The Colgate women’s hockey squad went 1-1 in its two contests last week on October 27 and 28, battling to an overtime victory on the road against #2 ranked Clarkson, and falling at home to #7 ranked St. Lawrence. The Raiders now stand at 7-1 on the season after a challenging slew of competition over the weekend. They had entered the weekend with a #5 ranking.

The team’s victory over Clarkson on Friday was its seventh in a row to start the season and came off a goal from senior forward Megan Sullivan just moments into overtime, lifting the Raiders over the defending national champions on the road. 

The Raiders handed Clarkson its first loss in its last 25 games, cementing Friday as the defining victory of Colgate’s young season. Three of the Raiders’ four goals came from their strong power play unit, including Sullivan’s clinching score. Senior defender Lauren Wildfang matched her career high with three assists, while junior forward Bailey Larson, senior forward Annika Zalewski and first-year forward Malia Schneider all joined Sullivan in the scoring column. 

Schneider’s goal was the equalizer, coming just over a minute into the third period. Junior goalkeeper Julia Vandyk led a stifling Raider defensive unit that neutralized Clarkson the rest of the way. Head coach Greg Fargo praised his upperclassmen, noting that “the veteran group really showed up” in a difficult road environment and maintained the unit’s composure. The victory propelled the Colgate Raiders to its first 7-0 record in program history.

“In the end, we had a lot of fight and found a way to win. We’ve got to turn the page and get ready for another test tomorrow and keep improving,” Fargo said.

The Raiders fell to the St. Lawrence Saints in the second game of its difficult back-to-back road stretch, ending their winning streak and dropping its first game of the season. Schneider continued her hot start to the season, scoring the Raiders’ lone goal, her sixth goal of the season, off a crafty deflection in the second period. Schneider has scored in each of Colgate’s last three games and recorded at least one point in seven straight games. Senior defender Kaila Pinkney assisted on her fourth goal of the season and has recorded a helper in four of the team’s last five contests. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Liz Auby tallied 17 saves despite losing her first collegiate start after a phenomenal seven game win streak to start the season. Auby was pulled from net with over two minutes remaining in the game as the Raiders used an extra skater to try to equalize the score. They were  ultimately unable to get past a strong St. Lawrence defensive unit. 

The Saints scored on two of their five power play opportunities while the Raiders went 0-2 on their power play opportunities. Colgate returns home for games on Friday and Saturday where they will face Princeton and Quinnipiac, who are ranked #7 and #8 in the conference, as they continue ECAC competition. 

Contact Gabe Alter at galter@colgate.edu.