The women’s soccer team notched three more shutouts in the past week, running their season-opening winning streak to the sensational figure of eight games.
Friday’s game against Clarkson was the Susan Gonyea show—the junior forward picked up four goals as the Red Hawks coasted to an easy 6-0 victory over the Golden Knights.
Gonyea beat Clarkson Goalie Shaina Bellis just three minutes into the game when Bellis came too far out of the goal to defend another threat. A quick pass from senior Heather Bauby allowed Gonyea to pick up the goal. Forward Anne Drames booted a 40-yarder to make the Red Hawk lead 2-0 at the half.
The barrage continued in the second half. Gonyea again got things underway with an unassisted goal four minutes into the period. She also picked up the next two goals, on a corner kick from Captain Amanda Gyllstrom and one on another pass from Bauby. Freshman Kimberly Hein closed out the scoring with a late goal, her third of the year.
The Red Hawks suffered a major setback early in Saturday’s game versus St. Lawrence when Gonyea went down with a severely sprained ankle. Head Coach Aldo Nardiello estimates that she may be available for Tuesday’s game against Vassar but will not press if there is any chance of further injury.
The loss of Gonyea seemed to put a temporary damper on the prodigious Red Hawk offense, and the remainder of the first half went by with neither side picking up a goal.
Rensselaer quickly picked things up in the second half, though, when Forward Laura Feeney beat two Saints to put the Red Hawks on the board. RPI also added two goals in the last minute of the match, one by Gyllstrom off of a corner kick and another by Kristy Nachman off of a Bauby header.
RPI’s 11 shots in this game gave them a total of 41 against the North Country teams for the weekend, and the defense was stellar, allowing the opponents very few scoring opportunities.
Tuesday night, the Red Hawks blew out the Blue Knights of Mt. Saint Mary, 9-0. Details of that match were not available at the time of publication.
Andrea Hamill was in goal for the Red Hawks for all three games, and her denial of all opposing shots earned her UCAA Defender of the Week honors.
The Red Hawks have now shut out six of their eight opponents this season, and have outscored their opponents by an astounding 46 goals to three. Rensselaer is ranked fifth in the latest regional poll.
Three of the team’s next four games are on the road, starting on Friday at Keuka. The Red Hawks then finish out their season with three home games over the course of three days, ending on October 18 against conference rival William Smith, who is ranked first in the New York region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
