Box Score
Box Score

Castleton, Vt. - Rookie Alissa Peterson (Gaithersburg, MD) broke a 1-1 tie at the 21:06 mark of the first half and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) field hockey team scored two unanswered goals before halftime to defeat Castleton State, 6-1, at Spartan Stadium in non-conference action.  The Engineers improve to 2-8 on the season while the Spartans fall to 3-7.

RPI opened the scoring 9 minutes and 23 seconds into the contest on Peterson's first goal of the season. Hannah Kaplan (Danbury, CT) set up the goal with a nice feed from the right side of the circle. Peterson received the pass and sniped a shot into the lower left corner of the goal.

Paproski answered with her third goal of the season at the 15-minute mark to tie the game at 1-1 on a beautiful setup from teammate Courtney Nolan (Spring Lake Heights, NJ). From the right side of the circle, Nolan fed a pass directly to Paproski's stick on the left side of the cage for a point-blank goal.

Peterson tallied her second goal of the game in the 13th minute off of a corner from teammate Megan McNamara (Johnstown, NY). Peterson ripped a shot just inside the circle past goalkeeper Siobhan Whittemore (Springfield, VT) making the score, 2-1.

Sandy Turnbull (Upperville, VA) also led the Engineers' offensive attack adding two goals and an assist. Both goals came in the first half with Turnbull scoring on a nifty play at the 9 minute mark. Turnbull stick-handled through two defenders before sniping the ball into the lower left corner past Whittemore.

Castleton had its chances in the contest but could not cash in thanks to solid goaltending by Sarah Burcher (Lanexa, VA), who finished with two saves through the first 35 minutes.  Sophomore Briana Earle (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) played the second half, stopping two shots.

With 35 seconds remaining in the first half, senior forward Molly Fraher (Goshen, CT) blasted a shot from mid-range distance in the circle but Burcher made a diving save to keep the score at 4-1 in the first half.

Castleton returns to action on October 10 at 6:00 pm when the Spartans play host to Simmons in non-conference action. RPI will travel to William Smith College on October 9 for a 4:00 pm affair.