Army West Point's top-ranked defensive unit played pretty much to expectations here Saturday, but the Colgate defense was just a little bit better. Advantage Raiders! Colgate spotted No. 12 Army a pair of three-goal leads before storming back to secure a big 8-6 Patriot League victory Saturday on Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium. The win lifts Colgate to 2-2 at the halfway point of the conference season and also pulls the Raiders even with the Black Knights in a tie for fifth place. Both teams are just a game in the loss column out of the top spot. Army came in allowing a nation's best 6.4 goals per game, while Colgate entered as the No. 2 overall offense at 14.4. Something had to give, but it was the Colgate defensive unit that stepped forward and put its stamp on Saturday's outcome. After Army went ahead 5-2 early in the second quarter, Colgate held the Black Knights scoreless for 41 minutes and 28 seconds to shift the game completely in the home side's favor. Only a goal in the final 36 seconds snapped a near flawless performance. The Raiders, meanwhile, strung together six consecutive goals over the second and third quarters to take command. Mike Hawkins, Joe Delaney and Griffin Brown scored to secure a 5-5 halftime tie, and then Hawkins, Brown and Duncan Hoskinson tallied in the third quarter to push the Raiders in front. Connor Mullen backed up the defensive effort with 12 saves on 35 Army shots. Over his last two games, Mullen has allowed just 10 goals and made 17 saves. Will Blumenberg picked up five ground balls and Mullen and Charlie Messineo added four apiece. Army's Nate Jones scored a natural hat trick in the first quarter to put the Black Knights in front 4-1. Conor Glancy added two goals, an assist and a team-high five ground balls for Army. Bottom Line Colgate 8, No. 12 Army 6 Won-Lost Records • Colgate improved to 6-3 overall with its third straight win, and the Raiders are 2-2 in the Patriot League. • Army West Point dropped to 5-3 and 2-2. Colgate won its third game in a row for the second time this season. • Colgate's first seven goals were unassisted. Delaney assisted Hoskinson on the eighth and final goal. • Sam Cleveland scored his fifth goal of the season way back on Colgate's opening possession of the game. • Hawkins scored late in the first quarter to begin his hat-trick performance. • The Hawkins hat trick was his team-leading fourth of the season. • Hawkins and Brown are tied for the team lead with 24 goals. Hawkins leads with 30 points, followed by Brown with 26. • Colgate didn't score the last 19 minutes and 11 seconds. • Collin Orr won 12 of 18 faceoffs, including 12 of 16 over the first three quarters. He's up to .621 for the season. • Mullen's 12 saves matched his career high. • Army this season has allowed eight goals or more now three times, and lost all three games (Syracuse, Lehigh and Colgate). From the Source • Colgate head coach Mike Murphy: (On the game) "It was just us being resilient. My message to our team was we had to play our game for 60 minutes. In the early part, we kind of let them dictate tempo. But we got some faceoff wins when we needed them, we settled down to do what we needed to do and we just played our game for 60 minutes." (On the second quarter comeback) "We played better defensively. We forced them into things that we thought we would see and forced them to play a little faster than they like to play. We turned them over when we needed to and played the game we needed to play. We continue to learn how to finish, and we did a good job of finishing against Army West Point." (On playing without Anthony Abbadessa) "You're never going to replace Anthony and his leadership and his abilities on the field. But I like what we're doing. We prepared to win Monday through Friday, and it came to fruition Saturday." • Colgate first-year attackman Mike Hawkins: (On today's game) "Coach Abbott put in a good offensive plan and we executed it. We were fortunate to get ahead and then we just rolled with it." (On playing without Anthony Abbadessa) "Abba is on the sideline every game and he's the biggest help to me. Seeing how he was such a leader on the field and he's still a leader on the sidelines – he's still here with us. He's still a difference-maker." (On his season) "I love the guys and I love my coaches. Everything's been going pretty good this season. There were a few tough losses but it's all about resiliency. Coach really instills that in us and I've been having a blast." Gate Grab Bag • At halftime, Colgate Vice President and Director of Athletics Victoria M. Chun '91, MA'94 welcomed back the 2008 Up Next • Colgate completes a three-game home stand next Saturday with a Patriot League encounter against Loyola. • The Greyhounds are 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the Patriot League after Saturday's 12-11 home loss to Bucknell. • Faceoff from Hamilton is 1 p.m., with the Patriot League Network carrying the action.