Just got back (3 hour drive back to Buffalo), here's what I thought. My exuberance about this game all week was tempered by a cold today - so I'm getting these thoughts down before I pass out.
1. Last week against Vermont they looked flat. Tonight they played full of life, actually both teams did. It was a fast, hard-hitting game. Neither team was able to set up in the other team's zone for long.
2. NU set up the shots and chances they needed to, they just weren't going in. They got some odd-man rushes, crashed the net on rebounds, got possession down low behind the net, forechecked and played tough on defense. Nothing to complain about.
3. Witt looked fine except for the second one. First one was a giveaway near the blue line, a 2-on-1 that was played very well by Colgate. Second one, the guy flow across the ice and it somehow trickled over his shoulder short-side. He'll want that one back.
4. Tanner Pond was hitting everything he could. Benning did a good job pinching up along the boards on offense. Lauwers was pretty physical out there too. Colgate's goalie didn't make any amazing saves but he just made the ones he was supposed to, and the puck just wasn't bouncing the right way when we needed it to.
5. Neither team did any damage on the power plays. But you have to think, NU had a couple power plays in the first period where a goal really could've set the tone. A lot of the effort and physicality out there came to haunt them in the second and third periods as the penalties started up.
6. I was disappointed not to see any other NU fans there. Like we're the only ones in the Buffalo/Rochester/Syracuse area who can make this trip? It was a nice day to see the fall foliage on the way there, good bbq at the Dinosaur (original one) in Syracuse, good beers pre-game in Hamilton. It was a ways to go to see a shutout loss, but I only get to see 1-2 games a year, being there beats watching on a screen.
7. Colgate is a very picturesque campus. Just that it's a left turn off the middle of nowhere. Colgate has a decent in-game atmosphere, but their student section did next to nothing the entire game when someone wasn't flinging a free t-shirt at them. The fans around me seemed genuinely offended that NU didn't get called for a penalty any time they dared to hit a Colgate player. I know that there isn't a huge population base around there to draw from, but 1500 for the home opener when you're ranked top-10 in the country is kinda lame.