The Colgate field hockey team was unable to end its Patriot League losing streak this week, falling to American on the road in a devastating 8-1 decision.

Despite the loss, sophomore Meredith Gibson expe­rienced a personal victory when she recorded Colgate’s one and only goal of the tilt and the first collegiate goal of her career. First-year goalie Amanda DiDomizio made five saves in 61 minutes of action, while sophomore Caitlin Zolet saw nine minutes as a DiDomizio’s reliever and pushed aside two American shots.

The first half was marked by fantastic Raider defense, as Colgate was outshot 8-1, but managed to effectively defended their net. American’s Gina Hofmann tallied the only goal of the half toward the end of play on a penalty corner.

The Eagles scored four straight goals at the opening of the second half, with two recorded within the first ten minutes to push their lead to 3-0. Two more goals slipped to the back of the Colgate net, one coming within the last 18 minutes of play.

At that point, Gibson stopped the American streak with the lone Colgate goal of the competition. She broke into the circle from the right side, beating an American player and shooting to the inside post to bring the score to 5-1. The tally came too late in the game, however, and Colgate was unable to catch up with the Eagles for the remainder of play. American continued to dominate on offense, aggressively attacking the Raider net. Ulti­mately, they scored three more tallies before the end of the game and the score was set at 8-1.

The Raiders will be back in action when they play Holy Cross at noon on Saturday, October 22 on the road. They then travel to Cambridge, Mass. for a 1 p.m. tilt against Harvard the following afternoon.

Contact Emma Barge at [email protected].