This past weekend the Raiders played two games on their home turf; after suffering a difficult overtime loss to Lock Haven, the Raiders rebounded to pick up their first victory of the season against St. Francis.

The Eagles (4-2) came to Hamilton ready to play, but the Raiders had the upper hand. Just over a minute and a half into the game, the Raiders earned their first penalty corner. Despite the Eagles stopping the Raiders’ initial attempt, junior Eliana Brown gained possesion and made a pass over to senior Olivia Nabhan who scored to put the Raiders up 1-0.

At the midway point of the first half, Lock Haven was finally able to get on the board. Junior Taylor Kennedy capitalized on the opportunity on the first of many penalty corners for the Eagles. Halftime came around with the score tied at 1, but the Raiders remained confident. Heading into the break with 10 shots and seven penalty corners, the Raiders had their strongest offensive output of the season.

The second half was just underway when senior Halle Biggar put the Raiders back on the

scoreboard. Nabhan got the ball on a rebound and was able to one-time it over to Biggar who put it in the back of the net. Four minutes later, however, the Eagles broke through the defense and Kennedy scored on a second penalty corner to tie up the score. Junior Amanda DiDomizio was strong throughout, making eight saves and helping to carry the Raiders into overtime.

After the Raiders controlled possession for the first minute of overtime, the Eagles took the ball upfield and, on the fast-break, beat DiDomizio to take the game by a score of 3-2.

Attempting to quickly recover from their heart-breaking loss, the Raiders came back out the next day to take on St. Francis. The Raiders, still seeking their first win of the season, came out firing as Brown scored just six minutes into the game to put the Raiders early.

Less than 10 minutes later, Brown scored again, this time on the breakaway to extend the Raiders’ lead. The defenses held strong for the remainder of the half and the Raiders went into halftime with a strong 2-0 lead.

The Raiders added to their lead early in the second half. Just over 10 minutes into the half, junior Rebecca Libutti passed the ball to Brown who netted her third goal.

DiDomizio was strong all second half, facing 12 shots. It wasn’t until there were just under three minutes left that DiDomizio allowed one through.

At that point, it was too late for a comeback and the Raiders held on for the 3-1 victory, their first of the season. Next week the Raiders open up Patriot League play against Boston University at home and later host Brown.

Contact Spencer Serling at [email protected].