The Colgate women’s lacrosse team has won its last five games, doing so by scoring at an amazing clip while playing stingy defense. The Raiders have outscored their opponents 83-40 in the last four games, boosting their record to 7-2 (2-0 in Patriot League). During this five-game stretch, Colgate defeated American (18-6), Albany (11-10, OT), Holy Cross (19-9), UC-Davis (20-9) and St. Mary’s (15-6).

On March 7, Colgate hosted American in a Saturday matinee. The game was a rematch of the Patriot League Tournament Finals last season, when Colgate defeated American 13-8. This time around, the matchup was not nearly as close. Junior midfielder Meghan Lawler scored five goals and dished two assists on the day. She scored two goals in a game-opening 5-0 Colgate run. First-year midfielder Courtney Miller notched two of her three goals during that run. The two teams split the next eight goals evenly, giving Colgate a 9-4 advantage with 23:24 left in the game. However, Colgate scored four straight to seal the game.

Sophomore midfielder Colleen Bubnack had two goals and three assists, and first-year attacker Kate Bergstrom pitched in three goals.

On Tuesday, March 10, Colgate and Albany played on a cold and rain-soaked day in Hamilton. In other words, it was a typical March day in Central New York. Anyways, Bubnack proved to be the hero, scoring an overtime goal in the first three-minute extra session to give Colgate its first lead of the game. In the second extra session, Colgate played keep away long enough to prevent Albany from scoring to steal the game from the Great Danes.

Albany won the faceoff in the first overtime and played keepaway, looking to score a goal with little time left. However, they soon lost control, and Bubnack–who scored the game-tying goal to send the game into overtime with 1:55 remaining in regulation–took control of the ball around her own goal as time was ticking off the clock. She then went coast-to-coast and beat Albany goalie Katie Neer for her fifth goal of the game.

Junior attack Brie Moran and senior midfielder Ashley Didio each scored two for ‘Gate.

Moran continued her offensive onslaught against Holy Cross, destroying the school single-game records for goals and points in the process. Her 10 goals and two assists were more than enough against the hapless Crusaders on Saturday, March 14. The most amazing part of this feat is that eight of Moran’s goals and one of her assists came in the last 23:25 of the game.

Moran’s accomplishments aside, this game was quite competitive for a while, as Colgate led 10-7 with 20:16 remaining. However, Moran took over the game from that point to give ‘Gate its second conference win of the season. For her efforts, Moran was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week, although that was a foregone conclusion.

After the Holy Cross game, Colgate took off for the Left Coast to start a three-game road swing against UC-Davis, St. Mary’s and Oregon. The UC-Davis game took place on Monday, March 16, and Colgate dominated from start to finish. Lawler had five goals and an assist; Moran and Miller each scored four. Colgate scored the first two goals in the first two minutes of play, helping the Raiders start a 7-1 run to open the game. Colgate eventually took an 11-5 lead into halftime en route to the 11-goal win.

A lucky 13-goal stretch highlighted Colgate’s performance against St. Mary’s on Wednesday, March 18. The teams were tied at two before Colgate rattled off 13 straight goals in an utterly dominating fashion. St. Mary’s went almost 42 minutes without scoring a goal, as Colgate stretched its lead to 15-2. Four Gael goals at the end of the game were non-consequential.

Moran continued her hot scoring pace with four goals. Senior midfielder Ashley Didio had three goals, Lawler had two goals and three assists, and junior midfielder Katie Holland notched two goals. Colgate outshot St. Mary’s 46-21. The Raiders will now face Oregon to finish out the road trip on the 21st before heading home for a Binghamton game on the 25th.