Ryan Walsh tallied four goals to lead Colgate to an 11-9 win over Holy Cross Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
Super Second Quarter Lifts Raiders, 11-9
Colgate Rides Five-Goal Flurry Just Before Half to Hold off Holy Cross, Qualify for PL Tourney
By John Painter
(Hamilton, NY – April 12, 2014) Five goals scored in a little over four minutes of the second quarter were just enough for Colgate to stave off Holy Cross here Saturday.
The 11-9 victory qualifies Colgate for the upcoming Patriot League Tournament. The entire six-team field is set, although seeding is not completely locked in with one more week of play remaining.
The current standings show Loyola at 7-0, followed by Army 6-1, Lehigh 5-2, Colgate and Bucknell both 4-3, and Navy 3-5. Next week’s schedule has Bucknell at Loyola on Thursday night, Army visiting Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium on Friday night, and Lehigh at Lafayette (1-6) also Friday night.
Colgate improved to 8-4 overall and matched its win total from a year ago, when the Raiders finished 8-7. Colgate is advancing to the Patriot League Tournament for the fourth straight season and eighth time in the last nine years. It’s also the Raiders’ third bid in as many years under head coach Mike Murphy.
Walsh Back on Form
Saturday’s game saw the scoring return of Ryan Walsh in a big way. The junior tallied four goals to snap a two-game streak of zero points – after Walsh had scored in his first 42 games as a collegian.
“I didn’t really think it would be a weight lifted off my shoulder until I finally scored, and then I was like, ‘Wow,’” Walsh said. “It definitely felt pretty good, so I was happy with that.”
Walsh scored once in the 3-3 first period and then turned in a natural hat trick in the second, scoring three of Colgate’s five goals in a 4:06 stretch just before halftime. Walsh improved his goal total to 23 and his point total to 34 – both team highs. It also was his fourth hat trick of the season and 17th career.
“Coach has been preaching move the ball and make the extra pass, but we still haven’t played our best game offensively,” Walsh said. “It’s good and bad because it’s toward the end of the season, but our best days are ahead of us. Hopefully, we get hot in the Patriot League Tournament and finish games and play the full 60.
“That will be our next big focus; to play the whole game the way we did the first half.”
After taking an 8-3 lead into intermission, Colgate found the net only three times in the second half as Holy Cross climbed back into contention. The Crusaders were down 10-5 in the fourth when they scored four times to make it a one-goal game with3:08 showing.
McCann Nets Hat Trick
But Brendon McCann completed his own hat trick with a shot from 20 yards out just 34 seconds from the end. McCann’s goal into a virtual empty came as Holy Cross was trying to force a last-minute turnover.
“We just needed to keep playing Colgate lacrosse,” Murphy said. “I knew at the half that this game was far from over, and I needed our guys to kind of hit the reset button. I don’t know that we did that very well.
“Give Holy Cross a lot of credit; they did a great job of coming back. But our guys did a good job of staying the course. We had a couple of hiccups there and got some nice plays out of the defense, got some nice play out of Alex Kinnealey at the faceoff-X – we did the things we needed to do to win.”
Kinnealey won 17 of 22 faceoffs to help the Raiders maintain control. That was especially true during the 5-0 run late in the second quarter that brought a sudden halt to a scoring drought for both sides.
After the 3-3 first period, there were goose eggs until McCann scored his second of the game with 5:12 on the clock. McCann faked a pass and instead took the shot, finding the upper right corner to make it 4-3 Raiders.
Walsh then scored three times in a 1:48 stretch. His first was a wraparound one-hander while fighting off a defender. On the second, he faked a shot to shake his defender and then fired home against a defenseless goalkeeper. He bounced home the third to make it 7-3.
Justin Kirchner added the final tally unassisted from about 20 feet to hand the Raiders an 8-3 halftime cushion.
Raiders Ride Game Strong
One of the keys for Colgate in the first half was limiting Holy Cross to just a 5-of-10 success rate on clears. The Crusaders finished the game 17-of-24 on clears compared to Colgate’s 14-of-16.
“We’ve been trying to put a lot of stress on that through practice,” Murphy said. “I don’t think we’ve been a great riding team all year long, and we really worked on it all week in practice. The communication between the attack and midfield was really good today.
“It was a key to victory for us to be able to ride these guys. It was something we could take advantage of and we did a good job, especially in the first half. They made a good adjustment and took advantage of some things, so we’ve got to go back to the drawing board and make sure we don’t give up those situations in the second halves of games.”
Colgate scored twice in the final three minutes of the third quarter, including the first goal of the season from defenseman Bobby Lawrence. The senior captain picked up a ground ball in the Colgate half and raced to the offensive end.
“Usually when a long pole comes upfield, the defense is going to push out and try to create a turnover,” Lawrence said. “I knew I had a one-on-one and I was just able to beat my man and find the back of the net.
“I have had some chances to score this year, so it was nice to finally put one home.”
Looked Like Clear Sailing
That score and one a minute later from Eric Foote made it 10-5 Colgate heading to the fourth. Lawrence thought the Raiders would sail from there.
“Defensively, we just didn’t play too well,” he said. “It was really just inconsistent play, especially in that fourth quarter when we lost control and lost our composure. We just took our foot off the gas a little bit and made mistakes that we usually don’t make.
“At the time I scored, I wasn’t expecting it to be such an important goal but it turned out that it was.”
For Walsh, it was his seventh career game with at least four goals and his second this season (five at Lafayette). McCann netted his third hat trick in the last five games and his ninth career. Foote scored twice in addition to the single tallies from Lawrence and Kirchner.
Matt Clarkson had two assists and Foote one.
“We did a really good of moving the ball,” Murphy said. “There weren’t a lot of assists on our goals, but a lot of our goals were generated off great ball movement.
“And that is the key to our offense. We’ve got to be able to move the ball and not hold on to it too long, and we did a good job of executing that offense.”
Still Work to Do
Shots were 40-29 in favor of Colgate, and shots on goal were 24-16. Ground balls were 30-21 Colgate, and faceoffs ended 17-6 for the home side. Colgate was 1-of-3 on extra-man opportunities, while Holy Cross finished 1-of-2.
Turnovers were 13 apiece. Colgate’s Brandon Burke made seven saves and Holy Cross’ Michael Ortlieb made 13.
Holy Cross dropped to 3-10 overall and 1-6 in the Patriot League. The Crusaders were led on offense by Clay Haarmann’s hat trick, giving him 16 goals this season.
Both Murphy and Walsh think Colgate still has enough in the tank to make a run in the postseason. First up is Army in a Friday night affair.
“The rest of the schedule is payback time,” Walsh said. “Last year, Army came to our place and kind of put a beating to us. This year, we’re playing them Friday night under the lights – that will be an exciting game. We’ll be ready for that one.
“And then in the Patriot League Tournament, we want to make our presence felt there, make it to the championship and pay one of those teams back that we lost to and make an NCAA appearance.”
Murphy said the Army game is an opportunity to gain momentum for the postseason.
“We’ve just got another game ahead of us,” he said. “As Ryan said, I don’t know that we’ve played our best game. I don’t know that we’ve played a full 60 minutes in 12 games.
“We need to do that. We need to play 60 great minutes to get us onto a high going into the Patriot League Tournament.”
Midweek Baby: Murphy and his wife, Jennifer, became parents for the second timeWednesday with the birth of daughter Dylan Emma. Three-year-old Colin reports that the family is doing fine.
Class Reunion: Colgate welcomed back three members of the 1964 men’s lacrosse team during Saturday’s halftime activities. Robert Aberlin ’66, Mike Jukoski ’64 and Don Wilmot ’66 were recognized from the team that finished 11-1 for the best won-lost mark in school history.
Coached by Harvey Potter, the squad was marked by good depth and always showed a winning spirit. Included that year were victories by the scores of 9-4 over Lehigh, 10-9 over Syracuse, 16-9 over Hobart, 12-4 over Cornell and 15-7 versus Penn State. The team’s only loss came at the hands of a Rutgers squad ranked as one of the major power in the East.
Home Runs Spark Doubleheader Sweep
Grennan Blasts Two, While Dowling Records First Career Grand Slam In 6-0 and 5-1 Defeat of Lafayette
By Kat Castner
(Easton, Pa. – April 12, 2014) Colgate received a number of powerful hits on Saturday afternoon as it earned its first two league wins with a doubleheader sweep of Lafayette, 6-0 and 5-1.
In total the Raiders accumulated 19 hits throughout the games, while only conceding a run.
“I was really pleased with the way this team played today,” Colgate head coach Melissa Finley said. “It was good to see us play the full 14 innings today to the best of our ability and prove what Colgate Softball is all about. It was also nice to have some run support behind our pitchers today, thanks to some long balls and timely hitting. Tara Grennan had a great day offensively for us and Marisa (Dowling) got her first career grand slam. It was another all around team effort, as everyone did their part to produce some runs.
“Defensively we did a great job and made the plays when we needed to. It will be another battle tomorrow but as long as we get off to a strong start again and maintain our consistency we should have another great day at the ballpark.”
After a scoreless opening inning in game one, the Raiders exploded for a five-run second to take the early 5-0 edge. Tara Grennan and Marisa Dowling helped Colgate’s case with homers, including Dowling’s first career grand slam. The Raiders tacked on an insurance run in the seventh, which ultimately secured them the victory.
In game two, both teams recorded a run in the first inning to knot the score at 1-all. Colgate then jumped back on top in the third when Grennan went long for the second time on the day to bring in two more Raider runs. Colgate crossed home plate two more times throughout the game to register the win.
Colgate (9-19, 2-6 PL) was led by Tara Grennan, who posted two home runs and three RBIs on the day. Marisa Dowling finished with two hits and five RBIs in her eight at bats, while Mariel Schlaefer and Tera Vaughn went 4-for-8 and 3-for-7, respectively. Schlaefer reeled in one RBI to go along with Vaughn’s two runs.
Lafayette (4-25, 2-9 PL) saw Kristen Berger go 3-for-5 on the day with a run and two walks. Bryn Gornick added two hits and an RBI on her six at bats as well.
In the opening game, Grennan kicked off the Raiders scoring with her first long ball of the day in the top of the second, which put the Raiders ahead 1-0. Her solo shot to right center gave her number two on the season. Alex Wilson followed that up singling before Eileen Ornousky reached base on a hit-by-pitch to place two runners on board. Alyssa Chaulklin moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt, shifting them into scoring position. Katie Bushee loaded the bases on the ensuing play after she earned a walk. The Leopards were able to record the second out of the inning before Dowling blasted one over the left field fence to clear the bases. The homer gave her three on the season, which ties her with Grennan for leading the team.
Colgate tightened up its defensive efforts over the next five innings and an insurance run in the seventh handed the Raiders their second shutout victory of the season.
Brigit Ieuter pitched a complete game for the Raiders not allowing a run on seven Leopard hits. She posted four strikeouts and is now 5-9 on the season. Melissa Robinson earned the loss, which dips her season record to 2-12.
The Raiders started game two, taking the early 1-0 edge after Fleming touched home. With one out in the first inning, Fleming reached base thanks to a Leopards’ error. Dowling then singled putting two runners on the corners before a Schlaefer single up the middle scored Fleming from third.
Lafayette answered in the bottom half of the inning with its lone run of the day to pull even at 1-1.
But Colgate quickly responded in the third with a two-out two-run homer by Grennan. The Leopards recorded two outs in the inning before Vaughn doubled down the left field line to place a runner on base. Grennan then brought her home with a blast to left field, scoring Vaughn for the 3-1 Raider lead.
Two more runs for Colgate in the fifth created a four-run margin between the teams, which proved to be too much as solid pitching from sophomore Megan Carnase secured the victory for the Raiders. Carnase allowed just two hits throughout the remaining three innings to finish the day giving up only three hits and one run in seven complete innings of work.