Troy, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's soccer team opened its 2022 campaign at East Campus Stadium on Thursday evening and despite controlling the play in the second half, the Engineers were unable to find the back of the net and dropped a non-conference match 2-0 to Oneonta.
 
The Red Dragons' Robin Confer (Chenango Forks, NY) opened the scoring at the 36:03 mark of the first half with a top corner strike from 30 yards out over the outstretched arms of Engineers' goalkeeper Megan Wampner (Plano, TX / Ursuline Academy of Dallas).  
 
RPI's best scoring opportunity of the opening half came with just under a minute to play when Hannah Krieg (Park City, UT / Park City) slipped a perfectly weighted ball in behind the Oneonta defense to Sonya Heldman (South Burlington, VT / South Burlington). Heldman tucked the ball just inside the far right post from a tough angle, but was ruled offside. 
 
Oneonta outshot the Engineers 8-1 in the first 45 minutes, but RPI controlled the possession for much of the half. 
 
Rensselaer came out of the halftime break strong and generated multiple scoring chances in the opening minutes. Veronica Martinez de Pinillos (San Diego, CA / Cathedral Catholic) got on the end of a bouncing ball in front of goal, but Oneonta goalkeeper Claire Lepper (Poland, NY) came out and made a tough save through a collision with Martinez de Pinillos to keep the score at 1-0 in favor of the visitors.  
 
At the 31:15 mark, Gwen Barnes (Hooksett, NH / Londonderry) got in behind on the right flank and faced up her defender on the endline to drop a pass to a streaking Sarah Sedlacek (Belchertown, MA / Belchertown). Sedlacek had a left-footed attempt blocked by an Oneonta defender just inside the corner of the 6-yard box. 
 
The Engineers had another goal erased by an offside call with 20:50 left in the second half when Martinez de Pinillos made a tackle on a Red Dragons player to gain possession. She combined with Lea Michel (Arlington, MA / Arlington), who continued the ball to the penalty spot for Barnes, who was able to get a first-touch shot off that was blocked by a defender. The ball ultimately fell to the feet of Rachel Borra (Austin, TX / McNeil) and she buried a shot into the back of the net, but was ruled offside and the score stayed at 1-0. 
 
Oneonta had a solid chance to score off a scramble from a corner kick with 11 minutes to play. A Red Dragons player got a foot on a ball that was headed for the top right corner, but Mikayla Walsh (Warwick, NY / Warwick Valley) backtracked to the goal line and headed it away.  
 
After a counterattack by the Engineers, Oneonta cut off a through ball and set off on a counter of their own where Joie Tortorice (Melville, NY) floated a shot from about 25 yards in on goal. RPI goalkeeper Sierra Skelding (Cary, NC / Panther Creek), who came on for the second half, got fingertips on the shot, but the ball trickled over the line to make it a 2-0 advantage for the Red Dragons.  
 
The Engineers had few more opportunities in the final minutes, but their best chance of the night came with 8:00 left after a scramble in the box following a corner kick. Barnes wripped a shot from 10 yards out on goal, but Lepper made a diving stop to preserve her clean sheet. 
 
Oneonta finished with a 15-11 advantage in shots and an 8-3 edge in shots on goal. RPI held a 5-4 advantage in corner kicks, all of which were earned in the second half. Gwen Barnes led the Engineers with five shots, two of which were on target, while Erin Barnes (Hooksett, NH / Londonderry) generated the other RPI shot on goal. 
 
Wampner (3 saves) and Skelding (2 saves) combined for five saves while splitting the game in goal for the Engineers. On the other end, Lepper made three saves for her shutout. 
 
The Engineers (0-1) are back in action on Saturday for a 1pm non-conference match at New Paltz. Oneonta travels to Alfred for a non-league contest at 4pm.