The Colgate women’s lacrosse team traveled to Burlington, Vermont this past Saturday to open its season against the University of Vermont Catamounts. While the Catamounts held the lead for the entire first half of the contest and for almost half of the second, the Raiders were able to pull away with the 11-9 win. 

Vermont scored the first goal of the game just three minutes in, which was followed by another goal about ten minutes later. Colgate sophomore attacker Payton Gabriel scored the first season goal for the Raiders (for her second year in a row) off a quick assist through the eight meter from first-year attacker Danielle Van Calcar. UVM’s Jenna Janes tallied another point for the Catamounts off an unassisted drive that landed in the bottom right corner of the net. With 8:56 left in the first half, senior attacker Kristen Brigagliano netted a goal upper corner to bring the Raiders within one goal of the Catamounts. However, two more unassisted goals from Janes and first-year midfielder MacKenzie Bolt left the Raiders trailing 2-5. 

The Raiders were able to tighten the gap before half time, as Brigagliano had another unassisted goal, followed by senior midfielder Natalie Washuta scoring her first goal of the season assisted by first-year midfielder Natalie Gwynn. Two seconds before the close of the first half, Gabriel was put on the eight meter for a free position, but time ran out before she was able to get the shot off. Due to a game-clock error, the shot was reset and Gabriel was put on the line again. Vermont’s junior goal tender Maddy Kuras was able to save the shot however, leaving the Catamounts ahead by one at the half.

Just 50 seconds into the second half, Koehl recorded another goal for the Catamounts off an assist from red shirt senior, attacker Alex Bernier, who returned this season from an ACL injury. Washuta answered back, tallying her second goal of the contest just 30 seconds later on an assist from senior midfielder Haley O’Hanlon. O’Hanlon then tallied her own unassisted goal to tie the game, 6-6, for the first time in the contest. Vermont’s Janes then scored her fourth unassisted goal of the game. The Raiders followed with a three goal run off of goals from junior attacker Tara Atkinson, sophomore attacker Lindsay West, and Van Calcar to gain their first lead of the game, 9-7, with just 13:27 left to play. Vermont responded by scoring two goals, tying the game 9-9 with 11:41 left to play. Gwynn scored her first-career goal during a man-up play off an assist from Brigagliano. Sealing out the win, Washuta finished out her hat trick with the last point of the game, scoring an unassisted goal at 5:04.

“Starting the season off with a win against a long time competitor is a great accomplishment for us. What made this game even more special was the camaraderie we showed from start to finish. They got a few quick goals on us early on; however, we did not let that get to us. In fact, we were able to win this game for that exact reason,” Washuta said. 

“I’m really proud of the effort from the team today. We saw a ton of great things from the team today and a very solid base to move forward with,” head coach Heather Young said.

The Raiders will return next week when they hit the road again on Wednesday, Febrary 28 to take on Binghamton University in Vestal, N.Y. 

Contact Lexi Luthringer at [email protected].