This past weekend the women’s lacrosse team opened their UCAA season with games against Skidmore and Union. In the first, the Red Hawks opened a large lead and then held on. In the Union game, the two teams battled back and forth before Goalie Ann Larsen stopped a free position shot with 4.4 seconds left, securing another UCAA victory.
Against Skidmore, the scoring started early when Attacker Emilie Wangerman found the back of the net just 29 seconds into the contest. She followed with another score just five minutes later. The Red Hawks would add 3 more goals before the half to build a 5-0 lead.
The second half started in much the same manner as midfielders Kim Yates and Julia Geer each scored to make it 7-0 in favor of RPI.
After being held scoreless, the Thoroughbreds finally managed a couple of scores. Fortunately, Geer answered each Skidmore goal with one of her own.
Following Geer’s final score at 17:59—which made it 9-2 RPI—Skidmore reeled off 4 straight goals, but would get no closer as they were held scoreless for the final 9:50 of the game.
Geer finished with 3 goals to lead the way for the Red Hawks. Wangerman added 2, while Attacker Erin Crocker and Defender Cater Ortolano each had a goal and an assist.
Union proved to be a much tougher foe than the Thoroughbreds.
The Dutchwomen jumped on top with 28:10 remaining in the half and kept up the pressure. Yates managed two goals to keep the Red Hawks in the game as Union kept up the offensive pressure. After Union’s Julia Davis scored with 12:21 left in the first half, the score stood at 4-2.
The Red Hawks finally woke up when Dena Mielke put one between the pipes at 11:23. The Rensselaer explosion came when Wangerman scored at 10:55 followed by another Yates score just 28 seconds later, making it 5-4, RPI.
Both teams then went into an offensive lull before Crocker broke out for a score just before the half to give the Red Hawks a 6-4 advantage at the half.
At the start of the second half, the Dutchwomen came back to tie the score at 6 with 25:11 showing on the clock. Midfielder Mary Roy put in a score at 24:17 before Union answered at 22:54. Mielke would then net a score on an assist from Crocker just 50 seconds later.
Another lull ensued before Yates put one past the ’tender to give RPI a 2 goal lead with 14 minutes left in the match.
But Union wasn’t done. Nina Manell would score with 2:11 seconds left to cut the RPI lead to a single goal. The intensity of the game escalated in the last two minutes and became frenzied when a Union goal was disallowed with six seconds remaining. Then with 4.4 left on the clock, Ann Larsen turned back Manell’s free position shot to give the Red Hawks the win.
The Red Hawks will be on the road this weekend when they take on Rochester.
