WEST POINT, N.Y. – There's no question Colgate is playing its best lacrosse of the season.
 
The Raiders gave No. 11 Army all it could handle before dropping a 13-11 decision Friday afternoon at Michie Stadium. The Black Knights needed a goal from the Patriot League's leading scorer in Brendan Nichtern with 21.9 seconds remaining to ice it.
 
Nichtern for the day scored three goals to go with five assists. He leads the Patriot League in assists with 28 and 2.8 per game, and his 51 points and 5.1 per game boost him to the top of the conference in that category as well.
 
Colgate's Brian Minicus showed his wares for the Raiders, scoring two goals and assisting on four others to match his career high with six points. James Caddigan, Marshall Terres, Adam Salvaggio, and Brendan Jordan scored two goals apiece, while Michael Minicus added the other Colgate tally.
 
This was the first Raider action in 20 days, but Colgate came out of the gate firing. The Raiders were 3-3 in the first until Army scored twice in the final 1:47 to grab a 5-3 advantage.
 
Colgate in the second quarter fell behind 7-3 but then Salvaggio scored his first and the Raiders trailed just 7-4 at intermission. It was a 7-6 game when Terres hit the crossbar with 4:17 remaining in the third, but Colgate wasn't deterred and Terres found the mark a minute later to tie the score at 7.
 
Army led 8-7 going to the fourth and pulled ahead 10-7 before the Raiders made one final charge. Jordan scored his second of the game with 11:45 showing, and then Brian Minicus scored his second at the 9:04 mark to pull the Raiders within one.
 
After going down 12-9 and with time running short, Terres tallied with 3:11 remaining and then Salvaggio as the shot clock was expiring somehow got one past Army's Wyatt Schupler with 1:42 showing and the Raiders had hope at 12-11.
 
But the Black Knights gained possession and ran the clock down for nearly the full possession. Nichtern then spun and scored from a tough angle with 21.9 seconds to play and Army had clinched the Patriot League's North Division.
 
Colgate takes on Boston University in Tuesday's Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Tournament Quarterfinals. Start time from Boston has not been determined.
 
Bottom Line
• Army 13, Colgate 11
 
Stats of the Game
• Minicus has 11 goals and 10 assists in his last four games. The junior attackman took over the team scoring lead with 31 points. He also leads the Raiders in assists with 18 and is second to Mike Hawkins in goals with 13.
• Caddigan upped his season goals total to eight, topping last year's output by one.
• Salvaggio also has been hot, scoring seven goals over his last four games. The sophomore stands third on the team with nine total goals.
• Jordan with his two goals improved to seven for the season and 12 points overall. He's third on the team in points and also third in assists (5).
• Thomas Colucci finished 12-of-24 on faceoffs. He grabbed eight ground balls to match his season high at Bucknell.
• Aidan Toomey and Brian Minicus contributed four ground balls apiece and Will Sidari had three.
 
Up Next
• Colgate takes on Boston University this Tuesday in the Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinals.
• The Raiders lost 16-11 at BU back in March and 14-10 earlier this month in Hamilton.
• Faceoff time has not been announced, but the livestream can be seen on ESPN+.