As the temperature climbed close to the triple digit mark last Saturday, the Colgate Field Hockey team found itself in a heated battle with Syracuse. Despite the 6-4 loss to the Orange, the Raiders started their season off on the right foot, matching their opponent in nearly every aspect of the game.

The big star of the day was senior Lauren Remkus, who produced her first career hat trick. Remkus’ first goal of the day came 1:30 into the game as she tapped in a rebound off a shot by junior Amanda Gilmore.

“In past seasons we have had a hard time getting the first goal and setting the pace of the game,” Gilmore said. “On Saturday we went out in the first two minutes and were able to do so.”

The Orange responded with goals at 4:02 and 6:28 to make the score 2-1. However, the Colgate duo of Gilmore and Remkus teamed up once more at 12:03 to add another Raider goal to the board.

Colgate retook the lead when sophomore Katelyn Nerbonne received a pass from first-year Alison Waugh and beat Syracuse goalie Heather Hess. After holding the lead for 11 minutes, the Raiders succumbed to the Orange offense, as Syracuse scored three quick goals right before the end of the first half to make it 5-3.

Remkus rounded out her hat trick and the scoring for the Raiders 4:15 into the second half. After stealing the ball from a Syracuse defender, she took Hess one-on-one to score her unassisted goal.

“The goals came off of some great plays and combinations from all over the field,” Remkus said. “I tried to be as hungry and aggressive as possible in the [offensive] circle and am glad that I could finish the play by putting the ball in the goal.”

Despite Colgate’s rally, the Orange found the net once more almost four minutes later to seal the final score at 6-4.

“Since we only lost one senior last year, we have a large core group of girls that have had at least two years experience of playing with each other,” said Gilmore. “I think we can build off that and continue working with the new freshman to construct a team that is capable of making it to post-season play.”

The ladies will go on a two game road trip starting on Friday when they take on the University of New Hampshire Wildcats. Colgate will play Rider the next day and continue its home schedule on Saturday, September 8 against Central Michigan at 7 p.m. on Tyler’s Field.