The women’s hockey team bounced back from a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Division-I Colgate last Wednesday, shutting out both of their weekend opponents.
In fact, the Engineers completely shut down both Wesleyan and St. Michael’s, allowing only 20 shots combined in both games.
Saturday’s game against Wesleyan was not nearly as close as the
3-0 score might suggest. The Cardinals were completely outclassed from start to finish, but Elizabeth Courtney made 16 saves in the first period to keep RPI off the board.
The Engineers opened the scoring just 68 seconds into the next period on a shot by junior defenseman Sara Riel. Riel also assisted on both of RPI’s later goals, one by Deanna Dougherty and one by Julie Durham. The defense remained solid, and goalie Julie Vallarelli saved all 16 of the Cardinals’ shots to preserve the shutout.
Sunday’s match against conference rival St. Michael’s also was not as close as the score implied, even though the Engineers shut out the Purple Knights 10-0. Eleven players contributed to the score for Rensselaer, led by Dougherty’s hat trick and a goal and five assists from Co-Captain Kate Adams.
Even more remarkable was the RPI defense. Carolyn Fox got a rare start in goal, and she stopped everything that came her way, but she had very little work: the Purple Knights got off only two shots in each of the first two periods, and none at all in the third period.
RPI’s record now stands at 10-6 overall, and 7-3 in the ECAC-East. The Engineers have a tough match at home this evening—the Williams Ephs are ranked tenth in the nation—followed by an important road trip this weekend. Rensselaer takes on RIT on Saturday and Union on Sunday in key conference matches: The Tigers beat the Engineers 3-0 on November 30, and they sit just ahead of RPI in the conference standings; the Dutchwomen lost in the Field House the next day, and are just behind the Engineers.
