Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – Hamilton College clinched its second consecutive Liberty League regular season title with a 16-3 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in women’s lacrosse action this afternoon. Behind goals from seven different scorers, the fifth-ranked Continentals improved to 14-1 overall and a perfect 7-0 in conference play. The Red Hawks fall to 7-6 and 2-5 in the Liberty League.

Despite jumping out to an early 1-0 lead on a goal by freshman Stephanie Caouette (Wynantskill, NY/Columbia), the Red Hawks were unable to hold off the Hamilton offense as it scored seven consecutive goals for a 7-1 lead with 6:31 remaining. Sophomore Liz Rave (Huntington, NY/Huntington) scored the Continentals first two tallies while junior Kaillie Briscoe (Orangeville, ON/Orangeville District) had four assists.

RPI pulled to within five (7-2) on a goal by junior Carly Mahony (Topsfield, MA/Masconomet Regional), but Hamilton scored with just under three minutes remaining to take an 8-2 lead into halftime.

The Continentals continued to press in the second half as six different scorers, led by three goals from senior Jen McGowan (Jericho, VT/Mount Mansfield Union) tallied to give the visitors a commanding lead. McGowan opened the scoring at 27:29 and Hamilton rattled off four straight (12-2) before Rensselaer’s Kerri Clark (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs) scored at 13:12 to make it a 12-3 game.

Freshman Sarah Bray (Rockville, MD/Connelly School Holy Child) gave Hamilton its ten-goal differential once again (13-3), scoring less than a minute after the RPI goal and the Continentals added three more for the final margin.

Hamilton held the favor in a number of categories, including shots, 40-7. Capitalizing on a number of RPI turnovers, the Continentals held strong on the ball, committing just seven turnovers of their own in the game. The Red Hawks did gain an 11-10 advantage in draw controls, including an 8-3 differential in the first half.

Leading the way for the Continentals in goals was McGowan, Rave, freshman Sarah Bray (Rockville, MD/Connelly School Holy Child) and junior Kate Marek (Alexandria, VA/The Gunnery), who all had three tallies each. Briscoe led all game scorers with five points on five assists.

Sophomore netminder Kate Fowler (Branford, CT/Wilton) improved to 13-1 in the Hamilton cage after stopping three shots. Her counterpart, sophomore Ariana Hood (Severn, MD/Old Mill) shouldered the loss, falling to 7-3 on the season after posting 12 saves.

Rensselaer closes out its regular season schedule tomorrow afternoon when it hosts Rochester at 2pm. The Continentals head to Poughkeepsie on Saturday to take on Vassar (3pm).