Box Score Watch (RPI TV)

TROY, N.Y. - Julia Simmons scored three second half goals to lead No. 11 William Smith College to a 4-2 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in a Liberty League field hockey game at Renwyck Field. The Herons remain in first place in the league standings with a 5-0 mark. They are 12-2 overall. RPI falls to 7-6 and 3-2 but are still in fourth place.

The Engineers opened the scoring 11:59 into the contest when senior Alissa Peterson (Gaithersburg, MD/Quince Orchard) scored off a pass from classmate Holly Dupuis (Brookfield, MA/Worcester Academy) to finish a counter-attack. For Peterson, the goal was her eighth of the season.

The Herons tied the score at 23:48 when senior Annie Kietzman (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow) directed in a pass from Melanie O'Connor (Stockholm, NJ/Pope John XXIII) into the back of the cage.

The visitors held a 12-2 advantage in first half shots and a 6-3 edge in penalty corners.

Simmons (Littleton, CO/Colorado Academy) put the visitors in front when she picked up a loose ball and scored at 43:49. She made it 4-1 when she scored back-to-back goals just 1:35 apart. Simmons scored her sixth of the season when she deflected in a Caitlin Moran (Garwood, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson) attempt at 52:03. Simmons then put a shot on goal that Engineers sophomore keeper Hannah Clough (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxborough Regional) reached but could not get enough of it to stop it from going over the goal line.

Rensselaer pulled to within two goals, 4-2, when Dupuis notched her sixth of the season off a rebound at the 62:38 mark. The Engineers sustained pressure following their second goal, at one point earning six straight penalty corners, but they could not score again.

Sophomore Catherine Hare (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook) earned the win by stopping three shots for William Smith, which had a 22-12 edge in shots. Clough finished with 12 saves for the Engineers.

Rensselaer is right back in action on Saturday afternoon at 1pm against league foe, and 20th-ranked University of Rochester. William Smith travels to Vassar College for a league contest that begins at 2pm.