It was a packed weekend for the field hockey team with its doubleheader facing the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds on Friday and then taking on the St. Louis University Billickens on Saturday evening.

Friday’s game was a thrilling win for the Raiders, when they captured a double overtime win against the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds. April Cornell is the new head coach for the Raiders, and this game marked her first win with the team.

First-year Michaela Corvi had an outstanding performance as she helped lead the team to victory. In the last minutes of the game, sophomore Ioan MacKillop got the ball to Corvi, who took a shot on goal with just over six minutes remaining on the clock in the second overtime and captured the game-winning and her first collegiate goal. This is the first time a first-year player has scored a game-winner since 2010. 

“We maintained our composure throughout the first overtime and finally in the second OT, with about six minutes to go, I got a beautiful dog leg pass from Iona, capitalized on the opportunity, and put the ball in the net. I think the entire team stayed energized and determined throughout the entire game including both overtimes, which was extremely important. It was an honor to be out there and score for my team,” Corvi said.

MacKillop had an impressive game as well, coming off the bench and proving to make a huge impact on the field. She scored the first goal of the game from an excellent feed from first-year Anne Marijn Bruijn just four minutes into the second half to go up 1-0. This win was huge for the Raiders after coming off a tough loss against UMass Lowell and leading into their big game against St. Louis the following day.

Next day’s game against St. Louis was a good fight for both sides in a very evenly matched game. The game remained scoreless for the majority of play until St. Louis’ Katie Moss scored at the end of the second half. However, Colgate field hockey senior goalkeeper Maria Krull still had a strong performance, making four key saves for the Raiders. This puts her at a total of 27 saves so far this season; she has allowed a mere five goals in the first three games. Krull is having an outstanding season so far and this has put her just 28 saves behind Sara Corcoran ’03 who is ranked sixth for most saves in program history. Additionally, Krull has been named Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week.

Other impact players on the offensive end include senior defender Molly Klare, sophomore defender Maggie Lake and Corvi who all had shots on goal. Klare had a penalty corner towardsthe end of the game, which was stopped by Saint Louis’ goalkeeper Lillian Cossetto.

“It was a hard fought game, and I can really start to see some growth in our game. We had chances in our attacking end that we need to capitalize on. I felt we made some great strides in our individual defense starting from the striker line all the way to the back line. The difference in some of these very close games is going to be circle and corner execution,” Cornell said.

The Raiders will kick off homecoming festivities by facing Lock Haven University at home on September 8 at 6:30 p.m. on Tyler’s Field, where they are hoping to bounce back from this loss and continue with the promising season that lies ahead.

Contact Kate Kelly at [email protected].