The men’s soccer team took a journey to the far reaches of the United States this weekend when they took on the University of California-Santa Barbara and Loyola Marymount this past weekend. 

Coming off a hard-fought tie against the University of Albany the week before, the Raiders looked to knock off an impressive UCSB team that touts multiple alumni now playing in the MLS. Colgate held strong against the Gauchos for much of the first half, but a penalty in the box ultimately led to the Raiders’ demise. Santa Barbara capitalized on this mistake, and a mere seven minutes later they cashed in again on another

penalty kick. 

Sophomore forward Ethan Kutler answered for his fourth straight game, curling a free kick around the inside post with his right foot early in the second half. Unfortunately, this did not do much in the way of stopping the Gauchos and the game ended in a

4-1 loss. 

“We need an overall collective effort to protect the ball,” Kutler said, “this starts with first visualizing spacing on

the field.” 

The lack of spacing was apparent during the game, as the Raiders were hardly able to maintain possession against the tenacious Gauchos defense. 

The Raiders had a day of rest between Friday’s contest and Sunday’s game against Loyola Marymount. Unfortunately, the Raiders returned home

winless as they fell to the Lions 1-0. 

The Lions struck just before the 30- minute mark on what was a scramble in front of the net following a corner kick. Senior Connor Hunsicker found himself with the ball and was able to net one in the bottom right corner while 

chaos occurred. 

At the start of the second half, Kutler had a chance to extend his scoring streak to five games in a row. On the left side of the field, Kutler cut to his right foot and ripped a shot over the keeper only to be denied by the crossbar. The sophomore has scored all four of the team’s goals

this season.

Junior midfielder Nick Rizzo also contributed three shots throughout the game, but could not sneak one by junior goalkeeper, Vince Paldino. Colgate had ample opportunities to equalize, but was unable to convert on any of them. The loss brought their overall record to 1-3-1. 

While sophomore goalkeeper Ricky Brown did allow five goals over the weekend for the Raiders, he has proven to be strong in net for the second straight season. Following up on a strong first-year, Brown made nine saves over the weekend and has been a key part of keeping the Raiders involved in their close matchups despite minimal

offensive help. 

Colgate looks to end its losing streak this weekend when they host Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday, September 19 at 7:00 p.m. on Beyer-Small ‘76 Field. Just two days later, the Raiders will take the pitch and face the Siena Saints at 2 p.m. in the Colgate Inaria Classic, a tournament they will host for the fifth straight year.