The Colgate women’s ice hockey team stayed very busy over winter break, playing games against Yale, Brown, Penn State, Syracuse, Harvard and Dartmouth. The Raiders came out on top in their game against Brown, winning 3-2, as well as defeating Penn State 3-2 in overtime in the first of their two-game matchup. The following day, Colgate and Penn State went to overtime again, but the Nittany Lions took the 2-1 win in the end. Colgate then went on to face Syracuse, Harvard and Dartmouth, unfortunately losing to all three teams. However, ‘Gate stood its ground against the No. 5 ranked Harvard team, scoring four goals to put the final tally at 5-4.

To start off the new semester, the Raiders hit the road and faced the No. 6 ranked Clarkson Golden Knights and the St. Lawrence Saints, finishing the weekend with

two losses.

In their game against Clarkson, Colgate had a slow start, resulting in three Clarkson goals by the end of the first frame. The Raiders had a power play opportunity after a hooking call on the Golden Knights, but they couldn’t convert despite a promising look from senior Jocelyn Simpson. A few minutes later Clarkson was called for tripping, giving Colgate another power play. However, the Golden Knights managed to score, giving them an early 2-0 lead. With ten and a half minutes left in the period, Clarkson’s Carly Mercer scored to bring the game to 3-0. The rest of the frame remained scoreless, giving the Raiders a chance to show some competition in the remainder of the game.

Early in the second period, Clarkson received another hooking call, giving Colgate a man-up opportunity and allowing senior Taylor Volpe to put the Raiders on the scoreboard, scoring her eighth goal in the last eight games. Not long afterwards, Golden Knight Jamie Lee Rattray scored her second goal of the day, bringing the goal margin back to three.

About three minutes into the final frame, Simpson brought the score to 4-2, but Clarkson secured the win with one more goal before the end of the game, making the final score 5-2. Despite a tough first period, Colgate was neck and neck with nationally ranked Clarkson for the remainder of the game.

The next day, the Raiders headed to St. Lawrence to take on the Saints, ultimately falling 3-1 despite being the first team to score.

Colgate had a man-up opportunity 9:19 into the opening period as a result of a checking call on St. Lawrence, putting first-year Cat Quirion in position to score her second goal of the season with help from junior Taylor Craig. About two minutes later, the Saints answered with a goal from Margo Lund, tying the game.

After a hard-fought back and forth with many attempts on the net from both sides, neither team scored in the second period, bringing the 1-1 contest into an exciting

final frame.

 With only three minutes left in the game, St. Lawrence secured the win with a goal by Rylee Smith. The Raiders pulled sophomore goalie Ashlynne Rando in the final minutes of the game in an attempt to tie it up, but the Saints managed to take advantage of the empty net and score again with a minute and a half remaining. Colgate ended the day with a 3-1 loss after a very competitive contest.

When asked how the team has prepared to come back strong in the New Year, junior goalie Susan Allen stressed the importance of focusing on details and keeping a

positive attitude.

“Since beginning the New Year, the team has really focused on putting together a full 60 minute effort as well as paying special attention to details. Because it seems that the best teams do the little things the best, we are working on doing the seemingly minor things right along with the larger tasks,” Allen said.

“We have also paid particular attention to keeping positive attitudes and mindsets no matter what is happening in a game or practice. No matter what challenges we may face, we’re finding that the better the attitude we maintain, the better our results.”

Allen also commented on the team efforts that occur off the ice.

“Off the ice, the team is also paying a ton of attention to the details. We find that taking care of the details off the ice translates to more success on the ice. We’re also keeping things loose so to speak, by making sure to have fun together through various team-building activities. By staying close and maintaining a collective positive mentality, we hope to find success on the ice,” Allen said.

The Raiders are back on the ice on Friday to face Brown in the annual Autism Awareness Game at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear blue and support the cause.                         Contact Jack Murray at [email protected].