The women’s hockey team experienced another successful weekend, winning both games at MIT. The team is now within two points of first place Manhattanville with a head to head match up coming up on February 14 and February 15.
The RPI offense headed into Cambridge with confidence. In their last two meetings against MIT, they have outscored them 30-0. The Friday game would continue this streak. MIT could only manage two shots, both of which were stopped by Julie Vallarelli as Rensselaer took the game 10-0.
The attack was balanced, with eight different RPI players finding the goal. The scoring started early in the first period, when Christina Jankowski scored just under a minute into the game. The Rensselaer pressure stayed high and five minutes later, Lane Dielwart scored on a feed from Deanna Dougherty.
Skating well, RPI found the net again at 9:45 when Kari Rabatin scored on MIT goaltender Regina Sullivan to extend the Rensselaer lead to three. Dana Kerr put in the fourth RPI goal at 17:17, and Maj Nixon scored 14 seconds later to make the game 5-0 at the end of the first period.
RPI came out strong in the second period, and the intensity paid off when Colleen Bonner scored with help from Sondra Sherman and Taylor Walker. Walker then found the net six minutes later to put Rensselaer up 7-0. Jankowski put in her second goal of the game at 15:10, and less than a minute before the end of the second, Bonner tallied her second goal of the period to put RPI up 9-0.
Rachel Gitajn capped off the scoring at 7:15 in the third. The shutout was Vallarelli’s fifth of the year, and the win was Rensselaer’s 13th for the season, putting them within two wins of first place.
On Saturday, the Engineers battled again at Cambridge, again with RPI coming out on top. A balanced attack was a key for Rensselaer, with eight different scorers leading the way on offense.
The first period started off with the ice tilted towards the MIT goal. Christin Sauca and Rabatin found the net a minute apart to put RPI up by two. Dougherty, Sherman, and Paula Durham each scored in the first to put Rensselaer up 5-0.
The MIT goalie came up strong in the second period, stopping 13 of 14 shots that RPI put up. Dana Kerr was the lone scorer for Rensselaer, finding the net 5:35 into the period.
The third period saw three more goals for RPI. Dougherty scored her second of the game, and Kristine DeRosa scored two minutes later to put Rensselaer up eight. Lauren Smith iced the weekend with a goal as RPI took a 9-0 victory. The successful weekend saw two shutouts, great defense, and five players scoring their first goals of the season. The two shutouts push RPI’s shutout total to seven, the second most out of all teams in the ECAC Division III East.
The Rensselaer Engineers are now 14-4-0 on the season and 13-1-0 in conference. RPI is ranked 10th nationally, and is second in the conference behind perennial powerhouse Manhattanville. Rensselaer will host Salve Regina next weekend before facing off with Manhattanville. The games are at 3 pm.
