Looking to find its first win of the season against Colgate for the second consecutive year, Cornell men’s lacrosse fell just short in Saturday’s matchup.
The Red (0-1) and Raiders (3-0) battled it out steady for much of the contest, ending the first three quarters in ties of 4-4, 7-7 and 10-10. However, Colgate had a late surge in the final frame to end the back-and-forth and capture a 14-11 victory.
Seven of Cornell’s 11 points came courtesy of sophomore attack Jeff Teat, who had no trouble reminding spectators of his honorable mention All-American freshman campaign last year. Teat finished with four goals and three assists.
Junior attack Clarke Petterson — fresh off an honorable mention All-Ivy selection last season — posted four points of his own behind a pair of goals and a pair of assists.
Despite solid offensive production from some familiar faces, Cornell’s ultimate downfall came from failures in a few fundamental areas — namely faceoffs, ground balls and clears.
Colgate faceoff specialist Collin Orr won 22 of the 29 faceoffs and the Raiders picked up a healthy 33 ground balls to Cornell’s 17.
Cornell finished the game with just nine turnovers, having averaged over 14 per game a season ago. However, five of those turnovers came on the clear, and the Red finished the match successful on just 12 of its 17 clear attempts, a measly .706 percentage.
Looking to avoid the disastrous start that plagued the team last season, the Red will attempt to even its record when it takes on its oldest rival Hobart at Schoellkopf field this Saturday at 1 p.m.