Men’s Lax Drops Two Close Game to Top-Ten Team

Without senior attack Kevin Colleluori, who has scored nine goals in Colgate’s first three games this season, the men’s lacrosse team lost 13-9 to No. 7 UMBC last Saturday in its third straight road game against a top-ten opponent. The final score did not indicate how close the game really was, and no team had a lead larger than one goal until UMBC took a 9-7 advantage in the fourth quarter.

“It’s disappointing to lose three in a row, but we faced good teams, and we were in all of the games,” junior midfielder Ian Murphy said. “We haven’t been 100 percent and we’ve been traveling. We wanted to win these games, but it’s all about the Patriot League.”

The Raiders matched the Retrievers in the major statistical categories. UMBC held slight advantages in shots (39-37), ground balls (29-25) and turnovers (13-17), while Colgate won the face-off battle 26-16. Both teams played a controlled six-on-six, and the game had a slow tempo to it.

Senior midfielder Brandon Corp and Murphy led the way for the Raiders on offense. Corp increased his scoring streak to 37 games with a six-point outing coming on three goals and three assists. He now has 20 points on the season, ranking him fifth in the nation. Murphy added a couple of goals from the midfield position after not playing against North Carolina because of an injury.

The Raiders opened the scoring on a goal by first-year midfielder Chris Zielinski just over three minutes into the first quarter, but UMBC responded with two goals of the own to take an early 2-1 lead. After two man-up goals late in the quarter, the Raiders took a 3-2 lead heading into the second period.

The second period was more of the same as UMBC was able to impose a slowed down set pace. The Retrievers took the lead midway through the period, but Colgate responded half a minute later with a goal from Murphy on an assist from Corp. Both teams were shut out for the rest of the period and went into halftime tied at four.

The teams traded goals in the third period, and Corp netted all three of the Raider goals. The fourth began with the scored deadlocked at 7, but the Retrievers were able to break it open from there, scoring four unanswered goals.

“They hit some good shots, then we pressed because we needed the ball back, and they got some empty-netters,” Murphy said. “Those goals don’t happen in six on six. They are a good team and played well-it wasn’t a lack of conditioning on our part.”

The Raiders weren’t able to catch up, and UMBC came out on top. It was another tough loss for Colgate, but the Raiders have proven their meddle against the best.

Colgate will start defending the league title Saturday at 3 p.m. at Andy Kerr Stadium against Holy Cross.

“We’re going out there expecting to win, and it’ll be nice to play at home,” Murphy said. “However, we do have an X on our backs, so we can’t take any game for granted.”