Despite multi-goal efforts by Will Sands ’18, Kyle Shanahan ’16, and Sean Doyle ’16, the men’s lacrosse team suffered its first defeat of the season on Feb. 27 in Hamilton, N.Y. The Bison lost 11-10 in overtime against the defending Patriot League champion, Colgate. The Orange and Blue fought back from a two-goal deficit in the fourth quarter, but Colgate solidified its win with a goal in the first sudden-victory overtime period.

The Bison led the Raiders 4-1 at the end of the first quarter. Early into the second quarter, Sean O’Brien ’18  nearly put the nail in the coffin for the Raiders, putting the Orange and Blue at a 5-1 lead. Colgate answered with four back-to-back goals to tie the score going into the second half. Doyle broke the tie in the third quarter, but Colgate responded with two goals. The Bison overcame the one-goal deficit when Sands and Shanahan each added a goal to the scoreboard. The Raiders finished the third quarter with the last word by scoring two consecutive goals, placing the Bison at a one-goal deficit (9-8) going into the fourth quarter.

The Raiders then scored a goal with just under 14 minutes left in the fourth quarter. However, the Bison weren’t going down without a fight. Thomas Flibotte ’16 answered with a goal 80 seconds later, giving Sands the ability to tie the game off of a crease-roll. Goalie Brac McKee ’18 kept the Bison in the game with seven saves in the fourth quarter, allowing Tommy O’Connor ’17 to take one last shot, just wide of the cage,  before the end of regulation time.

Sam Hahn ’18 won the overtime face-off, but Colgate quickly gained possession. The Bison jumped into a 10-man ride, and the Colgate goalkeeper fired off a shot on the Bison’s open goal, allowing Colgate to chase the shot down to the end line. The Raiders then called a timeout, where they were able to use their momentum to score the winning goal of the game.

Colgate concluded the game with a 47-31 shot advantage and also led the Bison in ground balls (31-26) and face-offs (13-12). Sands tallied two goals and two assists for the Bison. Doyle and Shanahan also recorded two goals. Matt Gilray ’18 came up with nine ground balls and three caused turnovers between the four quarters. Alex Spring ’16 also tallied an impressive four ground balls. The Orange and Blue had a combined 17 saves between goalies Christian Klipstein ’19 and McKee. Klipstein recorded four saves in the first half, but was swapped for McKee who had 13 saves in the second half.

“It was a tough one to give up. We had Colgate circled on our calendar and really wanted a win. It’s still early in the season though, and the Patriot League is incredibly competitive. I’m confident that we’ll bounce back this week and get ready for a huge game against Navy at home,” McKee said.

The Bison will be back home on March 5 for their next conference game, where they will be battling it out with Navy.