HAMILTON – A dramatic back-and-forth shootout between Colgate and Lehigh ended in a 4-4 double-overtime draw Wednesday night in Patriot League action at Beyer-Small '76 Field.
Colgate claimed an early 2-0 lead before Lehigh battled back to score three unanswered goals. The Raiders tied the score at three, and then again at four, before the teams played a pair of scoreless overtime periods to settle for the tie. Colgate junior
Freddy Jonsson scored two goals for the Raiders, while senior
Jared Stroud and junior
Uyi Omorogbe added a goal apiece. Senior keeper
Peter Tappenden finished the game with a career-high nine saves.
Jonsson gave the Raiders a quick 1-0 lead in the third minute as he and junior
Steven DeLeo executed a give-and-go pass in the box and Jonsson buried the ball in the lower left-hand corner of the net.
Tappenden made two saves in the next few minutes before a Lehigh foul in the box set the Raiders up with a penalty kick in the 11th minute. Stroud stepped up and converted the PK to move the Raider lead to 2-0 and net his first goal of the season.
The Mountain Hawks were able to cut the Colgate lead to one in the 20th minute when Alex Greene tallied his second goal of the season to put the score at 2-1. Tappenden made a pair of great saves in the 25th minute to keep the Raiders in front, but Lehigh was able to tie the game in the 37th minute on an unassisted goal from Blaise Milanek. Despite a few more chances from both sides, the teams took the 2-2 tie into halftime.
The squads traded opportunities in the opening 10 minutes off the second half as both keepers made several key saves, but it was Lehigh that was able to score first in the term. Mark Forrest netted his seventh goal of the season in the 60th minute to give the Mountain Hawks a 3-2 advantage.
The Lehigh lead was short-lived, however, as Omorogbe knotted the score just over five minutes later. Stroud sent a pass from the far sideline into the center of the 18-yard box where Omorogbe executed a beautiful backwards header to put the score at 3-3.
The Mountain Hawks pulled ahead once again in the 72nd minute on Forrest's second goal of the game, but Colgate answered right back. Jonsson redirected a kick from junior
Steven DeLeo into the left-side netting of the net to tie the score at 4-4 and send the game to overtime.
Both teams generated numerous opportunities in the two overtime periods, but key plays and a few standout saves from Tappenden forced the game to end in a 4-4 draw.
WON-LOST RECORDS
- The Raiders move to 3-7-1 on the season and 0-2-1 in Patriot League play as Colgate picks up its first point in the league standings.
- Lehigh is now 6-3-1 overall and 1-1-1 in the league.
KEY RAIDER INFO
- Jonsson's two goals were his first goals in a Raider uniform. He scored two goals as a freshman at UConn before transferring to Colgate as a sophomore.
- Stroud tallied a goal and an assist for three points. It marked his first goal of the season.
- Omorogbe netted his third goal of the season. He tallied a team-high seven shots in the game.
- DeLeo dished out two assists.
FACTS & FIGURES
- Lehigh finished the game with a 31-22 shot advantage and 13-8 shot on goal edge.
- The Mountain Hawks also held an 8-5 corner kick edge.
- Colgate forced Lehigh keeper Will Smith to make three saves in goal.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach
Erik Ronning
- "Neither team did a great job of defending tonight with the exception of overtime when no goals were scored. We made a bunch of changes since our last game, and this is the first time we've played with this exact formation. We have to plug up a few holes defensively, but I'm confident we have the players, the personnel, the attitude and the skill to be a much better defensive team."
- "The overall number one thing we have to improve upon is our discipline in 1v1 defending. It wasn't so much that there were a lot of holes in our defense, it was more so that we have to do a better job of preparing our guys for those situations. I think we know exactly what we have to work on to be better defensively."
- "Some teams may hang their heads after giving up a two-goal lead, but I was happy with the way our guys kept fighting. We came back on two different occasions and we gave ourselves a chance to win. I'm proud of the way the guys never stopped fighting."
UP NEXT
- The Raiders are on the road for their next two contests and four of their next five games.
- Colgate travels to American Saturday for a rematch of last year's Patriot League Championship game when the Raiders face the Eagles at 2 p.m.
