ONEONTA, N.Y. - The Oneonta women's lacrosse team fell in a 15-4 decision to RPI to open the season on Wednesday afternoon. The Engineers move to 2-0, while the Red Dragons fall to 0-1.
RPI shutout Oneonta 5-0 in the first quarter with two goals from Ella Graff. The Red Dragons got on the board early in the second, with senior Elizabeth Doherty (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) netting a goal at 12:26 to cut the lead to 5-1. The engineers answered with five consecutive goals. After junior Lindsey Townes (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) won a draw control with under 16 seconds in the half, senior Ellie Downey (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) scored to make it 10-2 heading into the break.
Doherty caused a turnover after RPI won the opening draw control in the third quarter. The ball returned to her, and she slipped through the Engineers' defense to score at 13:05.
Graff scored on a free position at 10:31 and added goals from Lisa Boehmer, Quinn Wollard, and Lauren DeLeo to head into the fourth up 14-3.
Doherty recorded a hat trick at 5:51, scoring off a pass from Townes. A final goal from RPI's Kira Abdelsayed secured the victory.
Doherty finished with three goals and caused one turnover. Downey added a goal with a ground ball. Senior Cassidy Moore (Hampton Bays, NY/Hampton Bays) won five draw controls.
Graff finished with a game-high five goals, while Abdelsayed scored three. DeLeo added two goals and won six draw controls.
Senior Julia Hawkins (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) made ten saves in goal, while Jenny Canfield had eight for RPI.
Oneonta next plays at Rochester on Sat. Mar. 1 at 1 p.m.
