The Rensselaer women’s lacrosse team went on the road last week, playing three games in six days, going 1-2 to drop their record to 3-4 on the season.
On Tuesday, the Red Hawks traveled to Springfield, Mass. to take on the Golden Bears of Western New England College. Western New England got off to a fast start, putting two quick goals past junior goaltender Meghan Gaul. The defense clamped down after that, and the offense kicked into gear, as RPI went on to score seven unanswered goals and take a 7-2 lead into halftime.
The Red Hawks continued to dominate Western New England in the second half, outscoring the Golden Bears 6-3 to take the game 13-5. Senior Mary Roy led RPI with five goals and had an assist. Junior Michelle Delarm and senior Jenn Celli also had a multi-goal game for the Red Hawks, scoring three and two goals respectively. Gaul finished with 11 saves in the win.
Rensselaer started UCAA play on Friday, traveling the short distance down Route 7 to take on their rivals the Union Dutchwomen. Union got on the board first when Julia Davis put her first of five goals past Gaul. The Red Hawks quickly responded as sophomore Erin Campbell put a blast past goaltender Rachel Beckman.
The rest of the first half went back and forth with neither team gaining much of an advantage, and the game went to halftime tied at five. In the second half, the Dutchwomen, behind the leadership of Davis, took control of the game, outscoring RPI 5-1 in a 17 minute span and went on to defeat the Red Hawks 10-7.
Roy again led Rensselaer, scoring three goals and dishing out two assists. Classmate Mary Beth Cooley had two goals and Celli put in the final goal for the Red Hawks. Gaul finished with 12 saves in the loss.
RPI had no time to dwell on the loss, as the next day, the Red Hawks traveled up I-87 to take on the undefeated Skidmore Thoroughbreds. Rensselaer got on the board first, scoring two goals in the span of 56 seconds to take an early 2-0 lead. Skidmore fought back, however, scoring three unanswered goals in the span of two minutes to take a 3-2 lead. The rest of the half was a back and forth fight with the teams trading goals and the Thoroughbreds headed into halftime clinging to a 5-4 lead.
In the second half the Red Hawks again lost some steam, getting outscored 7-4 and fell for the second straight day, losing 12-8. Cooley starred in the game for Rensselaer scoring five goals and assisting on another. Roy continued her streak of multi-goal games scoring two goals to make it four games in a row with at least two goals. Junior Hillary Lahn scored the eighth goal for the Red Hawks. Katie Weber led five multi-goal Skidmore scorers, scoring three goals. In goal, Gaul finished with 10 saves for RPI and Sarah Berheide had six saves for the 5-0 Thoroughbreds.
The Red Hawks return home this week to take on UCAA foe Rochester on Friday at 4 pm and travel partner Vassar next Wednesday at 7 pm. Both games will be played on Harkness Field and admission is free.
