It’s been a rough week for the Colgate women’s soccer team, losing tight games to tough opponents since besting the Cornell Big Red handily on September 8.

This past Friday against a nationally ranked Marquette squad, the Raiders fell behind in the seventh minute on a goal from first-year Morgan Proffitt, sent off a corner kick by senior Meagan Kelly. After this early set back, the team hunkered down and, led by first-year goalkeeper Brenna Mason,

allowed nothing more.

Outshot by a substantial margin of 21-6, the Raiders remained stalwart, but the lack of offensive momentum would be their undoing and ended the game scoreless, losing by a final score of 1-0.

Despite the score and the shot advantage, the Raiders’ performance against a nationally-acclaimed opponent was commendable.

On Sunday afternoon, the team matched up against another worthy opponent in DePaul University. Exciting from start to finish, the Raiders were unable to pick up the victory in Chicago. DePaul first-year Gini Yost knocked in her first collegiate goal for the first score of the game. The game remained scoreless for the rest of the first half, and the Raiders came out determined in the second half.

In the 53rd minute, junior Chelsea Roche headed in a corner kick from junior Emily Manoogian to tie the game up at 1-1. After 20 minutes of action, the game was again broken open by DePaul, this time on a goal by sophomore Elise Wyatt.

Following a foul in the box by DePaul, as game time began to dwindle, junior captain Caroline Brawner seized the opportunity to tie the game up at 2 and sent it to overtime.

After a tense and scoreless period of overtime, an opportunity presented itself to the strong DePaul squad. On a fast break, after some precise passing by her teammates, senior Ashleigh Goddard found herself facing an open net and was able to knock in the winning goal.

Despite these few setbacks, the future seems bright for the Raider women. They have shown themselves to be tough competitors in close contests against great competition. At 4-3, they stand above .500 despite the fact that they have had few games at home. They will begin Patriot League play against Lafayette College for homecoming this Saturday.

Contact Eric Reimund at [email protected].