The Bison men’s soccer team lost 1-0 to Colgate on Nov. 7 in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Men’s Soccer Tournament.

The Orange and Blue were predicted to finish sixth in the Patriot League preseason poll, but ended as the third seed in the playoffs with a 5-3-1 conference record. The Colgate Raiders were ranked fourth in the league and pulled off the upset to advance to the semifinal round.

The Bison had a young starting lineup, as seven starters came from the first-year and sophomore classes. This game was the final contest for seniors Dan Bank ’18, Jack Zollicoffer ’18, and Ben Derleth ’18, who were all starters.

“It was a really hard–fought game. It was one that could have gone either way. We had our chances, they had their chances, and unfortunately, at the end of the day, it did not go our way,” Zollicoffer said.

The Raider offense came out strong in the first half, taking the first five shots of the game, but none were on target. The Bison eventually got into an offensive rhythm, tallying the last seven shots of the first half and going into halftime with a 7-5 edge in the shot count. 

Twenty-four minutes into the game, Stefan Gollisz ’21 had a strong chance on a running header that went slightly over the crossbar. A couple of minutes later, Derleth maneuvered around his defender on the left flank, but he was unable to finish and sent a shot just wide of the near post.

In the 53rd minute, keeper Emmett Witmer ’20 blocked Colgate’s first shot of the second half and midfielder Cody Wax ’21 counterattacked with a split move between two defenders. However, his shot was blocked by the Colgate goalkeeper.

Nick King ’20 had a free kick from a spot along the right edge of the box in the 67th minute. He kicked it to the far side where Tyler Peterson ’19 headed the ball, but the Colgate goalkeeper saved it.

Four minutes later, the Raiders got on the board with a goal following a deflected shot. Witmer tried to punch the corner kick away but the defense could not fully clear the rebound. Colgate then retaliated with a low drive from the 18-yard box back through the Bison defenders, taking the 1-0 lead with just under 20 minutes left in regulation.

The Orange and Blue fought hard to tie the game as the clock ticked down. The closest they came was in the 77th minute, when Wax sent a shot in from the right side. The Colgate goalkeeper was able to make the save and the Raiders’ back line cleared the deflection out of the area, and the Bison were unable to notch an equalizer in the remaining minutes.

“I thought we played some of our best soccer games of the year. We gave up an unlucky goal but I thought we were the better team throughout the entire game. We had a lot of injuries this year and a lot of guys had to step up and they did. It really showed what kind of team we have and what kind of program Coach Nash has built. It is a bummer the season ended the way it did, especially for our seniors, but I think we played very well and just got very unlucky,” Witmer said.

The Bison ended the game with the 8-5 edge in corner kicks and a 12-10 shot advantage.

Colgate will now advance to the semifinals to play top-seeded Loyola on Nov. 10.