On Saturday afternoon the Colgate women’s lacrosse team took on the Lafayette Leopards in what was truly a nail-biter, exacerbated by horrific weather conditions. The Raiders put up a long hard fight, but, with 14.8 seconds left in the game, the Leopards stepped up to take the win with a final score of 14-13. 

Colgate came out hot, starting the game with a 6-1 lead with just 9:31 to go in the first half. Junior attacker Kristen Brigagliano started the women off with her eighth goal of the season less than two minutes in. Brigagliano’s initial goal was followed soon after with an amazing shot by senior attack and captain Isabel Kreitler, her twenty-first of the season. Lafayette shot back with their first goal of the game, with 24:27 to go in the first half; the goal was quickly answered by four consecutive goals from the Raiders. Sophomore attack and midfielder Tara Atkinson scored two of the four, followed by another goal from Kreitler and one more from sophomore midfielder Charlotte Redican. These four key goals gave the Raiders their 6-1 lead over Lafayette, with just 9:31 to go in the half.

In the final minutes of the first half, Lafayette woke up and took the field by storm. The Leopards scored the final five goals of the first half and came back hungry for more, scoring the first goal in the second half as well. With 1:31 down in the second half, the Leopards took the lead 7-6 over Colgate. The Raiders responded to the rapid change in score faster than they have all season, coming back to score three goals in just 55 seconds. These three goals – scored by junior midfielder Haley O’Hanlon, first-year midfielder Noelle Patterson and first-year midfielder Alissa Masini – were not only scored in season record time, but they also secured a 9-8 lead for the Raiders over Lafayette. With 22:34 left in the second half, Atkinson scored again to record the first-ever hat trick of her career.

A major highlight of the afternoon came midway through the second half, when first-year goalkeeper Samantha Croston saved a free position shot from Lafayette’s Kristen Wilhemsen, the nation’s leading goal-scorer. With the score now tied at 10-10, Brigagliano and Atkinson celebrated Croston’s major save by scoring again and giving Colgate a two-goal lead over

the Leopards.

With 7:21 left in the game, Colgate was leading 13-11 before Lafayette snuck back in to score three goals in the final five minutes. The final goal of the game was scored with just 14.8 seconds left, and the Leopards emerged victorious with a final score of Lafayette 14, Colgate 13.

Although the game ended in defeat, the girls played their hearts out and persevered until the end. Head coach Heather Young reflected on the game.

“We started out really well with some great defensive stops and then we were doing what we had on the gameplan offensively – putting a lot of goals in, being very patient shooters – but that was just 20 minutes, and we play 60. There were some big lapses in our transition game, a lot of turnovers for us and that hurts you,”

Young said.

This week the Raiders hit the road for their next two contests. The Raiders will  take on Boston University on Wednesday and Loyola Maryland on Saturday. Both games can be watched on the athletic website.