The men’s lacrosse team started its quest to defend the Patriot League crown on Saturday, March 7 with a decisive win over the Holy Cross Crusaders, 22-9. The 22 goals were the most the team had in over a decade, when they beat Vermont 20-15 in 1997. Colgate was then able to notch its first road victory of the season, beating Fairfield 13-12 on Saturday, March 14. The Raiders’ first road win did not come easy though as Fairfield came out fired up and was able to hang with the Raiders for the entire game.

The Raiders dominated every facet of the game, as they led 7-0 after the first quarter and pushed the lead to 11-0 in the second quarter. Senior attackman Kevin Colleluori led the offensive barrage by the Raiders, as he tallied seven goals, including the first four of the game. This was Colleluori’s first game back after sitting out the game against UMBC with an injury, and for his efforts Colleluori was named the Patriot League offensive player of the week. Senior attackman Brandon Corp extended his scoring streak to 38 consecutive games by tallying six points on a pair of goals and four assists. Senior midfielder Nick Monastero rounded out the scoring for the Raiders with two goals and three assists.

The Raiders were able to get every player in against Holy Cross after the starters had staked Colgate to a sizable lead. Colgate led 12-2 at the half and 15-5 entering the fourth quarter. Junior goalie Tim Harrington recorded five stops on six shots, but only played a quarter and half as all four of the Raider goalies saw action in net.

Much like Colgate’s three previous road games, the Raiders got off to a slow start against Fairfield University. Fairfield was able to jump out to a 3-0 lead after the first period, and it looked as if the Stags were headed for an upset. However, the Raiders were able to buckle down on defense and create some offensive firepower as they started the second quarter with three unanswered goals from sophomore attackman Ben McCabe, senior attackmen Kevin Colleluori and senior middie Nick Monastero. The two teams then traded goals to make it 4-4 with less than three minutes to go in the second quarter. Fairfield then tallied two goals in the final minute to take a 6-4 lead and momentum into the locker room.The Raiders came out strong in the second half as Monastero netted his second and third goals of the game to tie the game up at six. The back-and-forth action continued, as Fairfield scored the next two goals to bring its lead back to the two-goal cushion they had at half. However, the Raiders answered as senior middie Ian Murphy and junior middie Zack Craumer recorded their first tallies of the contest. The teams then traded goals, with Craumer netting his second of the period to tie the game at nine with under five seconds left in the third quarter.Craumer was able to find the net again for his third goal of the game less than a minute into the fourth period as he gave the Raiders their first lead of the day at 10-9. Murphy then tallied his second goal of the game, and sophomore middie Rob Bosco gave the Raiders a three-goal lead at 12-9 inside seven minutes remaining. However, Fairfield responded by scoring a goal off the face-off following Bosco’s goal. Ian Murphy then tallied his third and final goal of the game a minute later to push the Raiders lead back to three at 13-10, and the Raiders needed it. Fairfield staged a furious comeback in the final minute of the contest to make it 13-12, but the Raiders were able to successfully clear the ball, quashing any Fairfield chance of sending the game into overtime.Kevin Colleluori and Ian Murphy led the way for the Raiders with four points, while Nick Monastero and Zach Craumer each tallied three goals each. Senior midfielder Brandon Corp also extended his scoring streak to 39 games with a two-point effort coming on a goal and an assist. Junior goalie Tim Harrington posted five stops in the cage for the Raiders. Coverage of Colgate’s 10-9 win at Navy last Saturday will appear in the print issue on Thursday, March 26.