HANOVER, N.H.
- Lydia Thornton's 78th minute strike combined with Ella Poppinga's seven saves secured a 2-1 win over Dartmouth for the Raiders in Hanover, N.H. on Thursday night.COACH HOKANSON'S COMMENTS
"I want to start by acknowledging the gratitude we feel to be able to do something we love and that brings us joy on a day that marks tragedy for some many across our country. Almost 25 years removed from 9/11 - I just want to put our game into perspective in the grand scheme of things.
"That said, super gutsy performance from our group to find a result tonight. You can see through the stats that we didn't have our best attacking night, I felt Dartmouth really put us under pressure for most of the second half. Credit to our group for weathering and embodying a bend don't break attitude to the night. We've asked them to put together a 90-minute performance and I felt tonight defensively we really dug our heels in collectively. I'm also encouraged by our ability to find ways to score, especially being able to find one early as we settled into the game. Can't say enough about the work rate from the whole group and being able to capitalize on one of our few attacking chances in the second half to find the winner. This result was a full team effort, and we're excited to come home with a win against a quality opponent on the road. Look forward to another tough task ahead on Sunday."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Less than 90 seconds into the match Ari Bezanson settled a pass from Ana Schremp, flicked the ball over a Dartmouth defender, cut inside and ripped it into the bottom left corner to give Colgate an early 1-0 lead.
- Bezanson nearly made it two inside five minutes when she took a long shot that rattled the crossbar moments after opening the scoring.
- Ella Poppinga made a kick save 15 minutes into the match to keep the Raiders ahead.
- Dartmouth equalized on a header in the 26th minute.
- Poppinga was a busy goalkeeper in the second frame as Dartmouth fired a number of shots early in the second half and the Raiders goalkeeper continued to keep the ball out.
- The Big Green thought they had taken the lead but the goal was taken off the board for offside.
- Moments later, Josie Tunney set a ball just outside the 18-yard box to the oncoming Lydia Thornton. Thornton fired with her left foot and found the back of the net to give Colgate a 2-1 lead with 12 minutes to go.
- A flurry of chances came for Dartmouth as they looked to scrape together an equalizing goal but Colgate's defensive line held strong and earned a 2-1 victory.
GAME NOTES
- Lydia Thornton scored for the second consecutive game and collected her first game-winning goal.
- Ella Poppinga made seven saves, second most in a match this season.
- Ari Bezanson netted her second goal of the season.
- The Raiders secured their first win at Dartmouth since 2010.
UP NEXT
Colgate (2-3-3) will take the short trip to Syracuse on Sunday as they face Le Moyne. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
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