BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Chase Wittich scored his second career a hat trick but Lehigh fought off a second-half Colgate rally to defeat the Raiders 12-9 Saturday afternoon.
Colgate grabbed a 2-1 lead on Wittich's first goal with 3:13 left in the first quarter. But Lehigh scored three times in the last 2:17 of the period to lead 4-2 after 15 minutes.
It was 7-3 Mountain Hawks by halftime and 9-4 late in the third quarter until Colgate scored three goals in the final 2:25 to pull within 9-7 heading to the fourth.
Lehigh scored midway in the final period to push the lead back to three, but
Cam Williams and
Sam Cleveland answered in a 35-second span to draw the Raiders within 10-9 with still 6:17 remaining.
The Raiders had a man-up opportunity but couldn't take advantage, and Lehigh tacked on a pair of goals in the closing minutes.
Williams and Cleveland posted two goals apiece, and Wittich added two assists to his three-goal output for the third five-point game of his young career. Wittich has scored at least two goals in all four Colgate games this season.
The Raiders are back on the road Tuesday for a 4 p.m. game at Hobart.
Bottom Line• Lehigh 12, Colgate 9
Won-Lost Records• Colgate is now 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the Patriot League.
• Lehigh goes to 4-1 and 2-0.
Raider Scoring Recap• Wittich scored his three goals on just four shots. He leads the Raiders with nine goals.
• Williams scored Colgate's first goal of the day and then scored midway in the fourth to narrow the Lehigh lead to 10-8.
• Cleveland's goals came in the second half. The first-year attacker tallied a man-up goal in the third quarter and then scored with 6:17 remaining in the fourth to pull Colgate within 10-9.
•
Peter Donato opened the second half with his third goal of the season.
•
Joe Delaney scored his second of the season late in the third quarter to start a three-goal Colgate rally.
Facts & Figures• Lehigh posted a 41-30 shots advantage and a 36-28 margin in ground balls.
• The Raiders won 9-of-13 faceoffs in the second half to end the game with a 13-12 edge.
Peter Marchetto won 9-of-15 and
Collin Orr 4-of-10.
• Colgate was 10-of-11 on clears to Lehigh's 12-of-16.
• The Raiders were 1-of-3 on extra-man opportunities, with Cleveland scoring his first collegiate man-up goal.
• Colgate committed 11 turnovers to Lehigh's 10.
• Raider goalkeeper
Brandon Burke made 12 saves.
Gate Grab Bag• Attendance at Ulrich Sports Complex was 615.
Up Next• Colgate continues a three-game road swing with a Tuesday afternoon visit to Hobart.
• This game was cancelled last season because of weather. Colgate won the most recent get-together, 7-5 in Hamilton two years ago.
• Hobart is 2-2 this season after Saturday's 12-6 home win over Binghamton.
• Start time is 4 p.m. from the Boswell Field in Geneva.
