HAMILTON – Ryan Bellavance and Uyi Omorogbe struck a pair of late first-half goals and the Raider defense held tight in the second half as the Colgate men's soccer team defeated No. 24 Vermont 2-1 on Sunday evening in a non-conference matchup at Beyer-Small '76 Field.

Vermont struck first on a goal by Manuel Camara in the 12th minute. Geo Alves worked his way into space near the top of the box and sent a cross over to the left wing, where Camara released a shot over the outstretched arms of Jacob Harris to give the Catamounts an early 1-0 lead. 
 
Colgate controlled possession through the middle stages of the opening frame. Kian Alberto trickled a long centering pass through traffic and Kentaro Morrison blasted a shot just wide of the left post for the first Raider scoring chance. In the 19th minute, Alberto twirled a corner kick into the box and Aram Ouligian headed it back towards the net but the shot was redirected at the last second.
 
The Raiders' constant offensive pressure finally broke through late in the half with two goals just over three minutes apart. Oliver Harris lofted a perfect pass over the Catamount back line, where Bellavance tracked it down and cut in on a breakaway before beaming a shot back to the left to tie the match at 1-1 in the 33rd minute.
 
Omorogbe gave the Raiders their first lead of the night in the 36th minute on another long pass from midfield. Omorogbe raced towards the goal with one last defender to beat, and the senior shifted in before beating the Catamount keeper Aron Runarsson with a low shot inside the right post to give Colgate the 2-1 edge at the half.
 
Colgate owned the first opportunity of the second half with Omorogbe nearly netting his second tally of the night in the 58th minute. A loose ball forced Runarsson to leave the net and Omorogbe blasted a shot towards the empty net but a Vermont defender raced back to deflect the shot away at the last second.
 
Aggressive play continued with a combined 11 fouls and five cards handed out in the second half. Vermont picked up its pressure late in the match with four straight corner kicks over a two-minute span. The Raiders refused to allow the Catamounts to get a shot off over that stretch, and J. Harris made a pair of pivotal saves in the 78th minute to hold the 2-1 victory for the Raiders.
 
BOTTOM LINE
• Colgate 2, Vermont 1.  
 
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate improved to 4-1-2 on the season.
• Vermont dropped to 5-2-0 overall.

KEY RAIDER INFO
• Colgate remained unbeaten at home with the win (3-0-0).
• Colgate picked up its fifth all-time win over Vermont and first since 2011.
• This was the Raiders' first victory over a top 25 opponent since defeating No. 13 Michigan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 19, 2017.
• The 2-1 final score was the eighth consecutive game between these two teams decided by one goal or less.
• Ryan Bellavance and Uyi Omorogbe are the eighth and ninth Raiders to score a goal this season.

FACTS AND FIGURES
• Vermont held a 17-11 advantage in shots, but the Raiders had the edge in shots on goal, 7-5.
• Corner kicks finished 12-4 in favor of the Catamounts.    
• Colgate was called for 10 fouls, while Vermont was whistled for 14.

FROM THE SOURCE:
• Colgate head coach Erik Ronning: This was a very good win for our guys, particularly after another double-overtime match on Friday night. This was an emotional game and physical match back-and-forth, but we found a way to get the job done. We battled tonight and that was my challenge to our guys for tonight. This was a testament to our team and their determination to keep battling.
• Ryan Bellavance finished a great pass from Oliver Harris to get us on the board and Uyi Omorogbe battled a defender and found a way to score. Vermont put a lot of pressure on us in the second half but we are a tough, resilient team and I am very proud of the result.
• We need to be proud of tonight's win, but we still have a lot to improve on and look forward to as a team. We have to continue to get better now as we get ready to open Patriot League play at the preseason favorite Loyola on Friday night. 

GATE GRAB BAG
• Attendance at Beyer-Small '76 Field was 327.
 
UP NEXT
• The two-time defending Patriot League champion Raiders will open league play Friday at Loyola.
• Kickoff from Baltimore, Md., is set for 5 p.m.