BALTIMORE, Md. – Oliver Harris is having himself a postseason to remember.
The senior captain scored both goals in Colgate's 2-1 Patriot League semifinal victory over Lehigh Friday night at Loyola's Ridley Athletic Complex. With two assists in the quarterfinal against American, Harris has contributed to four of the Raiders' five postseason tallies.
His two goals on Friday night sent the Raiders to the Patriot League championship for the third consecutive year. The third-seeded Raiders will take on fifth-seeded Army in the title match after the Black Knights upset top-seeded Loyola 1-0 in the other semifinal match.
Lehigh came out strong and got on the board first with a goal in the sixth minute. Josh Luchini drew a couple defenders towards him in the box and Oscar Green was left open at the left post for the one-timer goal to give the Mountain Hawks an early 1-0 lead.
The lead did not last long, as Colgate bounced back with a pair of goals less than nine minutes apart.
Kentaro Morrison, who has been a spark plug for the Raiders all season, helped set up the tying goal. His cross into the box found the foot of
Freddy Jonsson, who fired a quick strike on goal. Lehigh keeper Will Smith made the initial save but left a second opportunity and Harris blasted home the rebound high into the netting to level the match at 1-1 in the 22nd minute.
The Raiders did not stop there and took the lead for good just 8:23 later. After a foul was issued inside the box, Harris was awarded a penalty kick and beat the keeper with a low line drive inside the right post to give Colgate a 2-1 advantage.
Colgate's offense continued to force heavy pressure with a season-high nine corners in the first half. On the other end, the Raiders defended two set pieces in the 31st and 32nd minutes to secure their 2-1 lead at the half.
The best second-half chance for Colgate came three minutes in on a long cross to the far post.
Christian Clarke beat his defender and lined up the centering pass but his header was saved at the doorstep.
Jacob Harris played tough in net, including a key save in the 54th minute on a shot by Luchini from the top of the box. A late red card on the Raiders gave Lehigh a chance with a man up, but Colgate tightened its defense to secure the 2-1 victory.
The stifling Raider defense locked down Mark Forrest, the league's two-time Offensive Player of the Year, to just one shot in the contest.
BOTTOM LINE
• Colgate 2, Lehigh 1
FOR THE RECORD
• Colgate improved to 11-4-5 and won its third consecutive semifinal game to move to 5-11-4 all-time in such matches.
• Lehigh saw its season come to an end at 9-8-2 overall.
FROM THE SOURCE
• Colgate head coach
Erik Ronning:
"It was disappointing to give up the early goal but I am proud of the way our team responded. Our team did not bring the energy that is required on the onset and we will make sure we improve on that against Army."
"Our guys battled tonight. I was happy with how we bounced back. We had the better of play for most of the first half and we were rewarded with two goals. We are all very excited to be moving on. It is extremely hard to get to where we are and we are not going to take anything for granted."
"We know we can compete with anybody in the country if we play our game, but we also understand that anyone can win in this league. We proved that last year in the tournament as a six seed. We have to bring it every second of every game, and we are looking forward to our next challenge against Army."
KEY RAIDER NOTES
• Colgate will make its eighth all-time appearance in the league title game.
• The Raiders are 6-0-1 all-time in championship matches.
• Harris registered his first career two-goal game and second straight multi-point performance. He now has nine points in his last five contests.
• Jonsson's assist was his second of the year and fifth of his career.
• J. Harris picked up his 11th win in net with one save.
BY THE NUMBERS
• Colgate outshot Lehigh 15-7, including a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal.
• The Raiders doubled up the Mountain Hawks in corner kicks, 10-5.
• Fouls finished 17-16 in favor of Lehigh.
UP NEXT
• Colgate will take on fifth-seeded Army in the Patriot League championship on Sunday at 2 p.m.
• The last time Colgate and Army West Point met in a Patriot League title game was in 1992 when the Raiders earned a 1-0 win in double overtime.
• The winner of Sunday's game will claim the Patriot League's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Men's Soccer Championships.
