At 7 pm on Saturday, October 16, the second game of the week between the Rensselaer Engineers and the Robert Morris University Colonials started in the Houston Field House. Even though RPI made 39 shots and received 4 power play chances, Rensselaer still lost the game with a score of 0-2 in this non-league contest and thus falls to 2-3-0, while the Colonials rise to 3-3-1.
RPI was extremely aggressive from the very beginning of match and pressured the Colonials until the first half of the second period. However, the advantage RPI had started to crash at 8:03 in the second period. After a wave of heavy attacks with great saves made by Colonials goaltender Jessica Dodds, the puck was bounced to the board and picked up by Maeve Garvey. During Garvey’s pass to the Colonials’ offensive zone, the puck was gloved down by senior defenseman Jenn Godin. Unfortunately, it was later blocked out to center due to interference by RMU. When freshman defenseman Josefine Hansen passed the puck to freshman forward Makenna Thomas, the puck was stolen by the Colonials halfway. Assisted by Garvey and Mikeala Lowater, RMU’s Mackenzie Johnston went one-on-one with goaltender Lovisa Selander. The puck slipped into the net under the pad of Selander, earning the Colonials their first goal in the match at 12:14 in the second period.
At 19:45, the Colonials quickly seized a two-on-one opportunity after faceoff. Thanks to assistance from Lowater and Sarah Quaranta, Ashley Vesci quickly broke into the Colonials’ offensive zone before most RPI players could recover, allowing her to score from shooting range.
Even though RPI players made every effort to score in the third period, they still failed to match the Colonials’ pace that night and finally lost the game 0-2.
With a falling ranking, RPI Women’s Hockey now has growing pressure to succeed in their upcoming games. Rensselaer Women’s Hockey will play Cornell University in Ithaca, New York on Friday, October 30 at 3 pm.