The Colgate women’s hockey team kept busy this weekend, first traveling to Cambridge, Massachusetts on Friday to take on the Harvard Crimson before heading up the road to Hanover, New Hampshire Saturday to challenge the Dartmouth Big Green. The Raiders walked away victorious from both contests, bringing their overall record to 18-7-3 and leaving them with a 9-6-1 record in the Eastern College Athletic Conference.

During Friday’s contest, the Raiders were immediately active on the offensive end, pulling into the lead just two minutes into the game when junior forward Megan Sullivan scored following an assist by sophomore forward Shae Labbe and junior forward Shelby Perry. The Raiders expanded their lead in the first period’s 15th minute when first-year forward Anonda Hoppner recorded a goal, with the assist coming from sophomore forward Bailey Larson and junior defender Kaila Pinkney. The Raiders continued to build their lead in the second period, when Pinkney scored off an assist from senior forward Meghan Brennan and junior forward Breanna Wilson-Bennett. The goal was Pinkney’s first of the season. The game’s fourth and final goal was scored by Labbe in the fifth minute of the third period, and was assisted by Sullivan and first-year defender Livia Altmann. The game ended as a shut-out for the Raiders, as the final score stood at 4-0. At the conclusion of the contest, the Raiders had outshot the Crimson 28-25, though both teams went 0-for-4 on power play opportunities.

The Raiders also came out strong on Saturday when it came time to take on the Big Green, immediately taking the lead when Sullivan scored an unassisted goal in the game’s sixth minute. Before the conclusion of the first period, Colgate widened its lead when Perry assisted Altmann in scoring the second goal of the game. In the second period, the Raiders took advantage of a power play opportunity that allowed junior forward Annika Zalewski to score off of an assist by Perry and sophomore forward Jessie Eldridge. In the final period, the Raiders were met with an offensive resistance from the Big Green. 

The home team was able to put a point on the board in the tenth minute of the period when senior forward Jennet Ottenbreit scored following an assist from first-year forward Christina Rombaut and sophomore defender Caroline Shaunessy. Colgate struck back just a minute later scoring back-to-back goals, beginning when Zalewski assisted Eldridge in scoring the visiting team’s fourth goal of the game. Immediately after, sophomore forward Bailey Larson was able to take advantage of an empty net and scored yet another goal for the Raiders. In the eighteenth minute of the period, Larson was once again able to score on an empty net, scoring what would be the final goal of the game. The game’s final score was 6-1, with Colgate going 1-for-4 on power play opportunities, while Dartmouth went 0-for-3. Colgate also managed to outshoot the Big Green 42-31, with sophomore goalkeeper Julia Vandyk racking up 30 saves in goal.

Head coach Greg Fargo commented on his team’s outstanding performance this past weekend. 

“When you prepare and practice the right way, you play the right way – when that happens generally you get the results you’re looking for,” 

Fargo said. “It sounds easy, but it’s really hard to be good everyday – there are a lot of things that can get in the way of what you want.” 

Next weekend, the Raiders will host Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for another ECAC competition. The puck drops at 6 p.m on Friday at the Class of

1965 Arena where the Raiders hope to continue their momentum.