Senior midfielder Eric Foote gave the Raiders a 11-10 overtime victory over the No. 20 Bucknell Bison this past Saturday. Colgate battled back from a 5-1 first half deficit to claim their fifth consecutive victory over the Bison.

Bucknell struck early and often in the first quarter, running up a 4-1 lead at the end of the first. The lone Colgate goal came from sophomore attacker Anthony Abbadessa who opened the scoring for the Raiders when he tallied early in the quarter. Despite falling behind 5-1 early in the second quarter, Abbadessa scored his second and third goals to help Colgate pull within two goals with just eight minutes to play in the second quarter. First-year midfielder Duncan Hoskinson and Eric Foote scored back-to-back goals, the latter with just 29 seconds to play in the half to tie the game at 5.

Colgate and Bucknell traded goals early and often in the third quarter.

Abbadessa scored just over three minutes into the quarter to answer a quick Bucknell goal. Abbadessa’s goal gave him his fourth score of the game, tying his single game career-high. When asked about his career day, Abbadessa stressed the importance of his performance in helping his team bounce back from a slow start.

“We started off slowly so we were just trying to get a couple to get the boys rolling. It was definitely good to get a couple of goals and get the team excited and motivated. It helped out at the end,” Abbadessa said.

Sophomore attacker Joe Delaney registered his first goal of the season, followed by goals from junior midfielder Jack Stebbins and sophomore attackman Chase Wittich, to give the Raiders a 9-8 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Wittich found the back of the net once more early in the fourth to give the Raiders a two-goal cushion, but two quick goals from Thomas Filbotte and Will Sands of Bucknell tied the game at 10 all with nearly ten minutes remaining in the contest. From that point on, Colgate and Bucknell would play a hard-fought fourth quarter that culminated in a tie that would head to overtime. Junior goaltender Brandon Burke stopped 10 shots for the Raiders while the Colgate defense forced nine Bucknell turnovers.

The Raiders would lose the opening face-off in overtime due to a violation, but a great defensive play by Burke gave the ball back to the Raiders. After a timeout by head coach Mike Murphy, Foote fired a shot from about 10 yards out that gave Colgate a 11-10 victory and set off a raucous atmosphere in front of a crowd of around 450. Colgate improved to 2-1, and 1-0 in the Patriot League with the win.

The winning score was redemption for Eric Foote after he missed his entire junior season because of injury. Foote expressed a clear sense of relief when asked about his game winning goal.

“(Senior midfielder) Cam Williams started coming down and I got a little room. I was in a position to get to my top hand and they had a little mix-up on a switch, and I was lucky enough to get to a good spot to take the shot. I’m glad it went in,” Foote said.

The team travels next to Bethlehem, Pa. where they will take on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at noon on Saturday. Despite beating Lehigh 12-8 at home last season, the Raiders have not defeated Lehigh since 2011 when playing them on the road. The game can be live streamed off of the

Colgate athletics website.