TROY, NY – The RIT (8-5, 3-3 Liberty League) women's lacrosse team went on the road Friday afternoon to face No. 18 Rensselaer, falling to the Engineers 18-9 in Liberty League action.
Shots were 34-25 in favor of Rensselaer, while ground balls were 22-17 in favor of the Engineers. The Tigers won nine draw controls, and were 1-for-7 on free position attempts.
Junior #
Ashleigh Caruso (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) led RIT with three goals. (Silver Spring, MD/Our Lady of Good Counsel)Loren Azlein (Cleveland, OH/Gilmour Academy) and
Shelby Vakiener (Fairport, NY/Fairport)# each tallied two goals, #
Sage Sarkis (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima)# had a goal and three assists, and #
Corrina Mandell (Corning, NY/Corning East) had a goal and an assist. (Silver Spring, MD/Our Lady of Good Counsel)Katelyn Crane (Palmyra, NY/Palmyra-Macedon)# took the loss in net, making six saves.
The first half saw RIT take a 3-2 lead at the 9:55 mark on a free position goal by Azlein, who scored two first-half goals for the Tigers.
RPI answered with four straight goals, taking a 6-3 lead on a goal by Jamie Wakefield at 10:54.
Caruso broke the Engineers run on her 19th goal of the season off an assist from Sarkis at 14:33, cutting RPI's lead to 6-4. Caruso finished with two first-half goals.
Trailing 8-5 with 7:30 to play in the first half, consecutive goals by Mandell and Vakiener pulled RIT to within a goal at 8-7 at 25:12.
That would be as close as RIT would get, as Rensselaer closed out the opening half scoring three straight goals, taking an 11-7 lead into halftime.
The Engineers opened the second half with three straight goals taking a 14-7 lead on Marissa Page's free position goal with 26:46 to play in regulation.
Once again, Caruso broke the run by RPI, tallying her 21st goal of the season and third of the contest at 6:32 of the second half off an assist from Sarkis, cutting RPI's lead to 14-8.
Consecutive goals by Michelle Denny, Jamie Wakefield, Audrey Stapleton and Rachel Scofield put the game away, giving RPI an 18-8 lead late in the second half.
Vakiner tallied her 52nd goal of the year on the assist from Sarkis with 1:10 to play to make it an 18-9 final.
RIT looks to rebound on Saturday, April 20 when the Tigers face Skidmore College at 2 pm in Saratoga Springs, NY.
