Wednesday’s game against Buffalo was a match of tough luck and near misses for the Raiders. Despite Colgate’s dominance in the possession game, the team could not pull to­gether and its record fell to 1-2 after losing 0-2 to the Bulls (3-0).

Initially, Colgate exerted their dominance over the Bulls by quickly taking possession of the ball and bringing it down to Buffalo’s side of the field. However, the Raiders were not able to capitalize on the many opportunities they were given and missed a total of 16 attempts throughout the first period. The closest miss came when senior co-captain Maddie Malone hit the cross bar on a free kick with only 10 minutes left on the clock before the half.

Unfortunately, the Bulls took advantage of a hole in the Raider defense, allowing Stephanie Velez to team up with Megan Ab­man and toe the ball past ‘Gate goalie Ash­ley Walsh. The tally came from one of only three attempts made by Buffalo in the entire first period.

The Raiders came out of the locker room in the second half full of energy and hustling around the field. Unfortunately, the Bulls re­sponded with equal intensity and put a stop to any attempt Colgate made at their goal. Buffalo keeper Ainsley Wheldon played like a concrete wall all day, stopping seven Colgate scoring attempts and picking up any stray balls that came her way.

The Raiders continued to battle and were able to catch a lucky break when Walsh made a diving save at the 23 minute mark to keep the energy going. Unfortunately, even though the ‘Gate defense was once again able to limit the Bulls to only three scoring attempts in the second period, they could not keep Buffalo out. Somehow Megan Abman was able to find her way around the Raider defense and, with the assist by Katie Roberts, scored another goal near the 83rd minute mark. That nailed the coffin shut on Colgate’s morale.

Although the Raiders let out a barrage of shots all game long, they just could not find the inside of the net.

“We controlled the game well,” Head Coach Kathy Brawn commented after the game. “We moved the ball well with a purpose and in a positive way…but I don’t think we battled hard enough to score goals, and I think in that one key area Buffalo outdid us and they outdid us twice.”

Even though Buffalo may have been able sneak past the ‘Gate defense a couple times, Coach Brawn still thought that several Colgate players displayed their dominance on the field that afternoon.

“I thought that Elise Amioka had a great game in midfield.” Brawn said. “I thought Maddie Malone did a superb job in such a new spot. In particular, those two stood out.”

The Raiders have also recorded wins against Cornell and Stetson hall with scores of 3-0 and 4-1, respectively. The team recently fell to Seton Hall in a disappointing 0-1 loss.

Colgate is slated to play on Friday against Albany at 4:00 p.m. and Boston College the following Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The Raiders will be on the road for both games.