Photo Gallery

HAMILTON – Quick-start Colgate jumped on Lafayette for seven goals in the first quarter en route to a 12-10 Patriot League win here Saturday.
 
Ryan Walsh completed a hat trick in the opening 15 minutes as Colgate led 7-1. The 20th-ranked Raiders made it 8-1 on Tyler Rigo's goal midway in the second quarter, and still led 8-2 at intermission.
 
But a steady snowfall seemed to cool the Raider jets, and Lafayette rallied with a strong second half. Colgate opened with a 16-3 shot advantage after one quarter of play, but that total was just 37-31 by game's end when the Leopards had all the momentum.

Walsh finished with four goals and two assists, while Anthony Abbadessa added two goals and Matt Clarkson three assists. Six other Raiders contributed single goals.

Colgate (3-0, 1-0 Patriot) turned the tables on its recent faceoff troubles by winning 17 of 25 draws. Peter Marchetto was a sparkling 15-of-19 -- including a key grab when the Raiders were a man down in the third quarter that he turned into his first career goal to make it 9-4.
 

Lafayette (1-1, 0-1) received four goals from Eric Joseph and three from Robert Orazietti.
 
Colgate is at Bucknell next Saturday.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 12, Lafayette 10
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the Patriot League.
• Lafayette is now 1-1 and 0-1.
 
Facts & Figures
• Faceoffs were a huge plus for Colgate.
• The Raiders won 17 of the 25 draws, including a 15-of-19 worksheet from Peter Marchetto.
• Colgate's 3-0 start inside the opening 2:39 – Cameron Williams scored first and then Ryan Walsh added a pair 49 seconds apart – was a direct result of playing keep-away from the Leopards.
• Marchetto even stemmed a 3-0 Lafayette run midway through the third quarter with a faceoff win and unassisted goal. The first goal of Marchetto's career, and a man-down marker at that, pushed the Raiders back in front 9-4.
• Anthony Abbadessa scored a man-up goal later in the third quarter, and Walsh finished off his four-goal afternoon by scoring 12 seconds into the fourth to allow Colgate just enough wiggle room.
• Abbadessa scored twice for his second straight multi-goal game. The Raiders received single goals from Williams, Marchetto, Parker Weinstock, Kevin Adams, Tyler Rigo and Peter Donato.
• Weinstock's goal was the first of his career.
• Clarkson assisted on three goals and leads the team with both 10 assists and 12 points.
• Abbadessa and Walsh are the goal-scoring leaders with six apiece through three games.
• Walsh added two assists to his four goals. In four years against Lafayette, Walsh scored 12 goals with six assists.
• Lafayette outscored Colgate 8-4 in the second half.
• Eric Joseph (four) and Robert Orazietti (three) accounted for seven of Lafayette's 10 goals, while Jason Sands dished out five assists.

• Colgate owned a 16-3 shot advantage for the first period, and it was 37-31 Raiders for the entire game.
• Ground balls favored the Raiders 44-34, but Colgate on the snowy Tyler's Field turf committed 22 turnovers to 19 for Lafayette.
• Colgate was 17-of-23 on clears; Lafayette 18-of-24.
• The Raiders were 2-of-4 on extra-man opportunities, and Marchetto scored a man-down goal. Lafayette finished 1-3 on the man-up, Joseph scoring the goal with 10 seconds remaining in the game.
• Brandon Burke stopped 10 shots for his third straight victory in goal. Lafayette's Matt Cortese made 18 saves.
 
Turning Point
• Colgate entered Saturday having won just 28.2 percent of its faceoffs in the opening two games.
• But Marchetto and the faceoff unit helped turn that around right from the start, winning the first three draws and sparking a 3-0 run.
• Williams scored 46 seconds into the game, and then Walsh went back-to-back in a 49-second span.
• It was 7-1 Raiders by the end of the first period, and 8-2 at halftime.
• Colgate finished the game with a 17-8 advantage on draws, including Marchetto's 15-of-19 worksheet.
 
More Key Info
• There were four Patriot League matchups Saturday, and Colgate's 12-10 win over Lafayette was the widest margin of victory. Lehigh defeated Boston University, 10-9; Bucknell won at Navy, 8-7; and Holy Cross won at Loyola, 13-12.
• For Colgate, Walsh, Marchetto, Matt Yeager and Connor Murphy picked up five ground balls apiece. Lafayette's Eric Cannon led all players with seven.
• Yeager also caused two turnovers.
• Colgate's Collin Orr added a 2-of-6 result on faceoffs.
 
From the Source

• Colgate head coach Mike Murphy: (On the fast start) "We needed it. The way we played in the first half helped carry us through the second half, when we really played poorly. Too many turnovers; we tried to give the game away.
"Credit our offense for the early start, but I don't really like the way we finished the game."
(On the close contest) "I'm proud of our guys. We had a good week of practice. We battled all day long and we knew it was going to be a 60-minute game. It proved to be that way."
(On the faceoff success) "Peter was excellent. His play really helped carry us through the day. He's been struggling, but he's been working with Coach Abbott and Alex Kinnealey. I'm glad to see Peter get a positive start today."
• Colgate midfielder Matt Clarkson: (On his assists) "Anthony, Chase, Kevin and Walsh on attack are doing a great job getting open. A lot of those opportunities are coming on man-up, so we're moving the ball quickly and trying to find the open guy. They've been doing a good job of putting the ball away."
(On the footing) "We tried to change up a few things just to get guys' hands free. It was really hard dodging out there and our defense was struggling a little bit with the footing too. But it's not an excuse. We just tried to adjust things and get our hands free.
• Colgate attackman Ryan Walsh: (On the fast start) "Coming out and getting an 8-2 lead was huge, especially when the conditions started getting worse. It was nice to have a little cushion there when we didn't play as well as we wanted to in the second half."
(On his goal-scoring) "I found myself on the receiving end of a lot of good plays by my teammates. Anthony was creating and he was carrying the load today. I was just catching and shooting, really. It wasn't too stressful."

• Colgate faceoff specialist Peter Marchetto: (On his success) "This week, we really focused on wing play and I got a lot of help from Chandler Millstone, Matt Clarkson, Connor Murphy and Nicco DeLorenzo. It was a unit win.
"We really came out there as a team on the faceoff, and those guys helped me out a lot of times. We were able to have some success."
(On the field conditions) "It was tough toward the end of the first half when we were still using the white balls. They were hard to see on the ground balls. But once we went to the orange balls, we were slipping and sliding a little bit but not too bad."
(On moving forward) "I'm excited. I changed up my stance and I like how it's working. We'll see where it goes next week."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Tyler's Field was 345.
 
Up Next
• Colgate travels to Bucknell for another Patriot League matchup. Start time in Lewisburg is 1 p.m.
• The Bison are 2-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play after their 8-7 win Saturday at Navy.

Game Archive