The men’s lacrosse team dropped their sixth consecutive game in heart-breaking fashion as they were downed by the Army Black Knights 11-10 at Michie Stadium in West Point, NY. The overtime loss was the second in a row for the Raiders, as they lost to Navy in similar fashion the previous game.

The Raiders started out hot, racing to a 3-1 lead midway through the first quarter. Sophomore attackman Pat Campbell opened the scoring two minutes into the contest, but Army responded with a goal from sophomore midfielder Sean O’Sullivan. Colgate then reeled off the next two goals, one from senior midfielder Ian Murphy and the other from senior defensemen Mark Kinney. Kinney’s goal came on the run from about seven yards out, as he was able to beat Black Knight junior goalie Tom Palesky. The two teams then traded goals, as Army first-year attackman Garrett Thul scored and Raider junior attackman Ben McCabe scored in response to keep the Colgate lead at two goals. Thul then scored the last goal of the period to cut the Army deficit in half.

The up-tempo pace of the first period was not replicated early on in the second period, as both teams were held scoreless for nearly 10 minutes. Army broke the drought with a goal from O’Sullivan to tie up the game at four, and junior attackman Jeremy Boltus scored thirty seconds later to give the Black Knights their first lead of the day at 5-4. Colgate closed the half with a goal scoring fury, however, tallying three goals in the final four minutes. Junior midfielder Rob Bosco tied up the game for the Raiders after beating his defender on a nice dodge and ripping a shot into the back of the net. Colgate was able to secure the ball immediately on the re-start, and after a couple quick passes, Campbell beat Pavelsky just 14 seconds after Bosco’s goal. The Raiders rounded out the scoring in the half when senior defensemen Michael Crown was able to beat Pavelsky for a transition goal.

The Black Knights responded with a three-goal run of their own to start the second half. Boltus was able to net a goal just 13 seconds into the third period off of a feed from sophomore long-stick midfielder Tim Henderson. Boltus then scored mid-way through the period to tie the game, and Army got the go-ahead goal from sophomore Rob McCallion near the end of the third period. The Army defense stiffened as they kept the Raiders off the scoreboard, and headed into the final period up 8-7. The Raiders were not phased, however, as they had their second three-goal run of the game to open up the final quarter. Bosco got the first goal of the period as he was able to flick the ball past Pavelsky in traffic in front of the Army goal. The scrum ensued when Ben McCabe’s pass was knocked down behind the cage. The Raiders then got two more goals in consecutive minutes. One was from first-year midfielder Peter Baum and the other from McCabe. McCabe was able to find back of the net with the help of an Army defender as his shot glanced off of a defender’s stick and into the goal.

Army then scored the final two goals of regulation to send the game into overtime. Sophomore midfielder Patrick Lynch brought the Black Knights to within one goal with seven and half minutes left in the contest. The game-tying goal came from the stick of Thul as he ripped a low shot from about 15 yards out.

Army senior attackman Tyler Oates proved to be the hero as he tallied the game-winning goal nearly two minutes into the overtime period.

McCabe and Campbell led the Raiders with three points each on two goals and an assist. Boltus led Army with five points on three goals and two assists. Thul also chipped in with four points of his own on three goals and an assist. Madison had 11 saves in between the pipes for the Raiders, and Palesky also stopped 11 for the Black Knights. Colgate returns to action against Lehigh at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be played at Andy Kerr Stadium.