Wednesday’s face-off against the Hartwick Hawks remained fierce through the last two minutes of play, when Hawk senior Jullian Hughes tallied to break the scoreless tie on a breakaway. RPI held an advantage in both shots (11-6) and penalty corners (9-3) in the narrow loss.

“Our game last week at Hartwick was a hard fought game,” said Head Coach Bridget LaNoir. “During the first half of the game we didn’t play at a level we’re capable of playing. During the second half we settled down and played a more relaxed, finesse passing game. However, we allowed Hartwick to stay in the game by not scoring when we had opportunities in our offensive circle and when we were awarded corners.”

The Red Hawks came out strong in Saturday’s game against the No. 8 ranked SUNY Cortland Red Dragons. Junior Kristiina Baker put RPI on the board within the first 10 minutes of play. She plucked the ball out of a scramble in front of the net and was able to send it past senior goalie Stacy Billings. The mark was Baker’s second of the season. “We knew Cortland would be a tougher opponent than Hartwick and that we may see fewer offensive chances so it was important to make the most of the chances we created,” said LaNoir.

Nine minutes later, Cortland came back with its sole goal of the game when sophomore forward Brenda Semit finished a deflected pass from teammate junior Kylie Burgharat into an empty net. The game remained tied at one until 50:26, when RPI junior midfielder Meghan McNamara scored the game-winner off a rebound by freshman Morgan Danner.

Freshman Red Hawk goaltender Briana Earle earned the win with four saves and is now 2-2 on the year.

“The next couple games for us will be big as we look to take advantage of the momentum from this past weekend,” said LaNoir. “This week is our last week before we start up league play at home on Friday, September 26.”