Lebanon Valley Falls to RIT in Maryland Match

EDGEWOOD, Md. - Lebanon Valley nearly erased a 9-1 deficit with a big second half run, but Rochester Institute of Technology stopped the outburst to win, 15-8, at Edgewood High School on Tuesday night.

The Dutchmen (1-1) scored just once in the first half but hit a 6-0 spurt in the second to make it a two-goal game with the Tigers (1-0). Hana Krechel and Jenny Simensky both had hat tricks for LVC.

Despite the scoreline, it was a relatively even game overall; RIT held a slim 29-27 edge on shots, but LVC dominated the draw by a 17-7 margin. Both goalies were on as RIT's Katelyn Crane had 12 saves and Corinne Palombo stopped 10.

The Tigers got off to a 5-0 start, holding LVC scoreless behind three goals from Shelby Vakiener and tallies by Rebecca Lampson and Marlee Vlassis.

LVC finally got on the board with 5:52 left in the half as Krechel wrapped around goal for an unassisted strike. RIT, however, kept the pressure on for the balance of the half with a pair of scores by Ashleigh Caruso and an eight-meter from Vlassis in the final minute.

The Dutchmen nearly came back in the second half, scoring six unanswered to cut the RIT lead to 9-7. Krechel and Christy Wilson scored to open the run, followed by a feed from Krechel to Allison McGinniss to force an RIT timeout. Simensky then went off for three in a row over a five-minute span, the first goals of her career, to cut the lead to 9-7.

RIT shut the door, however, with five unanswered goals, holding LVC scoreless from the 19:34 mark until Krechel notched her third with 3:37 remaining in the game.

LVC visits Marywood on Saturday.

2012-03-06