Colgate University Athletics

The Raiders play host to the 2009 Patriot League Tournament this weekend after clinching the regular season championship and earning the #1 seed in the tournament. Colgate will face fourth-seeded Navy on Friday at 5 p.m. followed by the No. 2/3 seeds American vs. Bucknell at 7:30 p.m..  The winners of each game will face each on Sunday at 1 p.m.

 

In a rematch of last year’s first round, the Raiders will take on Navy for the first semifinal game, but with the seeding reversed this time as Colgate enters this year’s contest as the No. 1 seed while the Mids are No. 4. Navy will enter Hamilton with a 14-4-2 overall record and a 4-2-1 mark in the conference.  The Mids lost their final regular season conference game, a 3-0 defeat on the road at nearby American.  Leading Navy in scoring is junior Carissa Youker with 23 points off of nine goals and 5 assists.  Four other student-athletes have tallied more than ten points this season.  Brittany White has 16 points from five goals and six assists while Christine Calderon is close behind with 15 points from six goals and three assists.  Guiding the Mids in goal is Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year Beth Reed.  The senior has tallied nine shutouts this season, posting a 0.67 goals against average and .875 save percentage. 

The Raiders tallied their fifth consecutive win after defeating Bucknell 2-1 in overtime to claim the regular season title.  Junior Anna Baldwin (Woodbury, Conn.) tallied the game winning goal in the sixth minute of overtime.  Senior Jillian Arnault (Clay, N.Y.) also collected a goal in the victory while Jillian Kinter (Newburyport, Mass.) picked up an assist on the game-winning goal. Freshman goalie Ashley Walsh (Cicero, N.Y.) made five saves for the win.  

 

The Raiders currently hold a 12-10-2 lead in the all-time series against Navy.  This year’s meeting was the conference opener for both teams.  That game ended in a 0-0 draw after two overtime sessions in Annapolis, Md.  The last time Colgate faced Navy in the Patriot League Tournament was in the first game of the semifinals last year in Annapolis, Md. The Raiders lost that meeting 1-0 in overtime as Navy’s then senior Katie Herren knocked in the game-winner. 

  

Colgate’s Anna Baldwin claimed this week’s Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week award after putting in the game-winning goal against Bucknell.  It was the first time Baldwin has won a weekly award and the first time this season a Colgate player has earned the Offensive Player of the Week award.

 

Colgate women’s soccer student-athletes have collected a total of eight conference player of the week awards this season.  Freshman Ashley Walsh leads the group with one Goalkeeper of the Week award and three Rookie of the Week awards.  Defenders Calista Victor (Seattle, Wash.) and Sarah Henderson (Rochester, N.Y.) each have one Defensive Player of the Week selection, while freshman Jillian Kinter picked up a Rookie of the Week award last week. 

  

The Raiders will be looking to claim their 11th Patriot League Tournament title this weekend.  Colgate’s last title came in 2004 and the Raiders have never gone more than four years without a League title.

 

The All-Patriot League teams and Major Award winners were announced earlier this week, with Colgate placing four student-athletes on an All-League team with one other winning one of the four major awards.  Goalie Ashley Walsh was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Year after starting in goal for all 18 games of the Raiders matches. 

 

Senior Jillian Arnault and junior Calista Victor were named to the All-League First Team, while senior Liz Polido (Stow, Mass.) and freshman Jillian Kinter were both selected to the Second Team.   

This Friday’s game will be a battle of goalkeepers with both goalkeepers earning one of the four major conference awards this year.  Colgate freshman Ashley Walsh was named the Rookie of the Year after a stellar performance in goal this season, while Navy senior Beth Reed earned the Goalkeeper of the Year nod.  Both goalies are among the leaders on the Patriot League stat sheets as well as the national statistics.  

 

While Reed leads the league in goals against average with a 0.67, Walsh leads in saves with 122.  Walsh claims the top spot in saves per game with 6.78, while Reed is ahead of Walsh in shutouts with nine this season.  Ashley Walsh is also currently ranked 10th in the nation in save percentage with a .884 while Reed is close behind ranking 13th with a .876

 
Watch Live
Both the Colgate/Navy and the American/Bucknell games can be seen live on Patriot League All-Access.  A monthly subscription is available for fans who want to watch for $7.95, which covers all three women's soccer games this weekend.  A link to Patriot League All-Access can be found on the Patriot League web site or on the Colgate Athletics web site prior to each game.  Live stats will also be available for both Friday games as well as the Championship game on Sunday.  The Live stats link can be found on the Colgate Athletics web site prior to each game.   

Freshman Jillian Kinter leads the Raiders offensively with four goals and three assists for 11 points. Jillian Arnault and Avery Atkins (Dallas, Texas) both sit in second with three goals and one assist, while Anna Baldwin and Alyssa Manoogian (Peabody, Mass.) have each contributed five points. Baldwin has two goals and one assist while Manoogian has three assists and one goal. Ashley Walsh’s 9-6-3 record including six shutouts leads the Raiders goalkeeping.

 

The Raiders were selected to finish according to the Patriot League Preseason Poll as chosen by conference coaches and sports information directors. The Raiders collected the most first-place votes with seven but fell just short in total points with 83, just seven less than the No. 1 team, Navy. 

Head coach Kathy Brawn will open her 19th season with the Raiders this weekend.  Brawn hails as the Colgate women’s soccer all-time winningest coach with 217 career wins and has collected nine of the Raiders ten Patriot League Tournament titles, the most for any Patriot League coach.  

 

Colgate honored seven seniors at last weekend’s senior day game against Bucknell. These seniors included : Jessica Bitsack (Mendham, N.J.), Liz Polido, Vera Carrington (Marietta, Ga.), Jillian Arnault, Christine Walker (Renton, Wash.), Jamie Herrmann (Seattle, Wash.) and Carrie Glass (Alpharetta, Ga.).