The whistle blew to start and Colgate came out strong. Within the first 30 seconds, scrum-half and captain Sarah Traenkle ‘23 scored the first try of the game on a breakaway. The work the team put in practicing attack this week paid off as they maintained possession of the ball for the majority of the first half. Sophomore Ella Cassulo drove into the try zone for the second try of the day with rookie and sophomore Stella Demrauer scoring the third try of the game, and first try of her career. The ruggers continued to dominate in rucks, barreling through the defense multiple times. Eight-man and captain Ellie Humphreys '24 bodied her way through five players on the wing to get a breakaway into the try zone, leading Colgate to their fourth try. She didn’t stop there; five minutes later Ellie had yet another breakaway, scoring her second try of the day and fifth try of the game. With sophomore Hannah Meyerowitz’s skillful kicks for the conversions, the ruggers jogged off the field with their spirits high and 27-0 on the scoreboard.

They kept up the intensity going into the second half where Captain Ellie Humphreys scored yet another try on yet another breakaway. Fans were lining the sideline as the players continued to fight. The rookies got their fair share of lineouts this game, showing a lot of improvement in the second half, but giving Colgate something to work on in the weeks to follow, along with defensive positioning. Ellie Humphreys rounded it out with her fourth try of the game as two new rookies got in for their first game of the season. While Syracuse managed to score two trys by the end of the half, Colgate came out with the win, 39-12.

Colgate thanks Syracuse for coming out and putting up a great fight. The team looks forward to being able to focus on defense this week in preparation for the game against Cornell University next Sunday. The players finished off their day with BBQ and cheering on the men's team as they beat Ithaca College.