SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The Skidmore College women's lacrosse team hosted Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in a key Liberty League contest and the Thoroughbreds used a five-goal third quarter to pull away in a close game and defeat the Engineers 12-7. With the victory Skidmore improves to 5-7 overall and 3-3 in the conference, while RPI is now 3-5 and 2-2.
- Rensselaer jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 57 seconds into the game, but Skidmore tied it on a Maeve McKinley marker less than a minute later.
- Trailing 4-1 following three straight goals from RPI, sophomore Grace deBenedictis got one back with 3:13 left in the first quarter.
- Senior Gabriella Modesti, the team's leading scorer, pulled the home team to within one, 4-3, off a pass from classmate Maddy Marr just 1:01 later. The assist marked Marr's 100th-career point.
- The second quarter had two goals with Rensselaer's Lauren DeLeo scoring with just over two minutes remaining and Modesti countering with 47 seconds left in the frame.
- Modesti's second goal of the game was her team-leading 27th of the season.
- A free-position, man-up goal by Marr - her 14th of 2024 - to start the third quarter tied things, 5-5.
- The Engineers and Thoroughbreds then alternated goals with Lily Schwartzman, a junior, scoring for Skidmore to make it 6-6.
- Lily Hudner, Modesti, and Schwartzman (free-position) rattled off the next three goals to cap the five-goal frame.
- Schwartzman opened the fourth quarter scoring 3:17 into the period for a 10-6 lead and Modesti fourth of the game pushed the advantage to 11-6.
- Modesti had 12 shots with seven on goal, senior Ella Harris had five draw controls, and Liv Kazanjian finished with nine saves.
- The Thoroughbreds won 16 of 22 draw controls and were 16 of 18 on clears.
- The Engineers, who got seven saves from Jenny Canfield, managed to clear successfully on 17 of 22 attempts.
UP NEXT: Skidmore is home for the second of its season-long four-game homestand on Sunday when it hosts SUNY Oneonta in a Morgan's Message Game. The game starts at noon.