In their third non-conference game of the season, the RPI women’s ice hockey team was defeated by a margin of 5-2 in a close-fought match against the Boston College Eagles, ranked No. 10 in the nation. Following Saturday afternoon’s match-up at Kelley Rink in Newton, Mass., the Engineers are now 1-2-0 on the season, while the Eagles remain undefeated at 2-0-2. Leading the way for Boston College was freshman Mary Restuccia, who netted two goals and added an assist in the victory.
“We played fairly well this weekend,” said Head Coach John Burke. “We had a couple of breakdowns early on in the game, but tightened up our play in the second and third periods and really provided BC with a challenge.”
Within the first nine minutes of play, the Eagles placed themselves on the board first with a goal by junior center Kelli Stack, with assists from senior Maggie Taverna, and freshman Danielle Welch. Stack’s tally was her fifth this season. Heading into the second period, the Eagles increased their lead to three with goals by freshman Andrea Green four minutes in and from Welch at 9:10 off the power play.
Not to be left out of the loop, RPI responded with a power play goal of their own at the end of the frame, with the honors going to senior winger Nicole McDonald. Assisting on the play were freshmen Sierra Vadner and Alisa Harrison, as McDonald netted her first of the year.
The Eagles added another mark early on into the third period with Restuccia’s first goal of the game, assisted by classmates Meghan Fardelmann and Kristin Regan, pulling their lead 4-1. The Engineers were not out of the game yet, as they added one more tally midway through the period with sophomore Kendra Dunlop’s second goal of the year. Juniors Allysen Weidner and Whitney Naslund assisted on the tally.
A quick time-out and an extra attacker for a pulled goalie during an Engineers’ power play opportunity was not enough to send the puck into the opposing net, as the Eagles capitalized on the empty net opportunity and added an insurance goal with less than a minute remaining in the game. The mark was credited to Restuccia.
“It wasn’t necessarily our best game we’ve played,” explained Burke, “but we gave ourselves the chance to win, and were not too far off. It is always difficult facing a ranked opponent, but it was a good opportunity to see what our team can do.”
Boston College junior goaltender Molly Schaus was credited with the win, making 21 saves in the effort, while sophomore Engineer Sonja van der Bliek made 20 in another strong performance in net, making many key saves when they counted.
Next weekend Rensselaer heads out to Erie, Pa., to face off in a pair of games against the Mercyhurst College Lakers, who are currently ranked No. 5 in the nation. Facing another tough challenge, the Engineers hope to play well on the difficult road trip, another test in the program’s fourth year of Division-I hockey.
