The Colgate Field Hockey squad took on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks this past Saturday on Tyler’s Field. Both Colgate and Lehigh entered the game 2-11, so they each had something to prove. Perhaps because it was Senior Day, the Colgate Women played with extra intensity and came out swinging from the start.

Junior attacker Eliana Brown was able to get a shot off within the first minute but it flew wide. Colgate dominated the first half of the contest, tallying 15 shots to the Mountain Hawk’s five. 23 minutes into the game senior attacker Olivia Nabhan hit a shot that deflected off a Mountain Hawk defender and past the goalie to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.

The remainder of the first half remained scoreless and the Raiders headed into halftime with a lead, hoping to pick up a victory on a monumental day for the seniors.

Early second half, however, the Mountain Hawks found the back of the net and beat junior goalie Amanada DiDomizio to tie the game at one. With the game tied back up, the Raiders picked up their

offensive pressure and pushed to score.

The next score came when a yellow card was thrown after some action in front got the Mountain Hawk goalie tagged. Junior defenseman Guiliana Kafaf converted the opportunity against Lehigh’s replacement goalie to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead.

Just one minute later, senior Halle Biggar drove home a shot to bring the Raider lead to 3-1. Biggar’s ninth goal of the season seemed as if it were enough to put the game out of reach for the Hawks.

 Very late in the game, however, Lehigh converted on a penalty corner to cut the lead down to 3-2, but the Raiders’ lead proved to be too much and they picked up the victory on Senior Day.

The next day, the Raider women clashed with the Harvard Crimson, hoping to keep the momentum from Senior Day going.

Unfortunately, first blood was spilled when the Crimson’s Catriona Mcdonald, while engaged by senior goalkeeper Caitlin Zolet, slipped a pass to Marisa Balleza who hit it home. Balleza soon extended the lead with a commendable solo effort in which she knocked a strike past Zolet.

With the Crimson lead at 2-0, the Raiders pushed to close the gap and get back in the contest. With just two minutes remaining in the half, the Raiders scored on a well-executed play after a penalty

corner involving juniors Rebecca Libutti, Brown and senior Kelsey Jensen, the latter of whom got the goal.

Coming out of halftime, the Raiders held strong on defense for the first 10 minutes, but the Crimson tallied another shortly after to extend their lead to 3-1.

The Raiders, however, responded strongly as they tallied another goal just 12 minutes later. Biggar was able to score off a rebound and with the lead at 3-2, the Raiders hoped to mount a comeback.

It was not to be, however, as the Crimson answered back strongly with two goals within three minutes of each other, essentially closing the door on the Colgate women.

The Raiders suit up next Saturday October 26 against Patriot League rival Lafayette.

Contact Eric Reimund at [email protected].