Last weekend, the Colgate women’s lacrosse team traveled to Bucknell to face the Bison in its last regular season road trip and came out victorious, 18-12. Senior midfielder Meghan Lawler led the team with eight points off three goals and five assists. With the five helpers, Lawler became the team’s all-time leader in the category. Junior attack Kate Bergstrom also contributed to the offense with four goals, along with junior midfielder Colleen Bubnack, who produced two goals and three assists.

The first half of the game began like many Patriot League games have for the Raiders. Bucknell scored the first goal of the night 4:24 into the game, but Colgate answered just 43 seconds later with a goal by Bergstrom, who was assisted by Lawler. 36 seconds later, senior attack Alex Kuntz scored off a free position shot to give the Raiders an early 2-1 lead. At 6:25 the Bison knotted the game at two, but that was to be their last goal for the next several minutes, as Colgate went on a furious offensive.

The first Raider score of the five-goal rally was an unassisted tally by Bubnack 6:50 into the session. The second one came 22 seconds later when first-year midfielder Quincey Spagnoletti scored her 13th of the season. The next followed 19 seconds after that, as sophomore midfielder Courtney Miller scored her 31st of the year, assisted by Lawler. Lawler broke the assists record when she served sophomore attack Katie Sullivan for her 12th goal of the campaign to take a 6-2 lead. Sophomore midfielder Greer Goebels finished the rally with a free position shot. Bucknell, however, did manage to bounce back, outscoring the Raiders 4-2 for the rest of the half, allowing them to go into the intermission down by just three.

The second frame saw the Raiders take the initiative, scoring two quick goals in the first six minutes. The Bison followed that with a tally and throughout the next ten minutes the teams proceeded to trade goals. Bubnack and Bergstrom scored for Colgate that time frame.

At the 21:47 mark of the half, Sullivan scored her second of the game, assisted by Lawler, who picked up her fourth assist of the afternoon to make the score 14-10 in the Raiders’ favor. Soon after, at the 23:07 mark, Miller scored her second of the contest as Lawler picked up her seventh point off her fifth helper. Bergstrom followed 12 seconds later, scoring her fourth of the afternoon, assisted by Miller. Bucknell scored less than two minutes

later, making the score 16-11.

Lawler completed a hat trick with 2:19 left, off an assist by Spagnoletti. Colgate scored its 18th of the game with 47 seconds left, when Spagnoletti tallied her second one of the afternoon. At the 29:54 mark, the Bison earned the final say in the contest, but the Raiders still claimed the victory, 18-12.

Colgate improved to 9-6 on the season, boasting a 4-1 Patriot League record, which keeps the team in a three-way tie for first place. This weekend the Raiders will host Lehigh on Senior Weekend; a game that will be crucial in determining who gets to host the conference tournament. Game time is slated for 5 p.m. on Saturday.