For the beginning of Saturday’s game, the field hockey team didn’t seem to be playing with their usual amount of energy, especially when compared to the energy of the Rochester Yellowjackets. For a lot of the first half RPI just didn’t seem to have their usual control, and play was focused around the RPI goal. Any forays into the territory around the Yellowjacket goal seemed to be orchestrated by one person, with the rest of the team left behind. Still, the defense was playing strongly and managed to stymie any Yellowjacket shots on the goal.
About ten minutes into the game, the Red Hawks really seemed to come to life. The ball managed to get ahead of the RPI offense and the team was getting closer to the goal and posing more of a threat to the Yellowjackets. With 4:55 left in the half, Jessica Pearson scored the first goal of the game on an assist by Katie Baratta. The last two minutes of play in the half were marked by some frantic play on the part of the Yellowjackets.
The Red Hawks came out shooting in the second half, with a lot of hard time spent around the Yellowjacket goal, but nothing came of the multiple attempts on the goal, as the Yellowjackets offered up some pretty stiff defense. The Yellowjackets then called a time- out and came back strong, putting pressure down around the RPI goal. They still didn’t manage to score, even when the RPI goalie was on the ground.
RPI started playing with a lot more energy, and at 8:59 Sondra Sherman scored a goal off of a clear breakaway. Sherman scored again with 5:16 left in the game off of a neat pass from Jessica Butler, closing out the scoring for the game.
Friday’s game against the William Smith was much the same story as Saturday’s. The scoring was started at 3:00 with an unassisted goal by Jessica Butler. The Herons later responded with a goal by Neely Wakeman at 11:22. The scoring was closed out for the half when Butler scored another unassisted goal at 20:11. The second half heard only one goal by Mary Roy at 11:45, leaving the scoring at 3-1, RPI.
The weekend put the Red Hawks at 5-2, 1-0 UCAA for the season. They play again on October 5 at Oswego.
