The Colgate men’s lacrosse team already had two league losses coming into Saturday’s Patriot League match-up against Holy Cross – one less than it had all of last season. The 4-3 Raiders looked to bounce back against the Crusaders, whom they had defeated in a 12-7 contest last season. Holy Cross, who was 2-7 entering the Saturday matinee, started the scoring just 1:20 into the game. Although the Raiders were able to beat the Crusader goaltender twice with goals by junior midfielder Rob Trasolini and sophomore Rob Ryan, Holy Cross took a 3-2 lead into the second quarter.Not satisfied with being down by a goal, the Raiders fought back in the second session to take the lead heading into the half. Sophomore Brendan Hurley scored less than four minutes into the period with an unassisted tally. Just 39 seconds later, Colgate took the lead after a pass from first-year Trevor Marticke set up Trasolini for the New Hyde Park, NY native’s second tally of the game. Holy Cross briefly regained the lead before Hurley struck again at the 8:15 mark to put Colgate back in front. The Raiders stayed in front for the rest of the period, as goals by sophomore attack Jeff Hiller and first-year Matt Lalli rounded out the Colgate scoring and sent the game to halftime with the Raiders up, 7-5. After the halftime break, it was all Colgate, as the Raiders seemed determined to keep the Crusaders from hanging around. The Raiders got consecutive goals from sophomore Colin Hulme, Ryan and Lalli to take a commanding 10-6 lead heading into the fourth and final quarter. The Crusaders struck first in the fourth and cut the lead to three, but the Raiders strung together six consecutive goals to round out the scoring. Trasolini notched two more goals in the period and sophomore Andy Summersgill added a nifty score as the Raiders cruised to a 16-7 win over the Crusaders in their highest offensive output of the season. “In the fourth quarter, it seemed that we had begun to wear down Holy Cross from what we had been doing all game,” head coach Jim Nagle said. “We felt like we were the better team and had to crack down defensively to show that.” Nagle also praised the play of sophomore Chris Eck, who went 16-for-26 on face-offs and snatched eight ground balls. After losing by a combined score of 22-10 to Navy and Army in the team’s first two Patriot League games, Nagle was pleased to see Saturday’s performance. “Every league game is important,” he explained. “Certainly Holy Cross is not where Navy and Army are right now, but I think we need to win the rest of our league games to qualify for the playoffs.” To make the playoffs Colgate must finish in the top four; the Raiders currently sit in fourth.Nagle and the Raiders entered their Tuesday non-league match-up with Binghamton with a two-game winning streak in their pockets. However, Nagle was not going to take the Bearcats lightly. “They are pretty good,” Nagle noted. “We are expecting the same type of game as last year.” Last season, the Raiders were able to escape with a victory after netting two last-minute goals, including one with only three seconds remaining. The Bearcats, who were 1-5 coming into the game, jumped out to a quick start, scoring three consecutive goals, and the game headed into the second quarter with the Bearcats up, 3-0. The Raiders came out strong to start the second quarter, as Hiller took a Lalli pass just one minute in and cut the deficit to two. Lalli then set up another Raider goal by finding Ryan with 7:12 left in the half. Trasolini continued his hot streak, as he found the net twice more, both off of passes from junior attack Brian Robinson. The second, with 9:29 left in the third quarter, tied the game at four. Hulme, an anchor on the defense, has begun to make a name for himself offensively, even though he did not tally one goal last season. The sophomore, who had found the back of the net in three consecutive games, extended the streak to four by netting a goal with 6:01 left in the third quarter. Lalli then found Robinson to start the fourth as the first-year tallied his third assist of the game. The Princeton Junction, NJ native, who was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Year for the second time this season, has 13 points in his last three games. Binghamton began a late game rally, scoring with 7:06 left in the fourth quarter. After being out-shot, 8-2, the Bearcats pummeled junior goaltender Andrew Jarolimek with nine shots in the fourth quarter. However, Colgate weathered the storm as Jarolimek and the defense held strong, leading the Raiders to a slim 6-5 victory. The Raiders come into the weekend with a 6-3 record overall and a 1-2 mark in the Patriot League. Tomorrow the team heads to Bethlehem, PA to take on Lehigh at 1 p.m. The Mountain Hawks are 5-4 on the season, including a victory over 25th-ranked Pennsylvania. Last year, the Raiders defeated Lehigh, 7-5, at Tyler’s Field.