Man Overboard: Men’s Lax Loses to Navy
Raiders Squander Late Lead in Loss to Midshipmen
On Saturday, April 6, the Colgate Raiders faced the Navy Midshipmen on their home turf in Hamilton. Entering the game with a 3-6 record, 1-3 in conference, they hoped to improve their record with a win against their Patriot League foe.
The Midshipmen scored the first two goals of the competition, but Colgate answered with a goal by junior midfielder Griffin Brown assisted by sophomore attacker Jimmy Caddigan with nine minutes remaining in the quarter. Navy responded with two more goals, which were followed by senior attacker Sam Cleveland’s goal with only nine seconds remaining in the quarter, assisted by first- year attacker Brian Minicus.
The second quarter saw four goals scored by both Navy and Colgate, making the score 8-6 in favor of the Midshipmen entering halftime. Freshman attacker Brendan Jordan scored his first career goal with the other tallies being credited to Brown, senior attacker Dunkin Hoskinson and junior midfielder Parker Baddley.
The Raiders left halftime fueled with the energy to win, proving it to their fans with two quick goals to kick off the second half, scored by Caddigan and Minicus. Their two goals tied the score at 8-8, and the Raiders took the lead with three more goals to close out the third quarter up 11-9. The three goals were scored by sophomore attacker Bobby Goggin, Cleveland and Baddley.
Unfortunately, their lead quickly escaped their grasp, as Navy continued to place their shots in the back of the net. The Raiders were outscored in the fourth quarter 7-0 by the Midshipmen, making the final score of the competition 16-11.
Despite their ultimate loss, the Raiders did record some great statistical feats. Cleveland, Brown and Baddley all recorded two goals each. Additionally, Minicus recorded four assists for the game, which were the first of his career. Further, the Raiders recorded a team high of 50 shots in the competition.
The loss moved the Raiders’ record to 3-7 overall, and 1-4 in conference, earning them the seventh seed in the Patriot League. Next week, they will face the Holy Cross Crusaders in a match that is crucial to their playoff pursuit. The Crusaders are currently 5-5 overall and 2-3 in the Patriot League, the sixth seed in the league.
“We plan to continue to work on [their] transition defense, face-offs… and [on] giving up too many shots in the dead center of the field, coming from the invert or behind,” head coach Matt Kaweck said.
These points of improvement, he believes, will prepare the team for the fierce competition that they will be up against when they take the field against Holy Cross.
“[The team is] always developing, that’s what I told the guys down in the locker room. Every game, win or lose, we have to get better, so we are going to keep our focus on that,” Karweck said.
The game against Holy Cross will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, in Worcester, MA. The game will be streamed online by the Patriot League Network, so be sure to support the Raiders!
Contact Lexi Luthringer at [email protected].
