The struggles continue for Colgate men’s lacrosse, as they dropped three close games over break, taking their losing streak to four. Their overall record is now 1-6 and the Raiders are 0-1 in the Patriot League.

On Friday, March 13, Holy Cross was able to score a goal on Colgate in the final three seconds of the game to give Holy Cross its first ever win over the Raiders in the program’s history. The game-saver was scored by attackman first-year James Kennedy. Colgate had won the previous 20 match-ups between the two schools.

The Crusaders broke the game open in the second quarter, scoring four unanswered goals to give them a 6-2 advantage. The Raiders did not go silently, though, as attackman sophomore Pat Campbell was able to find the back of the net in the closing minute of the period to trim Holy Cross’s lead to 6-3.

The Raiders then surged ahead, scoring five of the next six goals to gain a 8-7 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the game. This was the Raiders first lead of the game since Crusaders tallied the first goal just over 30 seconds in. Unfortunately for the Raiders, their opponent was not phased, and Kennedy was able to tally the equalizer and game winner to secure a victory for Holy Cross.

Campbell and attackman junior Ben McCabe led the way with for the Raiders, contributing three points each, and Campbell had his first career collegiate hat trick in the game as well. Midfielder sophomore Chris Zielinski also tossed in three assists on the day. Goalie sophomore Jared Madison got the start in between the pipes for the Raiders and record seven saves on the day.

In the Raiders next game, they were bested by the then-No. 11 Harvard Crimson, 11-8. Harvard was propelled to victory by outscoring the Raiders 7-2 in the second half. The Crimson scored six unanswered goals to give them a 10-6 lead. It was another offensive run that the Raiders surrendered similar runs they allowed in the games against Hobart and Holy Cross.

The Raiders did mount a late rally as midfielder first-year Peter Baum netted his third goal of the game with just under three minutes to go, and attackman junior Andrew Mould scored less than a minute later to trim the lead to just two at 10-8. That was all the Raiders were able to do, however, as the Crimson scored a very late goal to preserve the 11-8 victory.

“Losing is always tough, but we have played some of our best lacrosse during our comeback efforts,” McCabe said. “We have seen how well were are capable of playing over short stretches, and to win games we have to put that effort together for four quarters.”

Murphy led the way for the Raiders with four points on a pair of goals and a pair of assists. Baum also contributed three goals of his own. Madison posted a career high 14 saves in the defeat.

The Raiders then returned home last Saturday, where they were defeated by the Fairfield University Stags, 10-8. McCabe led the way for the Raiders in that defeat, tallying five points on a career-high four goals and an assist.

McCabe started the scoring just over 30 seconds into the game on a helper from Rob Bosco, but that was the only lead the Raiders would have all day. Fairfield scored four consecutive goals of their own in response to McCabe’s goal to gain a 4-1 lead halfway through the quarter, though Colgate made it 4-2 by halftime.

The third quarter started out explosively, with four goals within the first two minutes of the game. McCabe continued to have the hot hand and netted his third goal of the game, which also represented all of the goals scored by the Raiders thus far into the contest. Fairfield, however, was able to tally a goal shortly there after, then won the ensuing face-off and tallied another goal. The goals came just 13 seconds apart. Not to be outdone, McCabe scored his fourth goal of the game just 17

seconds later to leave the score at 6-4 Fairfield.

Fairfield then scored three of the next four goals of the game to give the Stags a 9-5 lead with under 10 minutes to go in the contest. Yet, like the Raiders have shown numerous times this year, they would not go down without a fight. They rallied with three goals, the last of which came from Peter Baum with 4:32 left in the game. The comeback attempt came up just short though, as Fairfield scored a goal with two minutes to go to ensure the 10-8 victory.

Senior goalie Tim Harrington got the start in goal and turned away 11 Fairfield shots, a personal season-high. Fairfield’s senior goalie Joe Marra was particularly tough in goal, turning away 16 Raider shots. Fairfield led a very balanced attack, as seven different Stags recorded goals on the contest. Colgate did out-hustle Fairfield to the tune of a 29-27 groundball advantage, as well as out-shooting Fairfield 33-28, but the effort came up short.

The Raiders are next in action on Saturday against the Navy Midshipmen.

“League games are always battles, so we are just preparing to beat Navy this weekend,” McCabe said. “The positive thing about our remaining schedule is we still have the ability to make the Patriot League tournament despite being 1-6. Right now is a chance for a new start where we can hopefully build on the things we have done well so far and get some wins to make the post season.”

The game is slated for at 3 p.m. at Andy Kerr Stadium.