HAMILTON – Opportunistic La Salle spoiled Colgate's Community Block Party celebration by scoring twice in the late going to clip the Raiders 2-1 in overtime.
 
La Salle tied the game in the 77th minute on Camaren Cox's rebound goal from 8 yards out. An Explorers cross found its way into the box, where Colgate's Kelly Chiavaro batted it out of traffic. But the carom went straight to Cox, who calmly placed her second goal of the season into an open net.
 
Madison Bower then sent the Explorers to their fourth win in five tries by heading home a corner exactly seven minute into overtime. It was the second of back-to-back corners in the overtime period and was part of the La Salle momentum gained from their late score in regulation.
 
Colgate had taken a 1-0 lead on Ellis Miller's first goal of the season in the 64th minute. Miller gathered a loose ball just outside the penalty area, spun and fired it into the upper left corner of the net just over the outstretched glove of Claudia Jenkins.
 
The opening half was scoreless, with La Salle opening strong and then Colgate controlling play for the last portion of the period.
 
The two best scoring changes belonged to Colgate. Dom DeMarco clanked the post with a shot from 15 yards out in the 25th minute, and then Abby Sotomayor headed just over the bar in the 27th minute.
 
Bottom Line
• La Salle 2, Colgate 1 (ot)
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate is now 1-2-1.
• La Salle improved to 4-1-0.
 
Facts & Figures
• Thursday was a Community Block Party, with free food trucks, ice cream, T-shirts, postgame fireworks and club sports sign-ups. The official game attendance topped 1,000.
• Bowers' goal for La Salle was her fourth of the season, placing her among the top 10 scorers nationally.
• Thursday's 0-0 halftime score was the third such score line in Colgate's four games this season. The exception was 1-1 at Virginia.
• Miller is the first Raider this year with at least one goal and one assist.
• Before the two La Salle goals, Chiavaro and the Colgate's defense had strung together nearly 300 minutes of scoreless soccer (292:42) since allowing two goals at Virginia on opening night.
• Shots favored Colgate 21-11, but shots on goal favored La Salle 10-6.
 
From the Source
• Colgate head coach Kathy Brawn: "We didn't manage our lead well, and against a solid team like La Salle, we rested a little too much on the goal. Lesson learned. Against a good side like La Salle, they're going to find a way to get back in it. They did that, sent it to overtime, grabbed the momentum and grabbed the game-winner. Kudos to them.
 
"We walk off this field disappointed with the loss but hopefully learning a lot about what we need to do to manage a whole game. It's been a work in progress but we are getting there."
 
Up Next
• Colgate continues its four-game homestand with a Monday afternoon matchup against Yale.
• The Bulldogs are 1-2-0 after dropping a 2-0 home decision Thursday night to Central Connecticut.
• Labor Day kickoff from Beyer-Small '76 Field is 5 p.m.