This past week, the Colgate women’s soccer team celebrated two wins, hosting Army Wednesday before hitting the road to take on Loyola Maryland Saturday. On Wednesday, the game concluded with a score of 5-0, while the final tally of Saturday’s game was 2-1. After Saturday’s victory, the team’s record moved to 7-7-3 overall, and their Patriot League record moved to 4-4-0.

The Raiders set the bar high right away against Loyola by coming out with a strong offensive effort and building a 3-0 lead in the game’s first half. In the game’s first eight minutes, the Raiders managed to get off seven shots on goal. The first goal of the game was scored in the 20th minute of the first half, when senior forward Sarah Coy fired a shot from inside the box after receiving a pass from first-year forward Abby Sotomayor.

Nine minutes later in the match, Colgate’s lead increased when senior forward Sophi Lederer scored on a penalty kick. First-year midfielder Mara Cosentino scored the third goal of the match, one assisted by sophomore midfielder Nicole Gavin.

Throughout the second half of play, Colgate continued to build upon their lead. Coy scored again, with a shot that deflected off Loyola goalie senior Jordan Cassalia’s hands into the top corner of the net. The final goal of the game came in the 85th minute, when sophomore forward Shannon Pawlak scored on a penalty kick, notching her first goal of the season. The contest tied with the team’s October 1 matchup, which was also against Army, for the highest scoring game of the season. Additionally, it was the final home

game of regular season play for the Raiders seniors.

Saturday’s away game was a bit closer than the previous match, as the Raiders came back from behind in the game’s final 20 minutes, recovering from a 1-0 deficit to pull out a vital 2-1 victory. The Greyhounds came out strong to defend their home turf at the game’s start, scoring their first goal in the 12th minute. Sophomore forward Jourdan Ziff scored unassisted by dribbling in from the thirty yard-line before firing a shot that deflected off the underside of the crossbar. Loyola was able to maintain a lead until midway through the second half of action, when Sotomayor scored her ninth goal of the season on a reverse header during the 72nd minute. The goal was assisted by Coy and junior midfielder Eliza Doll. The Raiders pulled into the lead in the game’s 78th minute, when Lederer scored on a penalty kick. The goal was her third of the season.

Regarding the match, head coach Kathy Brawn shared her positive outlook.

“It was a tale of two halves tonight. Loyola took great advantage of our slow start, which put us in a hole we didn’t want to let get deeper,” Brawn said.

Next Saturday, the Raiders will have their final regular season matchup when they travel to Easton, Pennsylvania to battle Patriot League rival Lafayette College. Soon after, the Patriot League Tournament will take place November 1 through 6.