” she said.

Kammerdiener prepares by reading the stats and expectations of the rival teams. It shows, commented Malanoski. “Katie is constantly taking notes, and it’s obvious she does her homework before game time,” said Malanoski, who has been doing the play-by-play for the Raiders since the 2002–2003 season. Recalling Kammerdiener’s hard-work ethic as a student-athlete, he added: “Just like she was during her playing days, she is always looking to improve.”

The former geology major said her most memorable game as a player was going into the conference as the last-place seed and beating the first-place seed, Bucknell — something that had never happened before.

Malanoski never got to see Campolieta play. “But it’s been an absolute pleasure working with him,” he said.

Like Kammerdiener, Campolieta said that doing the color commentary “was a little challenging” at first. “You have to formulate an analysis and say it [quickly] so that Eric can move on to the next play,” he said. Campolieta, too, has found it helpful to study each team’s strengths and weaknesses in advance.

Pat Campolieta '02 observes a basketball game from the sideline while wearing a mic

Pat Campolieta ’02

“Pat is a natural at it, and at his first broadcast, it was hard to believe [he’d never done it before],” Malanoski said.

A political science major, Campolieta was a four-year forward and a captain his last two years. After graduation, he played and coached in Ireland for two years before becoming an assistant coach at LeMoyne College. In 2011, he was inducted into Colgate’s Athletic Hall of Honor.

As the assistant director for athletic advancement since 2012, Campolieta occasionally gets to see the players away from Cotterell Court when he is on the road building support for Colgate athletics.

“They did a terrific job [doing commentary],” Painter said. “Plus, with our games being simulcast on WKXZ-FM for radio and the Patriot League Network for video streaming, more Colgate basketball fans than ever were able to enjoy our improved broadcasting product.”


 

Raider Nation

Fan spotlights with Kat Castner, athletics communications assistant

Monique Francois '15
Monique François ’15
Hometown: Pasadena, Calif.
Game: Women’s lacrosse vs. Hofstra (L, 10-8) on 2/22/14

What brings you to the game today?
I’m supporting my sisters in Kappa Kappa Gamma who play for the team. There are 10 of them.

How often do you come to Colgate sports games?
I attend a few games of each sport every season, and I plan to attend all of the home women’s lacrosse games this year.

What’s your favorite part about Colgate sports?
My friends are on the team, and that makes it exciting.

 

Jim Browning
Jim Browning
From: Mount Upton, N.Y.
Game: Men’s basketball vs. Loyola (W, 84-60) on 2/22/14; Alzheimer’s Awareness game

Why did you come to the game today?
To support the Alzheimer’s Association and watch a good basketball game.

Do you have a personal connection to the cause?
Yes. My wife, Donna, has Alzheimer’s — she was diagnosed about five years ago — so this is a pretty meaningful event for us. I’m glad to see Colgate working with this cause to help create awareness.

What do you think is the best part of the event?
So far, the Raiders seem to be doing pretty well! This is the first time I’ve ever been to one of their basketball games.

 

Michelle Rudin ’14
Michelle Rudin ’14
Hometown: New York, N.Y.
Game: Women’s lacrosse vs. Hofstra (L, 10-8) on 2/22/14

What’s your favorite part about Colgate sports?
The spirit and excitement of the game — hoping that Colgate wins!

Who is the biggest rival for women’s lacrosse?
Cornell. My dad went to Cornell, so every time we play them, I always say, “Dad, it’s going down, and Colgate is going to win!”

Any words of encouragement for your favorite players?
Keep up your spirits! To Hanna Longwell ’14: keep trying your best, keep up the morale. To Monica White ’14: you have incredible stamina, you’re a motivator, and you’re dedicated to the team — I really admire that.