The RPI women’s lacrosse team took the field twice this week as it looked to improve upon a difficult string of losses. The first game took place on Tuesday at home on Harkness Field where Rensselaer battled Hartwick College.
The Red Hawks got off to a nice start versus the Hartwick Hawks, similar to previous games. Two free-position goals from freshman Kerri Clark and sophomore Morgan Wahl gave RPI the early 2-0 lead. RPI’s troubles, however, have been closing out contests.
Hartwick would respond with its first score before Rensselaer was able to put up two additional goals, but the momentum would shift in favor of the visiting Hawks. Hartwick went on a 5-0 run, giving them a 7-5 lead and an overall advantage going in to the half.
The frustration, unfortunately, would start right back up again when play resumed. Hartwick netted four shots to open the second half increasing the lead to six with the score being 11-5.
Showing bite, RPI soared back scoring four straight goals of its own. Sophomore Natalie White, who has been hot, scored two, narrowing the deficit to two.
Hartwick sophomore Kelsey Campbell, who was active in the first half, would increase her team’s lead, scoring three times in a six-goal span for the Hawks and bumping the margin back up to 17-9.
The Red Hawks, who found themselves in a significant hole, fought back late with four scores, two from senior Kate Phillips, making the score 17-13. As is true of many comebacks, however, RPI spent the majority of its energy closing the gap, and in the end, the Red Hawks came up just short.
“This loss was a disappointment, and our confidence as a team and for our individual players was low … This was evident in our inability to string together the fundamental skills throughout the game,” Head Coach Leslie Khachadourian said of her team’s frustrating loss.
Sunday, the women were back in action as they took on Vassar. Senior Rebecca Primm, following through on recent trends, gave the Red Hawks the early advantage, scoring the first goal. Phillips, who really was the story on this day with six goals, scored her first three in the first half and helped Rensselaer take a 10-8 lead into the break.
To open the second half, it was the Red Hawks who came out with a fire lit under them, as they were able to put together a string of five consecutive scores, and increased their lead to 15-9. The women would add four more, which was enough insurance to hold off a late Vassar rally. The final score stood at 19-11, as the Red Hawks were able to snap a six-game losing streak.
While Phillips led the way with six goals, White had four of her own, and Clark added two scores and five assists. Primm and sophomore Carly Strife each had two goals and two assists, and freshman Gianna Casale played solid defense in the cage with seven saves.
“We recognized we couldn’t rely on a series of wins to motivate us, so we went back to the basics of finding success in small doses. The effort was put into play as a single-unit team … They rallied around each other in the practices before the game,” said Khachadourian. She would add, “It was fun to watch and fun to play. We clicked on all cylinders … every single athlete found a way to contribute.”
The win was a nice way to close out the week for the Red Hawks. The keys for RPI included scoring the first two goals of each half, limiting Vassar to a two-goal run at any one time, winning 75 percent of the draws, and causing more turnovers.
Rensselaer will be back in action next weekend, taking on St. Lawrence on Friday and Clarkson on Saturday; both games are on the road. The Red Hawks will look to start a new streak and build off the success in their previous game.
