In a fantastic finale to their freshman season, the women Engineers went up against the best in the nation to confirm that they deserved their ECAC playoff spot. In a best-of-three series against number three Dartmouth College, RPI scored first to take an early lead. Although it was a lead they couldn’t hold, the players know that they played their best and gave a national champion contender an early run for its money. “We played extremely well, but there’s a reason why Dartmouth won the league and they’re a national championship contender,” said Head Coach John Burke.
The team has been through several ups and downs this season as it continues to learn from its new experiences. Although the team’s record is nothing to brag about, RPI had 10 one-goal losses that could have gone either way. It also played five of its last eight games against top five teams in the country. “As you’re growing, you want to play the best teams,” said Burke who explained how losses are disappointing but the team learns much from these experiences.
The players took advantage of these match-ups against the “best teams in the country and best players in the world,” said Burke, “and hopefully picked up a few things on how they play and approach the game.” Making the playoffs was a good conclusion to a season where anything could have happened. “It was a great accomplishment,” said Burke of the playoff bid. He knows that the experience and understanding of “what its like to play for a playoff spot and play in the playoffs are invaluable.”
Freshman Whitney Naslund scored that first goal just 3:34 into the game and would go on to record a hat trick with two goals in the second period. “She had a good weekend and capitalized on a couple of their mistakes and she played very well with Nicole McDonald on Friday,” said Burke.
Naslund was assisted by junior defenseman Ellen McNamara on her first, sophomore McDonald and freshman Allison Wright on her second, while her third and final was unassisted.
During the second intermission, Dartmouth led by just one with a score of 4-3, but the Big Green would control the final period and tack on two late goals to take the contest 6-3.
The next afternoon brought the deciding game for the Engineers as they continued to put up a fight but couldn’t crack the Big Green machine. Although RPI was able to match Dartmouth’s speed, Dartmouth moved the puck extremely well and forced the defense to make tough reads all night.
Out-shot again, this time 45-16, RPI got a boost from sophomore Ashley Mayr in net and the defense that never fell victim to Dartmouth’s low, hard, and on net shots from point.
Dartmouth lit the lamp just under four minutes into the first stanza but RPI answered back with a goal from freshman defender Laura Gersten in the middle of the second. Gersten was assisted by classmate Rossli Chace and junior Julie Aho.
The game was tied through the second intermission and once again, the Big Green put two more in goal to take the game, this time ending with a score of 3-1. RPI pulled Mayr for the extra attacker in a final effort, but couldn’t get the needed goals.
With the final horn, RPI’s first season in the esteemed ECAC Hockey League came to an end. “We played well at times, but just not consistently,” said Burke of the season. “We had a good stretch when we figured out what we needed to do to win,” he added. The Engineers will attempt to start the 2007-2008 season where they left off and remember exactly what it takes to win.
