Colgate scored twice in the final 10 seconds before intermission and then held off a second-half Lehigh comeback to post a 12-8 Patriot League victory here Saturday afternoon.
The Raiders (6-4, 4-2 Patriot) rallief from an early 2-0 hole to score nine of the next 10 goals and lead 9-3 at the break. The final two of that flurry came in the last 10 seconds of the half off the sticks of first-year attackmen Anthony Abbadessa and Chase Wittich.
Abbadessa scored unassisted with just under 10 seconds left in the second quarter. Then Colgate’s Strecker Backe won the faceoff and Abbadessa was able to scoop up the ground ball. He quickly found Wittich in front of the goal and the Maryland native turned and scored just as the horn was sounding.
Lehigh made things interesting and then some in the second half, rallying with five straight goals and make it 9-8 early in the fourth quarter. But Abbadessa scored unassisted once again with 8:30 to play, and Cameron Williams followed 3½ minutes later to all but ice it. Captain Matt Clarkson’s goal with a minute remaining capped the scoring.
The first-year Abbadessa tied his season-high with five points, scoring two goals and assisting on three others. Ryan Walsh, Peter Donato and Matt Reyes-Guerra-Dunn also scored two goals apiece.
Colgate remains in a second-place tie in the Patriot League standings alongside Army and Loyola. Those three teams are just one-half game behind front-runner Navy (5-2).
Dan Taylor scored a hat trick and added two assists to lead the visiting Mountain Hawks (4-8, 2-5), who saw their four-game winning streak in this series come to an end. Colgate is now 28-14 all-time against Lehigh, including a 14-6 edge in Hamilton.
The Raiders are at Holy Cross next Saturday in a 1 p.m. start.
