Senior Duo Tallies Goals Against Lock Haven
Biggar, Nabhan Lead Raiders; DiDomizio Stands Tall in Loss
By Matt Faulkner
(Hamilton, NY – Sept. 14, 2013) The Colgate field hockey team scored twice on penalty corner situations, but Lock Haven tallied the gamewinner two minutes into overtime to leave campus with a 3-2 win on Saturday afternoon at Tyler’s Field.
Colgate (0-5) got a goal and an assist from Olivia Nabhan and a goal from Halle Biggar. Eliana Brown recorded her first assist of the year and now has seven points in the first five contests. Amanda DiDomizio made eight stops with five coming in the second half. She made a couple of incredible stops in the final 10 minutes to keep the game tied.
“With all these close games so far this year, I feel we are gaining valuable experience that will helps us when we enter Patriot League play,” head coach Cathy Foto said. “We were able to generation some offensive possession on our first goal and DiDomizio did a great job for use in net once again and we hope we put a little more pressure on the opposing goalie.”
The Eagles (4-2) saw Taylor Kennedy net two goals in the win with both coming off corner opportunities. Nakira Downes added the gamewinner and two assists and was a speedy player on the outside for Lock Haven, which generated the gamewinner as she got into open space. Eliana White matched DiDomizio with eight stops in the win.
Colgate wasted no time getting on the scoreboard with great offense off its first penalty corner opportunity. White sniffed out three shots by the Raiders, but Brown was able to tip one of the rebounds to Nabhan and she found an open spot and got it past White for the 1-0 lead.
The Raiders held onto the advantage for the next 20 minutes until Lock Haven got even with a tally on a penalty corner. Downes settled the ball down at the top of the circle and Kenney blasted it through the Colgate defense to tie the score at 1-1. The Raiders had their best offensive output in a half this season with 10 shots and seven penalty corners, but only got one past White.
Biggar helped her team regain the lead with just over 20 minutes left in the game after an excellent play from Nabhan. The seniors connected on the goal after a blocked shot came to Nabhan and she one-timed it over to Biggar at the far post and she buried it to take the 2-1 lead.
Four minutes later, the Eagles capitalized on another penalty corner chance with Kennedy finding a hole and knotting the game once again at 2-2 and the teams headed to overtime.
Colgate had most of the possession in the first minute, but didn’t generate any quality chances. Lock Haven took advantage of its only opportunity as it was a fast break up field, led by Downes. She got behind the defense after a pass from Kennedy and dribbled around DiDomizio and hit the net for the 3-2 win.
The shots were just about even with the Eagles holding a 17-16 advantage and they had 11 corners to Colgate’s nine.
Volleyball Sweeps Cornell
Colgate Finishes Blackbird Invite with 2-1 Record
By Matt Faulkner
(Brooklyn, NY – Sept. 14, 2013) The Colgate women’s volleyball team ended the Blackbird Invite with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-20) sweep of Cornell on Saturday afternoon.
The Raiders (6-3) got a great effort from Diane Seely as she hit over 40 percent and tallied a team-high 10 kills and added two blocks. Lindsay Young and Kate Reilly each had eight kills and Kaylee Fifer had 38 assists.
“I am really happy with the way we finishd this tournament,” head coach Ryan Baker said. “We became more of a team with every match, which is what these tournament’s are all about.”
The Big Red (2-4) was led by Breanna Wong with match-high 11 kills and Alyssa Phelps recorded 30 assists. Natasha Rowland led both teams with 14 digs.
In the first set, Cornell was able to cut an early Colgate lead down to one at 7-6, but the Raiders caught fire and reeled off nine consecutive points and built a 16-6 advantage. Madison McAndrews served up two aces and the Raiders got help by six Big Red errors. The lead ballooned to 24-10 with Katie Stebbins adding two kills during the run. Colgate closed out the set with a 25-15 win on a Cornell error.
Tbe Raiders picked up where they left off with a 6-2 lead in the second set. The Big Red continued to have miscues, which benefitted the Raiders. Cornell then got it going and took a 9-8 advantage. The teams traded points and ended up tied at 15-15. Colgate turned it on from there and scored 10 of the final 12 points to take a commanding 2-0 lead with a 25-17 win. Kathleen Harris and Seely took over late in the match with five and three kills, respectively.
The third set was all Colgate after a 7-0 run early in the game to give the Raiders a big 15-6 lead. Reilly was on fire with three of the seven points coming off her fingertips. The Big Red chipped away at the score and got to within three at 21-18, but Colgate won the match with two kills by Seely and a couple Cornell mistakes. The Raiders won 25-20 to earn the sweep.
“We are starting to figure out what we need to collectively do in order to win,” Baker added.
Colgate faces a big test in their final tune up before Patriot League play starts with a visit to North Carolina State next weekend.