The women’s hockey team faced a similar fate in its second series against the No. 6 St. Lawrence Saints and the Clarkson University Golden Knights in as many weekends. The Engineers fell 3-2 against the Saints, while bringing home a 2-1 win over the Golden Knights. Following the weekend’s play, RPI is now 13-13-3 overall on the season and 8-8-2 in the ECAC.
In an impressive matchup against a nationally ranked opponent, the Engineers remained tied with the Saints through half the game, before freshman Alley Bero broke the 2-2 decision at 11:33 of the second period. The Engineers now remain winless over the Saints in the all-time series, holding a record of 0-7-0. Standing strong in its first-place position in the ECAC, St. Lawrence improved to 19-7-3 overall on the season and 13-3-1 in the league.
Within a span of 4:24 in the first frame, the goalies, junior Saint Brittony Chartier and sophomore Engineer Sonja van der Bliek, allowed two goals each before giving way to a one-goal second period and a scoreless third.
Senior Jamie-Lynn Stewart netted her second goal of the year with an unassisted tally at 13:45 of the first. Senior co-captain Melissa Boik’s slap shot deflected off the crossbar and dropped behind Chartier. Before the netminder had time to react, Stewart was there to chip the puck past the goal line for the first of the game. It did not take long for the Saints to respond, however, as senior captain Marianna Locke tied the game up at one. Sophomore Kyrsten Venasse sent a pass up to rookie defenseman Sarianne Lynn at the point, whose slap shot was redirected by Locke past van der Bliek for her ninth of the year.
Three minutes later, freshman Alisa Harrison once against pulled the Engineers ahead in the game with her 11th goal of the season. Harrison received a feed from junior Allison Wright and slipped the puck past Chartier to bring the Engineers to 2-1. As soon as RPI gained the lead the Saints tied it up again, when 16 seconds later junior Britni Smith’s slap shot beat a screened van der Bliek to knot the game up at two.
Midway through the second frame, the Saints took their first lead of the game and never gave it up. Sophomore Kirsten Roach tried to send a pass to Bero on van der Bliek’s left, across the front of the crease. The puck hit the skate of an RPI defender, and Bero buried the rebound for the eventual game-winner.
Despite a 10-3 shot advantage in the third period, the Engineers could not find the equalizer, even after pulling van der Bliek in the final minute of play for the extra attacker. The win stopped a two-game losing streak by the Saints, who claimed their 13th league victory.
“We played really hard, but just didn’t have the opportunities that we needed to win the game,” said Stewart. “There is no doubt about it that we can play with the top team in our league.”
Unlike the night before, in a spectacular finish, Rensselaer pulled ahead in the final minutes of play to claim a 2-1 win over the Clarkson Golden Knights, as Stewart netted her second goal in as many games. With the win, the team added another big milestone to its history as it claimed its first season sweep of the Golden Knights, with the other win coming January 23 in another 2-1 decision. “It definitely was a big win,” said Stewart. “My freshman year we lost to them 7-1, and for us to beat them both times just shows how our program has developed so much in the four years that I’ve been here.”
Clarkson took the early lead at 4:58 of the opening period of play with a goal by senior Marie-Jo Gaudet. Classmate Kimberly McKenney sent a pass to Gaudet, who was positioned right outside of the RPI zone and was able to maneuver around an RPI defender for the breakaway goal into the upper right corner.
Seven seconds later, the Engineers tied the game at one with Boik’s sixth goal of the season. Harrison won a faceoff in Clarkson’s zone and sent the puck back to Boik, whose shot navigated through traffic in front of the net and past sophomore goalkeeper Laura Dahm. Van der Bliek made several key saves in the final seconds of play to maintain the tie entering the second period.
Although the second frame remained scoreless, the Engineers had several opportunities to pull ahead as Dahm stopped many attempts by Wright and other members of the RPI squad throughout the period.
Stewart’s goal came off a shot from the top of the crease after getting the puck from sophomore Kendra Dunlop, who was positioned behind the net. Senior co-captain Nicole McDonald was also credited with an assist on the game-winner.
Van der Bliek made 25 stops on the afternoon, while Dahm blocked 12 of her own in the loss.
The game marked Boik’s 122nd career contest, making her the all-time leader in games played, surpassing graduating member of the Class of 2008 Ellen McNamara, who played 121. Stewart and fellow senior Jaime Jacquard-Sowa both played in their 121st games.
This weekend, the Engineers remain on the road as they head out to face off against the Yale University Bulldogs and the Brown University Bears this Friday and Saturday, respectively. Earlier this season, RPI defeated Yale 2-1 and crushed Brown in a 5-1 decision. “Last year, both of these teams took a win from us in our last weekend of hockey and ended up taking the last playoff spots,” explained Stewart. “It’s our turn to do the same to them. We are really pumped to play them and get some revenge.”
The two wins were the Engineers’ first ECAC contests of the season, and the first time the team had swept their opening games against ECAC opponents. The weekend featured many different firsts in the program’s history, including a game-high 54 shots on goal against Brown, and the win against Yale having previously gone 0-5-1 against the Bulldogs. Currently, Yale is one spot below Rensselaer in the standings and eight points behind, sitting in ninth place, while Brown is at the bottom of the pack in 11th place, 10 points behind the Engineers. Puck drop against the Bulldogs is at 7 pm, while game-time is at 4 pm against the Bears, as the Engineers look to secure a solid position in the ECAC playoffs.
