Undefeated. What a way to start off the first Division I hockey season. The women continued to counter every pundit’s prediction as they trounced McGill Saturday afternoon in exhibition play at the Houston Field House. The McGill Martlets, ranked third in Canada, beat fourth-ranked Dartmouth the previous weekend and played impressively against St. Lawrence, the nation’s top team.
The forecast was as bleak as the weather coming into the game, as injuries not only plagued the Rensselaer defense but senior goalie Rosina Schiff as well. Then, within the first few minutes, a weak shot by Shauna Davis of McGill bounced past freshman goalie Ashley Mayr. At this point, it looked like the predicted routing of the newly elevated Engineers was in progress.
The heart it takes to play on in the face of near-certain defeat is a characteristic of this team that paid off on Saturday and will surely pay off again. The team individually stepped it up a notch and would slowly gain on McGill with goals halfway through both the first and second periods until breaking open with 17 shots on net in the third as compared to McGill’s three.
Although the play was not dominated by Rensselaer until the third period, the score is what counts in the end. This weekend, the women pulled off another upset to continue to secure their position among the big reputation programs.
“I thought it was a really well-played hockey game on both sides,” Head Coach John Burke commented. Overall, he saw an excellent flow and pace to the game. He added that the goalies had a great game as well. As to the first goal that went past Mayr, Burke commented, “She put it behind her.” Immediately following the freak goal, Mayr said, “I told myself I was not going to let that happen again. I felt really focused in the game after that.” And put it behind her she did, stopping every shot the rest of the game.
Junior captain Sarah Daniel repeated that everyone makes mistakes, but everyone notices when a goalie makes a mistake because it results in a goal.
Mayr also complimented her defense saying, “All of our defense do a really good job in getting the puck out quickly.” Burke also praised the injury-riddled defense, saying, “I thought a lot of players stepped up due to injuries.” To compensate, he made some adjustments to the power play defense, putting Daniel into the mix.
The power play tied the game at one apiece. She recalled the goal, “I just brought it to the slot and looked for the pass, but I saw a slot, which they had been leaving open, and took the shot.”
The setup to sophomore Brooke Thompson’s goal was by freshman Jamie-Lynn Stewart, who passed from the point to senior Kari Rabatin, who took it around behind and gave it to Thompson.
Whistles on McGill resulted in a 5-3 situation for RPI going into the third period. The Engineers’ offense couldn’t seem to put the puck past goalie Catherine Herron. The Martlets’ defense was able to keep control of the game and once again, it didn’t look good for the Rensselaer women.
A shooting barrage by RPI continued throughout the period and finally resulted the game-winning goal. Nicole McDonald got a piece of a shot by fellow freshman Mel Guillemette, who had received a pass from Thompson.
With the win, Mayr believes that, “It shows us that we’re really finding our place.” Even if this was an exhibition game, beating this team means ever rising expectations in the weeks to come.
Some team members felt that this was “just another win.” Junior Ciara Libaridian aims to keep “just playing one game at a time.” With two games against Boston University next weekend at the Houston Field House, the RPI women will again have a challenging weekend. The Terriers are on top of Hockey East but are coming off their second loss of the season to Dartmouth last week.
