Colgate Lacrosse Celebrating

FLUSHING, N.Y. – With a roster stacked with native New Yorkers, it was only fitting that the Colgate Raiders came away with the win over the Michigan Wolverines in the second game of the Metropolitan Lacrosse Classic.

The Raiders scored 10 goals through the 60-minute contest, while holding Michigan to seven.

Fittingly two of Colgate’s goal scorers were local kids, Jimmy Ryan of Stony Brook and Ryan Walsh of Wantagh. Walsh finished the game with three goals and Ryan had two goals of his own.

Walsh’s goals came in final minutes of the first quarter, the opening minutes of the second and late in the second quarter. His first one tied the game at two and his second gave Colgate their first lead of the game.  His third tally gave the Raiders a 6-3 lead.

Ryan’s first goal came less than a minute into the third quarter pushing Colgate to a 7-3 lead and his second came with 7:42 left to play in the game to give his squad a 10-6 advantage.

“It was a great experience,” Ryan said of scoring at Citi Field. “I had two or three I think I should have had, but I always feel that way after the game. But to score those two was just a great experience.”

For the pair from long Island it was a special feeling to get to play in front of their hometown fans.

“It was really something special” Walsh, who was visiting Citi Field for the first time, said. “I don’t get to play in front of my hometown very often, so I was definitely looking forward to this one. I circled this one on the calendar and it was a good team win today.”

Ryan said that he estimated that he had 30 to 40 people in the stands cheering for him and called the experience of playing at Citi Field “an Unbelievable experience.”

“A lot of our alumni, families and fans were here,” Ryan added. “Obviously playing at a baseball stadium with the dirt was a little confusing at first, but we handled it pretty well and it was a great atmosphere.”

Fans are encouraged to check out our official photo gallery with some of the action shots from the game:

http://1495sports.com/2013/03/18/photo-gallery-colgate-vs-michigan/