The women’s hockey team continued its hot streak over the weekend with a pair of wins over conference foe Southern Maine. The Engineers’ defense, led by senior goaltender Julie Vallarelli, was strong again, holding the Huskies to just one goal on the weekend.
The first period of Friday’s game slipped by without any scoring, much to the chagrin of the Engineers’ power play. Rensselaer was awarded a five-on-three opportunity at 15:12 for almost a minute and a half, but could not slip a puck past Husky goalie Justene Larnerd. The Engineers’ man-advantage ended when Kari Rabatin took a tripping penalty at 16:38. RPI’s defense held strong and killed off the Southern Maine power play.
Rabatin quickly atoned for her penalty at the start of the second period; just 26 seconds out of the locker room, Rabatin scored off assists from Kelly Barbera and Bridget Rice. Rabatin and Rice found the scoreboard again, this time assisting on a goal by Sarah Daniel at 6:44.
RPI’s second goal of the evening chased Larnerd from the net, and Jen Arno took over goaltending duties for the Huskies. Arno handcuffed the Engineers for the remainder of the second, and the Engineers skated into the period break with a 2-0 lead.
The power play for the Engineers nearly connected in the third, putting together many good opportunities after a Southern Maine penalty at 10:45. Just three seconds after the Huskies returned to full strength, Julie Welte fired a shot past Arno with help from Meredith Langille to put the Engineers up 3-0.
Vallarelli played a stellar game for Rensselaer, stopping all eleven shots she faced.
The Engineers wasted no time on Saturday night. Welte tallied the first goal for RPI at 5:15 in the first, and Rabatin added her second goal of the weekend at 13:22.
Husky Jessica Broccoli took the first penalty of the day at the 6:56 mark in the second period, and the Engineer power play capitalized. Lane Dielwart found the back of the net with help from Rabatin at 8:23 to put the Engineers up three goals. Brooke Thompson added her eighth goal of the year at 9:48, from assists by Allie Cooper and Ellen McNamara.
The fourth RPI marker got Larnerd the hook, and again Arno had little success in net. Rabatin added her third goal of the weekend, this time on the power play, to put the Engineers up 5-0. Daniel added a shorthanded, unassisted marker at 16:27 to put RPI up 6-0.
The only bright spot for Southern Maine was the late score that Caitlin Tassone put past Vallarelli to avoid being shutout for the second straight night.
Vallarelli made 13 saves in the win to push her record to 6-0-0 on the season.
RPI, with 30 points, leads the ECAC Division III East again, two points above Manhattanville; the Valiants, though, have two games in hand.
The Engineers play a pair of road games against non-conference opponents next weekend. Friday, they travel to Elmira to take on the third-ranked team in the nation. On Sunday, they will take on the 11th ranked team in the nation when they play Utica.
