Box Score
Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – Union College got two goals in each half by four different scorers and went on to defeat Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 4-1, in the Liberty League regular season finale for both squads. With the win, the Dutchwomen improve to 12-3 overall and 4-3 in conference play while the Red Hawks drop to 8-8 and 3-4 in the Liberty League.

The victory assured Union the #3 seed in the upcoming Liberty League playoffs (Nov. 7-8). With the loss, the Red Hawks needed a win by William Smith over Hamilton and a Rochester win over St. Lawrence to advance to the playoffs, but got neither as both the Herons and the Yellowjackets lost.

Union struck first in the opening half as sophomore Lauren Politz (Goffstown, NH/Goffstown) scored off a rebound at 17:13. Classmate Alexandra King (Chester Springs, PA/The Shipley School) navigated the ball into the arc and sent a hard shot into traffic. RPI goalie Sarah Burcher (Lanexa, VA/Maggie L. Walker Governor's School) saved the shot but the ball trickled behind her to Politz for the wide-open goal.

The Dutchwomen pulled ahead by two less than five minutes later after sophomore Tyler Willey's (Stockton, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) shot from 10-yards out in the middle of the zone sailed through a sea of players in front for the tally at 22:57. Junior Molly Osborn (Sunderland, MA/Williston Northampton), who crossed the ball from the far side, picked up the lone assist.

In the second half, junior Lizzy Moran (Unionville, PA/Westminster School) made it a 3-0 advantage for the visiting Dutchwomen after she re-directed a shot off the stick of senior Anne Hanson (White River Jct., VT/Hartford) in on the right side at 38:32.

Rensselaer narrowed the gap to two (3-1) at the 63:33 mark after junior Shaina Feldman (Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville Area) corralled a low pass across the slot from senior Kristiina Baker (Bolton, MA/Nashoba Regional) for the tally against Union keeper Sarah Rios (Queensbury, NY/Glens Falls).

The Red Hawks tried to keep the momentum in their favor but a goal by sophomore Caroline Tulp (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxborough Regional) allowed Union to regain the three-goal advantage and cap the scoring in the game.

Union, which outshot RPI by a narrow, 15-13 margin, saw keeper Liz Stanford (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxborough Regional) record five saves for her tenth win of the season. Rios did not make any saves in 10:26 of relief.

For Rensselaer, Burcher made four saves in the loss to drop to 1-2 on the season.

Rensselaer closes out its regular season on Wednesday when it battles nationally-ranked Middlebury here at Harkness Field. Game time is set for 6pm at Harkness Field and live stats will be available at http://sidearmstats.com/rpi/fhockey/. Union wraps up its regular season schedule this weekend when they face New Paltz and Nazareth on Friday (4pm) and Sunday (1pm), respectively.