For the field hockey team, this past week was all about adjustments. For Head Coach Bridget Lanoir, it was about getting the players to harness their emotions effectively. For the players, it involved solving the problems that other teams posed for them. The freshmen kept adjusting to the college game; the quicker passes, sharper skill plays, and increased intensity.
While some adjustments were more successful than others, the results speak for themselves. The team soundly defeated the Hartwick Hawks 3-1 on Wednesday, September 7, and squeaked past the Blue Knights of SUNY Geneseo in overtime, 2-1, on Saturday.
The story of the first game was Kristina Baker. The freshman scored two goals in the second half to propel the Red Hawks’ come-from-behind effort. “It was pretty exciting,” said Baker.
Hartwick took the 1-0 lead 16:52 into the first half, when a scramble in front of the net culminated in a goal by freshman Kate Hedaka. While Hartwick had much of the early momentum, RPI was able to start dictating the game’s flow as the first half ended.
This momentum carried over early into the second half, when Baker and the rest of the Red Hawks’ offense took control. Baker’s first goal came off a cross from senior Patty Rodziewicz at the end of a fast-developing offensive rush. The second goal trickled past the defense and goalie Ashley King to give RPI the lead.
Freshman Lisa Pak added an insurance goal late in the second half, and senior goalie Amanda Lund turned aside six shots.
Lund spoke highly of the the freshmen. “They have a lot of aggression on that front line, a lot of movement, and great stick skills,” she said.
The adjustments the team made over the course of the game were the key to victory, Lanoir said. “We started to panic a little bit at the beginning of the game, and with the amount of pressure they were giving us, we weren’t really sure what to do, and we weren’t really thinking and planning. But the more we expected what they were giving us to continue, we were really able to better approach the play,” she stated.
The team looked to transfer its momentum into Saturday’s game, but found the going a little tougher. In a game that featured fast-paced transitions in the middle of the field but muddled action at the ends, sophomore Sarah Merlin scored both goals for Rensselaer, and junior goalies Jen O’Neil and Liz Szewczak combined to turn aside two shots.
Merlin’s first goal, from the left side, came on a cross from Pak shortly after the second half began. Geneseo tied things up just two minutes later, when Karen Garnish got a stick on the ball in a scrum in front of the net. Geneseo almost took the lead on a penalty corner shortly afterward, but the ball trickled out of bounds, past the left post.
In the overtime, where fewer players are on the field at once, RPI took advantage of the extra open space. Pak found Merlin on a long-distance pass that eked by several Blue Knights players. Merlin beat the defense and scored on the breakaway, sealing the game.
“Whether the receiver was unintended or not, it got out there, and she did a good job to put it away,” said Lanoir. “For Sarah Merlin to knock up two goals for the day, it couldn’t have come at a better time.”
The Red Hawks, with a perfect record at stake, will face off against the Red Dragons of SUNY Oneonta on Thursday, under the lights (7 pm) at Harkness Field.
