The Colgate men’s soccer team seems destined to finish their games in nail-biting overtimes.  All three of their games thus far in their 2014 campaign have gone into at least one overtime; in fact, two have gone into

double overtime.  

This past weekend, the Raiders saddled up and traveled to the University of Albany, where the game ended in a 1-1 tie after a brutal and suspenseful double overtime.  

While many players felt they could come away with the victory against their fellow upstate New York opponent. They unfortunately could not put one in the back of the net during either sudden death overtime periods. Although they played well defensively and had many opportunities on the offensive side of the field, the Raiders fell behind by a goal early in the game and struggled to tie it up before the

final buzzer. 

Luckily, sophomore forward Ethan Kutler – the reigning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week after his performance in the previous weekend’s games – tied the game with only a few

minutes remaining.  

“Overall, it was a good team effort to come back and tie the game,” Kutler said. “It shows our resilience

and determination.” 

This season, Kutler has been a force on offense, scoring all of the team’s goals. He has dominated the offensive side of the field with his amazing footwork and ability to read and react to his fellow teammates on the field. 

The Raiders were unable to secure the victory in the first overtime despite several solid offensive drives up the field. Colgate  possessed the ball extremely well during both overtime periods, and watching them have several offensive chances without being able to finish was stressful.  

Sophomore forward Zach Pagani echoed this sentiment. “We really need to work on capitalizing on our chances,” Pagani said. “We outshoot every team we play, but we have to work on putting more shots

on target.” 

As a whole, the team is looking particularly strong this season; if they capitalize on their offensive opportunities like they are capable of creating, then they should have a very successful season.  

As the Raiders get ready to head off to California this Thursday, they need to shake off this past weekend’s tie and focus on taking on their tough opponents in the Golden State. This year, Colgate will face two teams:  University of California Santa Barbara and Loyola Marymount. Even though the Raiders lost to Loyola Marymount last year by one goal when they went out to California, several players on the team are very excited to play them again because they are familiar with their style of play and are convinced that they can beat them this time around.  UC Santa Barbara is a new addition to their schedule this season, and it will be very interesting and entertaining to watch how the Raiders match up against this very challenging team. 

“We are playing a couple top teams, and we really need to work as a cohesive unit,” Kutler said about the team’s upcoming weekend. If the Raiders focus on possessing the ball like they have been doing every game so far this season and capitalize early on in the game offensively, the team should come back to New

York victorious.  

With offensive power like Kutler and Pagani, coupled with defensive walls sophomore Zach Tamen and junior Tyler Forbes, in addition to a strong showing by the first-years, the Raiders should have a great weekend out in California.