Last week, Colgate played two games against Boston University Terriers and Lehigh Mountain Hawks. After dropping the match to BU 3-0, the Raiders bounced back with a big win over Lehigh. The victory over Lehigh may have saved Colgate’s postseason chances and fuel them for the rest of the season.

The game started off with a bang with BU scoring its first goal at the second minute mark. The Raiders committed a foul in the box which gave the Terriers a penalty kick. They scored, hitting the top left corner of the net.Not even 10 minutes passed before the Terriers scored their second goal of the game. The Terriers’ captain found space on the left wing and passed the ball to his teammate, who headed the ball past Raiders first-year goalie Ricky Brown.

Although BU had a 2-0 lead in the first half, the Raiders still held the majority of possession but could not convert. The Raiders headed into halftime looking to rebound. The Raiders first chance of the second half came in the 60th minute when senior captain Barrett Metzger took a throw in near the Terriers zone. He threw the ball to senior midfielder Nick Arpey who sent a cross deep into the box intended for first-year defenseman Zach Tamen. Tamen headed the pass to sophomore forward Tyler Forbes but the BU defense cleared it before Forbes could get a clear shot on goal. A few minutes later, junior forward Tanner Schilling mounted another attack for the Raiders when he broke past his defender and got a loose ball. Schilling then sent the ball to teammate first-year midfielder Ethan Kutler who fired it on net. Unfortunately for the Raiders, the ball was stopped by the Terriers goalie.

Colgate saw an abundance of other opportunities in the second half but were unable to convert any into goals. The Terriers were able to tack on another goal before the end of the game, giving them a 3-0 victory.In their second game of the week, the Raiders faced the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. The first half was relatively slow with zero goals scored.

The first opportunity came in the 16th minute of play when Metzger found an opening on net in the moments following a free kick. His shot was saved by Mountain Hawks keeper, who kept the game scoreless.

The Raiders had a great opportunity a few minutes later when first-year forward Zach Pagani was awarded a penalty kick. The young player put a hard shot on goal that was pushed off the crossbar and back into play. Pagani tried to score on the subsequent rebound but failed to put it in. In the opening minutes of the second half, first-year midfielder Colin O’Neill zoomed past three defenders before firing a ball from the top of the 18. O’Neill’s shot went careening past the outstretched arms of the goalie to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead. Junior Evan Heroux, Colgate’s premiere defenseman, tallied the Raiders second goal of the game in the 62nd minute. He took a pass from Pagani and redirected it to the back of Lehigh’s net. Heroux’s goal secured Colgate’s victory as the team stopped the Mountain Hawks from attaining any momentum on offense.

“Great overall effort by everyone,” Head Coach Erik Ronning said. “The team understood the importance of the game, played with urgency throughout and delivered a huge win on a field that is very difficult to get a result at.”This victory put the Raiders in the final playoff spot for the Patriot League tournament and gave them some momentum going into their next game against American University on Saturday.

Contact JP Letourneau at [email protected].