The Red Hawks traveled to William Smith College to take part in the 2003 UCAA Tournament over the weekend. RPI was the only school represented that was not nationally ranked. William Smith, the first seed, is currently ranked 12th, second-seeded Skidmore 10th, and third-seeded St. Lawrence 20th.
The Red Hawks faced off against the William Smith Herons Saturday in the first game of the day. William Smith has been the UCAA Champion five of the last eight years, with Skidmore taking the championship the other three years.
William Smith started the scoring with a goal from scoring-leader Sophie Dennis five minutes into the game. Only 30 seconds later, Margaret Dolan scored again for the Herons to increase their lead to two. William Smith managed two more quick goals as Dolan scored again at 18:25 and Lily Gillett scored at 18:39.
In the second half, Gillett scored once more for the Herons to wrap up the scoring for the game. William Smith won the game 5-0 to move on to the final game on Sunday. The Herons had 14 more penalty corners than the Red Hawks, and were able to out shoot Rensselaer 20-5.
In the second game on Saturday, Skidmore defeated St. Lawrence 2-1 to advance to the finals against William Smith. Skidmore needed two overtimes to defeat William Smith 2-1 on Sunday. Skidmore is moving on to the NCAA Tournament, and William Smith will be playing in the ECAC Tournament.
Freshman Andrea Flynn and sophomore Sarah Salinger were named to the All-Tournament Team this weekend. “Overall, we had a pretty good year,” Head Coach Bridget LaNoir said. With the loss to William Smith, RPI finished their season 6-11.
The team is already looking forward to next season, with all of the athletes on the current roster returning to play. They are also taking a trip to Holland and Ireland in May for 12 days, during which they will be training and playing at least five matches.
