After helping the US National Team to a 5th-place finish at the 1947 Ice Hockey World Championships, Ray was one of a slew of talented players who joined Colorado College after the second World War. He helped pushing the team to a 19-7 record in his freshman season and earning the Tigers a bid into the first NCAA Tournament. CC fell to Dartmouth in the semifinal but the team returned to the tournament the following year, only to lost both games by a rather large margin. Ray had one more chance to win a national championship in his junior season (the NCAA restricted athletes to three years of varsity eligibility at the time), and the team responded with one of the most overpowering offensive seasons in NCAA history. While the team again finished 2nd in the west behind Michigan, CC scored 167 goals in just 22 games, an average of more than 7.5 goals per game. Ray netted 26 of those markers himself and, in the semifinal against Boston College, Ray's 3-point night helped put the Eagles away.