BOX SCORE

HAMILTON, N.Y. (10/23/10) – Rookie Olivia Nabhan (Rye, N.Y.) scored with 12 minutes left in the game to lift the Colgate field hockey team to a 1-0 win over Holy Cross as the Raiders qualified for the Patriot League Tournament.

Nabhan scored the lone goal of the game with the assist going to classmate Halle Biggar (Pepper Pike, Ohio). Senior captain Kirsten Lalli (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) made seven tops in net to earn her third shutout of the season, including three huge stops on consecutive penalty corners for the Crusaders late in the second half.

Holy Cross (0-15, 0-4 PL) remained winless in the Patriot League with Kelly Sotsky pushing aside five shots in the defeat.

The teams played as even as you could possibly get in the first half as each team had four penalty corners and four shots. Lalli and Sotsky pushed aside two shots to keep the game scoreless.

The best opportunity for the Raiders came late in the opening half on a penalty corner attempt. Sophomore Kendall Zaharris (Baltimore, Md.) received the insert from classmate Adriana Libutti (South Windsor, Conn.) and slid the ball over to another sophomore in Lauren Dittman (Irwin, Pa.). Dittman fired a shot waste high on Sotsky, but she was able to deflect it out of the circle.

There was more action in the second half from both sides with Holy Cross adding eight shots to Colgate's seven. Each team once again had four corners. Three of the Crusader corners came in a row. Lalli stopped three point blank shots from just inside the circle to keep the shutout alive and to give the Raiders a chance to take the lead.

Colgate (5-10, 2-2 PL) did just that with 12 minutes left in the final half. Biggar did a nice job stripping a Holy Cross player from the ball and charged down the right side. She entered the circle and snuck a pass in front to a waiting Nabhan and she buried it home for the 1-0 lead.

Holy Cross failed to mount any offensive down the stretch, despite pulling the goalie for an extra attacker.

With the win and a 5-0 loss by Lehigh today, the Raiders have qualified for the Patriot League Tournament along with American, Lafayette and Bucknell. All that is left to decide is who Colgate will play and that will be decided next week with a game at the Bison.

NOTES: Colgate also recognized three seniors that were playing in their final home game in a Raider uniform. Lalli was one of the three and she was a late bloomer for Colgate, but put up amazing numbers this season and is a big part of the five wins the squad has had so far this season. Senior Allison Waugh (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) has been a mainstay on the backline for head coach Cathy Foto in each of her four seasons. A leader on the field, she has score five goals in her career, including a penalty stroke goal in a 5-1 win over Lehigh a couple of weeks ago. The last senior had many special guests come to the game today as Laura Denenga's (Harare, Zimbabwe) family came halfway around the world to see Laura play in her final game at Tyler's Field. Denenga is a two-time second team All-Patriot League performer and leads the team with 19 points.