The women’s hockey team put together a fabulous weekend, taking down a tough Southern Maine team 2-1 before completely obliterating an extremely outclassed MIT squad 17-0.
Head Coach Bill Cahill was extremely pleased with his team’s performance, especially against Southern Maine on Friday. The team, he said, played good hockey in all three zones of the rink, and Julie Vallarelli led the Engineers with her strong performance in the goal, letting the Huskies break through only once.
The teams played evenly through the first half of the game, with each team getting two power play opportunities, taking about 15 shots, and failing to get on the board.
RPI struck first when a Huskie interference penalty halfway through the second period put the Engineers on the power play once again. With nine seconds remaining on the penalty, co-captains Kate Adams and Andrea Poley beat the Southern Maine keeper, with Poley feeding Adams for the score. Deanna Dougherty also had an assist on the play.
The Engineers went up 2-0 at the 18:03 mark when co-captain Julie Durham scored the eventual game winner, Poley and Dougherty assisting once again.
That was all the advantage the Engineer defense needed. In the third period, RPI allowed Southern Maine just four shots on goal. One of these slipped past Vallarelli with eight minutes remaining, but the Engineers held off any further advance by the Huskies to win 2-1.
The next night’s match was no contest. MIT finished the season with no wins and only two goals; and they presented no challenge to the home team. Eight different players scored goals for RPI, and Durham and Jennifer Janezic each scored a hat trick.
The wins by the Engineers mean that they will host their first-round playoff match against Union on Friday night. Union lost at the Field House earlier this season, but beat RPI in Schenectady.
Cahill said that he plans to get lots of players into the game, and if the Engineers can set the pace of the game, he expects to advance.
The semifinal and final rounds of the conference playoffs will be hosted by Manhattanville, the undefeated regular-season champion. The Engineers will almost certainly need to get past the Valiants in order to win the conference and advance to this year’s inaugural NCAA Division-III tournament.
“I like our chances,” said Cahill. RPI played a very tough game against Manhattanville in their last meeting, losing by just one goal on the road.
“The team has made leaps and bounds—they’re steadily improving,” Cahill said, and “anything can happen in a one-game deal.”
