TROY, N.Y. -Â The Oneonta women's lacrosse team fell 16-11 to RPI on Wednesday afternoon. The Red Dragons fall to 0-2 with the loss, while the Engineers move to 1-0.Â
RPI took a 2-0 lead within the first five minutes behind goals from Ella Graff and Audrey Silverman. At 8:58, junior Ellie Downey (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) netted the first Oneonta goal to cut the lead to 2-1. A yellow card on the Red Dragons led to Silverman's second goal at 8:02, and two consecutive goals from Graff pushed RPI ahead 5-1.Â
Senior Antonina Buscemi (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) caused a turnover, leading to a successful Oneonta clear attempt at 6:10. Junior Cassidy Moore (Hampton Bays, NY/Hampton Bays) passed off to senior Marissa Evans (Jamesville, NY/LaFayette) for Oneonta's second goal.Â
The Engineers scored early in the second quarter before Oneonta rattled off three consecutive goals. Moore scored at 12:41, and Downey followed with a goal at 10:11. Evan scored at 8:08 to make it 6-5. Graff scored after RPI won the ensuing draw control, but Oneonta responded with a score from Evans at 6:43. That proved to be the final goal of the half as Oneonta went into the break down 7-6.Â
Senior Paige Wilkinson (Cornwall, NY/Cornwall Central) tied 7-7 following a woman-up free position shot at 11:23. Despite the early momentum, the Engineers responded with a 5-0 run to lead 12-7. Moore chipped in one more goal before the end of the third to make it 8-12.Â
Moore carried over into the fourth and scored 32 seconds in. RPI added four unanswered goals before seniors Margaret Byrne (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) and Lauren Mancini (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) cut the lead to five with two minutes to play. Neither side scored in the final minutes as RPI held the victory.Â
Moore finished with four goals and an assist, while Evans added two goals, two assists, and four groundballs. Sophomore Megan Hannon (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Nyack High School) caused two turnovers and scooped up four groundballs. Senior Courtney Gallagher (Montrose, NY/Hendrick Hudson) made six saves in goal.
Graff scored a game-high six goals with two assists. Silverman recorded three goals and three assists, while Gabbie Valle had three goals. Emily Speck recorded seven groundballs. Goalkeeper Jenny Canfield made eight saves.Â
Oneonta next plays at Clarkson on Sat. Mar. 9 at 1 p.m.Â