It seems like Hartwick’s Kelly Cooman has the Red Hawks’ number.
Cooman scored a pair of goals, leading the Hartwick Hawks to victory over RPI. Hartwick held the Red Hawks to just two shots in the first period—six overall—en route to a 3-0 win.
Hartwick goalies Ashley King and Jamie Loreto combined for the shutout. The Hawks’ defense played a stellar game; King was not forced to make a save in 65 minutes of work. Loreto made two saves in the final five minutes of the game to clinch the shutout.
Cooman provided the offensive spark for Harkwick, scoring at 17:21 and 54:01. Hawk forward Molly Joyce added an insurance goal.
The Red Hawks’ offense looked to bounce back in stellar fashion against the Drew Rangers Saturday, but defense proved to be the contest’s theme.
The first half started as a defensive battle, until Sondra Sherman found the net with 3:52 remaining in the first period. Despite getting out-shot 11-4 in the half, the Red Hawks took the lead into halftime, but the Rangers stormed back in the second half.
Drew made their offensive push with 8:52 left in the game. Ranger Sarah Bergmann found the net behind RPI goalkeeper Amanda Lund, with assists from Erika Nelson and Colleen Mahon.
The Rangers’ offensive surge found success again four minutes later, when Ryan Hoover scored off a feed from Mahon.
Now down 2-1, the Red Hawks needed a goal to tie. An excellent opportunity presented itself when Sherman was presented a penalty shot with one minute remaining. Sherman fired the ball past the Ranger goalie to tie the game at two.
The Red Hawks looked to take the game in overtime, but the Rangers were too much to handle. With four minutes remaining in the extra period, Hoover scored her second against RPI to take the contest 3-2.
Lund played well, despite taking the loss. She made 19 saves, including two key saves in overtime, but the Red Hawks’ offense could not manage a shot in the extra period.
Rensselaer rebounded to beat Keene State 1-0 on Tuesday night, thanks to an impressive shutout by Lund, who tallied eight saves.
However the most impressive collection was made by freshman defender Mia-Bianca Fabiano who reached behind Lund to prevent Keene State from scoring the tying goal with six minutes remaining.
Sherman scored the what proved to be the game-winner with just over 20 minutes left in the first half.
RPI will look to change their luck next week, traveling to Oneonta State Thursday, and then returning home to take on Skidmore and Union on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Friday’s contest versus the Thoroughbreds is at 3 pm, and Saturday’s game against Dutchwomen is at 1 pm.
