MACON, Ga. – Despite scoring pair of hat tricks, the Colgate women's lacrosse program dropped a 16-10 decision to Mercer on Tuesday afternoon.
Noelle Patterson and
Lindsay West each tallied three goals in the final nonconference game of the season.
Mercer got off to a quick 4-0 lead that forced the Raiders to use a timeout. The Raiders returned with an energy that led to capitalizing on a free position shot as
Annelise Kotz tallied Colgate's opening goal. As the Bears continued to inch ahead,
Danielle Van Calcar responded with a quick stick goal before
Noelle Patterson dodged the defense at the top of the fan and scored Colgate's third of the day.
Celia Meyer ignited a three-goal run for Raiders to make it a two-score game but Mercer fizzled Colgate's momentum with a pair of goals in the final minute of the half.
Facing a four-goal deficit when returning for the second half, Colgate allowed two more early goals as Mercer stretched the distance on the scoreboard to 13-6. Mercer's 7-1 run spanning the half was a game-changer as the Raiders looked to battle back after a 15:00 scoring draught. It was as Patterson sealed her hat trick with a goal low in the cage that lifted Colgate's offense midway through the second half for a 3-1 run.
In the final minutes of regulation the Raiders tacked on additional goals by
Natalie Gwynn and
Lindsay West's for a hat trick tally. A strong second half, Colgate only sacrificed one goal to the Bears in the final 16:10 of play, but Mercer's early advantage rolled the Bears to the 16-10 victory.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• Improving to a team-leading 14 goals on the season, junior
Noelle Patterson extends to a seven-game scoring streak with goals in every game this year. The midfielder posted her fifth consecutive multi-goal game and second straight hat trick after earning the first in her career at Cornell (March 5). Patterson also led the Raiders with six of the team's 30 shots on the day.
• With eight goals on the year sophomore
Lindsay West notched her second hat trick in the last three games. Additionally, West has scored in four of her last five games played.
• By opening Colgate's scoring sophomore
Annelise Kotz recorded her fifth goal of the season and posted her third multi-point performance by assisting on Meyer's tally.
• Now holding points in every game this season sophomore
Danielle Van Calcar marked her 10th goal of the season.
• After scoring in her first career game at Cornell (March 5) freshman
Celia Meyer begins a two-game scoring streak by notching Colgate's fourth goal of the day.
• Sophomore
Natalie Gwynn earned her first goal of the season, finding the back of the net for the first time since scoring against Lafayette (April 28, 2018).
• Four of Colgate's 10 goals came by capitalizing on free position shots.
• A combination of junior
Samantha Croston and freshman
Olivia Lynch's goalkeeping efforts made 13 saves on the day for a combined .448 save percentage on 39 shots faced.
• Defensively, junior
Ingrid Backe forced two caused turnovers and recovered a team-high of three ground balls.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• Mercer, 16, Colgate 10
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate holds a 2-5 record on the season.
• Mercer is 2-5 overall on the year.
UP NEXT
Having completed its three-game road stint, Colgate now returns home on Saturday, March 16 to host No. 13 Navy. The Raiders open Patriot League play at noon on Beyer-Small '76 Field.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate women's lacrosse program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateWLax and on Instagram at ColgateWLax.
