The men’s lacrosse team lost a pair of tough games over the past week to two of the top teams in the nation. On the 21s,the squad battled Patriot League foe and fourth-ranked Navy. After last year’s upset victory over Navy the Midshipmen were not taking any aspect of the game for granted. From the opening whistle Navy came out flying, scoring a goal just 24 seconds into the match. At the 13:22 mark of the first quarter Navy added a second score and another a minute later. Despite efforts by the Colgate offense, including a couple of man-up opportunities, they were unable to produce a score in the first quarter, while Navy was able to add another pair to finish the quarter up 5-0. The Raiders entered the second frame with comeback aspirations but the Navy defense held firm. Colgate was able to keep the game within reach, closing the score to a three goal gap at 6-3. Junior attacker Matt Lalli had an opportunity to bring the game within two goals in the second quarter, but his shot attempt blasted painfully off the post and was cleared by the Navy defense. The three goal difference was as close as Colgate would get to overtaking the Midshipmen, as both teams traded goals before Navy entered a 4-0 scoring run, essentially putting the game out of reach, with the Navy advantage at 13-6 entering the final quarter. Colgate made a valiant effort in the final frame, scoring the first four goals of the quarter, but their efforts could not make up for the early Navy lead, as the game ended 15-10. Sophomore Kevin Colleluori had an impressive game for the Raiders, registering a career-high five goal performance, while three other Gate laxers added a goal and two assists, respectively. The game dropped Colgate to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the Patriot League leading into an upstate clash against second-ranked Albany.

Despite a career-high 21 saves by first-year goaltender Tim Harrington, Colgate was unable to defeat a talented Albany side on Tuesday afternoon, falling 13-10. Albany jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but Colgate responded by holding most of the possession throughout the first quarter. Despite quality chances to notch a tally, the Raiders were held scoreless in the opening quarter, and Albany was able to raise their goal count to three. Colgate was not discouraged by the slow start and they fought back in the second quarter, exchanging goals with Albany at a rapid pace, with Brendan Hurley, Matt Lalli, and Brandon Corp scoring goals for the Raiders, eventually bringing the score to 6-4 by halftime. In the third stanza, however, Albany locked down their defense, and shut the door on a potential Colgate upset. The Great Danes scored three unanswered goals, while out shooting the Raiders 16-2, creating a 9-4 advantage. Colgate was able to cut the lead to four, with a goal to open the fourth quarter, but the Albany offense proved too much, as they scored four of the next seven goals to build a 13-7 cushion, placing the game out of reach with four minutes remaining. Despite the loss the Raiders showed great resilience and potential for the remainder of the season, battling evenly with one of the top teams in the nation for the entirety of the match. Brendan Hurley and Josh Back each scored two goals, while Junior Matt Lalli added a goal and two assists in the close loss.

“The two road games against top ranked squads were hard on the team, but we took positives from each match, and hopefully we can use the added experience to defeat Army at home,” Junior EJ Atamian said.

The Raiders will try to regain ground in the Patriot League when they return home this Saturday at 3p.m. against nationally ranked Army on Tyler’s Field.