2014 Schedule

HAMILTON -- Colgate opens its 2014 schedule here Saturday against Bryant in a 1 p.m. start.

The Raiders are home for three of their first four games and have eight games this year inside Andy Kerr Stadium. Colgate is picked for fifth in the nine-team Patriot League, but head coach Mike Murphy has a good feel for how this team has been preparing.

"Under the leadership of guys like Jimmy Ryan, Kevin Boyle and Bobby Lawrence – our senior captains – the one thing I've been so impressed with is we've just gotten better every day," Murphy said. "It's been my charge since we got going in the fall to make sure we were getting better every day. That's all I wanted."

Colgate finished 8-7 last year after going 14-4 in Murphy's debut season of 2012. That campaign culminated in a first-round NCAA tournament upset of top-seeded Massachusetts and the program's first trip to the NCAA quarterfinal round. Murphy and the Raiders are looking for good start to 2014 against a quality opponent.

"You're going to see a great team coming out of Smithfield, R.I.," Murphy said. "It's a team that made the NCAA tournament last year and they've got one of the greatest coaches in college lacrosse in Mike Pressler. They've done a fantastic job recruiting and it will be a good game between two very good teams."

In last year's season-opener at Bryant, Ryan scored in overtime to lift Colgate to a 14-13 victory.

See the Syracuse Post-Standard's capsule preview of Colgate lacrosse HERE.