Sophomore forward Sarah Daniel tallied a hat trick against Utica and junior Rosina Schiff allowed three goals on the weekend, leading the Rensselaer women’s hockey team to a non-conference split with the Elmira Soaring Eagles and the Utica Pioneers. On Friday, the home-standing Eagles came from behind to edge the Engineers 3-2. RPI responded with a 6-0 victory over the Pioneers on Sunday.
RPI came out strong against Elmira, the number three-ranked team in the nation, out-shooting the Eagles 21-12 through the first two periods. Sophomore Julie Aho got the Engineers on the board first with just under three minutes left in the first, when she took a pass from freshman Brooke Thompson and beat Elmira goaltender Edith Racine.
Eagle Jaclyn O’Neil tied the game at one when she beat Schiff off assists from Sheena Calic and Laura Hurd just over halfway through the second. Six minutes later, RPI took its second lead of the game when senior Bridget Rice beat Racine off an assist from classmate Allie Cooper.
In the third, Elmira picked up the pressure, out-shooting Rensselaer 15-9 in the period. At the 12:55 mark, Stacy Collins tied the game off assists from Farren Hart and Sonya Lynk. Two minutes later, O’Neil tallied her second goal of the game, putting the Eagles up for the first time. The Engineers couldn’t find a response and Elmira walked away with a hard-fought 3-2 victory.
Schiff made 24 saves in the loss while Racine saved 28 shots for the 15-3-0 Eagles.
RPI was back on the road two days later when they traveled to the Utica Memorial Auditorium, the former home of the Albany River Rats, to take on the Pioneers. Utica came out putting pressure on the Engineers, out-shooting RPI 12-8 in the first. Schiff was up to the task however, and the offense made their shots count, scoring on half of their first period attempts.
Junior Julie Welte got the scoring rolling for Rensselaer just 2:46 into the game when she beat Utica goalie Sarah Detwiler off assists from Jennifer Onksen and Meredith Langille. Just over a minute later, senior Paula Durham found the back of the net for the second time this year, putting the Engineers up by two.
Daniel scored the next three goals, the first two came in the first period on breakaways. On both goals, Daniel stripped the Utica player of the puck and skated in alone, beating Detwiler. Her second goal was short-handed, 39 seconds after Ellen McNamara took a tripping penalty.
Detwiler would sharpen up in the second, stopping all seven RPI shots in the period.
Daniel tallied the natural hat trick at the 7:36 mark of the third off of assists by Lane Dielwart and Cooper. Aho finished the scoring for the Engineers when she scored on a 5-on-3 power play. McNamara and Schiff earned assists on the goal. The assist by Schiff was the first point of her career.
Schiff again made 24 saves for RPI, who improved to 17-4-0 on the season. Detwiler stopped 19 shots for Utica, who fell to 10-6-1 on the season.
The Engineers return home this weekend, when they finish their ECAC-East Conference schedule with a pair of games against St. Michael’s on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s game begins at 3 pm while Sunday’s contest drops the puck at 1 pm.
