Despite their loss against Brown on March 16, Colgate women’s lacrosse was able to win against the American Eagles on March 19 as well as the Lafayette Leopards this past Saturday. The Raider wins improved Colgate’s record to 3-5 overall and 2-0 in Patriot League play.

Colgate’s game against Brown started off close with a 2-2 tie for the first 21:45 of the game but the Bears were able to establish a two-goal lead by the end of the second half. Senior attacker Taylor Fischer, junior midfielder Isabel Kreitler and sophomore midfielder Hayley O’Hanlon were able to combat Brown’s lead with one goal each in the second half but were ultimately surpassed by five goals by Brown. The Raiders ultimately fell to a Brown victory of 9-5. 

The Raiders started off their game against American with a strong offense scoring three goals in the first half off the sticks of Kreitler, senior captain Lauren Gorajek and Hayley O’Hanlon. Though they ended the first half with a 3-0 lead, the Eagles quickly came back in the second half, opening the frame with three goals in less than five minutes. Sophomore defender Natalie Washuta triggered the Raiders’ comeback at 23:43 with an unassisted goal followed by another unassisted goal at 11:29 putting Colgate back in the lead at 5-3. Fischer expanded the lead with a goal only to be countered by an American goal making it once again a two-goal contest. Senior captain Kallan Murray and Gorajek each scored a goal in the last thirty seconds of the game to create an 8-4 margin. Head coach Heath Young is confident in the Raider’s abilities following the win. 

“It was a great team effort today. I was very happy with the defensive performance, especially in the first half. We had some great stops and caused turnovers. Our offense was very balanced today and patient with their shots. Excited to get ready for another league game next weekend against a talented Lafayette squad,” Young said.

With the win against American, Colgate was able was able to start off its Patriot League play with a promising 1-0 record.

On Saturday, March 26, Colgate continued its success with a 13-11 win over Lafayette. The Raiders held a 2-1 lead for the first fifteen minutes of the game before the Leopards came back with four straight goals to build a 5-2 advantage with about five minutes left in the half. Gorajek and O’Hanlon were able to close the lead to 5-4 with one goal each in the remaining minutes of the first half. The Raiders were able to take control of the game in the opening of the second half with four goals in the first 3:18. Though Lafayette was able to narrow the lead to 8-6, the Raiders were then able to achieve their biggest lead of the game, scoring three of the next four goals making it an 11-7 contest. The Leopards got no closer than within two goals of the Raiders for the remaining fifteen minutes of the half. All together, goals by Kreitler, O’Hanlon, Gorajek, Emily Peebles and Murray contributed to Colgate’s 13-11 victory. Young was pleased with the Raider win as she looks forward to

upcoming season.

“Very proud of the offensive effort today. We hit a lot of pipes in the first half but we were not fazed and kept shooting in the second half. The draw was also huge for us. Junior midfielder Sarah Bowles, O’Hanlon and Gorajek were unbelievable in the circle today. They deserve a lot of the credit for getting us ahead in the second half. Looking forward to enjoying this win and then turning our focus to Boston University tomorrow,” Young said.

The Raiders will attempt to continue their two-game winning streak with a home game against Boston University at Beyer-Small ’76 Field on March 30 at 5 p.m.