Harris, Repoli Shine for Raiders
Juniors Combine for 37, Including Harris Double-Double, but Raiders Fall 81-70 at Lafayette
By John Painter
(Easton, Pa. – Feb. 26, 2014) Colgate guaranteed itself a road trip to open Patriot League Tournament play after losing 81-70 to Lafayette here Wednesday.
Carole Harris posted her seventh double-double of the season, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Missy Repoli added 18 points and Lauryn Kobiela 12. But the long and lanky Leopards shot it well to start the game and controlled the boards throughout with a 51-34 edge.
“They had 43 points at the half and 26 of those points were from the paint, so you’re going to shoot a high percentage,” Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. “They did a great job of moving the ball around and we were kind of reacting. Instead of being the enforcers on defense, we were just reacting.
“We also weren’t scoring enough, so we weren’t able to put on any pressure and we couldn’t mix up our defenses. They did a great job of finding opening players and making shots.”
Although the setback snapped a two-game Colgate winning streak, the Patriot League office announced late Wednesday night that the Raiders clinched a ninth-place finish. Win or lose Saturday’s Senior Day game against Lehigh, the Raiders and Mountain Hawks are meeting again Tuesday in the 8-9 game back in Bethlehem, Pa.
Difference a Year Makes
Want some perspective on how well Lafayette played to open Wednesday’s game? At the third media timeout with 7:52 left before half, the Leopards were:
— 14-of-20 from the field
— 3-of-3 from downtown
— 4-of-4 from the free-throw line
Lafayette led 35-18.
Forty-two seconds later, Lafayette forward Emily Homan scored a layup to make it 37-20 with 7:10 showing. The irony is that nearly one year ago to the day, Colgate held the Leopards to exactly 37 points for the game in a 39-37 victory.
Nonetheless, the Raiders didn’t quit. They whittled that 17-point margin to just nine by the half, outscoring Lafayette 10-3 over the final 4:45. The last bucket came on a nifty half-court pass from Randyll Butler to Harris for a layin right before the horn that made it 43-34 at intermission.
“They were up 17 and we wanted to get it to single digits by halftime, and we did,” Hays Fort said. “We get a great play right there at the end where Carole gets a runout and Randyll hits her with a great pass, and Carole makes a nice catch and lays it in.”
The Raiders carried that surge into the second-half restart, scoring the first six points – four by Harris – to force a Lafayette timeout at 18:23 with the score suddenly 43-40. Colgate was as close as 45-43 when Kobiela hit a jumper, and actually got a defensive stop on the ensuing possession. But the Raiders turnover it over quickly and Lafayette capitalized, and Colgate never had the ball within one score again.
“We had some momentum going into halftime and coming out of halftime,” Hays Fort said. ”We cut it to two at one point but we just couldn’t sustain it.
“I like our momentum and I like our energy. We just needed one more thing to go our way to get over that hump.”
Harris Double Leader Again
Harris reached double figures for the 17th time in 28 games, led the team in scoring for the 11 time and in rebounding for the 14th time. It’s her sixth occasion to lead in both categories. Repoli and Kobiela both scored in double figures for the seventh time, tying for third-best on the team.
“We had a rough start tonight but we showed we can fight and compete with teams like that,” Harris said. “They scored 43 on us the first half, so we were trying to tightened up our defense and keep them off the boards.
“We will be ready for the Lehigh game and for Senior Day. It would be nice to get another win.”
Repoli was 4-of-8 from downtown and leapfrogged Mariah Jones for the active Colgate lead in career 3-point field goals made. Repoli is now fifth on the Raider list with 114, Jones is sixth with 112 and Catherine Lewis – who was 2-of-5 from long distance – is eighth with 108.
Butler and Lewis scored six points apiece, Jones added four, Kathryn Taylor three and Kelly Reid two to complete the Colgate scoring.
Colgate shot 38.6 percent from the field, making 27-of-70. The Raiders were 7-of-19 from 3-point distance and 9-of-14 at the line. Lafayette finished at 47 percent from the field, making 31-of-66. The Leopards converted 6-of-14 from the arc and 13-of-20 at the line.
Kobiela added six assists to improve her career total to 355. Butler finished with a career-high five helpers.
Lafayette was led by Homan’s 17 points.
Colgate dropped to 7-21 overall and 3-14 in the Patriot League, while Lafayette improved to 14-14 and 8-9.
Senior Day Saturday
Saturday’s Senior Day is likely the final Cotterell Court appearance for Kobiela, Lewis and Taylor. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m., but Senior Day festivities should begin around 3:45.
“You never know about Senior Day,” Hays Fort said. “Everyone’s emotions could be “boo-hoo” and “oh, my gosh; this is my last home game.” Or they could come out with a little fire in their bellies and go off on a great note.
“I hope the latter is the case. I want them to end their Cotterell Court playing career on a high note. We want to be going into the playoffs on a high note. We have a chance to end the regular season winning three out of four.”
Murphy Burnatowski scored a game-high 25 points to lead Colgate to an 83-66 win over Lafayette Wednesday night. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
Raiders Dominate Lafayette On Senior Day
Colgate Takes Down Leopards, 83-66, to Sweep Season Series; Seniors Shine on Special Day
By Kat Castner
(Hamilton, NY – Feb. 26, 2014) Top performances from seniors Murphy Burnatowski, Chad Johnson and junior Ethan Jacobs helped Colgate ease past Lafayette 83-66 on senior day, for its first two-game winning streak since Dec. 22.
Prior to Wednesday’s game against the Leopards, Colgate acknowledged three special seniors for their continued devotion to the men’s basketball program. Burnatowski, Johnson, and Clayton Graham played in their final regular season contest on Cotterell Court and they sure didn’t disappoint as they combined for 40 of the Raiders final 83 points.
“The seniors started us off,” head coach Matt Langel said. “They were a great defensive presence in the beginning of the game. We got our hands on a couple basketballs, got some steals and got off to a great start. Fortunately, we never really looked back.
“Going into halftime up 11 was big and then we were able to extend the lead. We knew Lafayette was going to go on a run because they are a fantastic offensive basketball team. They’ve really been playing better than anybody in our league other than a hiccup against Boston University since we played them last but we defended our home court. Our guys were focused, they were locked in, they did a great job on their shooters, and then we were able to hold on late and make some foul shots.”
Those 83 points was Colgate’s fourth highest scoring night of the season.
After Lafayette scored the game’s first bucket, Colgate responded with a 20-5 run to create a 13-point margin between the teams. The Raider lead was never really in danger from that point on as Colgate held a double-figure advantage for almost the remainder of the game.
“We were focused on our details,” Langel added. “We switched a lot of the actions they run to get a player like (Joey) Ptasinski open shots but our guys were discipline about not leaving them open and we found them in transition to not let them get some of those looks.”
Colgate (11-17, 5-12 PL) received a game-high performance from Burnatowski, who went 8-of-12 from the floor, 3-of-6 from long and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe for his 25 points, two points shy of his season-high. He also added two steals and two boards in his fifth-straight double-digit scoring game. The Waterloo, Ont., native now needs just 43 more points to reach the 1,000-point plateau in his two years in the maroon and white.
Fellow teammate Jacobs notched his first career double-double recording 18 points, while also pulling down 10 boards. The junior from Tipton, Ind., also handed out a career-high four assists in the contest. Johnson added 13 points to the Raiders total to earn himself a career-high performance as well. He went 5-of-9 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free throw line for his second double-digit scoring game of the season.
Austin Tillotson was two short of his career-high as the sophomore handed out a game-high seven assists, while also draining four of his five shots for eight points.
Overall, the Raiders shot 61 percent and an impressive 68 percent in the second 20 minutes. Colgate also made six of its 17 attempts from long to finish the night shooting 35 percent from downtown. The Raiders outrebounded the Leopards 30-25, while posting 11 points off of Lafayette turnovers.
Lafayette (10-18, 6-11 PL) saw rookie Nick Lindner record a career-high 24 points after going 11-of-15 from the floor. The freshman also handed out a team-high six assists in the game. Junior Dan Trist added 19 points, while Joey Ptasinski led the Leopards on the boards with four.
The Leopards finished the game shooting 47 percent from the floor and a mere 20 percent from long.
It was also a battle inside for both teams as Colgate slightly outscored the Leopards 38-36 on points inside the paint.
Colgate opened the game on fire, hitting eight of its first 11 shots to take an 11-point edge with 13 minutes left to play in the first. Burnatowski had three of those eight shots and the Raiders forced the Leopards to turn the ball over four times during that stretch.
The Leopards cut Colgate’s lead to four, but a 9-2 run for the Raiders to close out the half sent them into the breakup 11. During the Colgate run, Tillotson had back-to-back makes, Burnatowski jammed home a dunk and Jacobs hit a trey with 12 seconds remaining.
The team’s exchanged buckets to start the second half until Colgate again went on a run. This time it was a 7-0 run, sparked by an and-1 by Burnatowski to extend the Raider lead to 55-38 with 15 minutes to play. The 17-point margin was Colgate’s largest of the game, besides the final score.
Lafayette would respond with an 8-0 run of its own to pull within nine after a jumper from Lindner. The Leopards would keep the Raiders scoreless during that time for more than five and a half minutes until Damon Sherman-Newsome ended the Colgate drought with a jumper.
Tillotson and Jacobs made back-to-back layups to give the Raiders a 13-point edge with less than three minutes to play and would watch the Leopards pull only to within nine throughout the remainder of the game. Colgate secured the double-digit victory after going 11-of-12 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes of action. Burnatowski had five of those 11 makes.
Colgate heads to Bethlehem, Pa. on Saturday for its regular season finale against Lehigh at 2 p.m. Colgate will earn a first-round home game with a victory over the Mountain Hawks.
“At this point, the rest of these games are all the biggest games of our year,” Langel said about Colgate’s final regular season matchup on Saturday.
“That’s the way we are looking at it. Our guys have been through a lot this season. We’ve lost a lot of heartbreaking games, a lot of closely contested games, and hopefully we have now learned how to find a way to win.”
Darcy Murphy celebrates his 15th goal of the season scored against Harvard Friday night at Starr Rink. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
Goaltending Duel On Display at Starr
Men’s Hockey Drops Decision to Harvard; Murphy Scores 15th
By Matt Faulkner
(Hamilton, NY – Feb. 28, 2014) Colgate outshot the Crimson, 34-24, but couldn’t get one by the Harvard goaltender in the final two periods and dropped a tough 2-1 decision.
The Raiders (16-12-3, 12-6-3 ECAC Hockey) didn’t drop in the conference standings and remained second as Cornell lost to Dartmouth on Friday night. Colgate cannot fall lower than third with one game to go.
Darcy Murphy had the lone goal for Colgate in the first period with assists to Joe Wilson and Ryan Johnston. Charlie Finn made 22 saves in net with 12 coming in the first period.
Harvard (10-14-4, 6-11-4 ECAC Hockey) saw Steve Michalek stand on his head with 33 saves and 24 of them came in the first and second periods. Danny Fick scored his first collegiate goal as a senior. His goal tied the game at 1-1 in the opening frame. Phil Zielonka tallied the gamewinner in the third off a pass from Greg Guzzo.
The Raiders struck first on the power play with 12:21 left in the opening period. Johnston gained the zone and flicked the puck to Wilson. He charged in below the dots and dropped a pass to Murphy. The team leader in goals added to his total with a blast that rang off the post and in. For Murphy, it was his 15th of the season and his fifth on the power play, which is a career high.
Harvard answered with just over two minutes left in the frame with Fick scoring his first collegiate goal with quick swat off a Luke Esposito pass. The Crimson rushed up ice as a Colgate power play expired, which resulted in a 3-on-2. Esposito gained the zone and made short pass to Fick in front of the net and he jammed it home to tie the game at 1-1.
The two teams combined for 28 shots in the first 20 minutes, but the goalies were on their game. Michalek made back-to-back glove stops prior to the Crimson goal, while Finn had a sprawling stop and a toe save to keep Harvard off the board early in the contest.
The second period belonged to the netminders. Michalek had 10 stops, but easily made four or five highlight stops on pucks in front of the net. Kyle Baun had a golden chance late in the frame. He was at the side of the net and got a cross-ice pass from Tyson Spink. He couldn’t get a lot of wood on the shot and Michalek made a great stop coming across the crease. Finn had nine stops in the stanza with a couple of impressive glove stops.
Harvard took the lead with 13:32 left in the game with Zielonka scoring off a Colgate a turnover in its own zone. The Raiders tried a cross-ice pass that Guzzo knocked down at the blueline. He found Zielonka in front and he put it home for the 2-1 lead.
The Crimson packed it in and ran the trap in the neutral zone to hang on. Colgate had a few chances to tie the game, including a power play late in the game, but Michalek continued to keep the Raiders out of the net to earn the 2-1 win.
The Raiders scored once on the power play in five chances and kept the Crimson off the board on four opportunities. Colgate was able to killed off a 5-on-3 power play as well.
Bushee, Dowling Shine During Opening Day
Raiders Fall Twice During First Day at the Charleston Southern Tournament, 3-2 and 7-6
By Kat Castner
(Charleston, SC – Feb. 28, 2014) Rookie Katie Bushee and sophomore Marisa Dowling lead Colgate in each of Friday’s games during the opening day of the Charleston Southern Tournament.
The Raiders kicked off their 2014 campaign and looked quite impressive despite dropping games to Appalachian State and Charleston Southern.
“We had moments of greatnes and in the early part of the season we saw some promising things,” Colgate head coach Melissa Finley said. “We just had a difficult time sustaining our intensity and closing the games out.”
In the season opener the Raiders came from behind to knot the score after going down 2-0 to the Mountaineers in the second inning. Unfortunately, Colgate couldn’t find the needed run to outlast the Mountaineers as Appalachian State tallied the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh.
Two hours later the Raiders were back on the field this time taking on host Charleston Southern. Colgate got off to a hot start, recording six runs in the opening two innings thanks to a home run and single from Dowling plus a single from senior Tera Vaughn. Again, however, the Raiders saw their opponent registered one more run than them to steal the victory 7-6 in five innings. The game was called due to nightfall.
Colgate (0-2, 0-0 PL) was led by Bushee, who registered four hits, one run, and one RBI during her first two collegiate games. Dowling added two hits, one run and five RBI during her six at bats, while rookie Gillian Murray notched two runs and one hit, also in her first two games for the Maroon and White.
“Katie (Bushee) had a fantastic start to her collegiate career today and when she gets on base it puts us in a great position to score,” Finley said.
Following a scoreless first inning in game one, Appalachian State registered two runs in the bottom of the second after a triple to right field from Whitney Johnson. With one out in the inning, Ashley Best earned a walk before Johnson’s triple brought her home. Johnson also scored on the play after a throwing error by Colgate, to take the 2-0 advantage.
Colgate tried to cut the Mountaineers’ lead when Bushee singled up the middle with two outs in the top of the third but the Raiders were unable to bring the freshman home as Dowling hit into a fielder’s choice on the next at bat.
During the fourth inning, the Raiders saw Murray notch a double before she advanced to third on a wild pitch. Tara Grennan then followed with a sacrifice fly to bring her home and cut into the Mountaineers lead at 2-1.
The next inning, Colgate knotted the score at 2-all when Bushee continued her impressive game with a triple. Vaughn came in to pinch run for Alessandra Moore, who reached first on a fielder’s choice. Vaughn then stole second before Bushee brought her home on the ensuing play.
Neither team was able to grab the go ahead run until Appalachian State scored the game-winning run late in the bottom of the seventh to steal the victory, 3-2.
Sophomore Brigit Ieuter pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five hits and three runs in the loss. Appalachian State’s Sydney Laws recorded her second victory of the season pitching all seven innings, giving up four hits and two runs.
In the nightcap, Murray earned a two-out walk after fellow classmate Grennan was hit by a pitch, giving the Raiders two base runners. Dowling was able to convert on the opportunity by blasting one over the fence on the next play, giving Colgate the early 3-0 advantage in the top of the first.
The Raiders added to their lead in the next inning when both Vaughn and Dowling singled to bring in Colgate runs. Vaughn started things off by singling to third base to score Elieen Ornousky, who reached base on an error. Bushee, who earned a walk, and Vaughn advanced bases when Grennan reached first on a fielding error. Then with the bases loaded Dowling was again clutch singling through the left side, scoring Bushee and Vaughn for the six-run edge.
The Buccaneers grabbed two runs back in the bottom of the second to cut the Raider lead to 6-2.
Colgate had two on and two out in the next inning but weren’t able to bring the runners home.
The Raiders then saw their hosts notch a run in the next three innings, including a three-run fifth inning, to come from behind to steal the win.
Lauren Darden pitched 1.1 innings giving up two hits and six runs before Cheyenne Gandara came in for relief, finishing the game and allowing only four hits. Murray earned her first collegiate start, going four innings and allowing five hits and four runs. Megan Carnase came into the game in relief, pitching one inning, giving up three hits and three runs.
“We learned a lot from today and our focus for tomorrow is to be better than we were today,” Finley added.
Megan Ark had a career day with six goals to lead Colgate to a 13-10 win over Drexel Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
Ark’s Career Day Lifts Raiders
Junior Tallies Eight Points; Women’s Lax Downs Drexel
By Matt Faulkner
(Hamilton, NY – March 1, 2014) Megan Ark had her best day as a Raider on a cold afternoon at Tyler’s Field with six goals to help Colgate down Drexel, 13-10, on Saturday.
Ark had eight points with four coming in each half. She also picked up four ground balls and had a caused turnover. Head coach Heather Young was happy for her junior middie.
“Megan had a phenomenal day shooting,” Young said. “She has been working hard in practice on freeing her hands. She was also very instrumental in our ride and has been causing some key turnovers.”
Colgate (1-3) also got four goals from Monica White, which tied a career high. She had three of the goals in the first half. Lauren Gorajek put up numbers on the stat sheet with five draw controls, three ground balls and a caused turnover. Sarah Bowles contributed with two points on a goal and an assist and joined Gorajek and Alison Flood as key contributors during draw controls
“Lauren, Sarah and Ali were huge for us on draws in this game, especially in the first half,” Young said. “Getting those possessions early in the game was key to us winning today.”
Colgate had a 10-4 advantage at the half in draw controls.
Jennie Berglin stopped eight shots to earn her first win of the season and six of those saves came in the final 30 minutes.
The Dragons (2-2) were led by Joelle Hartke with four goals, while Emily Duffey had a hat trick and an assist for four points. Teresha Bradley got the start and made five saves. She was relieved by Carlee Ries in the second half, but Ries didn’t make any stops.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle with four ties and two lead changes. Drexel took a quick 2-0 lead with a pair of scores from Duffey and Colgate countered with White scoring two of her three goals with 24:14 left in the opening 30 minutes.
The teams traded goals over the next seven minutes with Hartke scoring twice, while White added her third of the half and Ark netting her first of the contest. Ark then grabbed Colgate’s first lead at 5-4 with 16:41 remaining in the half.
Hartke answered to tie the game with her third of the game, but the Raiders came back with two-straight scores for their largest lead at 7-5. Kallan Murray gave Colgate the 6-5 lead and then Ark tallied her third of the half with Bowles adding the assist on the nice pass. Drexel scored the final goal of the half and it was Hartke’s fourth with 4:29 left.
The Raiders really clamped down defensively in the second half, allowing only four goals to the Dragons.
Colgate came out and took over early in the frame with five of the first seven goals with two coming from Ark. The run gave the Raiders their largest lead at 12-8. Bowles and Kristen Norden were able to get on the scoreboard early in the advantage. Bowles tallied her fourth of the year, while Norden put home her second career tally.
From there Ark and White took over. Ark posted three goals and White had one and put the game out of reach as the Raiders successfully ran out the clock down the stretch and earned their first win of the season.
“Our defense in the second half was spot on,” Young said. “We were able to switch in and out of a couple of defenses, which really rattled Drexel. The coaches are extremely proud of the team for handling a very good team.”
Colgate had a 24-23 shot advantage in the game and had a slim 13-12 lead in draws. The Raiders picked up 21 ground balls to 18 for the Dragons.
Next up for Colgate is Cornell on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Tyler’s Field.
Kevin Adams scored two goals, including the game-winner in the final five minutes, to give Colgate a 9-8 win over Bucknell Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
Raiders Bounce Bucknell, 9-8
Six Different Raiders Score Goals as Colgate Evens Patriot League Record
By John Painter
(Hamilton, NY – March 1, 2014) Colgate played small-ball Saturday and picked up a crucial Patriot League victory over Bucknell.
The Raiders received contributions across the board to earn a 9-8 triumph that returned them to .500 in conference play and kept their early clean sheet at Andy Kerr Stadium intact.
“Great team win,” Colgate head coach Mike Murphy said. “We were pretty low last weekend after a tough loss at Lafayette, and I really challenged the guys to come together and make sure we did a good job of grinding out a Patriot League win.
“The key for us was we played simple. What I mean by that is we made simple plays. In some of our early games, we were trying to hit the home run. Today was a game of singles and we just kept getting the baserunner around, to use a baseball analogy.”
Kevin Adams scored Colgate’s first and final goals of the day, the latter one coming with 4:26 remaining to break an 8-8 tie. The Raiders were able to hold off the Bison and even their Patriot League record at 1-1. Colgate is now 3-1 overall and 3-0 at home.
Freshmen Find the Net
Ryan Walsh and Brendon McCann also tallied a pair of goals each for the winners. Walsh chipped in two assists to go with his 35th consecutive game scoring a goal, which extends the nation’s best active streak. Freshmen Danny LaCrosse and Will Mette, and sophomore Eric Foote strung together consecutive goals in the third period to precede the thrilling finish.
“When you play a great team like Bucknell, you’ve got to get a lot of goals and a lot of great play from a lot of people,” Murphy said. “It’s got to be a team win and it was a great team win for us.”
The LaCrosse goal was his first collegiate, while Mette has scored in three straight games. McCann and Foote are at four goals apiece for the season.
“If you look at the scoring, we had balanced scoring,” Murphy said. “Ryan’s going to do what Ryan’s going to do, whether it’s five and two (goals and assists) like he was last week or two and two. But it’s good to see Brendon McCann get on the board and our midfielders played well.
“Jimmy Ryan may not have registered a point, but he led us. I was just proud of my seniors.”
Proud of the Guys
Ryan said it was good for the team to have such a quality opponent after losing the one-game heartbreaker at Lafayette.
“Coming off my injury and then coming off the loss last week against Lafayette, it felt good to play a great team in Bucknell,” he said. “It was a great team effort and I’m really proud of the guys. It’s great to get that first Patriot League win and we’re looking forward to getting a few more down the road.”
Bucknell notched the opening goals of both halves to take 1-0 and 5-4 leads. But Colgate regained the advantage in the third quarter when LaCrosse and Mette scored within a two-minute stretch. Foote added a third for Colgate that made it 7-5 Raiders with 4:22 showing in the period.
But the Bison answered by scoring three of the next four to tie it at 8-all with 6:50 to play in the game, setting the stage for Adams’ second goal and game-winner. After that, the Raiders clamped down with nearly 4½ minutes of timely defense to seal the win.
Adams scored first for Colgate with 5:52 left in the opening period. Walsh followed 39 seconds later and then McCann got on the board a minute into the second for a 3-1 Raiders advantage.
Walsh scored again with 5:07 left in the second to offset a three-goal Bucknell flurry that made it 4-4 at intermission. Walsh now has 12 goals and six assists in four games, while Adams is second on the team with six goals.
Matt Clarkson added a pair of assists and Cameron Williams one to close out the Colgate scoring.
Stars for Kinnealey & Burke
The Raiders picked up 21 ground balls to 18 for Bucknell, while the Bison claimed a 32-27 edge in shots. Turnovers were even at 10 apiece
Colgate’s Alex Kinnealey again prevailed in the faceoff-X, winning 12 of the 19 draws and picking up eight ground balls. Brandon Burke made nine saves to notch his third win of the young season.
“Those two guys have played great for us all season,” Ryan said. “Alex has been pretty much unstoppable at the faceoff-X, and he’s really evolving his game as teams try to come up with some strategies to stop him.
“Brandon has been great in the goal. He’s made some really big saves and it’s always great when your goalie can take a few off the board when there are a few defensive lapses. Those two have really helped us stay in some games.”
Bucknell, now 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the Patriot League, finished with three extra-man goals in seven opportunities. Colgate was 0-for-2 with the extra man but held on for the key victory.
“It’s a Patriot League game and they’re always going to be great games,” Murphy said. “You’ve got to find a way to win the one-goal games.”
Colgate has a quick turnaround, hosting Central New York rival Hobart this Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Colgate Secures 1st Round Home Game
Sherman-Newsome Sets New Career-High As Raiders Soar Past Lehigh, 74-57
By Kat Castner
(Bethlehem, Pa. – March 1, 2014) Colgate continued to ride its winning streak with a big 74-57 victory at Lehigh to ensure itself a home game in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament, which starts on Monday.
The Raiders secured the No. 7 spot in post-season play and will host No. 10 Navy on Cotterell Court at 7 p.m.
“It’s athletes and it’s college athletes, winning on the road is really hard regardless of how you’re playing so it’s the best case scenario that we are presented with,” Colgate head coach Matt Langel said of his team earning a home game in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament.
“To be able to have a chance to play on Cotterell Court again on Monday night, it was critical to try to put ourselves in a position to win.”
Heading into Saturday’s game against Lehigh, Colgate had a lot on its mind.
One of those things was revenge. These two teams have had a lot of history, and unfortunately, it’s been in favor of the Mountain Hawks for the past three years. Lehigh has ended the Raiders season for the last two years, while also winning six of the last seven matchups. They also defeated Colgate in Hamilton to kick off league play earlier in the year after double overtime.
Well the Raiders don’t have that bad taste in their mouths anymore, as Colgate soared to a 19-point win on Lehigh’s senior day to end the regular season on a three-game winning streak.
In the last three games the Raiders have outscored their opponents 241-183.
“We’ve played well enough, for long enough, to win games but we haven’t made the plays necessary to win and now we are doing it,” Langel said “The guys will has grown through some difficult times and sometimes that is what it takes to arrive. I’m hopeful, based on the last three games, that we have every right to believe we can beat anybody, because we are playing well enough. That’s what you need to do at this time of the year, so we will lace them up again on Monday and hopefully we can do the same thing again on both ends of the court.”
Colgate (12-17, 6-12 PL) saw four players in double-digits with Damon Sherman-Newsome setting a new career-high with 28 points. The junior went 6-of-13 from the floor, 5-of-9 from behind the arc and 11-of-12 from the charity stripe for his game-high performance. Sherman-Newsome’s five made baskets from long was also a career-high.
Austin Tillotson recorded his seventh double-digit scoring game in the last 10 contests, when he added 15 points to the Raiders total. He went 4-of-7 from the floor, while also handing out a team-high six assists and three steals. He now sits currently in fourth place in program history with 126 season assists, while being 14 shy of breaking the record, which stands at 139.
Ethan Jacobs and Luke Roh also posted double-figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Roh led the Raiders on the boards with nine rebounds, while Jacobs was a close second with seven. Roh has also now matched former Colgate standout and the Raiders current color analyst, Pat Campolieta, with 250 career assists to sit tied for eighth all-time after shelling out two in the game.
“Winning teams make shots at this time of the year but I like that we have a couple difference guys who can make some shots,” Langel added.
The Raiders shot 48 percent overall, making 25 of their 52 attempts. They went 8-of-21 from long for 38 percent shooting, while missing only four shots from the free throw line to finish the game shooting 80 percent from the charity stripe.
Lehigh (14-17, 7-11 PL) received a team-high performance from Jesse Chuku, who registered 17 points in the game after going 3-of-7 from long. Rookie Tim Kempton notched 14 points, while also pulling down 14 rebounds. Chuku earned a double-double as well with 11 rebounds.
Lehigh’s leading scorer, Mackey McKnight, handed out a game-high seven assists, while being held to only five points, all of which came in the final seven minutes of action.
A lot of that was due to Colgate’s strong defensive presence. The Raiders held the Mountain Hawks to just 57 points in 40 minutes of basketball for their third best defensive game of the year.
The Raiders jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead to start the game but Lehigh responded to tie the game at 9-9 with 15:27 left to play in the first.
Colgate then answered with a 15-0 run to take the lead 24-9 over the next four minutes. Tillotson had seven of those 15, while Sherman-Newsome added six.
From that point on, the Raiders held a comfortable double-digit lead throughout the remainder of the game.
The Mountain Hawks would get Colgate’s advantage down to 10 at the 8:36 mark, but an 11-1 run for the Raiders would create a 20-point margin between the teams, the largest of the game.
Colgate registered 28 points inside the game, while converting 15 points off of Lehigh turnovers.
The Raiders will next play on Monday night when they host Navy at 7 p.m. on Cotterell Court in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament.
Senior goalie Eric Mihalik made 34 saves to lead Colgate to a 2-1 win over Dartmouth Saturday night. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
Mihalik Shines in Senior Night Win
Senior netminder Stops 34; Raiders Clinch Second in ECAC Hockey
By Matt Faulkner
(Hamilton, NY – March 1, 2014) Colgate turned to its senior goalie on Senior Night and Eric Mihalik came up with his best start of the season against Dartmouth.
The Raiders (17-12-5, 13-6-3 ECAC) scored two goals in the third period and held off a late charge from the Big Green and earned a 2-1 win. With the victory, Colgate clinched second place in ECAC Hockey with 29 points. The Raiders will await its opponent in the league quarterfinals, starting on March 14.
“This group has really matured during the season,” head coach Don Vaughan said when asked about his team’s second place finish after being picked ninth. “We knew it would be a process, but the guys bought in early in what we wanted to do and how we were going to do it and we stayed at it.”
Mihalik stoned Dartmouth 34 times on the night, but his best period was in the third when he made 15 saves. None were bigger than the final four after the Big Green pulled the goalie and had a pair of offensive zone faceoffs.
The first chance was a shot off the post and Mihalik was able to recover on the rebound with a right pad save and then he stretched out to stop the potential gamewinner from Eric Neiley.
Vaughan was very proud his two seniors tonight and Mihalik specifically on the role his has played this year.
“Eric hasn’t played a lot, but has taken on a great leadership role,” Vaughan added. “He has really helped our rookie goalie Charlie Finn, so for him to go out and perform the way he did as the best player on ice, we are very happy for him and also Mike McCann.”
Tylor Spink and Joe Wilson were the goal scorers for Colgate. Tylor’s tally was the results of great passing between the topline of Tyson Spink and Kyle Baun. Wilson’s was the eventually winner and gave Colgate a 2-0 lead.
Dartmouth (8-17-4, 7-13-2 ECAC) was one of the hottest teams in the league coming into tonight with a five-game winning streak, which included a 1-0 win at Cornell on Friday. Goalie Charles Grant was a major reason for the recent success and he made some big stops for the visitors. He had a total of 26 saves with 10 coming in the second period.
The first period featured a lot of defense with Colgate holding a 9-7 shot advantage, but there was no score. Colgate best chance came on a 3-on-2 and Wilson tried to hit a streaking Andrew Black in the slot. However, the puck hopped over his stick. The Raiders had two chances on the power play and ended up with a couple of chances, but shot them wide.
The two teams combined for 22 shots in the second period, but neither netminder gave ground and the game went into the third scoreless.
Colgate took the first lead of the game, 1:50 into the final stanza with Tylor Spink recording his 14th of the season. Baun did the grunt work behind the net on a great shift and spotted Tyson Spink at the faceoff dot. The pair connected and then before Grant could react the puck was on Tylor Spink’s stick. He buried it to give the Raiders the important first goal.
Wilson gave the Raiders a much-needed insurance goal with 6:35 left in the game. Spiro Goulakos cleared the puck out of the defensive zone and Mike Borkowski tipped it up to Wilson. The junior forward charged in all alone on Grant and beat the Dartmouth goaltender five-hole for the 2-0 lead. It was Wilson’s third goal in the last five games and he has six points in those games.
The Raiders couldn’t rest, however, as Dartmouth answered 20 seconds later with Neiley scoring on a rebound off a blocked shot. Josh Hartley intercepted a Colgate pass in the offensive zone and fired a shot that deflected off a defender in front. Neiley picked up the rebound and scooped a backhand over the out-stretched blocker of Mihalik. The goal put the Big Green back in the game with6:15 left in the third.
Dartmouth kept coming at the Raiders and Mihalik stepped up with eight saves after the Big Green got back to within one. Two of the biggest saves of the year came late in the game. Hartley hit the post off a faceoff and Mihalik scrambled to find the puck and he stoned Tyler Sikura and Neiley on a pair of rebounds. He then made two stops on Brandon McNally to secure the win and second place in the league.
“Anytime you have a one or two goal lead on a team, they are going to continue to come at you,” Mihalik said. “We just had to weather the storm and we did.
“I just try and go out there and give the boys the best chance to win and I was able to do that. It was a good night for the boys to secure second place.”
Colgate has next week off and will open the ECAC Hockey playoffs on March 14 in a best-of-three series. The opponent has yet to be determined.
Raiders Rally Again, Nip Lehigh 63-61
Final Minute Victory on Senior Day Sets Up Tuesday Rematch in Patriot League Tourney
By John Painter
(Hamilton, NY – March 1, 2014) Colgate and Lehigh had so much fun in their regular season finale Saturday at Cotterell Court that they’re staging a do-over Tuesday night.
And, no, both teams didn’t take the same bus back to the Lehigh Valley. Although they could have.
The Raiders won 63-61 for their third victory in the last four games, clinching the ninth seed for Colgate in the Patriot League Tournament that starts Tuesday. Colgate faces eighth-seeded Lehigh in a three-day turnaround rematch, this time in Bethlehem, Pa.
That first-round winner goes on to play at regular season champion Navy in a Thursday night quarterfinal.
“It’s such a huge victory for our program and for our seniors,” Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. “We really wanted to send the seniors off Cotterell Court with a win.
“We needed this win to propel us into the Patriot League Tournament. We knew we probably were playing Lehigh anyway, but we had to get them once before we could get them twice.”
Colgate got them in Hamilton for the second time in Hays Fort’s three seasons, but Raider victories over Lehigh have been hard to come by since the middle of the last decade. The Mountain Hawks had won 16 of the previous 17 meetings overall before Saturday’s Colgate comeback.
“We were playing for the win; we weren’t going to save anything,” Hays Fort said. “It’s March 1 and we’ve been doing this for five months. Why are we going to save anything?”
Jones Equals Career High
Junior Mariah Jones saved perhaps her best performance of the season for Senior Day. She matched her career high with 25 points and added a collegiate best six steals.
“We know Senior Night is a special time for all levels, so we really wanted to do it for our seniors and go out on a win,” said Jones. “That’s definitely what we’ve been talking about for the last couple of days.”
Just as impressive for Jones was playing 33 minutes Saturday without being whistled for a single foul. She leads the team in disqualifications this year and had fouled out of the last four games.
“I gave her a big hug yesterday and said, ‘Let’s not foul out tomorrow,’” Hays Fort said. “And she had zero fouls – that’s amazing for Mariah.
“She was feeling it early, got a couple of quick threes and really did a great job of taking it to the basket.”
The Raiders for the second weekend in a row built a big lead, gave it up and then rallied late.
After seven ties and 14 lead changes to begin the game, Colgate closed the half on a 13-1 run over the final 6:13 to take a 37-26 lead into the break. Jones already had 14 points and Colgate was ready to test its perfect record when leading at halftime (now 7-0).
Clutch Down the Stretch
But it wasn’t without a struggle. Much like Loyola rallied from 15 down last Sunday, Lehigh got 15 second-half points from super soph Kerry Kinek and grabbed the lead on three different occasions.
“We had a lot of energy to start the game, a lot of emotion,” Hays Fort said. “But we knew Lehigh was going to come out a lot tougher in the second half, and they went to Kinek. She’s very good, very talented. We had a really hard time picking her up and stopping her.
“We got a little hesitant in the second half. We were a little timid, like, ‘Oh, no. What’s going to happen?’ That’s why Lehigh made its run. When we got back to being aggressive, we were good.”
After Colgate’s Carole Harris was called for a charging foul with the Raiders trailing 59-58, Lehigh looked to be in control for the final 44 seconds. But Jones notched her fifth steal of the game to set up senior guard Lauryn Kobiela for a jumper that put Colgate back in front 60-59 with 24 seconds left.
The Mountain Hawks tried to reclaim the lead but Jones again picked their pocket with 14 seconds left. She was fouled immediately and the 85-percent free throw shooter made them both to push the margin to 62-59.
Colgate fouled to prevent a 3-point try and Lehigh’s Sarah Williams converted both free throws to slice the lead to 62-61 with nine seconds left. But the Raiders got the inbounds pass to Kobiela, who sank one of her two tries for the final margin.
Lehigh took a desperation heave from halfcourt that didn’t come close.
“We were kind of in the same situation at Loyola, so we knew we had the experience to come out on top,” Jones said of the last-minute comeback. “We were really focusing on getting the stop, having our hands up on defense and rebounding so we could come out with the win.”
Colgate registered a season-high 13 steals, helping force 19 Lehigh turnovers against just nine for the Raiders.
“That was one of our keys to the game, to really be aggressive on offense and defense,” Jones said. “We know defense wins games, so if we’re really active we can put pressure on other teams and get them off balance.”
Seniors Step Up
Kobiela, Lewis and Kathryn Taylor all drew starting assignments for Senior Day. Kobiela finished with eight points, three assists and two steals, in addition to her late-game heroics. Lewis connected on a couple of huge 3-pointers and scored eight points, while Taylor was on the spot for four offensive rebounds.
“Great senior play today,” Hays Fort said. “You know they’re going to have a lot of emotion, but they all earned the start and I was able to put them back in and they all gave us good minutes. It was a good way to end their Cotterell Court careers.
Other scoring for Colgate belonged to Missy Repoli and Josie Stockill with seven points apiece, Randyll Butler with four, and two each from Carole Harris and Kelly Reid. Harris led Colgate with 11 rebounds and picked up three steals.
Colgate shot 30.3 percent from the floor, making 23-of-76. The Raiders were 7-of-22 from the arc and 10-of-12 from the line. Lehigh finished at 37.7 percent from the field, converting 23-of-61. The Mountain Hawks were 4-of-9 from downtown and 11-of-15 at the line.
Lehigh’s Kinek finished with 22 points and 12 boards, helping the Mountain Hawks claim the rebounding category 51-43.
The game finished with 10 ties and 20 lead changes.
Colgate improved to 8-21 overall and 4-14 in the Patriot League – bettering by one its conference win-total from last season. Lehigh dropped to 12-17 and 5-13.
“This is exactly where we wanted to be,” Jones said. “We wanted to win three of the last four games and that’s what we’ve done. We’re in a good position for the beginning of the Patriot League Tournament.”
Tipoff Tuesday from Stabler Arena is 7 p.m. Should be another fun one.
Dowling Goes 3-for-7 at Charleston Southern
Raiders Fall Twice During Second Day at Charleston Southern Tournament
By Kat Castner
(Charleston, SC – March 1, 2014) Marisa Dowling followed up her solid performance during opening day with another strong afternoon, going 3-for-4 in Colgate’s two games.
The Raiders fell to Eastern Illinois, twice, on Saturday, dropping a 5-0 decision in the first game before falling in extra innings during the second game, 6-5.
“We came out flat in the first game and struggled to put the ball in play and generate some offense,” Colgate head coach Melissa Finley said. “We made some good adjustments from yesterday and were defensively stronger, however.”
“In our second game didn’t take full advantage of the opportunities we had to win but we showed a lot of heart and came back with a late game rally. It is games like this that will make us stronger in the long run and we are learning a lot along the way.”
In the opening game, Colgate saw the Panthers score five runs in two innings to record the shutout. But the Raiders we not kept scoreless in the second game, notching five runs, thanks to hits by Tara Grennan, Dowling and Gillian Murray. Unfortunately, Colgate wasn’t able to finish off the late come back as Eastern Illinois tallied the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Colgate (0-4, 0-0 PL) saw Dowling recorded a run and two RBI to go along with her three hits on the afternoon. Murray went 1-for-5 with a run and an RBI in the two games, while senior Haley Fleming added a hit and two runs during her one game of action.
Eastern Illinois (12-6, 0-0) saw Bailey O’Dell and April Markowski go 4-for-6 and 3-for-5 on the day, respectively.
After the Panthers had taken a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth in game one, the Raiders tried to answer with a one-out single from Dowling to right center. Colgate left her stranded, however, ending any hopes of cutting into the Panthers lead.
Again in the bottom of the sixth, Colgate had a runner in scoring position whenKatie Bushee doubled to left field. Eastern Illinois forced the Raiders to pop out and fly out, though, to again strand the base runner and escape out of the inning without conceding a run.
The Panthers added three more runs in the top of the seventh and despite having a chance to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning, the Raiders were not able to tally the needed runs to close the deficit.
In the second game, Fleming earned a one-out walk in the top of the first to get the Raiders on base. Dowling followed that up with a single to center field, advancing Fleming to second. On the ensuing play Eileen Ornousky grounded out to advance the runners into scoring position before Grennan singled to bring them home for the 2-0 Raider edge.
The Panthers knotted the score at 2-all in the bottom of the second before taking the two-run lead after a homerun in the bottom half of the third.
Colgate answered the call to pull within one following a Dowling double in the top of the fifth. The Raiders used back-to-back doubles from Fleming and Dowling to make for an exciting final few innings.
In the top of the seventh, Jennifer Martin got things started when she singled down the left field line. On the next at bat Alex Gadiano earned a walk to shift Murray to second. Murray had come in to pinch run for Martin. Murray and Gadiano advanced bases when Fleming notched a walk. Dowling brought Murray home with a bunt to pull the score even.
The Raiders were able to hold off any Panthers attempts in the bottom half of the inning to send the game into extra innings.
Both teams recorded runs in the eighth but one final run from Eastern Illinois in the bottom of the ninth gave the Panthers the victory.
Megan Carnase pitched all seven innings for the Raiders in the first game, allowing nine hits and five runs while Murray earned the start in game two, going three innings giving up six hits and four runs. Brigit Ieuter came in for relief in game two allowing five hits and two runs during her 5.2 innings of work.
The Raiders are back in action Sunday in the consolation game against host Charleston Southern at 1 p.m.
“We are going to focus on playing good softball tomorrow on both offense and defense,” Finley added. “We will try to put it all together and walking away feeling good heading into next week.”