The women’s soccer team beat Colgate 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 2 to maintain its undefeated season record. The win places the Bison in the nation’s elite of Division I women’s soccer as one of only three remaining unbeaten teams, along with South Carolina and Stanford.

Maddie Mulford ’18 opened the scoring in the fourth minute off a cross from Alexis Gannon ’17 to give the Bison an early 1-0 lead. It was the team’s third consecutive game that tallied a score in the opening 10 minutes. With the goal, Mulford extended her scoring streak to four games and tallied her seventh of the season.

In the 21st minute, Colgate tied the game 1-1 off a corner kick, ending the Bison’s shutout streak. The Raiders continued to put the pressure on the Orange and Blue throughout the game, firing 25 shots in the contest. Keeper Jessica Ratner ’17 finished with a season-high of 10 saves on the afternoon.

The defense held strong during the second half to keep the game scoreless and force it into overtime. In extra time, Colgate held the shots advantage at 7-1, but could not finish. Ratner tipped a high shot over the crossbar in the 96th minute to keep the Bison in the game.

In the final seconds of the first overtime period, the Bison earned their third corner kick of the match. Karli Cirovski ’18 served the ball into the penalty area, and Kendall Ham ’18 finished the game winner with only one second left on the clock. Ham leads the team with 10 goals on the season.

Ratner notched her 25th career win for the Bison. She holds fifth place on the school’s all-time wins list for goalkeepers.

“I think one thing that was key for us was overcoming various adversities today,” Ratner said. “Getting scored on and having to respond after that, as well as shift some people around on the field in order to best defend a strong Colgate offense, it was important that we played our game and kept pushing even in the final seconds,” Ratner said.

The victory moved the Bison to an impressive record of 10-0-1 on the season, further improving on their best start in program history. The win was only the program’s eighth against Colgate in 31 games in the all-time series between the teams.

“I was really proud of our team’s efforts on Sunday. Colgate is a tough, physical team and we were able to deal with their pressure and find a way to win,” head coach Kelly Cook said, recording the win over her alma mater. “We defended a lot, but we found ways to create dangerous chances throughout the game,” Cook said.

The win gained the Bison an important three points in the Patriot League standings, where they stand alone in first place.

The Bison will return to action on Oct. 8 with another Patriot League game at Navy, where they hope to maintain their record-breaking season.

“We have done an excellent job of sticking to the game plan each game and playing our game regardless of the opponent,” Cook said. “Our team leaders have really stepped up when we needed them the most. We need to continue to take one game at a time as we continue through league play,” Cook said.