HAMILTON – The Colgate women's soccer offense was sparked by junior
Sarah Coy 's hat trick here Saturday afternoon, handing the Raiders a 3-1 victory over Patriot League foe American.
In the first conference game of the season, Colgate had a strong first half, going into the break with a 2-0 edge off two goals from Coy. American struck back, eight minutes into the second half, with a goal from Marley Jennings, cutting the lead to 2-1. But the Raiders would not falter. They regained the majority of ball possession and in the 88th minute Coy secured the win after beating an Eagles defender and the goalie for her final tally of the contest.
The Raiders tested AU's goalie Courtney Bembenek and the back line multiple times throughout the contest, firing off 20 shots, including 12 in the opening period.
Colgate now shifts to 1-0 in league play and has not dropped a league opener since 2010.
The Raiders saw a few great chances early in the first half, including a beautiful shot from
Catherine Williams on the right wing. Williams' shot got past the goalie but at the last second an AU defender came sliding in to kick the ball off the goalline, taking away a solid chance for Colgate.
About eight minutes later, Colgate's
Erin Cummings made a brilliant stop on a driven shot from Jennings to keep the score knotted at 0-0.
Coy began her strong performance 31 minutes into the first half.
Lauren D'Amico sent a beautiful cross into Williams, who passed it along Coy. The junior then settled the ball and sent it sailing past the arms of Bembenek to put Colgate up 1-0.
She then continued her offensive push with another goal, after having several great opportunities on target prior to that. With less than one minute remaining in the first half,
Shannon Pawlak connected with Coy from the right side of the field. Coy was able to one-touch the ball past Bembenek to make it 2-0. Pawlak's helper was the first of her career.
American answered back in the beginning of the second period, cutting into the lead at 2-1.
Colgate continued to dominate offensively, though, with two great scoring chances set up by
Jayne Maccio and
Emily Crichlow. Unfortunately both attempts didn't find the back of the net.
Coy then secured her team the victory by netting her third goal with just two minutes remaining in the game. She started by beating an Eagles defender to a loose throughball just inside the box. The Boca Raton, Florida, native continued by making a fantastic move to beat Bembenek, finishing it off into the open goal.
Cummings closed out the contest with three saves.
The Raiders have some time off, as their next game isn't until Saturday when they travel to Lehigh. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and live stats will be available at the start.
BOTTOM LINE• Colgate 3, American 1
WON-LOST RECORDS• Colgate improves to 3-5-0 on the year and 1-0-0 in Patriot League play
• American drops to 3-6-0 and 0-1-0
KEY RAIDER INFO• Coy earned her first hat trick of the season and led the team in shots with eight.
• Williams and Pawlak recorded one assist each on the Colgate goals for their first of the year.
• Seven other Raiders' recorded shots throughout the contest as well.
• Cummings pushed aside three shots.
FACTS & FIGURES• Colgate led American in shots, 20-6, including a 12-4 edge in the first half alone.
• The Raiders recorded 10 corners to American's four.
• Colgate's Cummings made three saves, while AU's Bembenek recorded one and the team one.
• Pawlak's helper on Coy's second goal in the 45th minute was her first career assist.
• There were two yellow cards issued throughout the game, one to each team.
HAT TRICK HERO• The last time the Raiders scored a hat trick during Patriot League play was back on Oct. 9, 2005 when Franny
Iacuzzi netted three in a 6-1 victory over Lafayette.
• Those three were also a natural hat trick, all occurring in the opening 13 minutes (6', 8', 12').
• Iacuzzi is Colgate's all-time leading goal scorer and was inducted into the Raiders' Hall of Honor on Saturday.
UP NEXT• The Raiders are back in action on Saturday at Lehigh for another Patriot League contest.
• Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex.
• Live stats will be available for the game.
GAME ARCHIVE
