Colgate Defeats Maryland On Senior Day

HAMILTON, N.Y. - The No. 11/12 Colgate men's lacrosse team gave its seniors a reason to celebrate after defeating No. 6/9 Maryland 13-11 on Senior Day at Andy Kerr Stadium. The win was the second-straight for the Raiders over the Terps in program history.

The Raiders will learn their fate in the 2012 NCAA Tournament on Sunday, May 6 during the selection show that will take place at 9:00 p.m. on ESPNU. The team honored its nine seniors, Patrick Campbell, Jason Coppersmith, John Donnally, Kevin Gordon, Jeff Ledwick, Jared Madison, Pat Shanley, Colby Wilson, and Chris Zielinski before the game.

Junior Peter Baum, a Tewaaraton Award Nominee, struck again with seven points on five goals and two assists to lead the Raiders. His 64 goals this season set a new Patriot League record, while his 93 points are the most in the NCAA since Zack Greer of Duke recorded 95 points in 2008. The all-time NCAA record for points in a season is 114, which was set by UMBC's Steve Marohl in 1992. The junior is also tied for second in Colgate history in career goals with Brandon Corp '09, after scoring his 127th on Saturday afternoon.

Baum was followed by sophomore Brendon McCann who tallied a hat trick while freshman Ryan Walsh added two goals and classmate Matt Clarkson had three points from three assists. Co-captains junior James Queeney and senior Jeff Ledwick also added one goal apiece while senior Chris Zielinski tallied the game-winning goal. Junior Robert Grabher went 15-for-26 at the faceoff X while also collecting five groundballs en route to setting a new Colgate record for groundballs in a season with 124.

Colgate (13-3, 5-1 PL) jumped out to an early lead in the opening period, taking the first shot of the game and scoring just 1:34 into play to take a 1-0 lead. The goal came off a pass from Baum to McCann, who then faked the goalie and sent a bouncing shot into the back of the net. The Raiders then extended their lead to two goals just over a minute later at the 12:07 mark when Ledwick picked up a pass from Clarkson and then fired it in to put the score at 2-0. Maryland (9-5, 1-2 ACC) then began to build its momentum, finding its first shot of the game at the 11:55 mark but it was blocked. The Terps' second shot, however, found the back of the net at the 10:53 mark to reduce the scoring margin to one goal. Colgate then turned things around with a pair of goals 29 seconds apart to increase its lead to 4-1. The first goal came at the 9:46 mark after Baum beat his defender on a quick turn and passed the ball to McCann who snuck it past the goalie. Baum then scored the second goal at the 9:17 mark with help from Clarkson. As the clock wound down, Maryland found its rhythm once again, tallying back-to back goals at the 6:46 and 5:49 marks to reduce the score to 4-3, but then another Clarkson-to-Baum combination allowed the Raiders to take a two-point lead with just over five minutes left in the quarter. The Terps, who eventually outshot the Colgate 9-8 in the opening 15 minutes, then went on to find a goal at the 2:56 mark to put the score at 5-4 going into the second period.

The second quarter was not as fruitful as the first, with only three goals tallied between the two teams as opposed to the nine in the first 15 minutes. Colgate came out to a strong start once again, firing the first shot but was denied by goalie Niko Amato. This did not deter the Raiders, who eventually found success at the 13:!2 mark when Lawrence picked up a pass from senior goalie Jared Madison, ran down the middle of the field and then dished it over to McCann on the left side of the crease. McCann then slid it into the back of the net to make it 6-4. This proved to be Colgate's only goal of the period, with Maryland scoring two goals at the 7:41 and 4:03 marks to tie the game for the first time at 6-6 going into half time.

Carrying their scoring momentum from the previous period, Maryland jumped onto the scoreboard first during an extra-man opportunity less than two minutes into the third quarter, to take its first lead of the game, 7-6. Baum then stepped up for the Raiders in the 9th minute, intercepting a pass in the Terps' defensive end, and then beating the keeper on a one-on-one play to tie the score at 7-7. Maryland then responded with a pair of goals at the 4:25 and 2:08 marks to reclaim its lead by its largest margin (two goals) going into the final two minutes of the period. However, like clockwork, Colgate was able to make a two-goal comeback in the final 40 seconds to balance the score at 9-9 going into the final period. Baum scored the first goal at the 39-second mark, while Queeney added the equalizer with two seconds left. Queeney found the tally after blocking a shot, picking up the groundball and then clearing the play. He then wound up and rifled the ball past the keeper, who could not make the save.

After an exciting 45 minutes of play, with the score tied at 9-9 both teams knew that the final quarter would decide who would be victorious. Colgate continued its scoring momentum, finding two quick goals from Walsh and Zielinski in the first three minutes to take an 11-9 lead. Senior Patrick Campbell had an assist on Zielinski's goal. The Raiders never relinquished the lead. Despite the Terps finding a goal at the 9:43 mark and then one last tally in the final 48 seconds of the game, a diving man-up goal from Walsh at the 3:46 mark followed by an unassisted tally from Baum at the 1:35 mark, after he beat the two defenders covering him, was enough to give Colgate its 13th win of the season 13-11.

Senior goalie Jared Madison and sophomore Conor Murphy both saw time in net for the Raiders, with Madison making four saves in the first three periods and Murphy recording three saves in the final 15 minutes. Nick Amato matched Colgate's seven saves in 60 minutes of play. The Raiders also went 1-for-3 on its extra-man opportunities while Maryland scored on its only man-up opportunity.