RPI Hands Hawks Non-Conference Defeat
ONEONTA, NY – Visiting Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute scored twice inside of four minutes in the second half to break open a one-goal game in a 5-2 victory on Tuesday night on Elmore Field. The Engineers improve to 10-5-1 on the season. The Hawks fall to their second straight Liberty League opponent and slip to 7-6-1 overall.
The Engineers were spotted the lead less than 15 minutes into the game on an own goal. A driven ball from defender Stephanie May was sent into the box and a retreating ’Wick defender got a head to it but it slipped past keeper Alley Maurer (Jackson, NJ/Old Bridge) and RPI was in front.
It took less than 20 minutes for the Engineers to get an insurance marker. May would begin the play by sending a service into the Hawks’ penalty area. The ball was won on a header nodded down by Taylor Korytko which fell to Sam Lamorte who scored into an empty goal and the lead was two.
Hartwick got on the scoreboard two and a half minutes before halftime. Senior Kylie Thayer (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca) sent a free kick into the Engineers’ box which was won in the air by freshman Casey Boucher (Northbridge, MA/Northbridge). Sophomore defender Nicolette Wilson (East Meadow, NY/East Meadow) got her head on the second ball, beating goalkeeper Tory Riopelle to it. The ball was cleared by an RPI defender but not before it crossed the goal line resulting in a 2-1 game.
Rachel Tietzen would score both of the RPI goals at 47:13 and 48:50. The first was a blast from 25 yards out from Sam Lamorte. The second was off a rebound from a Korytko shot.
The Hawks answered 2:19 later as Kristen McKasty (Bohemia, NY/Connetquot) scored on a header in close. Thayer earned the assist on the corner, which is her ninth on the season and the Hawks trailed 4-2.
They would get no closer however as Tietzen finished of the night’s scoring at the 66:10 mark. She finished off a low shot to the far post for the goal.
The two teams finished even in shots with 14 apiece. Maurer made two saves in the first half. Annie Millar (Ilion, NY/Ilion) made three saves in the second half for ’Wick. Riopelle made three saves for RPI.
With two more helpers, Thayer now leads the Empire 8 in assists. She also has the second-highest single-season total in program history. She needs only one more to match Rachel Duell’s total of 10 in the 1980 season.
The Hawks are back in action on Saturday for one of their final two Empire 8 games. The Hawks travel to 17th ranked Ithaca for an 11 a.m. contest.
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