SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Junior Sophie Ruhl scored two times as the Union College field hockey team netted one goal in each quarter on the way to a 4-1 victory over local rival Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday night at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
Ruhl recorded her first collegiate multi-goal game to lead Union (8-1, 1-1 Liberty League) to its first conference victory of the season, netting the eventual game-winning goal in the second stanza and adding an insurance tally in the fourth. Seniors Emily Dawson and Isabel Lubin both scored as well for the home team.
 
Rensselaer (5-5, 0-2 Liberty League) opened the scoring with 2:47 remaining in the opening period, with Dani Samuelson scoring her third goal of the year. But Union responded in the best way possible, earning a corner 62 seconds later and getting the first goal of the season from Lubin to tie the score. Dawson's insert to senior Jill Bove at the top of the arc was dished off to Lubin, who fired a shot home through traffic for the goal.
 
The home team continued the momentum into the second period, with Ruhl taking a pass forward from junior Grace Krebs and slipping it under the pads of RPI netminder Jen Richardson to put Union ahead less than three minutes into the frame. Union outshot RPI 5-1 in the quarter to take the 2-1 lead into halftime.
 
Dawson added to the Union lead midway through the third quarter with her team-leading ninth goal of the season off a feed from first-year Alyssa Pavano. Ruhl finished off the scoring with just over three minutes remaining in the contest, grabbing the ball at the post and pushing it home for her sixth tally of the year.
 
Union finished the game with a 14-10 edge in shots. First-year Sophie Brady made four saves to pick up her eighth victory of the season.
 
Union will face another tough conference test next Saturday, when the team heads to Vassar College for a 1 p.m. matchup with the Brewers.