EASTON, Pa. (3/28/08) - The Colgate University women's lacrosse team raced out to a 16-4 lead less than 40 minutes into the game on its way to beating Patriot League rival Lafayette, 16-12, on Friday, Mar. 28, at Rappolt Field. With the win, the Raiders improve to 5-6 overall and 3-0 in the conference, while the Leopards drop to 0-10 overall and 0-4 in league play.

Senior Jessica Van der Meulen (Liverpool, N.Y.) paced the Colgate offense with six points, including four goals. Freshman Kate Bergstrom (San Francisco, Calif.) added a career-high four goals, and junior Molly Carroll (Swarthmore, Pa.) posted three goals and an assist. Junior Ashley Didio (Syracuse, N.Y.) contributed two goals and two helpers, while freshman Colleen Bubnack (Syracuse, N.Y.) had a goal and an assist. Sophomore Lindsay Pittard (Skaneateles, N.Y.) and sophomore Katie Holland (San Diego, Calif.) netted one goal each.

Kristin Ruminski led the Leopards with four goals and two assists. Lauren Brown posted three goals, and Andrea Corpora found the back of the net twice. Maddy Booth registered a goal and three assists.

Colgate scored 10 of the first 11 goals of the game, with Carroll and Van der Meulen each scoring three of the first six. Bergstrom netted three goals within four minutes midway through the first half. Lafayette scored two of the last three goals of the opening frame to set the score at 12-3 at the break.

The Raider offense opened the second half as strong as it did the first, with five straight goals. However, Colgate put all its healthy subs into the game, and Lafayette netted nine unanswered goals over the final 20:13 to end the contest.

Junior goalkeeper Sara Drexler (Pottstown, Pa.) earned the win between the pipes for Colgate after making eight saves. Emily Bjork started the game in net for Lafayette, and made two saves on 13 shots over the first 16:26. She was replaced by Sofie Grossman, who stopped five of 10 shots.

Colgate outshot Lafayette, 32-27, including 26-7 in the first half. The Leopards edged the Raiders on groundballs, 17-16, but Colgate earned the advantage on draws, 14-13.

The Raiders return to Tyler's Field to host Oregon on Sunday, Mar. 30, starting at 12:00 p.m. A live video broadcast of the game will be available through the Colgate All-Access package, and free live stats can also be found on www.goColgateRaiders.com

2008-03-29