Women’s hockey is off to an incredible start this season. This past week they continued their winning streak in a 3-game home-sweep outscoring their opponents 14-4. The week of play was characterized by a solid display of team defense, excellent saves, and explosive offensive scoring. The Engineers’ out-shot their opponents 201-68 while goalie Julie Vallarelli added 41 saves.
The Engineers’ opened the week against a struggling St. Benedict of Minnesota team which entered the contest with a 2-8-1 record. St. Benedict managed to score a goal late in the first period at the 12:28 mark. But it would prove to be their last score as the Engineers’ defense clamped down for the remainder of the game. Assisted by Christin Sauca and Allie Cooper, sophmore Lane Dielwart scored RPI’s first goal at the 8:03 mark in the second period and was followed by another score by freshmen Jen Onksen at the 16:32 mark. The Engineers’ added to their lead in the final period with goals by Deanna Dougherty and Julie Welte.
The team continued their impressive home play in two ECAC conference games against New England College. In the first game against versus New England, saw junior Dougherty go for a hat trick. The Engineers’ started on a good note with a strong play led by Dougherty and freshman Kari Rabatin who scored one goal and three assists in the contest. After a two-goal unanswered first period the Engineers’ went on to score five more goals and claim a 7-2 victory.
In the second game against New England both teams started off slowly with a scoreless first period. The action on the ice began to pick up in second period although much of that action was dominated by RPI which scored three goals and allowed New England only one goal.
All three games could not have been won without the help of sophmore goalie Julie Vallarelli. She had a total of 41 saves for all three games.
The womens hockey team is now 7-1-0 in the ECAC east and 8-4-0 overall. They play their next game Saturday at 5pm against Sacred Heart in Fairfield Connecticut.
