With a 7-4 lead entering the fourth quarter, the Hamilton men’s lacrosse team was ready to tack another win on to its 7-0 record Saturday, at Harkness Field. The Continentals, however, forgot they still had one more quarter to play against an explosive Red Hawk offense. Unfortunately for Hamilton, RPI did exactly that; they exploded. The Red Hawks tallied six goals—highlighted by Chris Sherman’s unassisted marker with 38 seconds left in the game’s final session—to rally from a four-goal fourth quarter deficit to win 10-9, handing Hamilton their first loss of the season.
“I told the guys to just stay focused, stick to the game plan, and don’t play the scoreboard,” Rensselaer men’s lacrosse Head Coach Tom Korrie said. “We had to take it one goal at a time. Things admittedly looked pretty bleak, but we won faceoffs, stayed in the game, and believed in what we were doing.”
Rensselaer scored three goals in the final two minutes of the contest to complete the spectacular comeback victory. With RPI trailing by two with 1:58 left in the game, junior Peter Rice answered quickly for Rensselaer, finding the back of the net at the 1:24 mark on a sensational solo effort. After the Red Hawks won the ensuing faceoff, freshman Tom O’Dwyer evened the scoreboard just 11 seconds later. He finished off a pass from freshman Lee Alexanderson. RPI would win the next two faceoffs setting up Sherman’s heroics and allowing Rensselaer to run out the game clock against a stunned Hamilton squad.
“We showed a lot of character against Hamilton,” Korrie said. “We should be feeling pretty good about ourselves. We have made a lot of progress in ball possession.”
The combination of freshmen Alexanderson and Alex MacDiarmid combined to go 13-19 on faceoffs; a huge improvement in that department compared to last week’s game against Stevens Tech. RPI also was successful on 80 percent of its clear attempts and caused turnovers 50 percent of the time in riding situations. Alexanderson, who was moved up to the first faceoff line, was just one personnel change Korrie made to improve Rensselaer’s faceoff struggles. The third-year head coach, hailing from Syracuse, also sent All-American Adam LoGuidice and a long-stick midfielder out with Alexanderson in an effort to shore up the wing positions; the moves have already paid dividends.
“Lee Alexanderson really showed a lot of determination out there,” Korrie said. “He gave us the toughness we had been lacking on the ‘x.’“
Korrie was particularly pleased with the performance of his midfielders—Sherman, LoGuidice, and Ryan Frisch—who collectively produced three goals and two assists for the Red Hawks and did an excellent job forcing the Continentals into turnovers between the restraining line.
“Anytime you are 50 percent riding, that over-the-top, it’s outstanding,” Korrie said. “We ask those three guys to really shoulder the load for us, and they do it. It is not a glamorous job, but without them we would not be where we are.”
Despite Rensselaer’s excellent ball control and 2-to-1 shot advantage, the Continentals were poised to win the game until the bitter end. In the second quarter, Hamilton managed only two shots, but scored one goal while the Red Hawks tallied just two goals on 16 shots. Hamilton’s Ethan Shoemaker, who finished the game with 13 saves on 36 shots, frustrated the Red Hawks all day and virtually carried the Continentals.
“We were getting high percentage shots,” Korrie said. “Shoemaker just made some sensational saves, and that’s what makes him an excellent goaltender, his ability to have such a large impact on the game.”
Rensselaer, however, was able to solve Shoemaker after peppering him with shots all game. In a total team effort, RPI had eight different players score. LoGiudice and O’Dwyer led RPI with two goals apiece while Rice, Briggs Thompson, Sherman, Josh Begley, Mike Sampson, and Tom Haff all managed one. Frisch, who failed to score for the first time this season, had two assists. Alexanderson, Rice, and Thompson each handed out one assist for the Red Hawks.
“This game gave us a tremendous confidence boost, especially with the heart of league play approaching,” Korrie said. “The young guys really stepped up in key situations.”
The Hamilton win was a huge victory as it kept Rensselaer undefeated in Liberty League play (2-0), prevented the now 4-3 Red Hawks from falling below .500 and from losing their third consecutive game after falling hard to Ithaca 15-7 on Wednesday, March 30, at Harkness Field. RPI trailed the Bombers 7-3 at halftime and 12-4 entering the fourth quarter. Frisch tallied two goals and two assists in the loss. Thompson, who was named Liberty League Rookie of the Week, also added two goals in the losing effort.
“Ithaca showed us what we want to do to teams,” Korrie said. “I think it really made us realize how hard we have to work and prepare to reach that level.”
RPI came close, but failed to reach that level as they fell to the nation’s seventh ranked club, Middlebury, 9-5 on Tuesday, April 5.
LoGuidice scored three goals to lead RPI while Frisch and Thompson added one to pace RPI. P.J. McComb, O’Dywer, and Frisch, all had one assists for Rensselaer.
After two games of improvement in the ball possession categories, the Red Hawks suffered a setback against the mighty Panthers. Middlebury won 14-18 faceoffs and RPI only cleared successfully on 19-29 attempts. Middlebury was 18-22 on their clear efforts.
The Panthers’ ability to control the ball translated into a busy day for RPI goaltender Ryan Michels. The sophomore netminder was peppered with 36 shots and managed an impressive 15 saves to keep the Red Hawks in the contest.
The Red Hawks will try to get back on the winning track when they square off with King’s Point in a make-up contest on Tuesday, April 12, at 6 pm on Harkness Field.
