WOMEN'S SOCCER GAME CENTRAL

HAMILTON, N.Y. (8/15/12) – The Colgate women's soccer team is set to kick off its 2012 season this Friday night at Buffalo, followed by a home matchup Sunday against Syracuse at Van Doren Field.

The Raiders will play the Bulls on Friday night at 7 p.m. and the game against the Orange starts at 1 p.m. on Sunday and can be seen live on Colgate All-Access. To view all the necessary game day links for the weekend, visit Women's Soccer Game Central.

COLGATE TOPS PRESEASON POLL
The Raiders topped the Patriot League preseason poll with 91 points and nine first-place votes, settling in ahead of defending champion Army, which garnered 84 points and three first-place votes. Navy finished third in the poll with 81 points and four first-place votes, while Lafayette rounded out the top four with 60 points. Those four teams qualified for last year's Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh took fifth in the poll with 49 points, while Bucknell was sixth with 36 points. American (seventh, 33 points) and Holy Cross (eighth, 14) rounded out the field of eight.

KINTER EARNS PRESEASON HONOR
In addition to the preseason poll, senior Jillian Kinter was voted the Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Kinter is the reigning Offensive Player of the Year and earned first-team All-League laurels a season ago. She finished her junior campaign with League-highs in assists (seven) and points (23), while finishing second with eight goals. Kinter, along with a handful of other offensive threats, led a prolific Raider offense in 2011 that led the League averaging 1.79 goals per contest. Her three game-winning goals were tied for fourth best in the League and were one off the lead.

THREE EARN PRESEASON ALL-LEAGUE RECOGNITION
The Raiders had three players chosen to the Patriot League Preseason All-League team as the league put out its first ever preseason honors. Kinter was named to the team, along with reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year Jenna Raepple and sophomore Caroline Brawner. Raepple earned first team all-league laurels a season ago after tallying 17 points on seven goals and three helpers. Brawner landed on the second team last year with 11 points on four goals and three assists. She added three gamewinning goals and was a BRINE Patriot League Rookie of the Week honoree.

SCOUTING THE BULLS
Buffalo comes into 2012 after a stellar season, which saw the Bulls post a 12-5-4 record. It was the largest turnaround in program history as they won just one game the year before. They return a lot of experience as 11 players are back that played in at least 12 games in 2011.

Katie Roberts is back as the goal-scoring threat with seven goals and four assists for 18 points in 2011 and was named to the MAC All-Freshmen team. Taylor Thompson was next on the squad in goals with four and both Katie Kerr and Megan Giesen tallied two goals apiece. Buffalo will need more players to step up as two of their top four scorers from 2011 were lost to graduation.

In goal, Ainsley Wheldon returns after a great 2011 season where she posted 10 shutouts and a sub-1.00 goals against average. She recorded 139 saves and had a .891 save percentage. McKenzie White is the backup for the Bulls and saw 64 minutes as a rookie and didn't allow a goal.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 14th meeting between these two schools, dating back to 1987. The two teams met last season with the Bulls coming away with a 2-0 win in Hamilton. Prior to that, Colgate had gone unbeaten in the previous five meetings with a 4-0-1 record. In 12 of the 13 all-time meetings, the winning team has held the opponent scoreless and the Raiders have not allowed a goal in the nine wins they have in the series.

SCOUTING THE ORANGE
Syracuse comes to Hamilton after a 7-8-3 record in 2011 and finished 6-5-0 in BIG EAST play. The six wins in the conference were the most for the Orange since 1998 and the second-highest in school history. Syracuse also had its highest win total since 2007.

Cecilia Borgstrom returns as the top returning scorer after Tina Romagnuolo graduated as the top point-getter. Bergstrom had three goals and an assist for the Orange last year. Jenna Rickan and Megan Hunsberger are also back after two goals and an assist in 2011. In addition to Romagnuolo, Syracuse will have replace Brittany Kinmond, who had two goals and an assist as well.

In goal, Brittany Anghel is returning for her junior season after posting a 1.31 goals against average with 65 saves and recording seven shutouts. All seven of her wins were shutouts.

SERIES HISTORY
Syracuse and Colgate will be playing on the pitch for the 16th time since the series began in 1996. The Orange leads the series with a 12-2-1 record and has won the previous four meetings. The last two games have been decided by one goal, including a 2-1 decision in 2010 at Syracuse. The Raiders won the first-ever meeting with a 4-0 rout in 1996.