Sophomore Jessica LaPlaca scored two goals as the St. Lawrence University women's lacrosse team opened Liberty League play with a 8-4 loss to RPI on Saturday afternoon in Troy, N.Y.

Senior Ellie Camp, and sophomore Kelsey Roth put in a goal each, while first-year Read Roy and senior Neve Ley each picked up an assist. Junior Kelsey O'Brien led the way on defense with three caused turnovers and picked up five ground balls, which were both team highs.

RPI shut out the Saints in the first, with Quinn Wollard scoring two goals to give the Engineers a 2-0 lead.

Both teams were scoreless in the second, leaving it at 2-0 RPI going into the half.

LaPlaca got the Saints on the board quickly to start off the second half, scoring 18 seconds into the quarter off a free position shot. LaPlaca scored once again three minutes later to tie the game at two. RPI put another goal to regain the lead, but then Roth found the back of the net off an assist from Ley to tie the game back up at three. The Engineers put in one more goal before the quarter ended for a 4-3 game.

The Engineers put in four unanswered goals in the final quarter of play, Camp put in one more goal for the Saints but it was not enough as the Engineers grabbed the 8-4 win.

"It was a good test for us with two evenly matched teams," said head coach Tom Ryan. "I thought our defense was tough all day and Zoe kept us in the game with timely saves. We had too many fouls in the middle of the field that were hard to overcome. Our offense took a step forward, but ultimately their goalie played well."

For RPI, Ava Gilardone and Wollard scored two goals each, and Lauren DeLeo had two caused turnovers.

First-year Zoe Froimovitz picked up eight saves, while Jenny Canfield had 10 saves for the Engineers.

The Saints fell to 1-3 on the season and 0-1 in conference play, while RPI improves to 4-2 and 1-0, respectively.

St. Lawrence will be on the road once again, as they travel to Carlisle, Pa. to take on Dickinson College on Wednesday, March 19th.