HAMILTON, N.Y. - Krista Kissell's fourth goal of the season was a golden one as the Lafayette Women's Soccer team defeated Colgate 2-1 in overtime on Saturday evening at Beyer-Small '76 Field.

The Leopards got on the board on the first career goal from freshman Sara Oswald at the 21:01 mark of the first half. A prolific scorer in high school, Oswald's first collegiate marker was a thing of beauty as she twisted a shot from 25 yards out on the right side into the upper left corner for a 1-0 lead.

Lafayette held the advantage into the second half until Colgate sophomore Hannah Pinkus sent a long-range shot over the head of Natalie Neumann and clipped the crossbar before finding the back of the net for her first career goal.

The Raiders kept up the pressure following the equalizer and put forth seven more shots over the ensuing 10 minutes after the equalizer. Neumann came up with two big saves during this stretch to keep the score level. Starting keeper Maggie Pohl had also come up with a great anticipation save on a shot by Ellis Miller late in the first half or the game may have never reached overtime.

Unlike Wednesday, when Lafayette lost the lead late on the road and settled for a draw at Navy, the Leopards took advantage of a foul by Colgate early in the first overtime and Camryn Monfort put a free kick into the box that was directed by freshman Rory Schauder towards Kissell who whistled a one-timer into the left side of the net for the game-winner.

"The game was full of momentum swings so we knew when we had the momentum at that point in the OT we had to capitalize on it," said Kissell.

"We scored two great goals and Marge and Nat came up with two top saves," head coach Mick Statham said. "Colgate is a fantastic program so our players have done extremely well to get three points here."

Indeed, the Leopards had not defeated Colgate since 2000 and had never beaten the Raiders in Hamilton, N.Y. The win improves their overall record on the season to 6-4-2 and 2-1-1 in the Patriot League. 

The coaching staff was impressed with how the team handled the past week that included two road games against a pair of top programs in the Patriot League.

"This was a very challenging week for our players and one they were very resilient in," Statham said. "They have a wonderful approach and we appreciate how hard they are trying."

Lafayette will play the next league match at the friendly confines of Mike Bourger '44 Field at Oaks Stadium on Saturday afternoon against American. The Eagles are 4-6-1 overall and 0-2-1 in the Patriot League heading into a Sunday match against Holy Cross in Washington, D.C.