The Red Hawks got on the board early, scoring just over seven minutes into the contest when a centering pass near the Oneonta goal was tapped into the striking circle by Marie Grieco, where Forward Jessica Butler was waiting to fire the ball into the Red Dragons’ goal.

Less than two minutes later, RPI struck again, aided by a miscue by the opponents. An Oneonta pass went out of bounds while they were trying to advance the ball into the Rensselaer half of the field. The Red Hawks quickly moved the ball deep into Red Dragon territory, where Forward Chelsea Foley was able to feed Forward Beth McCooey for the score.

The Red Hawks maintained the pressure for the rest of the first half, with only brief spurts of life from Oneonta, but they were unable to score again until McCooey sent a blistering shot at Goalie Kelly Mohr with about six minutes to go. Mohr was able to make the save, but Foley was there to put the rebound in, giving RPI a 3-0 lead.

Oneonta came roaring back to life to open the second half, putting enormous pressure on the RPI defense—the ball left Red Hawk territory only once in the first eight minutes of the half. The Red Dragons amassed four penalty corners in that time, but got only three shots on goal, as Oneonta was stymied by Rensselaer’s stellar defensive play, with Back Katie Coleman and Cathy Hotchkiss in goal particularly standing out.

Bridget LaNoir, head coach for RPI, made several substitutions during this period, bringing fresh players off the bench in an attempt to infuse some energy into a Red Hawk team that had lost a good deal of momentum. Finally, sophomore Mary Roy was able to clear the ball out and push it deep into Oneonta’s half of the field.

The Red Hawks were then able to pick up the pace again, getting in several shots at the Oneonta goal but unable to find the back of the net. The Red Dragons, for their part, made a brief push with roughly eight minutes left in the game, but were turned away. They also managed a breakaway with about 90 seconds left, as Oneonta’s Amy Sprague took the ball down an open field, with no one between her and goalie Hotchkiss. The shot was deflected by Hotchkiss, and RPI proceeded to run out the clock.

Speed and ball control were clearly the key assets in the Red Hawks’ victory. When Oneonta did manage to move the ball up, the RPI defenders were generally able to take it away, and they frequently made it look easy. Once the Rensselaer forwards got the ball, they could press deep into the opponents’ territory simply by outrunning most of the Red Dragon forwards and midfielders. Oneonta put up the most resistance inside their own circle, where lack of speed was less of a disadvantage.

LaNoir said she was pleased with the team’s performance, noting that the players kicked off the game with a lot of energy. The halftime letdown was disappointing, she said, but is something that will pass as the season goes on. It was also understandable, she said, because of the large lead and the apparently weaker opponents.

The team faces a tougher rival today, as Hartwick comes to RPI. Foley, a junior, said that since Hartwick is a grass team and Harkness Field is turf, the Red Hawks stand a good chance of winning, but it won’t be easy.