ITHACA, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women’s lacrosse team traded punches early with Ithaca this afternoon, but the Bombers’ second-quarter surge proved decisive in a 20-8 setback at Higgins Stadium.
RPI was led by a pair of two-goal performances from Beckett Houston, Ava Gilardone, and Quinn Wollard, while Audrey Silverman and Adelaide Hughes rounded out the scoring with one goal apiece. Kacey Pritts anchored the playmaking with a team-high four assists, and RPI went a perfect 16-for-16 on clears.
The Engineers came out sharp and struck first, as Houston opened the scoring with an unassisted finish. Ithaca answered with four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead, but RPI steadied quickly and closed the opening quarter with three consecutive tallies to pull even, 4-4, after 15 minutes. Wollard scored twice off feeds from Pritts, and Hughes capped the run with an unassisted marker in the final minute of the period…