With Freakout! festivities going on around campus and a CSTV camera crew setting up for the main event later in the evening, the Engineers took to the ice Saturday afternoon looking to keep the momentum up from the 6-0 victory over Utica the previous Sunday. RPI came out strong against the weaker and overmatched Purple Knights, out-shooting Saint Michael’s 21-3 in the first period and 50-13 overall.

Sophomore Sarah Daniel gave the Engineers the only goal they would need 10:21 into the game. Senior Bridget Rice took a shot from the left slot that Knight goaltender Annice Mason kicked to the right. Daniel, who was circling behind the net, swooped in and got to the puck, putting it under a sliding Mason.

With a minute and a half left in the first, junior Katie Temple picked up a rebound off an Aho shot and stuffed the puck into the near post, to give RPI a 2-0 lead going into the intermission.

In the second, the offense kicked into high gear, getting four goals in a nine minute span. A minute and a half into the period, senior Meredith Langille won a face-off back to classmate Lane Dielwart.

Dielwart one-timed a shot that hit Mason in the shoulder and bounced into the net to put the Engineers up by three. Just 46 seconds later, Welte dug the puck out of the right corner behind the Saint Michaels’ net, carried the puck uncontested across the middle of the zone and fired a shot that beat Mason far side.

Welte found net again six minutes later when she received a pass behind the net from Langille, skated to the middle uncontested again and ripped a shot past Mason.

Junior Kari Rabatin finished the second period scoring when she scored on a beautiful drop pass from Daniel with just over nine minutes left in the period.

Aho, Temple, and freshman Brooke Thompson would contribute to the next two RPI goals. Twenty-nine seconds into the third, Aho swept behind the Purple Knight net and passed the puck to Temple. Temple took a shot that Mason saved, but Thompson was right there to stuff home the rebound.

Three minutes later, Thompson brought the puck into the zone and passed to Temple, who connected with a streaking Aho for the goal.

Twenty-eight seconds later Rabatin recorded her second goal of the game off assists from Rice and Daniel.

Junior Rosina Schiff, senior Julie Vallarelli, and sophomore Christina Johnson combined for the 13 save shutout. Mason recorded 41 saves for Saint Michael’s in the loss.

Sunday’s game was about the same, with the Engineers putting the pressure on early and often. Welte started the scoring with a short handed goal with seven minutes and 20 seconds left in the first. Just over a minute later Aho doubled the lead when she muscled home a rebound off a Thompson shot.

Junior Jen Onksen made it 3-0 RPI with 3:57 left in the first when she beat Knight goalie Marcy Ring off assists from Welte and Langille.

Welte picked up her fourth goal of the weekend a minute into the second when she used the same move that got her the two goals in Saturday’s game. Freshman Kelly Barbera sent a pass to Onksen behind the net and Onksen sent a pass to Welte in the right corner. Welte carried the puck across the middle of the zone uncontested to the left slot and ripped a shot into the back of the net.

Two minutes later, Aho took a shot from the top of the left circle that hit Ring’s stick and deflected up over her shoulder and into the goal.

Junior Christina Jankowski tallied the next two goals, one on either side of the second intermission. Her first goal came with 1.8 seconds left in the second when she pounded home a rebound off a Holly O’Donohue shot. A minute and five seconds into the third, Jankowski found net again when her shot made its way through a crowd of players and into the back of the net.

O’Donohue finished the scoring for the Engineers with just over a minute left in the game when she took a pass from Ellen McNamara and roofed the puck past Ring.

Ring made 38 saves for Saint Michael’s, who fell to 6-16-0 on the season.

Vallarelli and Johnson combined for the shutout for RPI, who improve to 19-4-0 on the season. The Engineers finished their final Division III Women’s ECAC East Conference schedule with a 17-2-0 record and will enter the ECAC East Tournament as either the first or second seed.