Late Raider Charge Stopped By Rider
(Hamilton, NY – Aug. 30, 2013) The Colgate field hockey team led Rider 1-0 at halftime in the season opener at Tyler’s Field, but the Broncs scored three times in the final 35 minutes to edge out the Raiders, 3-1, on Friday.
Colgate (1-0) was led by Patriot League Preseason All-League selection, Eliana Brown, who scored the first goal of the season three minutes into the contest. Giuliana Kafaf scored her first goal of the season and second of her career with a stroke coming with three minutes left in the game.
Amanda DiDimizio kept the Raiders in the game with 14 stops in net with 10 coming in the second half.
Rider (1-0) got two goals from Nicole Hareau, including a stroke to tie the game early in the second half. Kalyn O’Brien added an unassisted goal, while Joelle Prettyman made two stops to earn the win in goal.
The Raiders started off the season with a bang as Brown put Colgate on top three minutes into the game. Olivia Nabhan gained control of the ball in the circle and found Brown. She put her shot past a diving Prettyman to tally her first of the season to make it 1-0.
The score remained 1-0 at the half with Rider holding an 11-2 shot advantage. The Broncs also had a commanding 7-0 lead in penalty corners.
Rider tied the match up at 1-1 just 10 minutes into the final 35 minutes as Hareau converted on a penalty stroke. O’Brien gave the Broncs their first lead of the match with 15:31 remaining with a nice score off a rebound in front of DiDomizio for the 2-1 advantage.
The Rider lead increased to 3-1 with Hareau netting her second of the game with 8:30 left in the game. The Raiders turned the ball over in its own end and Sandra Penas collected the ball and found Hareau in front. She found a way around DiDomizio and gave the Broncs a 3-1 lead.
Colgate was able to get one back with Kafaf scoring on the second penalty stroke of the game. She beat the diving Prettyman low to the left side of the goal. The Raiders had their chance to tie the game in the final seconds with a penalty corner. Kelsey Jensen got a shot off, but it was blocked in front as the game ended.
The Broncs had a 29-9 advantage in shots and ended up with 18 corners to four for the Raiders.
Colgate will be back in action on Sunday with a visit to Bryant for a 12 p.m. start.