Men’s Lacrosse Freezes Up Against Dartmouth

 

The Colgate men’s lacrosse team suf­fered its first setback on the 2012 sea­son, falling to Dartmouth by a score of 9-6. The game was delayed due to heavy snowfall and the inclement weather continued throughout the game. At times it became difficult to see players on the opposite end of the field due to the snow flurries.

Four Raiders tallied points on the af­ternoon. Junior midfielder Peter Baum and senior attackman Jeff Ledwick led Colgate with three points each. Both had a pair of goals and an assist. Ledwick and Baum continue to lead the Raider offen­sive attack, with both of them posting at least three points in every game this season. First-year attackman Ryan Walsh chipped in with a goal and an assist, ex­tending his scoring streak to three games. Senior midfielder Chris Zielinski scored his first goal of 2012 to round out the scoring for Colgate.

The weather undoubtedly affected the offensive production of both teams, as the snowfall caused a slippery condensation layer to form on the turf of Tyler’s Field. Both teams had multiple players slip to the ground, and a lot of turnovers as well as groundballs ensued because of it. Both teams had over 20 turnovers in the game. Dartmouth scored the first goal of the game to draw first blood, but Colgate quickly bounced back when Walsh scored his lone goal of the game to tie the score at 1-1. No team would find the net until Baum was able to convert on an extra-man opportunity for the Raiders due to a Big Green slashing penalty in the final minute of the period. Baum fired it past Dartmouth goalie Fergus Campbell from about twelve yards away to give Colgate the advantage after the first period by a 2-1 margin.

Following a three-minute penalty on Dartmouth for an illegal stick, it looked as if the Raiders could potentially add to their lead in the opening minutes of the second quarter. The extra-man opportu­nity did lead to the Raiders out shoot­ing the Big Green, but alas, they could not find the back of the net. Conversely, Dartmouth cashed in on an extra-man opportunity at the 10:38 mark to even the game. The Big Green then took the lead two-and-a-half minutes later on an even strength goal. No teams scored over the next several minutes and it looked as if Colgate would be down going into the half, but a slashing penalty on Dart­mouth gave Colgate the opportunity they needed. Ledwick deposited the ball in the back of the net after collecting a pass from Baum.

The weather conditions worsened during halftime, and it looked as if goals would come at a premium in the second half. The first goal of the third was not tallied until nearly half of the period had gone by. Dartmouth again found the back of the net first as they did in the first and second quarter. However, just as Colgate had done all game, they found an answer for Dartmouth, ty­ing up the game with another goal from Ledwick just under three minutes later. On the play the Big Green was flagged for pushing, so it looked as if the Raid­ers could finally regain the lead they held in the waning minutes of the first period. Unfortunately, Colgate could not capitalize, and the teams traded goals during the rest of the period. The score remained tied at 5-5 starting the final frame of play.

Dartmouth continued its trend of scoring the opening goal of the period when it scored its sixth goal of the game with just over five minutes gone by in the final period. Yet the Raiders were able to bounce back again when Zielinski’s goal tied the game for the sixth time of the af­ternoon. Neither team had enjoyed more than a one-goal lead up to this point in the game as each team had an answer for the other. Yet that trend ended here, as the Big Green ran off the last three goals of the game without a response from the Raiders to earn the victory. The tables seemingly turned on the Raiders who in their previous two games refused to relin­quish the lead to their opponents, despite being tied up in multiple instances.

The Raiders outshot and out-hustled Dartmouth to the tune of a 40-27 shot advantage and a 41-28 advantage in ground balls. Despite this advantage, Campbell stopped 15 shots on the after­noon for Dartmouth, stifling the Col­gate attack. Senior goalie Jared Madison recorded five saves for the Raiders in net.

Colgate travels to Robert Morris on Saturday for its first road game of the season. The game is scheduled to start at 12 p.m.

Contact Steve Urban at [email protected].