TROY, N.Y. – Sophomore Michelle Bolger recorded six points to pace the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's lacrosse team to an 18-3 victory over Bard College, on Friday afternoon at Renwyck Field. With the win, the Engineers improve to 5-8 overall (3-4 Liberty League), while the Raptors drop to 4-7 (0-6 Liberty League).

Bolger (Williston, VT/Rice Memorial) collected five of her career-high six points in the first half, netting two of RPI's first three goals for an early 3-1 lead.

After Bard freshman Caleigh DeCaprio (Islip, NY/Islip) cut the deficit to 3-2, the Engineers closed out the half on a 6-1 run, including the final four goals of the stanza, for a 9-3 lead at the break. Rensselaer held a 22-9 advantage in shots after 30 minutes, as well as a 14-8 edge in ground balls.

RPI scored four goals in the opening 10 minutes of the second half to take a 13-3 lead with 20:54 to play. Junior Morgan Doyle (Syracuse, NY/Corcoran) had two of them, while Bolger picked up her lone point of the second – an assist – on Doyle's second tally.

Man-up goals from freshman Nicole Zimmer (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango) and Doyle, less than three minutes apart, pushed the RPI lead to 15-3, before sophomore Ellie Henn (Woodbridge, CT/Amity Regional) scored her first goal of the year.

Senior Allie Claroni (Reading, MA/Reading Memorial) closed out the scoring with two tallies in the final three minutes.

Twelve different players recorded points for RPI, including eight different goal scorers. Bolger, Doyle and Claroni all finished with four goals apiece, while freshman Shyla Niemann (Saint James, NY/Smithtown East) had two goals and an assist, including her first collegiate tally.

Sophomore goaltender Aleena Milinski (Beaver Falls, PA/Blackhawk) made four saves for the win, while playing the opening 30 minutes. Classmate Rebecca Wilen (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) had two stops in 25 minutes, before freshman Maya Manchester (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) turned away the shot she faced.

Bard was led by sophomore captain Nicole Ellin (Franklin, MA/Franklin), who had two goals on two shots, with one ground ball and a team-high five draw controls. He went 1 for 1 on free position attempts.

The Engineers are back in action tomorrow afternoon for their Senior Day game against Vassar (2pm). Bard visits Skidmore tomorrow (2pm).