Stepping out onto the field for, undoubtedly, their biggest match of the season, the Colgate women's soccer team knew exactly what was at stake. Win, and the Patriot League tournament gets played in Hamilton, where the Raiders have just one loss since early September. Lose or draw, and travel to Lewisburg, PA, where Bucknell was undefeated in conference play. The magnitude of the game gave the Raiders some extra motivation; they walked away with a 2-1 victory, and the Patriot League regular season title in tow.

"Everyone was really excited to play," senior Liz Polido said. "There was a great vibe before the game and in all the practices leading up to it.

"The possibility of finishing in first place after regular season play was definitely a motivating factor," junior defender Calista Victor added. "We all knew that if we could come away with a win we would host the tournament and we wanted that so badly."

The day was not all glory for Colgate, however, as soon after kickoff, it looked as though it could be a miserable game. Just two minutes into the match, a cross from Bucknell's Brooke Stokes met the foot of Kelliann Doherty, who capitalized on her opportunity, putting the ball past Colgate's first-year goalkeeper Ashley Walsh to the far post, making it 1-0 in favor of the Bison, and putting Colgate in an all-too-familiar position, down an early goal.

"I think we had a bit of a breakdown during that goal," Polido said. "We left players unmarked and our communication was off."

Continuing a very familiar script, however, the Raiders came back to tie up the game. In the 28th minute, Bucknell made the horrible mistake of leaving Colgate's senior captain Jillian Arnault alone in the penalty area. Arnault cut it close with her shot, but because of a Zidane-like bounce off the crossbar that allowed the ball to just pass the goal line, Colgate leveled the game at 1-1, which remained the score through halftime.

"It was great to get that goal," Arnault said. "It brought everyone's spirits up and we were all pretty confident we could end up winning the game."

The second half was an even affair, with Bucknell more than content to play for the draw, as one point would still clinch them the regular season title. Still, the Bison called Walsh into action three times, and she was equal to the task on all three occasions. Colgate mustered two shots on Bucknell's Kathryn Sutton, but she, like her counterpart, was not to be beaten in the second 45. With about five minutes remaining, however, Colgate had a golden chance to win the match. Colgate's junior forward Anna Baldwin was alone with Sutton on a tight angle, from about 10 yards out. Baldwin attempted to curl the ball in on goal, but missed by inches, to the dejection of both the team and the Colgate faithful. With the score still level at 1-1, the match headed to overtime.

Overtime started out as an all-Colgate affair, as the Raiders kept Bucknell from maintaining any worthwhile possession, as their possession would almost certainly lead to the time-wasting all soccer fans around the world hate to see. Colgate's non-stop possession paid off quickly. In the 6th minute of overtime, first-year Jillian Kinter lofted a long ball over the Bucknell midfield to a waiting Baldwin. She blazed past the lone defender, leaving just Sutton between Baldwin and the league title. Baldwin reached into her bag of tricks and bamboozled the keeper, leaving a gaping goal in front of her, and this time, Baldwin would not be denied. As the ball bounded into the back of the net, the Colgate players erupted in celebration, as Bucknell dropped to the ground with expressions of disbelief and agony.

"It's an unbelievable feeling and I'm so happy I could contribute to the team's success," Baldwin said.

With the win, Colgate clinched the Patriot League regular season title and will host the conference tournament this weekend, with semifinal matches on Friday, November 6, and the final on Sunday, November 8 at Van Doren Field. Colgate will open up against fourth-seeded Navy at 5 p.m., while the second-seed American will take on third-seeded Bucknell in the other semifinal at 7:30 p.m.

"It's very comforting to know that such accomplishments do not go unnoticed by any," Baldwin said. "I have been congratulated by everyone on campus, from the Deans to the students. I only hope we can continue our winning streak throughout the [Patriot League] tournament and beyond.

On Saturday, October 31, Colgate hosted the Patriot League Cross Country Championships at the Harry H. Lang Cross Country course.

Sophmore Elise DeRoo took home first place in the event, her third individual title of the season. Her final time of 22:01.7 was both a personal record, a Colgate school record and a Harry Lang course record. In addition to taking home the individual Patriot League Title, DeRoo was named the Most Outstanding Runner of the Meet and Patriot League Female Runner of the Year. DeRoo is just the third cross-country runner in Colgate history to win the award, and is the first to do so since 2007. When asked about what it was like to have such a powerful runner on the team, Women's Cross Country Coach Laura Nardelli said, "She is a delightful person to work with, and very, very focused. She is a confident and fierce competitor."

The rest of the team placed a very respectable fourth place out of the eight Patriot League teams. Bucknell took home the team Patriot League title by placing five runners in the top 25. Army and Navy founded out the top three.

Sophomores Julie Tarallo (12th place overall) and Kelly Cattano (18th overall) rounded out Colgate's runners in the top-25 at the meet. Allie Bodack (24:39.0) and Jeannie Sauter (25:09.6) placed 36th and 47th overall, respectively, and were the fourth and fifth-best runners on the Colgate squad. In addition to her individual title and Most Outstanding Runner award, DeRoo also earned First Team All-Patriot League honors. Julie Tarallo earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors for her performance throughout the season. The women's team continued a very successful season, with its fourth top-5 finish in five meets so far. The next meet for the women will also be the NCAA Regional Qualifiers on November 14 in Boston at 11 a.m.

Commenting on preparation for the race, Nardelli said,  "we want to prepare the women for the faster pace of the first mile of the race in particular."  Nardelli added that the team will, "do more interval work, with a little more track work to help with speed."

The Colgate men's squad placed a disappointing seventh place out of eight teams, but had several standout performances. Junior Ed Sheridan finished with the fastest time for the Raiders, and 29th overall, with a time of 27:33.4. Sheridan continued his successful 2009 campaign, finishing with the best time on the men's team for the fourth time in five meets this season. The one time that he didn't finish first on the Colgate squad was on September 19, when he finished one second behind Colgate's top finisher, first-year Chris Johnson. Junior Grant Stauffer was just behind Sheridan in 30th place overall with a time of 27:36.6. First-year Chris Johnson, junior Griffith Cannon and sophomore Thomas Hedges rounded out Colgate's top 5, finishing in 38th, 39th and 45th places, respectively.

The meet was won by Navy, who successfully defended their Patriot League  championship from last season. The Midshipmen placed an astounding eight runners in the top 16 places to take home the championship with an overall time of 132:42.7. Colgate began the season strong, placing third overall in the first two meets. When the team traveled to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, they placed a respectable 22nd place out of 38 teams. Prior to the championship this weekend, on October 17, the team placed 8th out of 24 teams. The team's most recent performance at the Patriot League Championship was the first real slip-up that they had all season. Colgate will look to rebound when they travel to Boston to face off against many teams from around the area in the NCAA Regional Championships, also on the 14th.