Two goals in the first four and a half minutes helped Colgate complete their North Country sweep with a 2-1 win over the Saints women's hockey team on Saturday afternoon in Appleton Arena. With the loss, the Saints finish their first semester schedule at .500 with a 9-9-1 record overall and 4-4-0 mark against ECAC Hockey opponents.

"That was another entertaining game this afternoon," Head Coach Chris Wells said. "Like Cornell yesterday, Colgate connected on one more play than we did."

All three scoring plays came in the opening period, as the Raiders' Jessie Eldridge capitalized on a turnover on the Saints offensive blue line and scored a breakaway goal on sophomore netminder Brooke Wolejko just 2:23 into the game.

Two minutes later, Bailey Larson tallied the game-winning goal for Colgate on an odd-man rush with a wrist shot that beat Wolejko high on the glove side.

Near the midway point of the period with the Saints on the power play, senior Jenna Marks jumped on a failed clear attempt by the Colgate penalty kill unit and took a quick turnaround shot that slid through the five hole on Colgate goaltender Julia Vandyk to cut the deficit in half. But that would be all either team would get on Saturday.

"Both goalies tonight made some spectacular saves to keep the game 2-1," Wells added. "Colgate really moves the puck well and plays with an energy that is fun to play against."

The Saints finished with a 24-21 edge in shots on goal and several instances of extended zone time, particularly in the third period, against the Raiders but Colgate did well to block shots and hold off the Saints pressure to secure the win.

"We had plenty of chances to score this weekend to make the results different than they were. We will enjoy the break and look forward to a great second half," Wells said.

Wolejko finished with 19 saves for the Saints, while Vandyk made 23 saves for the Raiders.

The Saints will open the second half of the semester with a midweek game against Merrimack on Jan. 6 with puck drop schedule for 2 p.m.