ON TAP THIS WEEK: Colgate’s season will come to an end this Saturday as it hosts Lafayette at Tyler’s Field. The game is set for an 11 a.m. start. Three Raiders will be playing their last collegiate game against the Leopards – Katelyn Nerbonne, Sarah Pedersen, and Mika Ella-Tang.
SERIES OVERVIEW: Lafayette holds a comfortable 25-7-2 advantage in the all-time series, including prevailing in the last three meetings. The Leopards won last year 2-0 in Easton.
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: Colgate dropped a 4-2 decision to Bucknell, last Saturday at Tyler’s Field. Katelyn Nerbonne tallied a three-point afternoon against the Bison with a goal and an assist, while Laura Denenga netted her seventh goal of the season. Sarah Pedersen stopped eight shots in the loss.
SCOUTING LAFAYETTE: The Leopards come to Hamilton on a high as they ended a 46-game Patriot League win streak by American last Saturday. Lafayette downed the six-time defending champs, 2-1 in double overtime to get its second league win of the year and improve to 12-5 overall. Deanna DiCroce (11-2-24) and Kelly Hilovsky (7-5-19) are the top two offensive threats for the Leopards, while Kelsey Andersen (12-5, 1.14 gaa, 62 saves) has played every minute in net for Lafayette.
NERBONNE IN THE BOOKS: With her three-point afternoon versus the Bison, Katelyn Nerbonne moved into a tie for fourth on the all-time Colgate point list with 65. She tied Ruthie Lynn in the second half with her 25th career goal. The senior needs four points to tie Maggie Montaine for third. Should Nerbonne score a goal, she would move into a tie for eighth with Becky Evans on the all-time goal chart at Colgate with 26. She enters the game with 15 career assists, which is tied for seventh all-time. One more assist would not only move her into a tie for sixth all-time, but would give her seven for the year, which would tie for the eighth highest for a single-season at Colgate.
LENDING A HELPING HAND: Mika Ella-Tang posted her 16th career assist on Colgate’s first goal against Bucknell, which ranks sixth on the all-time list. She is one helper away from moving into a tie for fifth with Kath Shelley. Should Ella-Tang get that assist, her 2009 total would move to seven, which would tie for the eighth highest for a single season at Colgate.
LOOKING FOR #19: Goalie Sarah Pedersen remains one win away from moving into the top five all-time in victories at Colgate. The senior has 18 in her career, just one behind Julie Clark.
DYNAMIC DUO: Colgate has scored 20 goals on the year, 14 of them coming from Katelyn Nerbonne and Laura Denenga. Both players are ranked among the league leaders in several statistical categories. Denenga is fourth in the Patriot League in shots (50); tied for seventh in points (17), and is tied for sixth in goals scored (7), while Nerbonne is third in total points (20), tied for fourth in assists (6), eighth in shots (41), and is tied for sixth in goals scored (7).
OTHERS RANKED: Three other Raiders can be found among the league leaders in statistical categories heading into today’s season finale. Sarah Pedersen continues to lead the league in saves (113), while Mika Ella-Tang is tied for fourth with Katelyn Nerbonne with six assists. Peyton Hawkins has three defensive saves, which is fifth overall.
FOTO INDUCTED IN CONNECTICUT FIELD HOCKEY HALL OF FAME: On October 4, Cathy Foto was enshrined with six others into the 10th Connecticut Field Hockey Hall of Fame at the Aqua Turf Country Club in Plantsville, Conn. Foto, a native of West Hartford, Conn., will be joined by Leah Secondo (Honorary), Debbie Martin (umpire), Cathy Neary McGuirk (Branford HS Coach), Lea Ann Schmidt (former player at Ridgefield HS), Laura Mack (former player at Canton HS), and Lisa Griswold Lindley (former player at Northwestern and UMass) to form the Class of 2009. Sixty two others have been inducted into the hall of fame in previous classes