After a rocky start to the season against tough competition, the Raiders have picked up steam, winning two league match ups at Tyler’s Field.

First facing off against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, the Raiders got off to a hot start, scoring two goals within the first minute of play. Junior midfielder Megan Ark continued her unbelievable season, scoring first and then assisting on senior co-captain Monica White’s goal. Lehigh responded four minutes later, but the other senior co-captain Alison Flood was quick with a response to put the Raiders in the lead 3-1.

After that, however, the Mountain Hawks clamped down and began to dominate play. Over the next 13 minutes, Lehigh tallied six goals while holding the Raiders scoreless. Their takeover on both ends of the field let the Mountain Hawks maintain a 7-4 lead at half.

The Raiders came out strong in the second half, determined to make a comeback. Sophomore midfielder Lauren Gorajek scored in the first minute of the second half to begin the comeback for the Raiders. After a Lehigh response five minutes later, Ark scored her second of the game and first-years Sarah Bowles and

Mallorie O’Brien followed up to tie the game up at eight.

Lehigh gained the lead back shortly after, but Bowles scored her second of the game off an assist from White and first-year midfielder Isabel Kreitler scored her second to put the Raiders in the lead for the first time since early in the first half. Lehigh responded with a goal of their own and with three minutes remaining, the teams were tied up at 10.

The sophomore class came through for the Raiders in the final three minutes, however, as attacker Kallan Murray found midfielder Kristen Norden for the go-ahead goal. After Lehigh evened up the score with just over a minute remaining, the Raiders saw last-second heroics give them the victory. Gorajek scored her second of the game with just 17 seconds remaining, pushing the Raiders in the lead 12-11, which turned out to be the final score.

Carrying the momentum from their last-second victory into the next weekend, the Raiders took the field against the Bucknell Bison looking for another league victory. After letting the Bison grab the early 3-0 lead, the Raiders showed their strong offensive balance rattling off six straight from six different players. After Bucknell finally scored to break the Raiders streak, captains White and Flood each tallied their second of the game to give the Raiders an 8-4 advantage heading into the second half.

The second half saw the Raiders match their first half total of eight goals while holding the Bison to just two. White completed her hat trick while Ark scored two in the second half. Junior Jennie Berglin was strong again in net, making 13 saves and allowing the Raiders offense to be aggressive and get on the board often.

The Raiders 16-6 victory marked a team-high in goals on the season. This weekend, they look to improve their 2-1 League record as they travel to Annapolis to take on the

Navy Midshipmen.             

                    Contact Spencer Serling at [email protected].