Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – William Smith tallied two first half goals and held on for a 2-1 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Liberty League field hockey action at Harkness Field. With the win, the ninth-ranked Herons improve to 10-1 overall, including nine straight victories, and remain undefeated in league play at 4-0. The Red Hawks, who saw their four game winning streak snapped, fall to 6-5 with a 3-1 Liberty League record.

The Herons got on the board mid-way through the first half on senior Sophie Dennis’s (Port Byron, NY/Dana L. West) team-leading 18th goal of the season. Classmate Liz Saucier (Old Town, ME/Old Town) corralled the ball off a corner before passing it back to Dennis, who put it by Rensselaer goalie Liz Szewczak (Enfield, CT/Enrico Fermi) at the 18:51 mark.

William Smith grabbed a two-goal advantage less than ten minutes later on a goal by junior Brittney Paye (Clinton, NY/Clinton). Off a Dennis corner, Paye found the ball amongst a sea of players and sent it past the reach of Szewczak for the goal at 26:23.

Rensselaer answered near the end of the half when junior Michelle Clemente (Rensselaer, NY/Columbia) battled past several Herons for the tally. Streaking up the field, Clemente found the ball off a teammates stick and navigated around the goaltender for the goal from close range.

The Herons and Red Hawks both had chances to score in the second half, but solid play of both goaltenders kept the score at 2-1.

Sophomore Katie DeKraker (Wesport, CT/Staples) posted one save in the win for the Herons, while Szewczak made six stops in the loss for Rensselaer.

The Red Hawks return to action on Saturday afternoon when they host league-rival Rochester (1pm). William Smith travels to Poughkeepsie for a league game at Vassar (1pm).