The Colgate women’s lacrosse team had an eventful week, traveling to Binghamton University in Vestal, New York and then returning home to take on UMass Lowell this weekend here at Colgate as they aimed to add more victories onto their record.

On Wednesday, February 28, the Raiders faced off against the Binghamton Bearcats in what proved to be a tough game for the Raiders. It was a tale of two halves – the Raiders got off to an aggressive start in the first half, but were dominated by the Bearcats during the second half. Sophomore attack Payton Gabriel put the Raiders on the board just 1:37 into the game, which was followed by back-to-back goals from senior midfielder Haley O’Hanlon. The Bearcats responded soon after with two quick goals with 13:50 left in the first half. Colgate managed to get three more goals in as Binghamton scored once more, which moved the score to 6-3 as the teams broke for halftime.

The Bearcats immediately took over in the second half, scoring six goals before O’Hanlon got the Raiders’ first goal of the half with 13:20 left to play in the hame. O’Hanlon scored her fourth goal of the game 38 seconds later to pull the Raiders back within a goal of tying the score. The Bearcats quickly retaliated with two goals within 20 seconds of each other to regain a three-goal lead over the Raiders. While the Raiders were ultimately defeated by the Bearcats 9-13, there were still impressive performances from several Raiders. 

Notably, senior captain O’Hanlon scored the 100th goal of her career as part of her four-goal afternoon against the Bearcats. While the Raiders were not successful against the Bearcats, they kept their heads held high as they moved forward to Saturday’s game against UMass Lowell.

On Saturday, March 3, the Raiders took on the UMass Lowell River Hawks in Hamilton at the Beyer-Small ’76 field. The Raiders jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first 8:16 of the game. Senior attack Kristen Brigagliano netted her seventh goal of the season, giving the Raiders their first goal just over three minutes into the game. First-year attack Danielle Van Calcar, and sophomore attack Lindsay West quickly followed Brigagliano’s lead, both tallying another goal for the Raiders. UMass Lowell quickly responded with a pair of goals over the next five minutes before the Raiders proceeded to score the next four goals to extend their lead to 7-2. Van Calcar netted her second goal of the game with just 14:22 to go in the first half before O’Hanlon went on to score three straight goals in the span of three minutes for an impressive hat trick.

Moving into the second half, the River Hawks came out strong, picking up the scoring pace to achieve a 9-9 tie with just 6:55 left in the game. Van Calcar opened Colgate’s 3-0 run just 38 seconds later, leading the Raiders to a 12-9 win over the River Hawks. O’Hanlon also tied her career-high in goals during the game as she led the Raiders with five goals, while also recording four ground balls.

“The game against Binghamton was a tough loss and was definitely a game we could have won, but we used it as a learning experience. We saw some of our weaknesses and focused on those leading up to UMass Lowell,” O’Hanlon said.

Next week, the team will take on Davidson College on Saturday, March 10 in Davidson, North Carolina.

Contact Dana Monz at [email protected].