I entered the season thinking Colgate, sans super-scorers Austin Smith and Chris Wagner, still had the offense to tally a few goals when it needed them. I didn’t think the Raiders had this in them.

Colgate 10, Niagara 2

Darcy Murphy got things started by scoring barely a minute into his collegiate career. The Purple Eagles tied the game, but Colgate regained the lead in the final minute of the period and scored three more times in the first four minutes of Period 2.  Two other freshmen scored, and three players netted two each. One of those was Billy Rivellini, who did not score in 20 games last season.

Say what you will about the Atlantic Hockey opposition, but the Purple Eagles returned most of their lineup after ranking seventh nationally in scoring defense. And they held CCHA foe Bowling Green well below double digits in Saturday’s 2-2 tie. It wasn’t all on the NU goaltenders, either; Colgate held shots advantages of 26-12 through two periods and 35-20 overall.

Note: I know I’m missing the apostrophe in the headline, but WordPress keeps turning it into a single quote mark, and there’s no way I’m leaving that on there.