It’s that time of year again in Hamilton. The leaves are falling, the snow is coming, and the Colgate women’s hockey team is taking the ice. Following an up-and-down season in which the Raiders accumulated an overall record of 12-15-7, 9-8-3 in the ECACHL, the team is poised to build upon last year’s results and have a great campaign.

As the season began with lofty expectations, Colgate traveled to Niagara for a doubleheader on October 6 and 7. After dropping the first game 3-1, the Raiders rallied in the second game behind a power play goal by sophomore Sam Hunt, her second of the series, to take a 1-0 lead. That lead proved to be short-lived, however, as a late tally by Niagara forced Colgate to settle for a tie.

This past weekend, while most of us were relaxing and enjoying the break, the women’s hockey team was hard at work, traveling to New England for a pair of games against Connecticut and Providence. Against UConn, Colgate dominated the opening period, accumulating 15 shots to the Huskies’ five. Unfortunately, none of those shots found the back of the net, as the teams entered the first intermission scoreless. UConn finally struck late in the second period and twice more in the third, taking a 3-0 lead. Colgate senior co-captain Carly McNaughton put the Raiders on the board late in the third, but it was not enough, as the Huskies grabbed a stellar 3-1 victory.

The game against Providence proved to be equally frustrating, as the Raiders fell 5-2. All was not lost, however, as first-year Ali Edell recorded her first collegiate goal and Sam Hunt recorded her third tally of the early season.

“We need to stick to our systems and put the puck in the net,” junior co-captain Kate Wolgemuth said. “We can do everything else; we’ve just had a little trouble scoring.”

Catch the Raiders in action this Sunday at Starr Rink against New Hampshire. Game time is slated for 2 p.m.