The Colgate Women’s Lacrosse team has been busy recently, playing four games since our last edition. Luckily the results have been good, and the Raiders were lucky to go 3-1.

On Saturday, March 13 the Raiders took on the 19th-ranked New Hampshire Wildcats. In the first half, UNH quickly took a 3-0 lead, scoring twice in the first three minutes before adding a third one at the 5:17 mark. Colgate then answered back with a goal by sophomore attack Katie Sullivan, which was assisted by junior midfielder Colleen Bubnack. Sullivan’s goal was followed by another three-goal onslaught by the Wildcats, who took a 6-1 lead halfway through the first half. The Raiders finished the session with three unanswered goals to go into the intermission only down by two goals at 6-4.

Colgate continued the momentum picked up at the end of the first half to put itself within one goal of its opponent, but New Hampshire answered back five minutes later at the 8:45 and then at the 9:51 mark with two quick goals to regain a three-goal lead. Twenty seconds later the Raiders scored, and again at the 11:06 mark to make it an 8-7 game. From that point on, the Wildcats owned the game, however. New Hampshire scored eight out of the last twelve goals of the match to take a 16-11

victory over Colgate.

Seven days after their loss to New Hampshire, the Raiders traveled to the nation’s capital to take on the American University Eagles in a Patriot League matchup. Colgate drew first blood early in the first half, a little over two minutes in when Bubnack scored off an assist by sophomore midfielder Courtney Miller. The Raiders took a 2-0 lead just 37 seconds later The Eagles then scored two unanswered goals to knot the game at two. Bubnack scored again not too long after and was followed by junior attack Kate Bergstrom to help Colgate regain the two-goal advantage. It was then American’s turn to tie things up at four halfway through the first frame. Bubnack and sophomore midfielder Greer Goebels gave the Raiders their third two-goal lead of the half, which was then cut to one by the Eagles with 23 seconds left in the session.

It would take almost seven minutes for the first goal of the second half to happen, but it did at the 6:48 mark when American tied things up at 6-6 and then take its first and only lead of the game at the 10:26 mark. First-year midfielder Quincy Spagnoletti sparked a five-goal rally by Colgate, who stormed to an 11-7 advantage by the 18:39 mark. Miller had a couple of goals while Bubnack and Bergstrom each had one in said rally. The Eagles would in the end come up with the last two goals of the contest, making the final score 11-9.

Three days later the Raiders visited George Mason University. Miller scored the first goal of the game at 1:08 to give Colgate the lead, one that the Raiders relinquished soon after when the Patriots knotted the game at one and then took the lead at the 6:26 mark. Senior midfielder Meghan Lawler knotted the game at two eleven minutes later on an unassisted effort. Less than two minutes later Colgate retook the lead. George Mason tied the game once again with seven minutes left in the frame. The Raiders soon recovered, however, taking a 5-3 lead into the intermission.

The second session of the contest was very evenly played as well, with each team scoring four goals during the 30-minute period. The Patriots scored twice in the first two minutes, making the match a 5-5 affair. Bubnack then scored twice on a three-minute span making the game 7-5. Nine minutes later Colgate saw its lead shrink to one when George Mason scored. Lawler scored the game-winning goal and Sullivan added an insurance score in order to take the game by a 9-7 margin.

Last Saturday afternoon the Raiders hosted their first Patriot League home game of the year when they played hosts to the Holy Cross Crusaders. Colgate quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead a little over two minutes into the first half with goals by Bubnack and Sullivan. Holy Cross scored its first goal of the game at the 3:39 mark, but the Raiders answered six minutes later to retake the two-goal advantage. Halfway through the session, the Crusaders scored twice to knot the game at three. The score did not remain tied for long, as 38 seconds later at the 16:46 mark, Bergstrom potted one in to put her team up 4-3. Spagnoletti added her fifth of the year when scoring Colgate’s fifth of the game. Both squads would exchange goals throughout the rest of the half, giving the Raiders a 6-5 lead after the first 30 minutes.

Holy Cross tied things up at six less than a minute into the second session and took its first lead at the 1:30 mark. Colgate answered by scoring twice in sixteen seconds to take an 8-7 advantage, but nine seconds later the Crusaders responded by tying the game. The Raiders scored the next two goals of the game to earn a 10-8 lead off goals by Bubnack and Spagnoletti. After a Holy Cross at 11:55, Lawler scored twice in two minutes to give Colgate a 12-9 lead. The Crusaders would dominate the rest of the second half, scoring four of the game’s last six goals, but it was not enough to defeat the Raiders who prevailed by a score of 14-13.

On Tuesday afternoon, Colgate made the trek to Albany, NY for the annual matchup against the Albany Great Danes. Early in the first half, Albany scored four times to take a commanding 4-0 lead in the contest. In a five-minute span, Colgate pulled within one, as Miller scored at 11:12, followed by Lawler at 15:16 and Bubnack at 15:56 to make the score 4-3. The Raiders’ efforts proved to be futile, since the Great Danes scored five unanswered goals in the last 13 minutes of the half to take an impressive 8-3 lead going into halftime.

The second half saw even play from both teams, as Albany tried to hold on to its lead while Colgate attempted to get back in the game. Senior attack Alex Kuntz cut the Great Danes’ lead to four five minutes into the second session, before Albany scored two unanswered goals to increase its lead to 10-4. Lawler scored at 11:50 to make it a 10-5 game, but Colgate and the Great Danes proceeded to trade goals the rest of the way en route to a 12-7 Raider defeat at the hands of Albany.

Colgate, who fell to 4-5 with the loss, will return to the friendly confines of Tyler’s Field on Saturday when it host Marist before traveling to Binghamton on Tuesday. Saturday’s contest is slated to begin at 12 p.m., while Tuesday’s will begin at 4 p.m.