SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Rookie Breanne Wilson-Bennett scored Colgate women's hockey's lone goal Thursday night but it wasn't enough as the Raiders fell to nearby rival Syracuse, 2-1.
 
Colgate found itself in a two-goal hole seven minutes into the final frame but a tally from Wilson-Bennett, gave the Raiders life with a little more than 10 minutes to play.
 
The goal happened after a shot from Nicole Gass, who was positioned near the blue line. Syracuse's goaltender, Jenn Gilligan, made the initial save but couldn't fall on the puck fast enough as Wilson-Bennett collected it and fired a shot past her left shoulder.
 
Despite one more power play opportunity and pulling the goalie in the final minutes of play, the Raiders were unable to record the equalizing goal.
 
Junior Ashlynne Rando was solid in net posting 27 saves, including a game-high 12 in the middle frame alone.
 
Colgate is back on the ice Oct. 10 when it travels to Robert Morris for the two-game set with the Colonials. Friday's game is set for a 3 p.m. puck drop.
 
Bottom Line
•  Syracuse 2, Colgate 1,

Won-Lost Records
• Syracuse improves to 1-0-0 overall
• Colgate falls to 0-1-0 overall

Key Raider Info
• Wilson-Bennett scored her first career marker
• Gass was awarded the assist on the Raider goal, giving her 23 career helpers
• Rando made 27 stops throughout the contest, including consecutive double-digit saves in the first and second period

Facts & Figures
• The Orange held the edge on shots, at 29-21
• Neither team scored on the power play as Colgate was 0-8 and Syracuse 0-6
• Three Raider players registered a team-high three shots in the contest in Miriam Drubel, Annika Zalewski and Wilson-Bennett. 
• Taylor Craig, Megan Sullivan and Gass all added two shots apiece as well.
 
The Difference
• Colgate saw the Orange tally the game-winner six minutes and 40 seconds into the third period.
            - The play originated after Heather Schwartz fed Julie Knerr in behind the Raider defense for a breakaway opportunity. Rando almost blocked Knerr's shot away with her left shoulder but the attempt was placed just right and found the back of the net.
• The Raiders had two chances on 5-on-3 opportunities in the first and second period but could not slide one past the Orange goaltender.
 
Period Breakdown
• The Orange held the edge in shots during the opening period but Colgate recorded some quality chances as well as some solid saves from Rando.
            - While Colgate was on the power play it notched three scoring attempts from the stick of Craig and Zalewski. Craig started the attack with back-to-back shots but couldn't break through. A few seconds later Zalewski tried her luck on goal but Syracuse's Larissa Martyniuk came sliding in for the block.
            - On the defensive end Rando posted consecutive saves on Syracuse's Danielle Leslie coming from a faceoff. Both were goal-saving stops.
• In the middle frame, Drubel almost tallied the go-ahead goal with 12 minutes remaining in the period but again Gilligan was there to make a brilliant glove save. Then on the opposite side of the ice, Rando registered two power play goal-saving stops. The first one came after Jessica Sibley blasted a shot toward goal with 9:32 remaining and then the second 13 seconds later.
• The Orange took the lead with five minutes left to play in the second period and added another goal seven minutes into the final frame.
• Colgate cut Syracuse's advantage down to one-goal, however, after Wilson-Bennett pulled the trigger from in between the two faceoff circles.
 
Career/Season Firsts
• Wilson-Bennett notched her first career marker in the game
• Gass posted her first assist of the season; while shifting her career assists total to 23.
 
Straight From The Source
• Head coach Greg Fargo (on his team's performance in the game): "There were a lot of good things from tonight's game as there was a week ago from our contest with Cambridge. We saw some things come to life that we've been working on for our penalty kill and it was really strong. We were also able to get different players some opportunities to play on the PK tonight, which was great."
 
"On our power play there were a lot of bright spots there as well. We got a lot of really good looks that we just didn't get a bounce to go in when we needed it. But overall it was able to give us some momentum at times.
 
(On his team cutting the Orange lead early in the final frame): "I really liked how we battled back in the third period. We went down by two goals early on but we were able to come back with a big goal from Wilson-Bennett. Her line played really well all game."
 
(On some timely saves from junior Ashlynne Rando): "We had outstanding goaltending in net tonight. Rando came up with some key saves especially early in the game when we needed to be bailed out. We were a little nervous at the start but she came up huge when we needed her to and that's always good to see."
 
Up Next
• The Raiders next contest is with another CHA opponent as they take on Robert Morris for a two-game series.
• The games are set for the weekend of Oct. 10-11, with both starts times scheduled for 3 p.m.
• Live stats will be available at the start of the game.