Hamilton, NY - In front of a national television audience on Fox Soccer Channel,
Colgate got a pair of goals from Josie Johnson as the Raiders handed
the Iona College women's soccer team a 3-0 defeat. The Gaels (0-5),
playing in just their second evening contest of the season, tried to
keep pace with the Raiders early and were down by just a
tally after one half of play.
The opening half was scoreless until the 26th minute when Jillian Arnault sent a through ball down
that connected with Jessica Bitsack. Bitsack crossed one into the box that was headed in by Johnson for the goal and a 1-0 advantage.
The Gaels best opportunity of the match came in the late stages of the first half. In the 11th minute on a corner kick from sophomore forward Mariel Pepe, freshman defender Diane Hare headed one just over the crossbar. The Gaels had two more tries on corner kicks in the first half but still couldn't find the back of the net.
The Raiders took a 2-0 lead early in the second half as Franny Iacuzzi put one in the back of the net after a Bitsack corner. The Raiders added a late goal off the foot of Johnson as Colgate took the match 3-0.
The Raiders outshot the Gaels 13 to 5 and 6 to 1 in shots on goal. In addition to Hare's shot, freshman midfielder and Student-Athlete of the Week Abby Dixon and junior midfielder Liz Allan each notched a shot. Freshman forward Carol Danis lead the way for the Gaels with 2 shots. Goalkeeper Suzanne Baldissard stopped 3 shots in her 90 minutes of work.
The Gaels return to action on Saturday night as they face-off against NJIT in Newark.