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HAMILTON – A penalty kick in the 33rd minute from Colgate senior Ethan Kutler coupled with a strong defensive effort led the Raiders to a 1-0 victory over Loyola Marymount Friday night in season-opening action at Beyer-Small '76 Field.
 
LMU fired off the first two shots of the game, one of which was stopped by Colgate senior keeper Ricky Brown. Junior Jared Stroud got off the Raiders' first shot in the 14th minute as Colgate began to gain momentum. LMU keeper Collin Partee was forced to make his first save in the 21st minute on an attempt from sophomore Uyi Omorogbe.
 
The Raiders were able to get on the board in the 33rd minute as an LMU foul in the box led to a Kutler penalty kick. Kutler burried the kick to give Colgate a 1-0 lead. 
 
A shot on target from Colin O'Neill opened the second half, but Partee was there to thwart the threat. The Lions were awarded a free kick just outside the 18-yard box in the 56th minute, but weren't able to knot the score as Alvaro Madrigal's shot flew just high of the crossbar.
 
The Colgate defense held LMU to just two shots for the rest of the contest, while the Raider offense generated a number of chances despite not being able to find an insurance tally. The Kutler penalty kick proved to be enough as time expired and Colgate walked away with a 1-0 win.
 
BOTTOM LINE

• Colgate 1, Loyola Marymount 0

 
WON-LOST RECORDS

• The Raiders move to 1-0-0 on the season while the Lions fall to 0-1-0.

 
KEY RAIDER INFO

• With Friday's result, the Raiders hold a five-game regular-season win streak dating back to Oct. 24, 2015.
• Kutler, who earlier this week was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, scored the 24th goal of his career to put him tied for eighth on Colgate's career goal leaderboard.
• The Raiders recorded their first shutout of the season and fourth in the last five regular-season games dating back to last season.

 
FACTS & FIGURES

• LMU held a slim 10-9 shot advantage and 5-4 corner kick advantage.
• Kutler led Colgate with three shots, while freshman Kentaro Morrison followed with two.
• Brown was forced to make one save compared to Partee's three.

 
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Erik Ronning

• "There's always a lot of nerves, excitement and enthusiasm in season-opening games. I don't think we played our best soccer and we still have a long way to go, but to get a result against a good team like LMU is a great start to the year."
• "We battled and battled the entire game. We were pretty strong defensively from top to bottom and got great contributions from our bench and some younger players. It was a team effort tonight and everyone did their part to get an important result against a very good team."
• "This is a barometer right now and we can use this game to show us where we're at in real competition against a really good team. It shows us some things we have to improve upon. We're nowhere close to our ceiling and we have to potential to get a lot better. It feels great to get a win on opening day, but we have to keep on moving forward and getting better."

 
UP NEXT

• The Raiders continue their season-opening weekend when Colgate hosts UMass Sunday at 4 p.m.
• Colgate is 0-2-0 all-time versus UMass, with the latest result being a 3-0 loss in 2009.
• Free video will be available on the Patriot League Network.