Colgate Postgame Press Conference
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Think
Matt Karweck will remember this debut?
Colgate opened its 2019 season and christened the first game of its brand new head coach in perfect fashion, knocking off No. 10 Syracuse 12-9 here Friday night.
The Raiders never trailed in this one and were never tied after 0-0.
James Caddigan,
Sam Cleveland and
Duncan Hoskinson scored the game's first three goals, and those proved to be the difference.
Hoskinson pocketed his fifth career hat trick only to have teammate
Nicky Petkevich do him one better with a career-high four goals. Those two had the clinchers in the closing minutes as Colgate held off one final Syracuse charge.
The win was Colgate's first at the Carrier Dome since 2007 and its first of any kind over the Orange since 2008 in Hamilton, snapping a six-game losing streak in the series. The Raiders won those games 12-5 in 2007 and 12-11 the following season.
And who says 13 is Colgate's lucky number?
The winners picked up two goals from Cleveland, while
Griffin Brown fashioned a goal plus two assists.
Connor Mullen stood tall in the net with 11 saves, and
Malcolm Feeney was a rock-solid 12-of-25 at the faceoff-X.
Terrific First Half
The Raiders appeared quicker to the ball in the early going and it paid dividends. Caddigan tallied the game's first goal at the 9:58 mark and Cleveland followed suit less than 90 seconds later.
When Hoskinson scored with 1:18 showing on the first quarter clock, Colgate looked to be breezing toward a dominating opening period. But Syracuse scored a man-up goal and then scored again, both in the last 56 seconds, to make it 3-2 Raiders after one period.
Colgate once again started fast in the new quarter. Petkevich scored his first of the game to start a 3-0 Raiders run over a 1:36 span. The goals by Brown and Cleveland were exceptional – Brown going top right shelf with a missile and Cleveland scoring from a sharp angle after a hard-charging run to his left.
The Raiders led 6-3 at intermission.
Petkevich's second goal was nifty as he picked a rebound out of mid-air and dunked it home for Colgate's seventh goal early in the third. But that began a lengthy drought as Syracuse pulled within 7-6 by the opening stages of the fourth.
Hoskinson and Petkevich went back-to-back unassisted within 21 seconds to push the Raiders in front 9-6, but Syracuse responded with three of the next four tallies. Only Blumenberg's goal as the trailer on a counterattack kept the Raiders in front 10-9.
That's when Colgate finally broke through on the extra-man opportunity, Hoskinson scoring with 4:36 showing. Petkevich added his fourth into an empty net and celebrations began all over Raider Nation.
Bottom Line
Colgate 12, No. 10 Syracuse 9
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate opens the season 1-0.
• Syracuse is 0-1.
Raider Facts & Figures
• The last time the Raiders knocked off a top-10 team was the 13-11 stunner of No. 1 Massachusetts in the 2012 NCAA tournament's first round.
• Colgate scored in double-digits against Syracuse for the first time since its 12-11 victory in 2008.
• The Raiders over their last four trips to the Dome had been outscored by a combined 67-21, or an average of 17-5.
• The two recent games played in Hamilton were much closer: Syracuse winning 9-7 in 2015 and 11-9 in 2017.
• Defenseman
John Donohue earned his first career start and posted two of Colgate's nine caused turnovers.
• Hoskinson's only previous start before Friday night was as a sophomore at Binghamton in 2017.
• Nate Soloman and Brendan Curry both had hat tricks to lead the Orange scoring.
• Syracuse entered Friday's game ranked 10th in the Inside Lacrosse media poll and 11th in the USILA Coaches Poll. The Raiders were picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League.
From the Sources
•
Colgate head coach Matt Karweck: (Opening statement) "Wow. I'm just so proud of my guys. They kept their poise, and it's really easy to get excited about being up by two on Syracuse. But the game is not over until the bell rings, and I'm just so proud of our senior class. They were able to take a step back during our timeouts when there is so much emotion and say it's not over. They kept it about controlling and making a save and taking it one possession at a time. If you can think that way, you can survive some of these moments – especially against a team like Syracuse."
•
Colgate senior midfielder Duncan Hoskinson: (On opening against Syracuse) "The most important thing was to stay calm. It's a big arena and a big team. Stay calm and play the way they've told us to play all fall."
•
Colgate senior goalkeeper Connor Mullen: (On holding Syracuse down) "We communicated really well on defense. It was very much a team effort. The defense was putting guys in position to allow me to make some quality saves and get the ball up and out. It was very much a team-oriented win for the defense.
"It's all about taking one possession at a time and really just trying to make stops or get goals."
Listen to the rest of the Colgate postgame press conference HERE.
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at the Carrier Dome was 2,698.
Up Next
• Colgate is on the road again next Saturday at Binghamton.
• That game is the season opener for the Bearcats.
• Faceoff from Vestal is 1 p.m.
