HAMILTON – Bobby Goggin's first collegiate goal is one to remember.
 
Colgate's sophomore midfielder scored with seconds remaining on the first-quarter clock to ignite a six-goal Raiders run that turned into a 9-7 victory over Boston University here Saturday.
 
The Raiders trailed 3-0 until Goggin took a perfect Sam Cleveland feed and scored from close range with just under four ticks showing. Colgate then put five more on the board to start the second quarter.
 
Matt Donovan narrowed the margin to 3-2 with an unassisted strike before Nicky Petkevich sandwiched a pair of goals around two from Griffin Brown. BU pulled one back with 3½ minutes left before half and the Raiders led 6-4 at intermission.
 
That first half of runs turned into a see-saw affair in the second half. The Terriers on three occasions pulled within one goal of Colgate, only for the Raiders to answer each time.
 
James Caddigan's goal from Brown made it 7-5 with 14:01 left in the third. Cleveland scored his lone goal of the day, assisted by Goggin, with 9:46 left in the third to make it 8-6. And then Brown completed his second hat trick of the season with the closing goal at 10:50 of the fourth for the 9-7 result.
 
Colgate's defense held Boston U. scoreless in the fourth quarter for the first time this season, and Raiders goalkeeper Connor Mullen posted four of his eight saves in the crucial closing quarter.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 9, Boston University 7
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Patriot League.
• Boston University is now 5-2 and 0-1.
 
Raider Facts & Figures
• The second half was a March special – in like a lion and out like a lamb.
• The teams combined for five goals in just a 5:44 span to start the third quarter. But then Brown's unassisted goal with 10:50 left in the fourth was the only tally over the final 24:16.
• Petkevich is the Colgate team leader with 13 goals, followed by Cleveland with 10 and Brown eight.
• Malcolm Feeney won 13-of-20 faceoffs and matched his career high with eight ground balls.
• Nick Salameda's three caused turnovers matched his career high, while Danny Healey set a personal high with two caused turnovers.
• BU hit the pipe three times and Colgate twice. Donovan and Brian Minicus drew iron for the Raiders.
• Boston's Timmy Ley scored four goals and James Burr added two. Chris Gray sparkled with five assists and upped his season total to 27.
• Both teams entered today's game receiving votes in the two major polls.
 
From the Source
• Colgate head coach Matt Karweck: (On the game) "We went down 3-0 but the poise of our defense was great. And then Bobby stuffed one in toward the end of the first quarter to really give us good momentum going into the second – and that's when we started to pile it on a little bit. Our offense started finding a rhythm, which was great.
 
"My hats off to Ryan Polley and his BU staff for the way that they do things; they make it hard on you, especially when they go into that 10-man ride.
 
"But you saw our team in its true form in the fourth quarter when we held them to no goals. We controlled the tempo of the game, and that for us is really big. It rests our defense, it gives us an opportunity to score. We hit a couple of pipes and their goalie made some saves, but we kept possession there at the end and we had a chance to switch our midfield one time.
 
"So it's all about controlling the possession and the tempo of the game. It really is. Especially at the end, when you've got a good defense and a good goalie. It makes them try to go over their skis and do too much and that's when we can take advantage. We stay fresh, we're getting skip passes and we're pushing transition – those kinds of things.
 
"I was really proud of the way Bobby helped us start off and the way our offense came back and found a flow."
 
(On the defense standing tall at the end) "We talk about being sticky on defense. Get up there and get sticky on people. Slide if you need to but guard them, man; guard them as best as you possibly can. Our defense was fantastic and Connor Mullen had another great game. We're excited about the win and about to head down to Atlanta for a little Spring Break trip."
 
(On the victory) "Any win is a great win; you have to remember that, especially in the Patriot League. We're ecstatic that we're 1-1 in the Patriot League and we have a winning record going forward. But if we don't learn anything from this, then we're behind. That's the first thing I told our guys after the game is we need to learn and get better from this. We've got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot with all of those offside penalties. That will get you. We survived those moments, kept the lead the whole time and controlled the possession at the end."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance inside Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium was 304.
 
Up Next
• Colgate steps out of conference play with a visit next weekend to Canisius.
• The Golden Griffins were 2-3 heading into a Saturday night game at Robert Morris.
• Faceoff from Buffalo is 1 p.m.