After going 1-0-1 through its first week of play, the RPI women’s soccer team made its way to Hoboken, N.J., this weekend for the annual Stevens Engineering Cup. It was a two-day event for the Red Hawks, who squared off with Stevens Institute of Technology—the host of the tournament—on Saturday, and then North Park University on Sunday.
In the opening game of the weekend, it was the Ducks who got their offense going first against Rensselaer. At the 22:28 mark of a restart, sophomore Leslie Kallberg headed the ball past RPI freshman goalie Meghan White for the score. The goal was Kallberg’s second of the season, and gave Stevens the early advantage. Dishing out the assist on the play was senior Sara Roeder.
Unfortunately, RPI simply could not get anything going from the start. The women tallied just one shot attempt in the first half compared to Stevens’ nine. The women scratched and clawed throughout the frame, but could not gain any ground, and found themselves trailing 1-0 headed into halftime.
The second half brought similar trends for both teams, and played out in almost the exact same way. Freshman Mary Chew increased the Ducks’ lead to two with roughly five minutes remaining in the game, sealing the deal for Stevens. Chew lofted a shot from 22 yards away over the outstretched arms of White.
While the Red Hawks continued to fight from behind for the duration of the game, trying to get back into the contest, their efforts came up short, and at the end of regulation, the RPI women dropped the contest by a final score of 2-0.
On the day, Rensselaer was outshot 22-1, tallied zero corner kicks, and committed six fouls. White made three saves in goal for RPI. Sophomore Sherri Rosenburg and freshman Jenn Pontier split time in goal for the Ducks, but neither recorded a save.
The Red Hawks returned to action on Sunday versus the Vikings of North Park, and this time it was RPI who drew first blood, learning from its mistakes in the previous match-up.
Just over eight minutes into the contest, junior Judy Kastner received a pass from senior Sarah Briggs and found the back of the net for the score. Five minutes later, Kastner struck again, scoring from the end line. Just like that, RPI had a two-goal advantage. However, the Vikings made it a 2-1 ball game when sophomore Amanda Walden scored at the 24:51 mark, which ultimately would be the score headed into the intermission.
Briggs gave the Red Hawks some insurance early in the second half after tapping in a pass from Kastner to make it a 3-1 lead. That spark would set the tone for the rest of the game, and from there on it was all RPI in terms of scoring.
Kastner added her third goal on an unassisted shot that slid under the goalie at the 53:26 mark. Sophomore Heather Lautman then capped off the scoring with a goal from the left wing off a pass from junior Sarah Hinz, and the Red Hawks went on to win by a final score of 5-1.
White made five saves for RPI in 66:22 minutes of play. Sophomore Caitlin Burns stopped one shot in the game’s remaining duration. Sophomore Ashley Wagner had seven saves for North Park. The key for the Red Hawks was the reversal in offensive intensity from their previous game. This time, they dominated the offensive end of the field, outshooting their opponent 25-8.
The RPI women are now 3-1-1 on the season. This coming week rounds out the Red Hawks current road trip, when they take on Springfield College at 3:30 pm on Saturday. From there, Rensselaer will begin league play, returning home to Harkness Field for match-ups with St. Lawrence University and Clarkson University on back-to-back days.
