The week of March 28 resulted in two disappointing losses for the Colgate women’s lacrosse team. On Wednesday, March 30, the Raiders faced Boston University at home on the Beyer-Small ’76 field. The Raiders entered the second half of the game with a one goal lead over Boston posting a score of 6-5. This lead did not last into the second half, however, as Boston quickly posted four consecutive goals, shifting the score to 9-6. Junior midfielder Isabel Kreitler sought to alleviate the Raiders’ deficit scoring her first goal of the game, but Boston quickly followed with another two goals resulting in an 11-7 score. The Raiders worked hard to make a comeback with sophomore midfielder Haley O’Hanlon senior attacker Emily Peebles, senior attacker Taylor Fischer and Kreitler all scoring a goal in the final minutes of the game, but Boston kept up and posted a final score of 14-11, ultimately defeating the Raiders. 

This game resulted in Boston University’s record standing at 5-5 while Colgate’s record shifted to 3-6. Fischer, from Ridgefield, Conn., posted a college career-high with four goals and an assist. Additionally, Kreitler played a crucial role in the game netting two goals and an assist. O’Hanlon finished with one goal and one assist, and senior defender Kristen Norden forced six turnovers and four ground balls. First-year goalie Asil Asfour made seven saves and pitched in four ground balls.

On Saturday, April 2 the Raiders hosted Loyola, suffering another disappointing loss by a final score of 11-6. This marked Loyola’s sixth win in seven games while the Raiders record moved to 3-7. Loyola led the game at the end of the first half 5-4. The Raiders successfully tied Loyola in the second half holding the score at 6-6 thanks to Kreitler’s two back to back goals before the Greyhounds pulled ahead scoring five more goals. Kreitler and senior captain Kallan Murray both put impressive hat tricks on the board, representing the only goals scored by Colgate. This marked Kreitler’s third hat trick of the season and Murray’s first. O’Hanlon tallied two assists and recorded a team high three draw controls, junior midfielder Sarah Bowles recorded two draw controls and three ground balls and Asfour started in the net again making four saves and recording a team-high four ground balls. Loyola held the lead in shots taken 19-12, with 11-6 and 8-6 shots being taken in the final two frames of the game respectively. Sophomore  defender Natalie Washuta, shared some interesting insight after the game. 

“We just had a huge week this past week in terms of important Patriot League games, one against Boston University and the other against Loyola. While we fell to both teams, we showed a lot of heart and overall team strength. For this second part of our season we are trying to focus on pulling together our offense and making sure every person on the field is a threat to cage. We have a huge rivalry coming up this Saturday against Navy, which will be aired on national television. Our coaches push us everyday to make our practices grueling and hard, so that the games are easy. With a good week of practice planned, we are all very excited to come out on top in Annapolis and improve our Patriot League record to 3-2,” Washuta said. 

 The Raiders undoubtedly have maintained their positive attitudes as well as their great work ethic which will hopefully pay off this week when they play Navy on April 9, a game that will be aired on the CBS Sports Network. The game can also be viewed on the Colgate Athletic website.