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Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Preview: Colgate

We’ve broken down all the ‘A’ and ‘B’ NCAA D1 teams and now we have moved on to the C Section of the Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Preview posts. It’s time to take a look at Colgate University, located in Hamilton, NY.

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Colgate was good in ’12, and looks to be great in ’13.

2012 saw Colgate go 14-4, and Peter Baum, their top scorer and star offensive player, won the Tewaaraton Award. Colgate’s four 2012 losses were pretty spread out, and two of the earlier losses (to Dartmouth and Navy) came as surprises. A 16-14 loss to Lehigh later in the year wasn’t bad, but the 17-6 loss to Duke to end the season didn’t do this team justice. Colgate had some huge wins in 2012, beating Lehigh in the regular season, Bucknell twice, UMass in the NCAAs, and Maryland to end the regular season.

2013 sees Colgate once again take on the Patriot League, and vie for the AQ in their conference. With wins over Bryant, Cornell, Hobart, and Maryland, the Raiders could get into the NCAAs without the AQ… of course that is a tall order for any team. If Colgate can get through the early portion of their schedule unscathed (which includes games against Cornell, Hobart, and Holy Cross in an 8 day span), the rest of their games are spread out, and all winnable.

Obviously Peter Baum will be a huge part of Colgate’s success in 2013, but there are a number of other pieces to the Raiders’ puzzle, and all need to function for ‘Gate to be good once again. Jeff Ledwick may be gone, but Ryan Walsh, Brendon McCann, and Matt Baker are all proven scorers, and all are returning.

Jared Madison is gone from in between the pipes, but Conor Murphy is a big body who has seen time in the past, and who can definitely play at a high level. Unless a guy like Alex Castle or Jake Danehy can step in, it looks like Murphy’s job to lose. Thankfully for the goalie, whoever it ends up being, Colgate has a lot of strength returning at pole, and James Queeney should do a great job of again leading the troops, which should include Bobby Lawrence and Kevin Boyle.

Colgate had a break out year in 2012, and their 14 wins set a new mark for excellence. You can bet the 2013 squad wants to improve on that record, and with their returning scorers and experienced defensive unit, one has to think that improvement is a reality. If Baum keeps producing and a solid goalie emerges, Colgate should be able to pick up right where they left off.

Click HERE to see Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Preview posts for Air Force, Albany, Army, Bellarmine, Binghamton, Brown, Bryant, Bucknell, and Canisius!