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TROY, N.Y. – Junior Emily Eastman scored the first two goals of her collegiate career to lead the 21st-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's soccer team to a 3-0 victory over Castleton State, this evening at East Campus Stadium. With the win, the Engineers improve to 4-1 on the season, while the Spartans drop to 3-3.

An own goal by Castleton State opened the scoring in the ninth minute, as a cross from the right flank by RPI senior Sara Rothschild (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) was inadvertently redirected into the net by a Spartans defender.

The Engineers continued to press at the offensive end, which led to Eastman's (Lagrangeville, NY/Arlington) first tally of the game, in the 35th minute. Classmate Sandy Kirk (Houston, TX/Clear Lake) delivered a ball in from the left that Eastman settled and calm struck into the top left corner of the net for a 2-0 lead.

Rensselaer made it 3-0 eight minutes later, when Eastman buried a service from freshman Ali Zumpetta (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) off the underside of the crossbar and in. The Engineers took an 11-2 shots advantage into halftime, as well as a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.

Neither side created much in the way of scoring chances in the second half, as Rensselaer's defense surrendered just six total shots in the contest, including just one on goal. RPI freshman goalkeeper Alex Scholz (Kapolei, HI/Punahou) stopped the only shot faced to improve to 3-0, while senior Steph Vargas (Fogelsville, PA/Allentown Central Catholic) was not challenged in the final 23 minutes.

Castleton freshman forward Nicole Wershoven (Southington, CT/Southington) recorded the lone shot for the visitors, while fellow rookie Jessica Binkowski (Goshen, CT/Wamogo Regional) notched six saves between the sticks.

The Engineers hit the road for three straight games, beginning on Thursday, when they travel to NYU for a non-league contest (7pm). Castleton State hosts Norwich on Thursday (7pm).