HAMILTON -
Caroline Brawner scored the only goal of the contest 11 seconds into the second half to lift Colgate past Lehigh 1-0 in Patriot League action here Saturday night.
The Raiders moved, at least temporarily, back alone into first place with 19 points at 6-1-1 in conference. That's three points clear of Navy (5-1-1) pending the Mids' Sunday afternoon tilt at Loyola. Boston University (4-1-2) is sitting on 14 points and also plays Sunday against American. Army (4-1-3) won Saturday and is third with 15 points.
Senior Night on Beyer-Small '76 Field was a more-than-appropriate stage for Brawner to score her third goal of the season and 18th of her remarkable career. The header from
Sarah Coy's assist was like a bolt straight out of the locker room, coming in the opening ticks of the second half.
Colgate's defense buckled down the rest of the way, with Raiders goalkeeper
Brenna Mason making three of her five saves after intermission.
Colgate, now 12-2-2 overall, concludes the regular season next Saturday at American.
Bottom Line
• Colgate
1, Lehigh 0.
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improves to 12-2-2 overall and 6-1-1 in Patriot League play.
• Lehigh drops to 4-5-5 and 2-2-4
.
Key Info
• Colgate shots in the game were taken by Coy (3), Brawner (2),
Taryn Tomczyk (2),
Lysette Roman and
Catherine Williams.
• Raiders goalkeeper Mason posted five saves.
• Shots favored Lehigh 10-9, as did corners 6-3. Colgate committed nine fouls to Lehigh's five.
• Coy's assist was her second of the year. She leads the team with 18 points. Brawner is now tied with
Catherine Williams for second on the team with nine points, both with three goals and three assists.
Four Seniors Honored
• Colgate before the game recognized four seniors playing their final regular-season games on Beyer-Small '76 Field: Captains Brawner and
Emily Manoogian,
Jenna Gibney and
Chelsea Roche.
From the Sources
•
Colgate head coach Kathy Brawn: (On the game) "We were doing some really good things in the first half, but some of the details weren't there. The passes were the right ideas, but they were slightly off, and we didn't quite have the rhythm to the play that we wanted.
"We really didn't need to change a lot in the second half, we just needed to take care of fine-tuning some things and play with some more energy. You saw it right off the bat. It was the best scoring chance for us of the night and we came away with a finish on a terrific serve and header by
Caroline Brawner."
(On the quick-strike goal) "It really was just a matter of giving the players the idea of what we wanted. We don't need to walk them through things step-by-step; they get the ideas and the concepts. They are such good players and so coachable.
"We really just said everything we were doing in the first half was good; it just needed to ratcheted up a couple of notches and that should result in some great scoring opportunities. And it did."
(On the team's mindset down the stretch) "We really just want to keep getting better and not be satisfied with what we're doing and how we're doing it. We want to keep building on the good things but really eliminate some of the things that aren't going exactly as we want.
"Take care of the ball better, finding that rhythm to the play and finding the way to win a game – there's always a way to win the game and you just have to be the team that sorts it out best. That's what we're always looking to do."
•
Colgate midfielder Caroline Brawner: (On her goal) "Right off the bat, we just wanted to go forward. Kathy (Brawn), Chris (McLain) and Karen (Gurnon) tell us, 'Let's try not to go backward; let's try to go forward.' So on this play, we got forward.
"I passed it to Eliza (Doll), Eliza found
Sarah Coy on a really nice ball through, Sarah did what she always does – takes people down the line, really fast, took them on – and sent it in. Everyone was in the right place at the right time. It was really awesome."
(On Senior Night) "My whole family's here, so that's really fun. And it's really good to get a big win against Lehigh."
Gate Grab Bag
• The Raiders improved to 17-7-1 all-time against Lehigh, including 8-3-1 at home.
Up Next
• Colgate wraps the regular season next Saturday at American. The Eagles are 3-13 overall and 0-7 in the Patriot League heading into Sunday's game at Boston University.
Game Archive
