The women’s lacrosse team is on a roll. Last Saturday, on a cold and rainy afternoon at Tyler’s Field, the Raiders won a 20-3 massacre of Patriot League rival Lafayette College. The Leopards were never even close to spoiling the Raiders’ offensive “fiesta”. Colgate opened with twelve first-half goals and added another eight in the second to reaffirm itself as the favorite to take the Patriot League title this year. Three days later, they beat Marist, who Colgate beat 19-18 in the NCAA Tournament play-in game last year, by a score of 15-9 in Poughkeepsie, New York. Colgate has now won nine of its last ten games.

Colgate-Lafayette was a battle between David and Goliath, with the Raiders having a 9-3 record and Lafayette having lost all of its 11 matches. Unlike the Biblical story, David never had a chance.

“Draw controls were huge for us in our win against Lafayette,” Head Coach Heather Bliss said. “It has been a point of emphasis for us all season and we were able to control the ball and the pace of the game by winning the draws early on.”

Colgate quickly got on the scoreboard 10 seconds into the game, as junior midfielder Meghan Lawler scored her first goal, assisted by senior captain Molly Carroll. The Raiders stroked again before the two-minute mark when first-year midfielder Courtney Miller scored off an assist from sophomore midfielder Colleen Bubnack. It would take two more goals before the Leopards were finally able to put themselves on the scoreboard, at the 7:42 mark of the half to put the game at 4-1. After the Lafayette goal, Colgate scored two quick ones two minutes apart, before the Leopards scored again with a little over 17 minutes left in the half. From then on every facet of the game was dominated completely by the Raiders, who went on to score six unanswered goals to end the half ahead by a score of 12-2.

The second half of the game brought two completely different teams out on the field. On one side, the Colgate Raiders were energized and ready to pick up where they left off the previous half, while on the other side, the Lafayette Leopards already felt defeated and were just waiting to board the bus that would take them back to Easton, Pennsylvania. Just 45 seconds into the frame the Raiders scored lucky 13 as Bubnack scored off an assist from sophomore midfielder Lizzy Kusbit. Six minutes later Colgate would strike again, as junior attacker Brie Moran scored her second one of the game. During this offensive onslaught, the Lafayette Head Coach was making her team do push-ups on the sideline, a ridiculous sight. Colgate scored another four unanswered goals before the Leopards finally put themselves back on the board. The Raiders would add one more goal to make the final score 20-3 in their favor.

Eleven Raiders scored goals. Lawler led the team in points with three goals and an assist, while senior attacker Ashley Didio also had three goals. At goal, junior Sara Drexler had two saves, while first-year Christina Roa stopped six shots.

This has been an extremely successful season for Colgate, as the team has already matched the amount of wins it had last year, at 11. Head Coach Heather Bliss has credited her seniors as playing a huge part in that success.

“One of the keys to success for us the season has been our leadership,” Bliss said. “The upperclassmen have a great work ethic and have instilled that into our younger players and have made them realize how far our program can go.”

Against Marist, the Raiders came out of the gate firing from all cylinders, as they scored the first five goals. Senior Maddie Kearns put the Raiders on the scoreboard less than a minute into the game off a free position shot. Colgate would score four more in the next five minutes before Marist was able to get on the scoreboard. Three of those four were scored by Moran, starting off what would become an impressive afternoon. Lawler and Didio would score the next two Raider goals at the 7:47 and 9:17 marks respectively, putting ‘Gate ahead 7-1.

The two teams would trade goals afterwards, putting Colgate ahead 8-2 with under eleven minutes left in the half. But the Red Foxes would storm back, scoring three unanswered goals in three minutes. Moran quickly put a stop to the comeback bid when she scored her fifth goal with three minutes left in the frame.

The second half of the game was a little closer, yet the visitors still prevailed. Colgate once again came out of the gate flying, scoring the first five goals of the half to take a commanding 14-5 lead with thirteen minutes left in the game. In the process, Moran scored her sixth and seventh goals of the game to cap off an incredible afternoon. For the last nine minutes of the game, Marist seemed to take control of the game as they pulled close within five goals making the score 14-9. It was the Raiders, however, who scored the last goal of the game with 14 seconds left to make the final score 15-9.

Moran, who now has 45 goals, led the team with an impressive seven goals and one assist, while Lawler scored one goal and added five helpers. Miller had a hat trick and Bubnack scored two goals. Drexler and Roa once again split time, with each playing a half.

On Saturday at 1 p.m. the women’s lacrosse team will have its regular season home finale against Bucknell in a vital matchup that will decide the regular season champion and the host of the Patriot League Tournament.

“Our game against Bucknell is going to be a great Patriot League match-up,” Bliss said. “Our attack will be tested by the Bison defense along with their goalie who has been having a great year. They have an extremely disciplined attack and take their time to get a good opportunity. This style of play often allows them to control the pace of the game. They have been in a number of really close games this season because of their patience on the attack and solid defensive core. It should be an exciting game, especially on Senior Day.”