Over 500 fans were on attendance for Pack the House night at Houston Field House to support the women’s hockey team, however, the fan support was not enough as the Huskies edged the Engineers for the win. Northeastern was led by sophomore Alyssa Wohlfeiler, who had two goals in the victory, including the game-winner.

Wohlfeiler opened up scoring early on in the first when she caught a pass from classmate Julia Marty from the top of the circle at 2:32. Senior goaltender Ashley Mayr was unable to see the puck due to traffic in front of the net, and Wohlfeiler took advantage of the situation as she slid the puck under Mayr’s pad for the tally. Midway through the period, the Huskies added their second of the game as sophomore Kristy Kehoe grabbed a rebound in front of RPI’s net and sent it over Mayr’s glove side.

The eventual game-winner came in the second, as Wohlfeiler caught a cross-ice pass from Marty and lifted the puck over Mayr’s shoulder. The Engineers were quick to rebound, as less than five minutes later on the power play senior Jamie-Lynn Stewart stole the puck from a Husky defender and sent a shot towards freshman goaltender Florence Schelling. RPI freshman Laura Guillemette buried the rebound for her first career goal.

Going into the final frame of play, the Engineers did not give up, putting pressure on the Northeastern defense the entire 20 minutes of play. With less than three minutes remaining in regulation, freshman Sierra Vadner sent a shot from the point through traffic that beat Schelling at 17:03. Junior Whitney Naslund was credited with the assist.

Rensselaer pulled Mayr in the final minutes of play, but was unable to convert with the extra skater despite strong play by the Engineers. Late in the game, Northeastern junior Katy Applin barreled down on the empty net, but had her shot blocked by senior co-captain Melissa Boik.

“We had a lot of great offensive opportunities in the game against Northeastern, however, we were just faced against hot goaltending on their part,” explained Head Coach John Burke. “As a whole, the team played very well and was able to create a lot of chances, but in the end our special teams are what hurt us.”

RPI held a 40-17 shot advantage throughout the game, and Mayr made 14 saves in the loss. This was Northeastern’s first win against the Engineers in their last three meetings.

Bringing the momentum from the end of Friday evening’s game into Saturday afternoon’s match, the Engineers trampled the BU Terriers in a shut-out victory. Sophomore goaltender Sonja van der Bliek blanked all 23 Terrier shots in the win.

“Going into the BU game, we knew what we needed to fix: our penalty killing and special teams, and I think as a team we did very well in achieving that. Sonja also played a solid game in net, which helped a lot,” noted Burke.

Midway through the first, at 12:17, Naslund won the face-off back to Vadner, who rapidly got the puck to sophomore Kendra Dunlop. Dunlop then quick-wristed the shot over the shoulder of senior BU goalkeep Allyse Wilcox for the eventual game-winner.

The second period remained scoreless, as BU outshot RPI by a margin of 11-9. Van der Bliek made several key saves, including a point-blank shot from Terrier freshman Jenelle Kohanchuk.

RPI placed the nail in the coffin late in the third period, as junior Allison Wright caught Wilcox off guard while being pulled off the ice for the extra skater. Stewart gained control of the puck low in the Rensselaer defensive zone, and sent it up ice to a speeding Wright. Wilcox, who had been making her way back to the bench, reversed direction but was unable to settle herself back in the net, as Wright barreled down the ice, and beat Wilcox for the goal. Wilcox had 33 saves in the loss.

Following Saturday’s game, van der Bliek was named the ECAC Goaltender of the week. Through the 2007-08 season, van der Bliek finished third nationally in save percentage (.939) and fourth in goals against average (1.33) while logging nearly 900 minutes of play.