SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's lacrosse team battled in a back-and-forth early start this afternoon, but a decisive middle stretch by Swarthmore swung momentum as the Engineers fell, 17-10, at Clothier Field.

RPI came out flying and struck first, opening the game with five unanswered goals in the opening eight minutes to grab a 5-0 lead.

Emily Speck started the scoring at 13:39 off a Kacey Pritts feed, before Abigail Couzens added an unassisted tally 30 seconds later. Pritts followed with a goal at 11:43, then set up Quinn Wollard, and Camille Stackhouse capped the surge with an unassisted finish at the midway mark of the first.

Swarthmore answered before the end of the first quarter with four straight goals, three by Kate Fox, to trim the margin to 5-4 after 15 minutes.

The Engineers briefly regained traction early in the second. Pritts converted a free-position chance at 13:13 and then assisted Beckett Houston to keep RPI in front, 7-5. Swarthmore, however, closed the half with a 5-0 run to take a 10-7 advantage into the break.

RPI continued to push in the third quarter. Couzens scored unassisted and Lila Kania finished a Pritts assist at to pull the Engineers within 11-9, but Swarthmore responded with two late goals in the period to carry a 13-9 lead into the fourth.

After Swarthmore extended the lead early in the final frame, Couzens delivered again with a man-up goal at 7:41, her third of the contest, to make it 16-10, but the hosts added the final tally late to close out the scoring.

RPI stays on the road to travel to Williams on Wednesday afternoon.