The RPI field hockey team took on St. Lawrence Saturday in the Liberty League tournament. The third-seeded Red Hawks saw host William Smith Herons shut out the Skidmore Thoroughbreds 3-0 in the first game.
The Red Hawks came out on the defensive in the chilly weather. St. Lawrence looked to take advantage early, putting the offensive pressure on the Red Hawks’ net in hopes of scoring an early goal. The RPI defense held strong, with only four shots finding Amanda Lund in net. Lund responded to the challenge, making three saves, two of them on beautiful diving plays, to keep the Saints off the scoreboard.
The RPI offense did not fare much better than the Saints’ in the first half. They managed three shots, including two great shots off of corners, but the shots were all stopped by the Saints’ defense and goalkeeper Emilie Lannamann.
The Saints offense kicked into gear quickly in the second half. After getting a penalty corner at the 36- minute mark, St. Lawrence’s Tiffany Eisenbeck fired a shot from just outside the scoring circle. Saint Erin Mellow was waiting at the right post, and pushed the ball into the net to take the 1-0 lead.
St. Lawrence took advantage of a pair of penalty corners midway through the second half. At 56:11, the Saints’ corner play connected, with Liz Allison deflecting a ball toward the left post, where Erin Lloyd was waiting to bury the ball into the back of the net.
After an RPI timeout, the Red Hawks yielded yet another penalty corner, and the St. Lawrence offense found the net again. Lloyd was again waiting at the left post, and Ali Mattison found her with a great shot to put the Saints up 3-0.
Despite a late offensive push, the Red Hawks could not push the ball past the Saints’ defense. With a crushing midfield attack, the Saints advanced to the finals with a 3-0 victory over RPI.
Sunday’s contest between the Saints and the top-seeded Herons ended in a 3-2 victory for the host William Smith. The conference championship is the sixth for the Herons since the Liberty League/Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) was formed in 1995. William Smith will now host one of four NCAA regionals on November 13 and 14.
The loss spelled the end of RPI’s season. They finished out the year 8-9, and took third in the Liberty League.
