In the opening round of the Patri-ot League post-season tournament, the Raiders fell 1-0 to the Lafayette Leopards.

The Lafayette offense opened the game with a strong effort. Midway through the first half, the Leopards found their first scoring opportunity. Lafayette junior mid-fielder Alec Golini, a first-team all-Patriot League selection, was able to fire a shot past Raiders’ sophomore goalkeeper Liam Stapleton, after finding an opening near the goal.

The 1-0 deficit fired Colgate’s offense back up and gave it the momentum it needed to try for a comeback. The game remained back-and-forth throughout rest the first half, but Colgate was able to secure a corner kick with 20 seconds left.

Junior defender Barrett Metzger fired a kick into the box, allowing junior mid-fielder Nick Arpey to find an opportunity to launch it into the goal. However, Arpey’s shot narrowly missed the goal, allowing La-fayette to keep the lead going into halftime.

The Raiders came out strong in the second half with senior midfielder Mike Reidy leading the way. He fired several shots and shredded the Lafayette defense by finding scoring opportunities for other players. But Lafayette junior goalie Na-than McDonald effectively shut down Raider chances to score with his relentless command of the Leopards’ defense.

Despite the Leopards’ fiery defense, Colgate senior defender Wade Martin was able to find a scoring opportunity. He se-cured possession of the ball and charged down the field toward McDonald evad-ing many Lafayette defenders. Still, the Lafayette defense quickly recovered and regained possession of the ball.

Colgate ultimately failed to erase the deficit resulting in a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Lafayette, which ended the team’s season. However, several players were nominated for prestigious accolades for their play throughout the season. Senior midfielder Mike Reidy earned the distin-guished Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year along with his First Team all-Pa-triot League selection. Colgate sophomore defender Evan Heroux also earned a nomi-nation for First Team all-Patriot League. Senior midfielder Mike Garzi, senior defender Wade Martin and sophomore goalkeeper Liam Stapleton were all selected to the Second Team all-Patriot League.

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