HAMILTON, N.Y. —  Colgate (6-4, 3-1 Patriot League) outscored the Navy men's lacrosse team (6-4, 2-2 Patriot League) 7-3 in the third quarter, turning a one-goal halftime lead into what would be an insurmountable five-goal advantage as the Raiders defeated the Mids 14-9 Saturday afternoon at Andy Kerr Stadium. Despite the Mids getting to within one goal on four different occasions, Colgate led the game wire to wire.

"I though Colgate outplayed and outcoached us today," said sixth-year Navy head coach Joe Amplo. "I wasn't able to get our players to play with confidence among the chaos that Colgate brings to the game. I thought they played as well as they've ever played against us since I've been at Navy.

"We had some good stretches, but we just didn't execute the way we needed to win the game."

Navy did a solid job holding Colgate, the nation's fourth-leading scoring team averaging 15.33 goals per game, in check in the opening half. 

While the Raiders scored the first-two goals of the game, Navy would get on the scoreboard and trim the deficit to one when Mac Haley (Jr / A / Shady Side, Md.) found Carter Ash (Sr / A / Leesburg, Va.) for an extra-man goal with 3:25 remaining in the opening frame.

Colgate pushed its lead back to two on a Ryan Favaro goal, but the Mids would get the final say of the quarter when Jack Flaherty (Jr / M / Massapequa, N.Y.) found Henry Tolker (Sr / A / Catonsville, Md.) who targeted a spectacular over-the-shoulder goal with just 5.1 seconds remaining to cut the Raiders' lead to one (3-2).

Colgate opened the second quarter with the hot hand, as Jack Turner scored back-to-back goals to put the Raiders up by three (5-2). Turner's first goal was scored when he stripped the ball from Navy goalkeeper Dan Daly (Jr / Wayne, N.J.) on a clearing attempt and Turner wisely sent his shot sailing from 20 yards out.

Navy, though, answered with a pair of goals of its own, as Paul Garza (Jr / M / Frederick, Md.) beat Colgate middie Patty Eldredge with a roll dodge and Flaherty blew past pole Sam Erickson, ducking past him to go near-side pipe on Raiders netminder Matt LaCombe.

An extra-man goal by Turner gave Colgate a 6-4 lead, but Navy again would beat the clock as William Goers (Fr / A / Chester, Md.) swept past two defenders to net his first goal of the afternoon and get the Mids to within one (6-5) at the break.

Not only did Colgate jump out on the Mids quickly in the second half, Rory Connor took control of the game for the Raiders, scoring 5 goals and adding 2 of his 3 assists over the final 30 minutes of play. Connor scored two goals and added an assist over the first 3-plus minutes of the third quarter, giving Colgate a 9-5 advantage.

The Mids did a nice job answering as freshmen Jack Ponzio (M / Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) and Goers scored back-to-back goals within 40 seconds of one another to get back to within two at 9-7.

Rory Connor beat his defender and sent his shot past the ankles for Daly, but Goers found Tolker for what not only was his second goal of the game, but he would also become just the 10th player in program history to reach the 90-goal milestone for a career.

With 4:23 remaining in the third quarter, the officials threw a late flag on Daly for a two-minute nonreleasable illegal body check as he came forward out of the goal. Rookie keeper George Vlahos, making just his second-career appearance, stood tall, but eventually gave way to a pair of extra-man goals just 15 seconds apart and Liam Connor closed out the seven-goal quarter for the Raiders with a goal at 1:33 to give Colgate a 13-8 lead.

The two teams exchanged goals in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, but Colgate would go on for the 14-9 victory.

Rory Connor led all scorers with 8 points on 5 goals and 3 assists, while Liam Connor turned in 6 points on 2 goals and 4 assists. Meanwhile, Turner scored 4 goals for the Raiders.

LaCombe finished the game making just 7 saves, while yielding 9 Navy goals.

Goers, Ponzio and Tolker paced the team with 2 goals apiece, while Goers and Flaherty closed out the day with 3 points.

Colin Shadowens (Jr / Severna Park, Md.) had a productive day at the "x" where he won 13 of the 25 draws he took and Joey Bucci came in to win 1 of the 3 he took.

Defensively, Daly was solid between the pipes where he finished with 18 saves, including multiple doorstop saves.

Navy returns to Patriot League action next Friday when it plays host to Lafayette. Faceoff is slated for 7:00 pm at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with Joe Miller and calling the action on ESPN+ and 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV.

Single-game tickets may be purchased by stopping by the Navy Ticket Office at Ricketts Hall, by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY, via the internet at www.navysports.com or at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on game day. Ticket prices for home games are $10 for adults and $5 for kids 12 and under, while groups of 20 or more will be offered a discounted ticket (in advance only, contact Jordan Albright at 410-293-8791 / grouptickets@usna.edu). Additionally there is a $10 charge (credit card only) to park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for all games.

### Go Navy ###