BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Rookie Colin O'Neill notched his first career goal and game winner in Colgate's 2-0 victory over Lehigh on Saturday night in this men's soccer matchup.

"Great overall effort by everyone tonight," Colgate head coach Erik Ronning said. "The team understood the importance of the game, played with urgency throughout, and delivered a huge win on a field that is very difficult to get a result at.

"It was a must win game and we have another one of those on Saturday versus a very strong American team. We are all looking forward to the challenge."

With the win, the Raiders stay in the hunt for a post-season berth. Heading into the final week of the regular season, Colgate holds the final spot in the Patriot League tournament with a league record of 3-4-1.

Colgate (4-12-3) registered two goals in the second 45 minutes to earn the win. O'Neill and Evan Heroux were the two Raiders to get on the stat sheet with their first and third marker of the year, respectively. Ricky Brown and Liam Stapleton split time in net for the Raiders. Stapleton earned the start making two saves in the first half while Brown finished the game posting four saves.

Lehigh (2-13-1, 1-7-0 PL) was led by James Meyerkord, who tallied two shots in the contest. The Mountain Hawks saw Jacob Gottwald play the majority of the game, making seven saves before Kevin Motylewski came in for relief.

Despite a scoreless first half, Colgate held the advantage on shots 13-5.

In the 16th minute of play Barrett Metzger found an opening on net following a free kick just outside the 18-yard box. His attempt, however, was saved by Gottwald to keep the game goalless.

A few minutes later Lehigh fouled Colgate in the box, awarding the Raiders a penalty kick opportunity. Rookie Zach Pagani stepped up and fired a hard shot on net that Gottwald pushed off the crossbar and back into play. Pagani tried finding the goal again on the rebound but his shot was again saved by Gottwald

Early in the second 45 minutes, O'Neill beat three defenders before striking one at the top of the 18 into the lower right-hand corner of the goal, lifting Colgate to the 1-0 advantage.

In the 62nd minutes, Heroux extended the Raider advantage to 2-0. Pagani found Heroux inside the box, where the junior shot into the right-hand corner of the net ultimately securing the Colgate victory.

The Raiders held strong in the remaining minutes to grab their third win in league play.

Colgate held the advantage on shots 16-11 and on corner kicks 2-1.

The Raiders are back on Van Doren Field on Saturday for their last regular season matchup against American at 4 p.m. Prior to the game the team will acknowledge five senior players.