The RPI field hockey team had a chance to retain first place in the Liberty League, but fell just short.
The Red Hawks split their away weekends with Hamilton and St. Lawrence. RPI went into Friday’s contest with the Continentals tied for first place in the Liberty League with the William Smith Herons.
Sondra Sherman, RPI’s senior captain, scored off of her own rebound in double overtime to give the Red Hawks a 1-0 victory. Amanda Lund was strong in net for RPI, making six saves, five of them in the second period.
The Continental’s offense was stymied by the RPI defense. The Red Hawks led 11-9 in shots and 7-5 in shots on goal.
The Red Hawks traveled Saturday to St. Lawrence to take on the Saints. The second game of the weekend was the polar opposite of the first. The Saints’ offense could not be stopped; they led in 15-5 in shots, 13-5 in shots on goal, and 13-4 in penalty corners.
Erin Lloyd hurt the Red Hawks, scoring both goals for St. Lawrence. She scored the first goal of the game at 21:23, and added the game-winner at 43:54.
Michelle Clemente provided all the offense for the Red Hawks against the Saints. She found the back of the net at the 32:22 mark.
St. Lawrence did a great job containing the RPI scorers. They held Sherman, usually a potent offensive force, to a single shot. They also stopped both shots put on net by Emily Carroll.
Lund played a great game in net, despite getting hung with the loss. She made 11 saves, upping her league-leading saves-per-game number to 8.22. Elisa Prange also made a defensive save against the Saints, her second of the year.
The weekend split pushed the Red Hawks down to second in the league. The now first-place Herons swept their weekend set.
RPI will play a non-conference game today at Utica. They then come home to take on SUNY Brockport at 4 pm on Saturday and conference foe Nazareth Sunday at noon.
