Men’s soccer improved their win streak to three this past weekend when they traveled to Pennsylvania to take on the Lafayette Leopards. Colgate came away from the match with a 2-1 win in what this season has proved to be quintessential Raiders

form, winning in overtime. 

The Leopards struck first, netting a goal in the 27th minute after Colgate failed to clear the ball from their box. The remainder of the first half, however, was scoreless as the Raiders headed into the locker room looking to reverse the score.

Going into the second half, the Raiders looked to their primary source of offense for help, and he came through in a big way. Sophomore forward Ethan Kutler upped his season goal tally to 10 after he struck a screamer from just inside the box that managed to find the bottom right corner of the net. As of September 30, Kutler sits two goals behind the NCAA scoring leader, Pat Flynn of Bowling Green. 

“It’s not about records, it’s about helping out my team,” Kutler said of his status among Division 1’s most elite. 

The teams fought hard for the remainder of regulation time, and even after one overtime period, the score remained a 1-1 draw. 

In the second overtime period, however, the Raiders struck first with what ended up being the winning tally. Sophomore forward Zach Pagani won the game for the Raiders on a beautiful combination play. Fellow forward Kutler received a long pass, settled it and played a pretty through ball for Pagani, who finished cleanly from the left side of the field for the game-winner. 

“It felt great; I’ve had a goal coming all season and I’ve been putting shots on target all year,” Pagani said of the game winner. “It felt great to see one of them finally get past, and I hope it jump starts more success for me on offense.”

Sophomore defensive anchor Zach Tamen echoed much of what Coach Erik Ronning had to say about the game. 

“It was a hard fought game. One of those games we just had to grind out,” Tamen said of the matchup with

the Leopards. 

A big factor that has contributed to the Raiders overall success and, specifically in the matchup against the Leopards, has been the consistent play of sophomore goalie Ricky Brown. Brown’s three saves on the evening bumped his tally on the season up to 32. Through Brown’s two seasons in Hamilton, he has been consistent in net and held the Raiders in many close contests.

Indeed the Raiders have grown accustomed to grinding out wins this year; this double overtime victory marked the fourth game that has gone to extra time out of eight total games. 

One might think the wear and tear of all that extra time would be detrimental for the Raiders, but it has proven to increase the team’s mental toughness in addition to their fitness as they’ve won the last three games. 

The Raiders face the Loyola Greyhounds this coming Saturday down in Baltimore, Maryland where they hope to improve their Patriot League record

to 2-0.