HAMILTON, N.Y. (8/22/11) – The Colgate field hockey team is set to begin its 38th season and the Raiders are looking to make their second-consecutive trip to the Patriot League Tournament.

Head coach Cathy Foto starts her 22nd season with a roster of 26 student-athletes and is coming off a 5-12 season overall and a 2-3 mark in Patriot League play. The Raiders will be without three All-Patriot League performers that were lost to graduation, including Kirsten Lalli, who was the league's Goalkeeper of the Year. However, Colgate returns a wealth of experience with nine starters returning and the addition of 11 newcomers.

ATTACK

The Raiders are welcoming back five of its top six scorers from a season ago, led by sophomore Halle Biggar, who posted five goals and three assists for 13 points. She also added two gamewinners and hopefully she can get off to the start she did in 2010 with two goals in her first collegiate game and four in the first nine games. Olivia Nabhan is coming back as a top player after four goals, while Kendall Zaharris and Lauren Dittman return as one of eight players to start in all 17 games last year.

Colgate will be relying on senior co-captain Sarah Hill as well. She played in 10 games last season with eight starts. Sophomores Paige Hawley and Colleen Oberg will also be fighting for playing time on the frontline after their first year with the Raiders.

DEFENSE

Co-captain Peyton Hawkins and junior Elaine Thurman will lead the defensive unit that will be missing a couple of key parts from last year. The Raiders lost the experience of Allison Waugh and Lalli will be difficult to replace. However, Britany Schram and Adriana Libutti have the experience to fill in after playing in all games last year. Libutti finished with 12 points for third on the team as a major part of the penalty corner lineup. Sophomores Meredith Gibson and Kelsey Jensen will also compete for playing time along with freshmen Rebecca Libutti and Jade Dennett.

In goal, the Raiders have to replace Lalli and the team will be young at the position, however, the two players are more than capable to fill that role. Sophomore Caitlin Zolet comes back for her second season after appearing in four games a season ago. She was a very successful goalkeeper at Wootton High School in Potomac, Md., and looked good in those four games last year. Rookie Amanda DiDomizio arrives in Hamilton after a stellar career at Lakeland High School in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. She went unbeaten in her final two seasons and had an 82-5-2 mark overall.

NEWCOMERS

The squad is filled with rookies as 11 are coming to campus. Seven of the 11 playing in their first season are offensive players. Zoe Beaumier comes from Bexley, Ohio, and was a two-time All-Ohio League Second Team selection and a first teamer in 2010. Katelyn Francese makes the trip upstate from Chappaqua and was a two-time all-league honoree for Horace Greeley. Eliana Brown arrives from Virginia and W.T. Woodson High School and led the team in goals three of the four years played, including 21 scores when her team went to the state quarterfinals. Jen Godbout comes from eastern Pennsylvania and was a first team All-Colonial League player at Moravian Academy. Ashley Jones and Alex Solin are both from Connecticut. Jones played at Greenwich Academy and was a New England Prep School Athletic Conference Class A Finalist in 2010 and won a gold medal at the 2011 National Indoor Tournament for her club team. Solin won two conference titles at Daniel Hand High School and was an all-conference second teamer. 

The defense will be helped by three additions. Rebecca Libutti, younger sister of Adriana, played four years at South Windsor High in Connecticut and posted 52 goals and 65 assists. She was a three-time state quarterfinalist. Jade Dennett joins the Raiders from Fishkill, N.Y., where she was a four-time all-league selection for John-Jay. Giuliana Kafaf comes to Hamilton after four years at Mountain Lakes High School in northern New Jersey. She was a two-time all-conference selection on defense.