End of the year honors include freshman Sam Fennessey and senior Emily Pulli being named to the All-Liberty Second Team, while sophomore Kerri Clark earned an Honorable Mention for the second consecutive year. Senior Andrea Flynn was the recipient of the 2007 Henry Kumph Award, which is presented by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Athletic Department. Flynn and classmate Emily Carroll were also named to the 2007 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District 1 College Division Women’s At-Large First Team.

Men’s Lacrosse

After finishing the regular season with a record of 10-4, the RPI men’s lacrosse team squared off with the top-seeded St. Lawrence Saints in the Liberty League Tournament in the hopes of keeping its year alive.

The Saints flexed their muscles as an offensive unit while also holding RPI’s attack at bay, and rolled into halftime with a 6-1 advantage over the visiting Red Hawks. Senior Nick Mastine provided the spark, scoring two goals for St. Lawrence. Junior Mike Sampson was the lone scorer for Rensselaer in the first half.

RPI cut the lead to 9-4 in the final quarter with just 4:09 remaining on the game clock. However, junior Kevin Russell added insurance and shut the door on the Red Hawks’ season, as the Saints went on to win by a final score of 10-4. Sampson, junior Briggs Thompson, freshman Paul Cerone, and senior Alex MacDiarmid all scored for Rensselaer in the losing effort.

Individual accomplishments at seasons’ end include junior PJ McComb making the Academic All-District 1 Men’s At-Large Team. McComb scored 20 goals and recorded 46 assists for a total of 66 points on the year. He was second in the nation with 3.07 assists per game and 12th in points per game with 4.4, and was named to the All-Liberty League First Team.

While the RPI men’s season ended sooner than it had hoped, Head Coach Jim Townsend and company have the makings of a powerhouse that will be a force to be reckoned with in the Liberty League. Look for another strong season out of the Red Hawks in the 2007-2008 season.

Softball

Finishing off its season strong, the softball team was able to host the ECAC Tournament because they were the top-seeded team with a record of 34-8. The four-team contest double-elimination upstate softball championship started on May 12. The Red Hawks hosted the fourth-seeded team, Alfred—who finished with a 21-4 record, for their first game, while Union (25-9) and St. John Fisher (24-13) played each other in the other first round game.

In their game Saturday, the Red Hawks scored first and held on until the sixth inning when the Saxons scored three, which would eventually be the game-winners. As the Saxons advanced to the winners’ bracket, RPI now faced elimination in its next game. Rensselaer survived, beating St. John Fisher 3-1 later that day.

The following day reunited the two teams from the first game, and although the Red Hawks lost again, this time the Saxon’s victory was more decisive. RPI was allowed just one hit as Alfred ran away with a 9-1 victory. Alfred would go on to be shut out 4-0 by Union in the championship game.

The athletes garnered many awards this season, including four with All-Region honors—sophomores Julianne Bass, Michelle Street, and Sarah Finkbeiner were named, as well as junior Beth Gargon. Senior Courtney Sweeney was also named to the Academic All-District First Team and became eligible for National Academic All-American consideration. Freshman pitcher Michelle Bianchetti was named Rookie of the Year, and 10 Red Hawks were selected to the All-Liberty League Softball team, including Bianchetti, Gargon, Finkbeiner, Bass, Street, Sweeney, and freshmen Christina Ciccione and Natalie Gendron. Senior Katherine Valenta and freshman Becky Bailey were honorable mentions. After a season of solid success, the team should look forward to another run at the ECAC championships next season. Because the young team graduated just two seniors, it can rely on its experienced members next year.