Last Saturday, the field hockey team hoped to secure its spot in this year’s Patriot League tournament with a win at Lehigh. Not only was the task of clinching a playoff spot on the road tough enough, but the team had to play on a flooded field. Despite the elements, Colgate came back twice in regulation to send the game into overtime. However, Lehigh scored in the extra period to defeat Colgate, 3-2.

Lehigh’s Christy Smith scored a goal 10:16 into the first half to give Lehigh a one-goal advantage. Colgate was able to answer back at 24:14 when junior Lauren Carey scored off a rebound from a penalty corner shot by classmate Laura Flisnik. The 1-1 tie was broken at 56:17 when Lehigh’s Kara Zweizig put the ball in after a penalty corner. A mere three minutes later, Flisnik attempted another penalty corner shot. Although the junior’s shot was deflected, Colgate sophomore Courtney Kundtz tipped in the ball to tie the game at two. Kundtz, who came off the bench in this game, has now scored two career goals. Both of them have come against Lehigh.

“If you get subbed in, you know your time out there is short, so making an impact is hard,” Kundtz said. “Knowing thatthis might be the only shot on cageall yeargives me a little more spark.”

Neither team scored before the end of the second half, forcing Colgate to play its third overtime in as many games. A mere 41 seconds into the extra period, Smith converted a corner for the game-winning goal to give Lehigh the win and the second-seed in the Patriot League Tournament.

Colgate now found itself in a precarious position after the loss. The top four teams in the Patriot League advance to the postseason tournament and the Raiders were now tied for third place with both Lafayette and Holy Cross with 2-3 conference records. The first tiebreaker is determined by the head-to-head record between the three teams, but that didn’t solve any problems because the schools were 1-1 against each other. The next tiebreaker comes down to performance higher-ranked conference opponents. None of the three teams defeated first-place American, but Lafayette defeated Lehigh earlier in the season and was awarded the third-seed. The third Patriot League tiebreaker is a comparison of win-loss records against common out-of-league opponents. Finally, Colgate clinched the last spot with a 3-2 record against its common opponents with Holy Cross, who went 1-4 in those games.

Although Colgate is focused on its upcoming Patriot League Tournament game, it needs to take time and accept four Patriot League honors. Senior midfielder/defender Natali Plesniarski and senior captain and defender Heather Davis received all-Patriot League first team honors. Senior forward Lauren Remkus and sophomore goalie Sarah Pedersen landed on the all-Patriot League second team. Congratulations on the honors, ladies!

Colgate now has a date with No. 17 American on Friday. The Raiders lost a tough 2-1 game to American in Washington D.C. earlier in the season. If the pervious match serves as a guide for Friday, the game will be tough, but close enough for the Raiders to have a chance to pull out the upset despite American’s home-field advantage. Assuming the best, Colgate will face the winner of the Lehigh-Lafayette match on Saturday at 1 p.m.