The men’s soccer team was victorious on Senior Day last Saturday, as the Raiders were able to defeat the Navy Midshipmen, 2-0, at Van Doren Field. With the win, Colgate improved to 7-8-1 on the season, and 3-3-0 in Patriot League play. The Raiders are now in a three-way tie for fourth with Lafayette and Holy Cross, a spot that determines the final qualifier for the Patriot League Tournament. The Raiders defeated Lafayette earlier this year, but were beaten by Holy Cross. Thus, Colgate’s next and final league game against American is paramount to their postseason aspirations.

Both teams played a very even first half, and neither was able to get on the board. The real action of the game took place in the second half, as Navy was able to generate a lot of offensive pressure and kept the ball in Colgate’s half for a good portion of the first 20 minutes. Despite all of the Midshipmen’s pressure, it was the Raiders that were able to get on the board first. In the 66th minute, first-year midfielder Mike Reidy tallied the Raiders first, and ultimately game-winning, goal. A series of beautiful passes from senior midfielders Alex Weekes and Chris Ross led to Reidy receiving a pass, wide open by the left post. Reidy fired the shot past the diving effort of senior goalkeeper Tyler Bristol into the far corner near the right post. The goal was Reidy’s seventh of the season, passing Alex Weekes for the team lead in goals. The goal symbolizes the future for the Raiders, as Weekes has been the team’s premier offensive player over the last two seasons, and Reidy looks like the man who is set to fill in for him when Weekes graduates. The second goal of the evening was scored a mere two and half minutes later when Ross sent a cross into junior defender Jeff Leach. Leach corralled the cross and fired the ball past Bristol who was not able to stop the powerful effort, despite getting fingers to it.

Sophomore goalie Chris Miller tallied his first career shutout, making four saves in the match, and he improved his record to 5-4-0 for the season. Bristol made just one save in the match and was pulled for junior goalkeeper Will Craven in the 71st minute. The Raiders wrap up regular season play on Saturday against American University at 1 p.m. American and Bucknell are the only two teams to have secured a birth to the Patriot League tournament. The simplest way for the Raiders to make the tournament is to win and have two of the following teams lose: Lehigh, Lafayette and Holy Cross. If all teams win, Lehigh and Holy Cross take the final two spots.