The women’s lacrosse team took the field twice this week, looking to snap a three-game losing streak. The undefeated Rochester Yellowjackets were up first for the Red Hawks.
Both the teams and the fans had to battle the cold, biting wind, which caused several errant passes and wild shots. Rochester took control of the game early; the Yellowjackets scored the first six goals of the match, shooting high, low, and often on Red Hawk goalie Megan Gaul. Despite several good saves, the Rochester offense ran all over the Rensselaer defense, making sharp passes around the defenders to find the net. The cold weather was affecting the Red Hawks offense, and the Yellowjackets intercepted several passes and outran the offense to control the pace of the first half.
The second half looked much better for the Red Hawks. Although already down 13-1, Rensselaer got some offense going, though not enough to catch Rochester. Kim Yates found the goal twice in two minutes, and Ann Larsen added her second goal of the game, but the Red Hawks fell by a score of 18-5. The win boosted the Yellowjackets to 4-0 in the young season, and dropped the Red Hawks to 1-4.
On Tuesday night, Rensselaer hosted Vassar and finally broke their losing streak, taking down the Brewers by a score of 9-3.
Rensselaer opened up a 4-1 lead by halftime. Vassar closed the gap to a single goal early in the second period, but RPI rattled off five unanswered goals to wrap up their second win of the season.
The Red Hawks’ homestand continues this weekend with games against St. John Fisher at 4 pm on Friday and Nazareth at 3 pm on Saturday.
