The women’s hockey team had their first league game of the year Saturday night when they took on seventh-ranked Harvard on the road. Things didn’t go well for RPI, who was overmatched and ultimately lost by a score of 11-0.
The Crimson got strong efforts from sophomore Sarah Vaillancourt, who had three goals and five assists, as well as from classmate Jenny Brine, who also had three scores. Harvard outshot RPI 44-15 over the course of the game, with Engineer sophomores Ashley Mayr and Emily Ford combining for 33 saves.
Rensselaer then took on the Big Green of Dartmouth the very next day. Unfortunately, the women’s struggles continued. Gillian Apps, Dartmouth’s senior captain, played up to her title, scoring a hat trick as she propelled her team to victory.
Dartmouth got on the board first on a score from Sarah Toupal, giving her team a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Emily Donowick did her best to give the Engineers some momentum, scoring in the closing seconds of the first period to tie the game on a pass from freshman Whitney Naslund, tying the game up at one as RPI tried to keep up with its opponent.
The Big Green, however, added two more scores in each of the remaining two periods, and went on to win by a final score of 5-1. Mayr stopped 36 shots in goal for RPI, but with the loss, Rensselaer’s record drops to 1-7-0 on the season. The Engineers return home for two games against Robert Morris in non-conference action this weekend.
Field Hockey
The Red Hawks opened up their week on Wednesday against fourth-ranked Middlebury College. RPI jumped out to an early lead in the first half, thanks to Michelle Clemente. The junior scored after beating a number of Panther defenders and firing a shot past the right side of the Middlebury goaltender.
Sophomore Kristiina Baker scored once in each half, putting Rensselaer up 3-0, but the game then got intense. Middlebury came storming back early in the second half with two scores rather quickly, cutting the margin to a lone goal.
The Panthers then tied the game at 3-3 on a shot by freshman Jane Mullery Doar at the 63:45 mark, showing RPI that pulling off a win would be no cakewalk. However, Clemente stepped up for the Red Hawks and sealed RPI’s victory with her second score of the day on an assist from Baker, putting Rensselaer up 4-3 for good.
The field hockey team then dropped a close contest in overtime to Nazareth College. The first half was intense but remained scoreless. The second half, however, was full of action.
RPI took the lead on a goal by freshman Shaina Feldman. The Golden Flyers then proceeded to score twice with under four minutes remaining in the match, taking a 2-1 advantage.
Sophomore Kerri Clark tied it up at the 68:10 mark, beating the goalie on the left side and sending the game into overtime, but Nazareth went on to take the contest on a goal by junior Kelly Miranda. The Red Hawks end the regular season with a record of 9-9.
Swimming & Diving
The Rensselaer swimming & diving team split a dual meet with Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon. The men’s squad did its part, winning by a score of 135-103, but the women came up a little short, losing 139-103.
For RPI, senior Mike Scibelli, won the 200 individual medley, the 500 freestyle, and the 400 medley relay. Sophomore Matthew Culen also took home victories in both of the diving events with a total score of 290.92. Rensselaer returns to action on Sunday, playing host to Hartwick College in a dual meet which will take place at 12 pm.
Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer team battled Elmira College on Saturday, with the game ending in a 0-0 tie through two periods and overtime. RPI outshot Elmira 19-7 over the course of the game, but was unable to capitalize on any opportunity, coming up just short on a number of occasions. Junior Jeffery Krywanczyk made three saves in the game. Rensselaer wrapped up its season with this game, and finished with an overall record of 5-11-1.
