TROY, N.Y. - Senior Brianna Duba had two goals and two assists and Julie Thomas scored twice as the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) field hockey team defeated Castleton University 6-2 in a non-league game at Harkness Field. The win was the third straight for the Engineers, who are now 4-2. The Spartans drop to 2-3.

Duba started the scoring just 3:41 into the contest when she collected a penalty corner insertion from Kaitlyn Stulen, dribbled to her right to avoid a defender, and fired a low shot into the left corner of the cage. The Spartans tied the score about 10 minutes later when junior Emily Harris went down the middle and flipped the ball over goalie Jen Richardson as she was coming out to make a play and into the cage. 

Delana Bonci, a senior, put the Engineers back in front when she finished a feed from Duba 2:27 into the second quarter and Thomas made it 3-1 with an unassisted goal with under two minutes left in the half. RPI held an 11-5 lead in shots at the break with a 7-1 edge in penalty corners.

Duba's second goal was also a result of a penalty corner with this one coming from a hard shot directly off a pass from Stulen, who picked up the assist. Sophomore Rachel Banister made it 5-1 at 36:47 when she took a long diagonal pass from Duba and jammed the ball into the right corner of the cage, avoiding a diving goalkeeper.

Harris scored Castleton's second goal at 2:22 of the fourth quarter but Thomas, a freshman, countered two minutes later when she swept in a loose ball.

Richardson earned the win by making one save for RPI, which finished with 26 shots (26-9 advantage) and 16 corners (16-4). Zoe Martin stopped six shots for the Spartans.

The Engineers return to the field on Sunday at Montclair State University (3pm), while Castleton plays next on Saturday against UMass Dartmouth (11am).