This past Friday, the Colgate men’s soccer team captured their first win of the season against Northwestern.  The Colgate fans came out in full force, creating an amazing atmosphere for the players. Having lost their first two games of the season to University of New Hampshire and SUNY Binghamton, the Raiders went into the game eager to capture the win. Having not beaten a Big Ten team since 1990, the Raiders knew what this win would mean to the program.

From the first whistle, the Raiders fought to gain control of the field and out-shoot the Wildcats.  Despite the numerous shots on goal within the first twenty minutes, they were unable to find the back of the net. A critical component of the team’s success was their defense, which started strong but the Raiders had to be more aggressive if they wanted to win this game. At halftime the scoreboard read 0-0, with both teams eager to get on the board.

Within the first minutes of the second half, junior defender Aram Ouligian took the ball to net, allowing the Raiders to gain a decisive 1-0 advantage. The Wildcat goalkeeper kicked the ball off the goal line and junior forward Uyi Omorogbe gathered the ball and passed it towards the box where senior defender Karl Brown headed it towards Ouligian, who sent it into the net to give the Raiders the lead. Ouligian was named third team All-Patriot League in 2015 and 2016. In addition, Ouligian was one of only three players to start in all 19 games his rookie season and was also named Colgate’s Male Rookie of the Year in 2015.

The 88th minute proved to be one of the most pivotal points of the game, as the Wildcats had a penalty kick and the opportunity to level the score. Senior goalkeeper Peter Tappenden stepped up, saving the penalty kick, allowing the Raiders to gain momentum. 

Colgate was able to increase the score to 2-0 with a goal from Omorogbe and was assisted by senior captain Jared Stroud to solidify the win over Northwestern. That assist was Stroud’s nineteenth, which set a new record for Colgate. This is an amazing accomplishment for Stroud who was named first team All-Patriot League and NSCAA third team All-Region at the end of his junior year.

“I’m grateful to beat the previous record, but none of this would have been possible without my current and past teammates over my four years. The credit goes to them.” Stroud said.

This was the team’s first shutout of the season. Evidently, this win was huge for the men’s soccer team and will hopefully continue to motivate them as they preare for upcoming games versus Oregon State and Saint Francis University.

“This win will give us confidence as a team given how competitive Northwestern’s league is. Even though I didn’t play my best, our team worked well together which gave us the ability to dominate and ultimately get the win over the Wildcats,” junior forward Abdel Sanogo said.

Next up, the Raiders will take on Oregon State on Friday, September 8 at 8 p.m. at Beyer-Small Field before traveling to Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon to take on Saint Francis.  

Contact Lauren Hyland at [email protected].