The Raiders went to Bethlehem, P.a.  looking for a much-needed victory. After losing to the No. 1 Loyola Hounds the prior week, a victory over the Mountain Hawks would have helped alleviate some of the pain that came with the previous loss. Unfortunately, a big third quarter from Lehigh gave the Mountain Hawks an 11-7 victory.

Colgate struck first in a balanced first quarter, as sophomore attacker Eric Foote continued his strong play. Foote’s 12th goal of the season off an assist from senior attacker Brendon McCann put the Raiders in the early lead.

The Mountain Hawks, however, tightened up their defense for the remainder of the period and scored twice, with one on the man-advantage. Their 2-1 advantage took them into the second frame, where they saw the Raiders strike first again. Sophomore midfielder Cameron Williams scored off an assist from playmaking junior midfielder Matt Clarkson.

The Raiders tied up the game and proceeded to trade goals back and forth with the Mountain Hawks for the remainder of the first half. McCann picked up his second assist when he found sophomore attacker Kevin Adams for the goal and later picked up a goal of his own off a feed from senior captain Jimmy Ryan. The halftime deficit for the Raiders was just one goal, and the game was far from settled.

It was an unbalanced third frame that did the Raiders in. Early in the quarter the Raiders allowed Lehigh to score twice in a minute. While Williams scored his second goal of the game to bring the Raiders back, the Mountain Hawks defense stifled the Raiders for the remainder of the quarter. Tallying two goals in the final four minutes with one coming on the man-advantage, the Mountain Hawks held a much more comfortable 9-5 lead going into the final frame.

Just 27 seconds in, Lehigh once again scored, forcing the Raiders to load up on offense. The Raiders did their best, but the Lehigh defense and play in goal was strong all game. Williams recorded his third point of the game, finding Foote, who scored his second of the game on a  man-up opportunity. But the Mountain Hawks came back with yet another response to push their lead to 11-6.

Clarkson tallied the final Raiders goal with just under a minute and a half remaining, and the Mountain Hawks held on for the victory as the final whistle blew.

First-year Brandon Burke put up one of his strongest games in net all season. Burke’s 14 saves were one short of his season-high and kept Colgate competitive all day long.

Along with Burke, the Raiders saw another strong game from their defensive tandem in seniors Kevin Boyle and Bobby Lawrence. The two leaders on the defensive end put up one of their strongest efforts, with Boyle recording five ground balls and three caused turnovers, while Lawrence matched his caused turnover total and

contributed four ground balls.

The big scorer for the Raiders, junior attacker Ryan Walsh, was once again held off the scoreboard, though Walsh did pitch in with one of his strongest games all around. Walsh’s season-high six ground balls and career-high four caused turnovers helped the rest of the Raiders create plays elsewhere.

The loss for the Raiders held them in the fourth position in the Patriot League, as they fight for a position in the postseason. The top two teams in the league receive first-round byes while the next two have a home field advantage in the first postseason game.

The Raiders look to improve their league record this weekend as they return home to Andy Kerr Stadium to host the Holy Cross Crusaders. With a 1 p.m. start time, the game will mark the team’s annual

Springcoming game.           

Contact Spencer Serling at [email protected].