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HAMILTON, N.Y. (8/24/10) – The Colgate field hockey team shutout Robert Morris, 5-0, in the team's season opener on Saturday at Tyler's Field as the Raiders had a 25-8 shot advantage over the Colonials.

“It's always great to start with a win, but to see that many goals and to be able to sustain it for two periods was great,” stated head coach Cathy Foto. “The girls worked really hard in preseason and it showed today.”

Freshman Halle Biggar (Pepper Pike, Ohio) had an incredible opening day for the Raiders with a pair of goals in her first game at Colgate. Joining her with another two-goal game was senior Laura Denenga (Harare, Zimbabwe), while sophomore defender Adriana Libutti (South Windsor, Conn.) added a goal and an assist for three points. Sophomore Kendall Zaharris (Baltimore, Md.) came through with two assists.

The Raiders (1-0) started the match with an early goal in the first two minutes when sophomore midfielder Lauren Dittman (Irwin, Pa.) connected with Biggar, who quickly put the ball in the cage. Biggar then made her second mark of the game in the first minute of the second half after she received a pass from Zaharris. She was then able to put a reverse shot into the net and past the goalkeeper.

Colgate continued to raid the Robert Morris cage, scoring three goals in the next 20 minutes. The first came from a deflection by Libutti. Denenga later revitalized the attack, scoring on a penalty corner with assists from Zaharris and Libutti. She added her second of the game again on a penalty corner with the assist going to Peyton Hawkins (Baltimore, Md.), to end the game with a 5-0 score.

The Colonials (0-1) got 11 saves from Stephanie Seeley, while Raider senior captain Kirsten Lalli (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) pushed aside four shots to earn her first win of 2010.

The Raiders will resume play on Monday, Aug. 30, when they take on Northwestern at 7.00 p.m. on Tyler's Field.

“The offensive movement was good, so if we can maintain that it will certainly help us,” Foto said. “Northwestern is at a different level in terms of their ability to move the ball so defensively we are going to have to concentrate on being patient and being disciplined.”