BURLINGTON, Vt. – After much anticipation, the Colgate women's lacrosse team got the 2018 season off to a strong start with an 11-9 victory over the Vermont Catamounts Saturday afternoon at Virtue Field.
 
Natalie Washuta (Chatham, New Jersey) posted her first career hat trick and tied Kristen Brigagliano (Brightwaters, New York) for the team lead with three points after Brigagliano's two goals and one assist.
 
First-years Danielle Van Calcar (Wyckoff, New Jersey) and Natalie Gwynn (Canandaigua, New York) each recorded their first career goals. Van Calcar added two assists for three points while Gwynn added an assist.
 
In total, eight different players tallied goals for the Raiders in their season opening win at Vermont.
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Samantha Croston (Mount Sinai, New York) made seven saves for the Raiders in her first career victory. Saturday was also Croston's first career.
 
After Vermont jumped out to a 2-0 lead through the first 15 minutes of the first half, Payton Gabriel (Lakewood, Colorado) responded with Colgate's first goal of the season to cut their lead in half.
 
The Catamounts led by as many as three goals with 4:33 to go in the first frame as Vermont's Jenna Janes completed a hat trick, but the Raiders responded quick and never looked back.
 
Brigagliano and Washuta each scored goals to close out the half with the deficit sitting at 5-4.
 
Colgate came alive in the second half, outscoring Vermont 7-4 leading to their two-goal victory. The Catamounts scored first in the second but Washuta and O'Hanlon quickly tied the game just 3:51 into the half.
 
Jenna Janes netted her fourth goal of the game for Vermont but the Raiders got goals from Tara Atkinson (Lloyd Harbor, New York), Lindsay West (Bedford Hills, New York) and Van Calcar to take the lead at 9-7 in a span of 6:05.
 
Vermont responded with a pair of goals within two minutes of Colgate's two-goal lead to tie the game but Gwynn's first career goal on the man-up stood as the game-winner with 9:51 remaining. Washuta capped off her hat trick with an insurance goal with 5:04 to play to secure the 11-9 win.
 
BOTTOM LINE
Colgate 11, Vermont 9
 
WIN/LOSS RECORDS
The Raiders picked up a victory in the season-opener for a second straight year to improve to 1-0 while the Catamounts fell to 0-1.
 
KEY RAIDER INFO
-Washuta tallied three goals for her first career hat trick
-Brigagliano tallied three points on two goals and an assist, picking up where she left off a breakout junior season
-Croston tallied seven saves in her first career start to earn her first career victory for the Raiders
-Dating back to the 2017 season, Colgate has held its last three opponents to fewer than 10 goals in each game
-Van Calcar and Gwynn each posted their first career points as Van Calcar had a goal and two assists and Gwynn tallied a goal and an assist
-Chelsea Taylor (Manhasset, New York) was solid on defense with two groundballs and two caused turnovers
-Atkinson was also solid with a goal and an assist in the win
-Haley O'Hanlon (Garden City, New York) contributed all over the stat sheet with a goal and an assist for two points to go along with four draw controls, two groundballs and a caused turnover
 
FACTS AND FIGURES
-The Raiders held a slight 29-28 advantage in shots but a larger 23-16 edge in shots on goal
-Vermont had 15 turnovers compared to Colgate's 11 but the Catamounts also had a 12-9 advantage in groundballs and 13-9 advantage in draw controls
 
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Heather Young
"I'm really proud of the effort from the team today. We were disciplined and stuck to the game plan, especially while playing from behind the majority of the game. We saw a ton of great things from the team today and a very solid base to move forward with."
 
UP NEXT
Colgate women's lacrosse returns to action on Wednesday at 2 p.m. when they travel to Loudonville to take on the Siena Saints at the Siena Turf Field.