The Women’s Lacrosse team ended the week with one tough loss against Boston University and a huge comeback win against another Patriot League rival, Bucknell.

The loss against the BU Terriers, on Wednesday, March 27, ended with a scoring finish of 12-17. Colgate put up an impressive fight against the Terriers, though, considering the Raiders are ranked 59 in NCAA Division One Women’s Lacrosse rankings while the Terriers are ranked considerably higher at 35. The Raiders started off slow in the first half but came into the second half with a whole new energy. They rocketed nine goals into the net in the second half, bringing their upsetting 3-9 half-time score to a respectable 12-17 final score.

Junior midfielder Noelle Patterson stood out in the game against Boston, tallying a total of four goals. Patterson has continuously proven that she refuses to be denied by her opponents, as she has contributed a goal or more to each game of the 2019 season thus far. Patterson was not the only player who had an exceptional performance against the Terriers; sophomore midfielder Annelise Kotz was also a scoring machine. Kotz scored four goals, not only making up a third of Colgate’s total, but also adding her first hat-trick to her career stats. First-year mid-fielder Jacklyn Hooey also contributed a goal and leads the freshmen class with eight points. Lastly, senior defender and captain Madeline Barcia vacuumed up a team-high of three ground balls.

Although the BU game may not have played out in favor of Colgate, the Raiders came out on top on Saturday, March 30, in their game against the Bison.

The Raiders and Bison were a perfect match-up and the back-and-forth scoring showed it. The Bison came out with more momentum than the Raiders and built up a comfortable lead of 3-0 in the first four minutes of play. This put the Raiders on their heels and quickly made them answer back with sophomore attacker Danielle Van Carcar’s crucial goal to break the scoreless beginning. Colgate outshot Bucknell 16-13 at the half, with a decent lead of 7-4.

The second half had the crowded stands on the edge of their seats with Bucknell closing the gap in scoring. The Bison built up momentum and contributed four consecutive goals to the scoreboard. The Raiders’ defense was tirelessly trying to constrain the feisty Bison attack for much of the second half. Bucknell scored with two minutes left in the game making the score 12-11 in Colgate’s favor. Fortunately, Colgate’s defense held out for the remaining two minutes with an outstanding game performance by junior goalkeeper Samantha Croston.

There were many valuable players in Saturday’s game who deserve recognition. Van Calcar had a career-high of four goals. Patterson had a hat-trick, putting her as the leading scorer for the Raiders with 24 goals. Van Calcar and Patterson both helped the Raiders maintain possession throughout the game. Colgate could not have won against their big Patriot League rival without Croston stepping up. Croston was one of the team’s MVPs with a season-high of 15 saves. She held off the Bison attack while they were in Colgate’s defensive end for much of the second half. Junior attacker Payton Gabriel also had a career-high game with her first multi-goal game. Barcia broke 100 career ground balls and currently tallies an impressive total of 101.

Colgate Women’s Lacrosse is coming off the weekend with a well deserved high of 12-11 against Bucknell. The Raiders next game will be against Patriot League opponent Lehigh on Saturday, April 6, at 12 p.m. at Beyer-Small Field. Show up and show the Raiders some love.

Contact Liv Fitzgerald at [email protected].