GENEVA, N.Y. – Colgate's defense clamped down in the closing crucial minutes and the Raiders outlasted Hobart 7-6 here Tuesday afternoon.
 
It was another bump-and-grind game between these Central New York foes, who have been meeting in lacrosse for nearly a century. Colgate now has won four of the last five against the Statesmen, but they haven't come easy.
 
This one followed a familiar script: hard-fought, low-scoring, down-to-the-wire.
 
Tyler Rigo tied the game with 10 seconds left in the third quarter when he alertly rebounded and put back his own saved shot. Then Cam Williams scored his second goal of the game midway in the fourth, somehow finding a sliver of daylight to get it past Hobart goalkeeper Jackson Brown.
 
But the Raiders hardly were home free. Hobart gained possession with 5½ remaining and poured shot after shot at the Colgate goal. Raiders keeper Brandon Burke finally found one he could handle right at the 1-minute mark.
 
Colgate played keep-away for the final 60 seconds and walked off with a satisfying third victory of the season.
 
Six different Raiders accounted for Colgate's seven goals, with Williams the only one to double up. Colgate's Sam Cleveland scored a goal with two assists for a team-high three points, while Jack Stebbins contributed a goal and an assist.
 
Burke made nine saves and allowed just the six goals, only two of which came in the second half. The Raider defense blanked Hobart over the final 20:07.
 
Colgate completes a stretch of three straight road games and returns to Patriot League action Saturday at Boston University. Faceoff is 1 p.m.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 7, Hobart 6
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 3-2.
• Hobart is now 2-3.
 
Raider Scoring Recap
• Colgate led 3-1 after one quarter, but then Hobart flipped the script in the second period.
• Chase Wittich got Colgate on the board with a goal 61 seconds in. It was his 10th of the season.
• After Hobart tied it, the Raiders scored twice in the last 1:51 of the quarter to take the 3-1 advantage. Stebbins and Williams had the Colgate tallies.
• Anthony Abbadessa found the net for Colgate's lone second-quarter goal. It was Abbadessa's seventh of the season.
• Tied 4-4 at halftime, Cleveland found the net for his seventh of the season early in the third quarter.
• Hobart scored twice to take its only lead of the game, but then Rigo tied it with his nifty put-back just before the third-quarter buzzer.
• Williams scored his second of the game and sixth of the season near the midway point of the final period, and the Raiders held on from there.
 
Facts & Figures
• Hobart led statistically in shots (38-34) and ground balls (28-25), but the Statesmen also committee one more turnover (15-14).
• The Raiders claimed a 9-8 edge in faceoffs. Peter Marchetto won five of nine attempts and Collin Orr four of eight.
• Colgate completed 15 of 20 clears, while Hobart was 19-of-23.
• Colgate was 0-of-1 on the extra-man; Hobart finished 1-of-2, with the man-up goal tying the score 1-1.
• Hobart's six goals were scored by six different players.
 
Turning Point
• Hobart's Sean Donnelly scored with 5:07 left in the third quarter to give the Statesmen a 6-5 lead, their first of the game.
• But Colgate stayed focused and Rigo returned the momentum to the Maroon side with his put-back goal just 10 seconds before the third-quarter horn.
• That set the stage for the Williams heroics midway in the final period.
 
From the Source
• Colgate head coach Mike Murphy: (On the game) "I was pleased with the defensive effort in the second half. They scored two goals in the half and it was a couple of silly plays on our mistakes.
 
"After the way we didn't play against Lehigh, to come out against a very talented Hobart team and keep them to single digits – shut them out in the fourth quarter – is a credit to our defense and to Brandon.
 
(On the offensive balance) "It's always good. We'll always be that kind of a team. We're going to share the ball and find the man with the hot hand."
 
Listen to the rest of Coach Murphy's comments HERE.
 
• Colgate senior defender John Baker: (On the defense) "Today, we started playing together and we started reading each other better. Playing as a unit really helped us defend a lot better in the second half compared to the first half."
 
Listen to the rest of Baker's comments HERE.
 
• Colgate senior midfielder Cam Williams: (On the game) "Hobart is a tough squad; they always give us a tough game. In these Tuesday games, anything can happen. They are a good team, but luckily we pulled it out in the end thanks to our defense."
 
Listen to the rest of Williams' comments HERE.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Boswell Field was 400.
• The Raiders have won four of the last five in this series, which dates to 1921. Colgate won 7-5 two years ago in Hamilton, and lost 9-8 in overtime in its last visit to Hobart three years ago.
• Last year's game was cancelled because of snowy weather. This year, it was 61 and sunny at faceoff.
 
Up Next
• Colgate continues a three-game road swing with a Saturday contest at Boston University.
• The Terriers are 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the Patriot League thanks to a 10-9 double-overtime home victory over Navy on Feb. 27.
• Start time is 1 p.m. from Nickerson Field in Boston.