Sat., Sept. 26 – at Lehigh (Bethlehem, Pa.), 7 p.m.

 

The Raiders will open Patriot League play this weekend when they travel to Lehigh on Saturday. Game-time is set for 7 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Center on the Lehigh campus in Bethlehem, Pa. The Raiders will follow up this weekend's game with two more road games before returning home to face Hartwick on Oct. 6th.

 

Lehigh –    The Mountain Hawks currently 3-2-1, with wins against Stanford, 2-1, Delaware, 5-1, and most recently No. 24 College of Charleston, 3-2. Freshman Austin Decker and sophomore Joe Puleo lead Lehigh's scorers with six and five points, respectively. Decker is the top goal-scorer with three goals, followed by Puleo with two goals and one assist. Adam Gazda also has two goals for four points. Returning in goal for the Mountain Hawks is Jonathan Nydell who has started in goal all six games, garnering a .750 save percentage and 1.31 goals against average. The Mountain Hawks finished sixth in the Patriot League last season. 

 

The Raiders split their games last week, defeating Siena, 2-1 before dropping a match to New Hampshire, 2-1. On Tuesday, Chris Salmon () and Shane Conlin (Randolph, N.J.) scored their first goals of the season, both coming in the final 10 minutes of play. The goal marked Conlin's first collegiate point as a Raider. Then on Saturday, freshman Mike Reidy (Webster, N.Y.) netted Colgate's lone goal, as they fell to the Wildcats. Goalie Chris Miller (Dallas, Texas) had four saves against the Saints, and a season-high nine against New Hampshire. 

 

The Raiders hold an all-time series lead of 11-8-4 against the Mountain Hawks, including last year's 2-0 shutout that helped Colgate claim the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament. Alex Weekes (Stroudsburg, Pa.) scored both goals in that game to give the Raiders the victory.

 

The Raiders are looking to extend their home field winning streak to nine as they take on the Saints at Van Doren Field. The Colgate men picked up their eighth consecutive win at home against Syracuse last Monday, downing the Orange 3-2 in overtime. The Raiders haven't lost a game in Hamilton since Sept., 27, 2008 when they fell to Holy Cross, 1-0.

For the second year in a row the Colgate men's soccer team was selected to finish first in the Patriot League preseason poll. The Raiders collected the most points with 95 and most first-place votes with 12.  Last year Colgate won both the regular season and championship titles adding to its championship title from the 2007 season. 

 

Head coach Erik Ronning will begin his fifth season at the helm of the Colgate men's soccer program. In just four short years, Ronning has brought the Raiders to the Patriot League Tournament four times and won the title the past two seasons to earn consecutive NCAA Tournament bids. With a Colgate win total of 38 games, Ronning will look to earn his 50th career victory during the 2009 season. 

 

The Raiders return a strong group of student-athletes this year including seven starters while adding eight talented newcomers to the program. Headlining the returners are Colgate's top five scorers from last season, Alex Weekes, Steven Miller (Ivyland, Pa.), Chris Ross, Matt Schuber (Webster, N.Y.) and Jeff Leach (New Canaan, Conn.). Sophomore Chris Millerwill anchor the Raiders in goal after starting in two games last year as well as the second half of the Tournament game against Boston College.

 

Two Colgate soccer players have been recognized by national organizations so far this season. Senior forward Alex Weekes has been named to the 2009 Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Watch List. The List is comprised of the 38 best men's Division I intercollegiate soccer players and is college soccer's version of the Heisman Trophy. In addition, freshman midfielder Mike Reidywas selected as one of College Soccer News' 100 Freshman to Keep An Eye On in 2009.