The Colgate women’s lacrosse team is off to a great start in defense of its Patriot League crown. Following a rough stretch in non-conference play, the Raiders have rebounded nicely and look poised to ride the momentum of their recent success to continued Patriot League glory.

In last weekend’s game, Colgate traveled south to battle the Lafayette Leopards. After their Patriot League opening victory over Villanova, the Raiders wasted no time in capturing their second league win of the year.

After a tight first half, Colgate entered halftime with a slim 11-9 lead.

“We played pretty poorly in the first half,” senior co-captain Kelly Winning said. “But after a halftime speech, we came out ready to play our game in the second.”

At first it did not look as though that was the case, as Lafayette stormed out of the locker room to open the final half, cutting the deficit to just one goal, 12-11. That, however, was as close as the Leopards would get. Colgate dominated the remainder of the game, closing on a 6-0 run to win the game going away, 18-11.

Leading the way for the Colgate was senior Katie McVeigh, who recorded eight points on six goals and two assists. Her eight points marked the fifth-highest single-game point total in school history, while her six goals ranked her fourth in Colgate history. Due to her excellent performance against the Leopards, McVeigh earned Patriot League Player of the Week honors. At this point in the season, she leads the Patriot League with 33 points and ranks second in goals with 23.

Winning added three goals and three assists in the victory, while junior Megan Janson and first-year Molly Carroll added two goals apiece for the Raiders.

The surprise of the game had to be first-year goalkeeper Kari Morrison, who replaced senior netminder Sue Bielamowicz for the second half. Morrison stopped six of the eight shots she faced and proved to be a real boost for the team.

“Freshman goalie Kari Morrison came up big for us in the second half,” senior co-captain Heidi Ross said, reiterating a point vocalized by many of the teammates.

With the victory, the Raiders stayed atop the Patriot League standings with a perfect 2-0 record, along with 3-0 Holy Cross and American.

“I am definitely pleased with the team’s performance thus far but I know that we can do better; I am glad we are picking up the pace for the Patriot League games,” Winning said.

Following a non-conference game against Oregon held last night at Tyler’s Field, Colgate travels south to the Keystone State once again, this time for a league game against Bucknell.

“The key to victory is always the same: play Colgate lacrosse,” Ross said. “We don’t worry about other teams’ star players or special plays. If we go out there and work together on attack, through the transition and on D, we’ll come away happy. We have to stop making the little mistakes and start playing our style for 60 minutes. I have faith that we’ll come out strong and united against Oregon and Bucknell.”

The game against the Bison in is Lewisburg, PA tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m.