Colgate women’s soccer got its season off to a flying start last Friday night, taming the University at Buffalo Bulls during a driving rainstorm at Van Doren Field, winning by a score of 2-0. Colgate’s Sunday match against the Niagara University Purple Eagles was not as happy a result, as the Raiders fell 2-1.

The first half of the Buffalo match was dominated by Colgate, as the Raiders outshot the Bulls 11-2. Colgate’s persistence in front of goal was nearly rewarded at the end of the first 45, as they peppered Buffalo goalkeeper Amy Coron, forcing her into consecutive saves. Coron parried her second save in front of goal, and Colgate senior co-captain Kiki Koroshetz was there to finish the chance. However, because of the NCAA’s count-down clock, as opposed to the traditional soccer clock, time ran out before the ball crossed the goal-line, negating the score.

The second half was more even between the sides, with both furiously attacking the goal. Finally, Colgate managed to break the 0-0 deadlock in the 69th minute, when senior midfielder Jillian Arnault got on the end of a pass from first-year midfielder Alyssa Manoogian and finished past Coron. Six minutes later, sophomore midfielder Maddie Malone buried a free kick just under the crossbar to make the game 2-0, putting the result out of Buffalo’s reach.

First-year goalkeeper Ashley Walsh made her collegiate debut in the match, making four saves in her 82 minutes of action, before giving way to sophomore Rebecca Michlin, who made two saves to preserve the shutout win.

The first half of the Niagara match was a back-and-forth affair, with neither side really gaining the upper hand. Niagara’s Michaela DiFazio put her team up 1-0 in the 43rd minute with a goal reflective of the half in general, as she managed to poke home a goal in a scramble in front of the net.

Coming out of halftime, the Raiders were determined to level the score, and they had the close-range chances to do just that. Finally in the 69th minute, off a Colgate free kick, Malone received the ball at the top of the box, hitting her shot just over the goalkeeper’s head, much like her goal against Buffalo, to tie the score at 1-1. Unfortunately for the Raiders, a blazing attacking movement from Niagara just two minutes later led to the game-winning goal, scored by Jamie Raepple.

The Raiders head out to Boulder, Colorado this weekend, where they will face the University of Oregon and the University of Denver in the Colorado Soccer Classic. They return home to face the Syracuse Orange on September 11.