TROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's lacrosse team has qualified for the 2019 Liberty League Tournament as the sixth seed and will travel to third seed Clarkson University on Tuesday for a First Round matchup. Opening draw is scheduled for 4pm.
Led by 16th-year head coach Leslie DeLano, the Engineers are 8-5 overall and posted a 5-5 mark in Liberty League play. RPI has scored 161 goals and allowed 145, netting 19 free position tallies and nine in man-up situations. The Engineers are scooped up 249 ground balls compared to 236 by the opposition and have 108 caused turnovers, clearing at 81.9% clip.
Individually, senior captain
Abbey Salvon has a team-high 45 points on 34 goals and 11 assists. Junior
Liz Brady (6 goals, 32 assists) is right behind her with 38 points, having set the school record for assists in season on Saturday against St. Lawrence. Seniors Michell Bolger (24 goals, 4 assists) and
Maddy Aslansan (20 goals, 7 assists) round out the top four scorers with 28 and 27 points, respectively.
Senior goalkeeper
Aleena Milinski has an 8-5 record as the starter in a 13 games for the Engineers. She has made 147 saves, with a 10.98 goals against average and a .514 save percentage. She has posted double-digit save totals nine times, including a season-high 17 in RPI's 13-8 victory at RIT on March 30.
RPI won the previous meeting with Clarkson in the Liberty League opener on March 16 in Potsdam. The Engineers used a 6-2 second half to win, 10-8. Salvon (4 goals, 1 assist), Bolger (2 goals) and Aslansan (2 goals) led the way offensively, while Milinski made 16 stops in the cage. Rensselaer is 28-1 all-time against Clarkson, including 1-0 in conference tournament play. The Golden Knights lone victory in the series came on April 22, 2016 in Troy.
The Engineers have made the postseason in two straight seasons after missing out the previous three. Also competing in this year's tournament are top-seeded William Smith an second-seeded Ithaca, who each have a bye through the first round. Fourth-seeded Skidmore hosts fifth-seeded Vassar on Tuesday in the other First Round contest.
