Despite their best efforts, the Raiders fell this past weekend to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem, Pa. with a score of 13-10. The loss dropped the Raiders record to 7-4 on the season and 2-2 in Patriot League play.

The Raiders knew they would need to come out and play one of their best games of the season when battling Lehigh, the Patriot League favorite. Within the first five minutes, the Mountain Hawks had picked up two quick goals, one with a man-advantage. With just over six minutes to play, sophomore Ryan Walsh continued his fantastic season, scoring for the Raiders and cutting Lehigh’s early lead.

After another man-advantage goal by the Mountain Hawks, junior Brendon McCann and senior Connor Brown added goals within a minute and a half of each other to tie the game back up at three-all. Yet, the Mountain Hawks scored again with one second left in the quarter,

regaining the lead.

Within 20 seconds of the start of the second quarter, senior Peter Baum got on the board for the first time in the game off an assist from senior face-off specialist Robert Grabher. After another Walsh goal, Baum scored off an assist from

first-year Eric Foote.

The Raiders had overcome the early Lehigh lead and secured a 6-4 lead. However, the Mountain Hawks finished the second quarter strong, scoring three times in the last 11 minutes while holding the Raiders scoreless. The Mountain Hawks carried a 7-6 lead going into the break after a very turbulent first half for

both teams.

One minute into the third quarter, Walsh added his third goal of the game to tie the game back up at seven-all. On another man-up opportunity, the Mountain Hawks took advantage and regained the lead with a score of 8-7. With just under two and a half minutes remaining in the quarter, Baum added his third of the game off an assist from Walsh to tie the game up at eight-all going into the

fourth quarter.

As the fourth quarter began, the Raiders began to slip, playing sloppily – they were called for four penalties –  and losing their neck-in-neck position with the Mountain Hawks. The first Colgate penalty led to a Mountain Hawk goal just over two minutes into the quarter giving the lead back to the Mountain Hawks. Just 20 seconds, later junior Jimmy Ryan tied the game back up at nine-all.

Over the next six minutes, the Mountain Hawks scored three times, with the help of one man-advantage goal and some Raider turnovers that occurred in the final frame. Baum added his fourth goal of the game off an assist from senior Matt Baker with five minutes to play. The Mountain Hawks scored one final man-advantage goal with 45 seconds to play, to take the

victory 13-10.

At the end of the day, their turnovers and penalties led to the Raiders’ downfall. On eight opportunities with a man-advantage, the Mountain Hawks converted on six, while nine of the 12 turnovers that the Raiders committed came in the second half. This was not enough to

overcome Baum’s four goals, raising his season total to 30, and Walsh’s three goals, raising his season total to 28.

The Raiders travel back to Pennsylvanianext weekend to take on the Lafayette

Leopards on Saturday at 4:30.

Contact Spencer Serling at

[email protected].