Men’s Soccer Suffers First Loss in Four Games

The Colgate Raiders’ three-game winning streak was snapped last Saturday night when the team fell to the University of New Hampshire Wildcats by a score of 2-1 at Bremmer Field. New Hampshire was able to get on the board first in the 16th minute because of poor play by the Raider defense. The Wildcats were able to capitalize on a failed clear after their strikers had forced the Colgate defense to pass back to sophomore goaltender Chris Miller.

“It was a soft goal, a bad pass in the back,” junior defender Paul Visiglio said. “We were being careless and they were in a good and fortunate [position] to score a goal.”

This pass was deflected and a New Hampshire forward was able to get to the loose ball first and slide it past Miller into the right side of the goal.

New Hampshire looked as if they were heading to a 2-0 advantage when the Wildcats were awarded a penalty shot in the 28th minute, but Miller was able to stop the shot with a diving save. Colgate’s best chance in the first half came when senior midfielder Alex Weekes’ shot was stopped by New Hampshire’s goaltender on an impressive save. The Raiders’ misfortune continued several minutes later when the Wildcats were awarded another penalty shot. A Wildcat midfielder was tripped in the box, and a senior forward put home the penalty shot. The lead remained at 2-0 heading into halftime.

In the second half, the Raiders came out fired up and put the pressure on the New Hampshire defense. Colgate got their lone goal of the game when first-year midfielder Mike Reidy shot one from 30 yards away that got past the outstretched arms of the opposing goaltender and slid just under the crossbar and into the right side of the net. The Wildcats were able to hold off a Raider charge in the last five minutes to preserve the victory. The match was quite physical as well, with each team collecting a pair of yellow cards.

“It’s always tough to play on the road,” Visiglio said. “They are big and physical and played to their strengths; it was a tough test for us.”

Both teams had 16 shots, and Colgate doubled up New Hampshire in corner kicks 6-3. With the win, New Hampshire improved to 2-3-1, while the Raiders dropped to 4-2 on the season.

“We know we have a target on our backs,” Visiglio said. “We have a target on our backs because we have won league two years in a row. We won’t sneak up on anyone but we need to embrace the roll, play our game and we’ll be fine.”

Colgate is back in action on Friday September 26 when they open Patriot League play against Lehigh at 7 p.m. in Bethlehem, PA.