The women’s hockey team surprised many when it hosted the first non-exhibition game of its season at the Houston Field House. Boston College’s fourth-ranked football team might be hot right now, but so is its ice arena, due to equipment failures. The game was switched before the Engineers traveled to Boston and they played the home-opener a week early. The afternoon following Skate with the Engineers, the women took to the ice again and played a phenomenal game against the No. 8 team in the nation. Although it finished just short of upsetting the visitors, RPI did hold the lead for a good extent of the game showing that the Engineers are definitely ready for the season.
Senior Kelly Barbera put Red on the board early in the game when she scored at 12:43 in the first period. Barbera was set up at point, and after passing it to junior Mel Guillemette, found herself with the puck again and was able to send it by visiting goalie Molly Schaus. RPI outshot the Eagles in the first period and held its lead until the third period, when BC’s junior Meaghan Fardelmann won a one-on-one with goaltender Ashley Mayr to tie the game at one apiece.
The game went into overtime, and Eagles sophomore Allie Thunstrom scored off her own rebound to save BC from a disastrous upset.
RPI outshot BC 37-34 as Mayr finished with 32 saves in the contest.
The Engineers return next weekend to host a set of games against the University of North Dakota with games on Friday at 7 pm and Saturday at 4 pm.
