HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Lafayette field hockey team dominated the run of play on Saturday afternoon and earned a clutch goal in the closing minutes to finish off Colgate by a 5-4 score in a key Patriot League affair in Hamilton, N.Y.
In a crucial battle with Patriot League Tournament implications, the Leopards kept their offensive momentum rolling, scoring four or more goals for the third straight contest. All five tallies came from a different member of the Maroon and White, with three coming during the run of play and two off penalty corners.
The victory puts Lafayette back above the .500 mark in Patriot League action with a 2-1 record and moves the overall mark to 4-8 on the 2018 campaign. Colgate drops to 0-4 in conference play and 2-10 this fall.
Lafayette was forced to respond after two Raider goals in the first 17:52 of play put the Leopards in an early 2-0 hole. However,
Sam Di Maio converted with a low shot off feeds from
Kristen Taylor and
Molly McAndrew to open the scoring for the Maroon and White at 21:55, and less than two minutes later, McAndrew corralled a long pass from
Audrey Sawers and finished with a score of her own to tie it up at 2-2.
Each side added one more score before the break to send the game into intermission with the score knotted at 3-3.
The Leopards stepped on the gas right away to open the second stanza with
Rachel Bird poking a low shot behind the Colgate keeper to take a 4-3 lead just over five minutes into the half. The Raiders responded at the 55:33 mark with a game-tying goal, though, before
Lisa van der Geest came through with the winner.
With just over five minutes to play,
Theresa Delahanty and
Jenn DeLongis set up a penalty corner that left van der Geest with an opportunity to win it. The junior co-captain didn't miss her chance, putting Lafayette up for good and sending the Maroon and White to victory with a final of 5-4.
Shots and corners were dominated by the visiting side, holding 19-5 and 9-1 edges, respectively. Lafayette keeper
Sarah Park picked up the win without a save, while Colgate's Anna Unger made nine stops in defeat.
Next up for Lafayette is a return to Rappolt Field on Monday, hosting Penn at 4 p.m. in the team's annual Athlete Ally game.
