Box Score Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Sophomore Meg Colitz tallied a game-best five goals to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's lacrosse team to a 14-5 victory over Western New England University in its season opener.  The Engineers, who saw four players score, are now 1-0, while the Golden Bears slip to 1-2 on the season.
 
The Engineers came out firing in the opening stanza as sophomore Rachel Scofield (Albany, NY/South Colonie) scored at the 26:07 mark off a feed from classmate Julia Wright (Bedford, NH/Bishop Guertin).
 
Less than a minute later, Rensselaer continued to roll as sophomore Meg Colitz (East Greenwich, RI/LaSalle Academy) netted her first on a free position shot and a 2-0 lead.  Junior Shannon Maguire (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) made it a three-goal lead with a nice individual effort, crossing behind the net for an off-angle shot at 23:36.
 
Western New England finally broke onto the scoreboard at 13:24 after the Engineers were penalized for an early substitution. Senior Megan Doyle (Putnam Valley, NY/Mahopac) was given the ball about 25-yard line.  Going one-on-one with RPI netminder Allie Arnal (Lakewood, NY/Phillips Exeter Academy), she raced around her and fired it into the empty net to make it a 3-1 game.
 
Back-to-back goals by Colitz came late in the half, one coming off a solid interception on a Golden Bears clear to make it a 6-1 lead for RPI at halftime.
 
The opening of the second half belonged to the Engineers as Scofield and Maguire each tallied in the first four minutes to make it an 8-1 game at the 26:33 mark.
 
Western New England answered less than a minute later as junior Jilliam Saley (Stratford, CT/Bunnell) fired one in on the free position to cut the lead and senior Katie Toomy (Northborough, MA/Algonquin Regional) closed the gap further at 23:50 to make it an 8-3 game.
 
Rensselaer took control following the goal, building up to a 12-3 lead, including the fourth and fifth goals of the game by Colitz, with 5:47 left in the contest.
 
The Golden Bears made things interesting late as senior Liz McRoberts (Bourne, MA/Bourne) connected off a pass from Toomy at 5:08.  Sophomore Michelle Denny (Lusby, MD/Patuxent) pushed it back to a nine-goal lead, but Toomy struck back firing off a short spin at the goal line past Arnal.
 
Another goal from Denny closed out the scoring with 1:27 remaining for the Engineers, who held a narrow 27-21 advantage in shots. 
 
In addition to Colitz, RPI saw Scofield tally four goals, while Maguire added three.  Arnal picked up the victory, stopping nine shots in goal.
 
For Western New England, Toomy had two goals and an assist to lead the charge.  In goal, rookie Emily Castleman (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug Regional) shouldered the loss and stopped four shots over 36:10.  Classmate Melissa Perry (Somers, CT/Somers) played in relief, making one save.
 
The Engineers return to the field on Monday when they play Ohio Wesleyan at 2pm in West Palm Beach, Fla.  Western New England is back on the field on Saturday, hosting Smith at 1pm.