HAMILTON – An early break went Bucknell's way and the Bison made it stand in a 1-0 victory over the Colgate women's soccer team on Saturday at Beyer-Small '76 Field.

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Colgate outshot Bucknell 15-3 and doubled up the Bison in shots on target (6-3), but it was a first-half strike that made the difference. Jenna Marek was in the middle of a collision in front of the goal and won a 1-on-1 ball with a header to the back of the net in the 34th minute.

The Raiders dominated possession early on and had what appeared to be the game's first goal in the sixth minute. Sage DiGiulio and Abby Sotomayor orchestrated a perfect give-and-go, with DiGiulio beating Bison keeper Kaylee Donnelly to the right but an offside call nullified the goal.

Sotomayor was dynamic in the attacking third and hammered a frozen rope off the crossbar in the 16th minute. Dom DeMarco struck the first official shot on frame in the 14th minute as the Raiders continued to pressure in the offensive end.

Bucknell (5-9 overall, 3-2 PL) seized its early opportunity to get on the board first, but not before freshman Abbie Grady made a strong defensive save at the right post on a one-timer from Holly Burns toward the middle stages of the frame. The Raiders held a 4-2 shots advantage at the half but were unable to respond and trailed 1-0 at the break.

Colgate (1-8-3 overall, 0-3-2 PL) continued to dominate possession in the second half. Sotomayor, DiGiulio, and Adrienne Vaughn all plotted shots on target inside the first 10 minutes. DeMarco came away with one of Colgate's best chances to equalize in the 66th minute, cranking a high left-footed blast from the left side of the box but it was stopped by Donnelly.

Caelyn Smith connected on a corner kick with a header just wide in the 69th minute before Ruby Diodati blasted the Raiders' fifth shot on goal of the stanza into the chest of Donnelly in the 85th minute. Colgate outshot Bucknell 11-1 in the second half but could not crack the scoreboard in the 1-0 final.

BOTTOM LINE
Bucknell 1, Colgate 0

QUOTES
Head Coach Kathy Brawn
On the goal called back:
"Sage's play was a fantastic recognition of the opportunity and a really nice finish. We just have to tweak the timing to make sure we stay onside, but it was an encouraging start. We felt like we were going to get plenty of those opportunities today, which we did, but we just have to finish."

On finishing opportunities:
"We just need one more level of composure in that final moment. We are a little impatient in our shot selection sometimes and rushing ourselves when we have more space than maybe we expected. We are finding pockets on attack and it is just that last bit we have to finish to get this done."
 
Staying the course:
"The thing that is so impressive about the women on this team is that nobody has stepped away from what is determined to get done. I am so proud of their efforts all the way through. We have challenged our team as coaches to refuse to walk away and stay with what we are doing in terms of winning games and turning this season in the right direction.
 
"It would be easier to walk away and nobody has done it. That is why we keep going, for one another. There is no other option when you are with a group of people that really care about each other. There are so many valiant efforts to get this done. We have to stay together and stay determined. That's what you do when things get hard."
 
NOTABLES

• Sophia Boggs played the final 45 minutes in goal and stopped the only shot she faced.
• Six Raiders finished with at least two shots, paced by Sotomayor with three.
• DeMarco led the way for Colgate with two shots on frame.
• Colgate allowed a season-low three shots and two corner kicks in the defeat.
• The Raiders for the fifth straight game outshot their opponent.
• Colgate over the last four games has outshot its opponents 81-34, an average of 20-8.  

 
UP NEXT
Colgate heads back on the road Tuesday for a non-conference tilt at Cornell at 7 p.m.