The Colgate Raiders played a key Patriot League match last Saturday night against Bucknell at Van Doren Field. Although they lost 3-1, the Raiders kept fighting until the very end and made some fantastic combinations that were near goals.

The match began with the Raiders in control. Junior Josie Johnson was very close to scoring on two occasions, but it seemed like the ball was reluctant to go past the goalkeeper. While everybody expected Colgate to draw first blood, it was Bucknell’s Jennifer Dervarics who found herself one-on-one with senior goalkeeper Carly Sousa and slipped the ball past her in the 31st minute.

The Raiders took the pitch at the beginning of the second half with the firm intention of crushing their opponents. They pushed forward furiously, and the long-awaited goal finally came in the 52nd minute when senior Franny Iacuzzi, who played a fantastic match and proved to be a real team leader, made a brilliant individual effort and shot it past Bucknell’s Kathryn Sutton to even the score. It looked as though Colgate might take the lead, but Dervarics scored just seven minutes later after making the most of a scramble in the Raiders’ penalty area. The home team seemed to lose momentum after this enormous shock, and after 13 more minutes, Bucknell scored for the third time when Christa Matlack’s right-wing cross surprised senior Brittany Pearsall and ended up in the net. The Raiders made a great effort to get at least one goal back, but they missed their remaining chances, which was what Head Coach Kathy Brawn was most disappointed with.

“It came down to one team taking better advantage of its opportunities,” she said.

Colgate has three more key Patriot League matches remaining. The Raiders will play a Friday night home match against Lafayette and a Sunday matinee versus visiting Lehigh. Colgate will close out the regular season with a road match against Navy next month. The Raiders currently sit two points behind Navy for the fourth and final playoff spot and cannot afford to lose any of their three conference matches in order for them to have a shot at a Patriot League tournament berth.

“We have to win each game,” Brawn concluded. “I think we certainly have the technical ability to get it done.”