BOX SCORE

HAMILTON, N.Y. (10/6/10) – The Colgate field hockey team got to within one goal in the second half, but Cornell's two goals in the opening half proved to be the difference in a 2-1 loss for the Raiders.

Colgate (3-9) saw rookie Olivia Nabhan (Rye, N.Y.) score her third goal of the season in the second half, while rookie Halle Biggar (Pepper Pike, Ohio) posted an assist on Nabhan's tally to give her 10 points on the season. Senior captain Kirsten Lalli (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) stood tall in net with 13 stops, earning double-digit saves for the fifth time this season.

The Big Red (7-3) got goals from Mallory Bannon and Hannah Balleza in the first half with one assist going to Catie De Stio. Bannon's came on a penalty stroke 12 minutes into the contest. Goalkeeper Alex Botte made just one stop between the pipes, but earned her seventh win.

Cornell got on the board first just 2:42 into the contest on a goal from Bannon, coming from De Stio. De Stio made a nice move around a defender and passed the ball along the end line to an open Bannon and she buried it for the 1-0 lead. The Big Red's second goal came on a penalty stroke by Hannah Balleza. Colgate was called for a violation in the crease after Lalli saved the initial shot and was out of position.

Colgate was down 13-4 in total shots at the half, but had a 7-1 advantage in penalty corners.

The Raiders only managed one shot in the second half, but made it count as Nabhan scored the lone goal for Colgate on a nice fast break with Denenga. She found a streaking Nabhan on the right side of the circle and she was able to avoid a diving Botte. Nabhan flipped the ball by the pads of the Cornell goalkeeper and into the net to cut the lead to 2-1. Unfortunately, the Raiders only got one penalty corner in the half and put a shot wide as Cornell escaped Hamilton with a 2-1 win.

Overall, Cornell held a 21-5 shot advantage with the Raiders earning six penalty corners to four for the Big Red.

Colgate will be back in action this coming Saturday at 1 p.m. at Tyler's Field as the Raiders continued Patriot League play with Lehigh coming to town.