WEST POINT, N.Y. (3/29/08)—Colgate sophomore goaltender Tim Harrington (Lutherville, Md.) made 14 saves, but it was not enough as 13th-ranked Army defeated the Raiders 13-9 in Patriot League men’s lacrosse action. Army’s Jason Peyer led all scorers with five points off of two goals and three assists. The Black Knights had eight different players tally a goal.

 

The Raiders fall to 4-5 overall on the season and 1-2 in Patriot League action, while Army improves to 7-2 overall and 3-0 in conference play.

 

Senior Matt Lalli (Princeton Junction, N.J.) led the Raiders with two goals and two assists for four points, while sophomore Ian Murphy (Constantia, N.Y.) had two goals and an assist. Juniors Brandon Corp (Chittenango, N.Y.) and Kevin Colleluori (Bethpage, N.Y.) had two tallies apiece.

 

Colgate opened the scoring four minutes into the game when Colleluori picked up the groundball off of a save and slipped a low shot past Army keeper Adam Fullerton.

 

The Raiders held the Black Knights off the scoreboard for the next five minutes, but were unable to get on the board. Army broke through with its first goal at the 6:09 mark with a rifle from Kevin LoRusso from the left side of the cage. Paul Wigdzinski provided the assist on the play.

 

The Black Knights made it 2-1 three minutes later with a tally from Brooks Korvin. A Justin Bokmeyer score in the final 1:30 made it 3-1 Army at the end of the first quarter.

 

Colgate struggled to get into an offensive rhythm in the early minutes of the second frame as the Army defense forced a few turnovers.

 

Freshman Ben McCabe (Brunswick, Maine) cut the deficit to one goal again with a shot high into the corner off of a pass from junior Nick Monastero (Bohemia, N.Y.) 4:38 into the second stanza.

 

Army responded with a pair of unanswered scores over the next five minutes to make it 5-3 late into the second quarter. Looking to make it a one-goal game again, Colleluori got on the doorstep for the score and found the back of the net as we he was pushed into the crease by an Army play.

 

The goal was disallowed due to Colleluori being in the crease, but Colgate was awarded the ball off the loose-ball push. Colleluori brought the ball back in play and got to the cage, but his shot was stopped by Fullerton with 39 seconds left in the half.

 

Army cleared the ball and Jason Peyer found an open Mike Hanna who ripped a shot from 12-yards out to give the Black Knights a 6-3 lead heading into the break.

 

Corp made it a 6-4 contest just 1:15 into the third session after picking up a loose ball and sneaking the shot past Fullerton.

 

Army responded with a pair of unanswered goals to take its largest lead of the game at 8-4 with 9:52 left to play in the quarter.

 

Looking to stay close with the Black Knights, Colgate responded with consecutive goals to make it an 8-6 contest. Lalli got things started at the 5:03 mark, firing home his shot from the left side of the cage. Corp made it a two-goal game 53 seconds later, taking a quick pass from Murphy from the left side of the cage and ripping the shot past the near post.

 

Army closed out the quarter with another score from Jeremy Boltus to take a 9-6 lead into the fourth quarter.

 

The Black Knights stretched the lead back to three, 9-6, to start the quarter. Colgate would not go away as Lalli dodged an Army defender and dropped in the ball past Fullerton.

 

Army forced a Colgate turnover after a Harrington save and got a fast-break score for a 10-7 lead. Murphy got on the board again for the Raiders to make it a two-goal game again, but Colgate could not get any closer as the Army defense shut the Raiders down in the final eight minutes.

 

The Black Knights closed out the game with a 3-1, including an empty net score to secure the 13-9 league victory.

 

Senior Chris Eck (Fairfield, Conn.) was strong on the faceoff, going 14-of-24 at the “X” and picking up five groundballs. The Raiders overall were 15-of-26 on the restarts. Junior Will Planer (Rumson, N.J.) had a team-high seven groundballs.

 

Army held a narrow 36-28 advantage on shots, but the Raiders edged the Black Knights in the groundball battle, 30-29. Colgate and Army both were 1-for-1 on extra-man opportunities. The Black Knights successful cleared 17-of-20 and Colgate was successful 12 of 18 times.

 

The Raiders continue their Patriot League schedule, hosting Lehigh in a crucial Patriot League matchup on April 5 at 1 p.m., at Andy Kerr Stadium.