The Colgate men’s lacrosse team competed in two games this week. On Tuesday, March 22, the men traveled to Ithaca, New York to face Cornell. Though the Raiders lost 15-6, the game began with a thrilling play from senior goalkeeper Brandon Burke. From about 60 yards away, Burke netted one off of a bounce for the first goal of the game. Junior faceoff specialist Collin Orr has been increasing his faceoff victory percentages for four straight games, and Tuesday was no exception. Orr, who is ranked as the nation’s sixth best faceoff specialist, won a new career high 19 out of 24 faceoffs.

After Burke’s first goal, sophomore attack Sam Cleveland put another one away for the Raiders with 11:30 left in the first period. The Big Red went on to score five goals until first-year midfielder Griffin Brown scored unassisted for the Raiders. With 8:21 seconds left in the half, Cornell scored another goal. First-year attack Nicky Petkevich and junior attack Chase Wittich each put one away for the Raiders before Cornell netted one with 2:31 left in the half. At halftime, the Raiders trailed 5-7. In the second half, Cornell was on fire, scoring eight total goals. Sophomore midfielder Will Blumenberg scored one last goal for the Raiders, but Colgate fell to Cornell 15-6. 

On Saturday, March 25, the Colgate Raiders played the Army Black Knights at West Point. Despite falling to the Black Knights 8-10, the Raiders demonstrated a valiant effort against a team who is 4-0 in the Patriot League and has won seven games in a row. Burke had another outstanding game, matching his career-high of 18 saves. Colgate went 16-16 on clears for the first time this season.

The crowd was on the edge of their seats the entire game. Sophomore midfielder Matt Donovan scored the first goal of the game for the Raiders, and Army scored the second goal shortly thereafter. Colgate and Army then both scored unassisted, with Colgate’s goal scored by sophomore midfielder Griffin Brown. With one second left in the first quarter, the Raiders were tied to the Knights 2-2, but that did not stop senior attack Robby Dunigan from assisting senior midfielder Peter Donato on a goal to close out the quarter. 

During the second quarter, Army went on to score a goal with 14:14 left. In response, Petkevich, sophomore midfielder Duncan Hoskinson, and Brown each netted a goal for the Raiders, giving the Raiders a 6-3 lead over the Black Knights. The Knights scored two more goals before halftime, but the Raiders still maintained an edge.

In the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters, Army had two unassisted goals, giving them a 7-6 lead. Petkevich, assisted by Wittich, fired one in the net to tie up the game. Hoskinson then netted another goal for the Raiders, and Colgate took an 8-7 lead with 6:53 left in the game. With 2:30 left to go in the final quarter, Army was able to score two goals. The Raiders fell 8-10 to the Black Knights, moving their overall record to 3-6 and 1-3 in the Patriot League.

“I’m really proud of the effort. A long time ago here I learned that there are no moral victories, but I had a much different feeling about my team today than after Tuesday,” head coach Mike Murphy commented.

On April 1, Colgate will take on Loyola in Baltimore, Maryland at 2:30 p.m. The game will be live streamed.