Men’s Soccer Extends Unbeaten Streak to Six

The Colgate men’s soccer team continued its impressive play to start the season, drawing in both of its contests at the Colgate Invitational to bring its record on the season to 3-0-3.

The first game, against Vermont, doubled as the Raiders’ home opener as well. Sure enough, Colgate came out fired up and dominated position early in the contest, pestering the Catamounts’ goal with shots. Unfortunately, as has seemingly been the case throughout the early season, the Raiders could not score. After not cashing in on their early chances, Vermont seemed to gain its footing and dominated the rest of the first half, forcing Colgate keeper Chris Miller to come up with some big stops to keep the game scoreless.

The second half began much like the first for the Raiders, with the ball on the Vermont side for nearly all of the 45 minutes. This time the Colgate chances were more dangerous, one even hitting a post. However the Vermont goalkeeper, Xan Rouselle, came up with a couple of his biggest saves on the night.

For the fourth time on the season Colgate went into overtime, but both periods produced no goals and the teams would be forced to settle for a scoreless tie.

Colgate returned to Van Doren Field on Sunday afternoon for a 2:30 p.m. matinee contest against the Binghamton Bearcats. The start of this battle could not have been more different from the Raiders’ previous game, as Binghamton dominated possession and controlled the tempo of the game.

As the half moved on the intensity picked up, with two yellow cards being dished out, yet Colgate still found itself playing right into Binghamton’s hands. Fortunately for the Raiders, as has been the case all year, the defense was solid and the game went into half at 0-0.

Colgate picked up its play in the start of the second half, and in the 66th minute they were rewarded, as sophomore Mike Reidy lasered one in from the top of the box to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead. The Raiders’ defense uncharacteristically faltered right after taking the lead, however, and an impressive scissor-kick goal off a Bearcats’ corner tied the game at 1-1. The remainder of the contest, including the overtime periods, played out scorelessly, and the Raiders recorded their third tie

of the season.

After an impressive undefeated run in non-conference play, Colgate now gets ready to take on Lehigh at Van Doren Field this Friday at 7 p.m. After a disappointing year in 2009 where the Raiders failed to qualify for the Patriot League Tournament, Colgate has big plans this season, and their contest against Lehigh will be a good

barometer of just how much we can expect out of the boys.