This past Wednesday, the women’s soccer team hit the pitch for one of the last times this season as it traveled to Hartwick College to faceoff against the Hawks. RPI, which now sits 6-7-0 on the season, lost the match by a score of 3-1, while Hartwick improved to 4-8-2 on the year. Leading the way for the Hawks was junior forward Lauren Ploof, who tallied two of the team’s three goals. Both were assisted by sophomore Marisa Stuen.
Within the opening four minutes of play, the Red Hawks struck for the one and only time that evening, as junior Briana Bet netted her fifth goal of the season. Bet’s goal, from 16 yards out on the left side, was unassisted.
Less than four minutes later, the Hawks came back to tie it up with Ploof’s first goal of the game, off the left side near the 18-yard box with a crisp pass from Stuen. Hartwick would net the eventual game-winner within the next 12 minutes with a goal by senior Brittany Pine. Following a corner kick, classmate Gina Troy played the ball back to Pine, whose shot was initially stopped by RPI sophomore goaltender Meghan White, but trickled into the net due to a mishandling.
Ploof’s final goal of the game came late in the second half with less than 20 seconds remaining, as she grabbed a missed shot by senior Judy Kastner and bolted up the field for the breakaway goal.
White made four saves on the evening, while Hartwick’s senior Ashley Taylor made 10 saves in the win.
The Red Hawks faced many scoring chances in the second half. Freshman Alexandra Fontanetta played a corner kick to classmate Catherine Harvey, whose header was deflected off the crossbar by Taylor. The rebound led to a scramble in front of the net, but Kastner, who was there for the shot, was denied by Taylor.
Kastner had two additional chances on the evening, including a shot cleared by Hartwick sophomore Erin McSherry, as well as a sliding shot from six yards out that was blanked by Taylor. On the night, Kastner led the team in shots with six, out of the Red Hawks’ total of 16.
The women’s soccer team closes out its year on the road, with two games remaining in regular season play. Saturday afternoon, the team will travel to Geneva, N.Y., to face off against the William Smith College Herons, and on Sunday the players make their way to Clinton, N.Y., for a matchup against the Hamilton College Continentals. Both games begin at 2 pm. With the Liberty League Championships out of the question for this year, a pair of wins on the weekend could earn the Red Hawks a spot in the ECAC playoffs.
