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field hockey

Colgate Field Hockey has its eyes set on the 2025 season

| By: Ashley Hudak

The Raiders retain a veteran class for the upcoming season

HAMILTON, N.Y. — The Colgate Field Hockey program has its eyes set on opening the 2025 season starting on Tyler's Field here in Hamilton, N.Y. 

The Raiders concluded their 2024 season 4-13 overall and 1-5 in the conference. They beat Central Michigan on the road 2-1 in OT to claim their first 2024 season win and close the gap in the series, 3-5. The last time the Raiders beat Central Michigan was back in 2018 in dramatic fashion with a 1-0 OT win. They also claimed a 1-0 victory over Mercyhurst in their first showdown. Colgate tacked on two more wins throughout the season against Bryant and Holy Cross. 

[To grow upon last season], "I think consistency of play from game to game and going out and playing a game at our own tempo and pace is something that we're aiming for this season," said head coach April Cornell-DeAngelis. "We're really, really focused on increased time of possession and that's really going to help us control that pace of game a lot more. Certainly at the end of the day we want more goals and so we're honing in on additional corner options and you may have different personnel running some corner hits and some options which will be really exciting for the season."

The Raiders' graduated four seniors from the 2024 class but Cornell-DeAngelis has doubled the incoming first-year class with eight members who will be led by a veteran squad of 10 seniors.

"The upperclassmen are doing a great job of just sharing some insight and experience from the previous season that just really helps get everybody on the same page early," Cornell-DeAngelis mentioned. "They are very knowledgeable in our presses so it's been a really great pre-season of we review and then they're able to apply it really quickly and they can help direct on field right away. They know where to shift and what to do so it's been a fun pre-season with their leadership."

Offensively, Colgate will return their four top scorers. Morgan Willis, Dani Palmer, Grace Schmelzinger, and Anna Lochhead all tallied three goals apiece in the 2024 season. The upperclassmen look to lead by example and build upon their athletic success. 

Willis also finished top-five in the Patriot League in game-winning goals. The junior notched two back-to-back game-winners in a 4–2 victory over Bryant on the road (10/20) and 1–0 triumph over Holy Cross (10/25). 

The back line remains strong as Ahria Dhillon and Abby Williams will return for the upcoming season. Seven Riders' finished top 25 on the Patriot Leagues' defensive saves list, three in the top 10. The recent graduate Lily Schoonmaker finished in fourth on the list with 4 defensive saves as returners Dhillon and Williams finished eighth and ninth with two defensive saves a piece. 

In net, veteran Claire Van Kempen will return for her senior season. The Colorado native ranked third in the Patriot League in saves per game with 5.62 PG and 73 on the season. In the 2024 season, Van Kempen made 162 saves for a 0.633 save-percentage while logging 633 minutes in net. Van Kempen has been the starting keeper in the 2023 and 2024 season while looking to continue that trend in the upcoming year.

As the Raiders look to embark on the 2025 season, their first game will be a home opener on Tyler Field on Friday, August 9th against Rider at 5 p.m.
 
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