HAMILTON, N.Y.- The Lafayette women's lacrosse team was defeated by conference opponent Colgate, 13-12, on Saturday afternoon in Hamilton, N.Y. The Leopards move to 2-10 on the season and 1-5 in conference play.

The Raiders started a scoring streak early, with the first of three unanswered goals coming off the draw just fifteen seconds into the contest. Junior attacker Sarah Bennett fired a shot into the net off of a crisp pass from freshman attacker Sara Rogers at 8:02 for Lafayette's first goal.

Sophomore midfielder Abby Romano, assisted by junior attacker Meghan McLachlan, put the Leopards within one at 6:46. Bennett took advantage of a free-position shot to even the score at 5:39.
McLachlan helped sophomore midfielder Clare Culligan with a goal at 4:03 for Lafayette's first lead of the game and fourth unanswered goal. Colgate tied the match with one minute left in the first quarter.

Snow began to fall as the second quarter kicked off, as Lafayette took two shots on goal within the first fifty seconds. Colgate had another streak of three unanswered goals to break the tie, with one coming from a free-position shot.

Bennett completed her hat trick with two minutes left in the half, marking Lafayette's only goal of the second quarter. The junior attacker was assisted by Rogers once again.

Colgate took the first three goals of the second half, as the Raiders put themselves ahead of the Leopards by five. Lafayette's Rogers answered at 10:42, assisted by her accomplice for the day, Bennett.

Senior attacker Olivia Cunningham battled through the Raider defense to score her twenty-fourth goal of the season at 7:20. The Villanova, Pa. native currently sits at 99 total career points.

The Leopards continued their attacking push, with junior attacker Genevieve Strobel stealing her first goal of the day at 6:26.

Colgate retaliated at 5:49 and 3:03 to stay ahead by four. Junior midfielder Katie Chiasson scored on a free-position shot with twenty seconds left over.

Colgate's Lauren Marandett tallied the first goal of the final quarter at 12:40. Lafayette came roaring out of a timeout, with Chiasson scoring at 7:02 immediately after clearing the ball out of the defensive half.

Strobel made it a two-goal game with five and a half minutes left. The Leopards battled the Raider offense to keep them scoreless for the remainder of the game, but there was not enough time left to chase down the two-goal deficit. Chiasson added the final Lafayette goal at 0:23.

The Leopards had the advantage in ground balls (24-21), shots (40-38) and clears (24-27 to 23-29) while the Raiders held only draw controls (17-12). Colgate was 5-6 in free-position shots, while Lafayette went 2-5.

Lafayette's sophomore goalkeeper Lexie Coldiron made 11 saves in the loss. Her Colgate counterpart, Olivia Lynch, matched her.

The Leopards travel to Lehigh for The Rivalry on Wednesday.