January 21, 2004
HAMILTON, N.Y.The º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½ University men’s ice hockey team continues its four-game homestand this weekend with games against Dartmouth College and the University of Vermont. This will be the first time the Raiders have faced either one of these teams this season.
The Raiders (11-8-3, 6-4 ECAC) are coming off their first weekend sweep of the season after defeating Rensselaer 3-1 last Friday night and Union 4-1 the following night.
Junior goaltender Steve Silverthorn (Owen Sound, Ont.) stopped 37 shots against the Engineers and sophomore Kyle Wilson (London, Ont.) and senior Kyle Doyle (Sarnia, Ont.) added a goal and an assist in the win.
The following night, Silverthorn came up big again as he stopped 27 shots en route to his ninth win of the season. Junior Darryl McKinnon (Port Elgin, Ont.) added two goals, and freshman Mike Campaner (Thunder Bay, Ont.) and junior Adam Mitchell (Port Elgin, Ont.) each had a goal and an assist in the win. Campaner’s goal marked the his first collegiate tally.
Silverthorn was named the ECAC’s Goaltender of the Week Monday for his efforts as he stopped 66 of 68 shots on the weekend for a 1.00 goals against average and a .971 save percentage.
Dartmouth (7-4-6, 5-1-4) is coming off a 5-3 win over St. Lawrence Saturday night in Hanover and a 2-2 tie with Clarkson.
Junior forward Lee Stempniak and sophomore forward Hugh Jessiman are the Big Green’s top scorers with 22 points a piece. Stempniak has 13 goals and nine assists in all 17 games. Jessiman has 10 goals, including six on the power play and 12 assists. Freshman defenseman Grant Lewis leads the team in assists with 15 helpers.
Junior goaltender Dan Yacey has appeared in all 17 games with a 2.52 goals against average and a .912 save percentage to go along with a 6-4-6 record.
º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½ and Dartmouth split the series last season with each team winning at home. The Big Green won 6-2 in Hanover and the Raiders won at Starr Rink 2-1 in overtime. º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½ leads the series at home 18-8-2 and has won the last two meetings in Hamilton as well.
Vermont (3-15-3, 1-9) dropped both of its games last weekend to St. Lawrence (5-3) and Clarkson (3-2 in OT). The Catamounts started off the season going unbeaten in their first 13 games before picking up their first win against the University of Connecticut on December 20 with a 4-3 decision in overtime. Vermont then won its next game and tied the game after that before falling to Dartmouth and Maine. The Catamounts only win in league play came at the hands of Dartmouth on January 10 in a 4-2 win in Burlington.
Junior forward Brady Leisenring leads the team in scoring with 23 points on six goals and 17 assists. Junior forward Scott Mifaud and sophomore Jeff Corey are the team’s top goal scoreers as each player has lit the lamp seven times.
Sophomore goaltender Travis Russell has appeared in 18 games with a 3.67 goals against average and a .887 save percentage.
º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½ and Vermont also split the series last season with each team winning at home. The Catamounts took the first game in Burlington 3-1 and the Raiders won at home 4-1. º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½ leads the series at Starr Rink 19-10-1 and is undefeated in its last five games at home against the Catamounts.