The Colgate men’s lacrosse team started off their season with strength, defeating Marist and Binghamton. The Raiders have scored 39 combined goals in the first two games, the most to open a season since 1990. On top of that, their 21-7 win against Binghamton was Colgate’s highest scoring game since 2012. First-year attacker Mike Hawkins has been a huge contributor on the offensive end, leading the team with nine goals and three assists in his first two collegiate games. 

The team kept up its success and had a successful weekend, defeating Cornell 14-11 to maintain its winning streak. This is Colgate’s first win against Cornell since 1997. Sophomore midfielder Griffin Brown was a big contributor leading the team with a career high six goals. The Raiders kept its offensive play consistent throughout the entire game, scoring at least three goals each quarter.

After one quarter, the game was tied 4-4, then 7-7 at halftime and 10-10 going into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter the Raiders took a commanding lead. The team’s faceoff success was critical and Brown’s outstanding performance on the attack allowed them to get a leg up on Cornell. 

Brown started his streak at 0:19 into the third quarter by scoring and at 9:36 in the fourth quarter he had scored four consecutive times to get the Raiders ahead by three goals. Sophomore attacker Nicky Petkevich, helped Brown by assisting all three of these goals. Additionally, Petkevich also scored two goals. Senior Joe Delaney was another standout on the offensive end, contributing a hat trick for the Raiders and one assist. Senior Colin Orr played a huge role in this crucial time as well, especially towards the end of the game, winning 22 out of 29 faceoffs, including five of the six in the fourth quarter. This success raised his faceoff percentage to 65.8 on the season.

The Raider’s defense was impressive, holding Cornell to just four of nine on clears in the second half and forcing six turnovers in the last 30 minutes of play.

“It was a good win and it’s been a crazy amount of years since we’ve beaten them. We had a huge fourth quarter which helped us seal it. Our captain, Anthony Abbadessa, went down with an injury, but we all just rallied around him and brought a ton of energy,” Brown said.

“It was just a great team win. Collin Orr crushed it at the face off and just kept getting us the ball so the offense could do its job. Griffin Brown played out of his mind and led the way for us. And the defense did a great job of limiting Cornell’s chances. Cyrus Scott did a phenomenal job in goal and without that performance it would have been a completely different game. All in all, great team win, everyone is pumped, but we are onto the next one,” senior Chase Wittich said after the team’s historic victory.

The Raiders are hoping to continue its winning streak next Saturday when they face the Bucknell University Bison in their first Patriot League matchup of the season. The game is home at Andy Kerr Stadium and will begin at 1p.m. Tune in to the Patriot League Network to follow the action.

Contact Kate Kelly at [email protected].