The Rensselaer women’s hockey team remained atop the ECAC Division III East with a pair of wins over conference opponent, the Salve Regina Seahawks.
On Saturday, the Engineers came out strong, and found the net quickly. Senior Lauren Smith scored her first goal of the year with help from Katie Woodward at 1:15.
Jennifer Onksen added the second goal of the game five minutes later, off a feed from Sondra Sherman to put RPI up 2-0.
The Engineer penalty kill was put to the test at 12:40, when Paula Durham took a checking penalty. The defense held strong and killed off the penalty.
Freshman Sarah Daniel scored the third goal of the period at 17:03, when she pushed the puck past Salve Regina goaltender Sarah Kuecher with help from Katie Temple and Allison Malcolm.
Salve found their way into the penalty box just 13 seconds into the second period. The Engineers could not capitalize on the first penalty, but Salve took another penalty at 2:11. Again, the power play did not convert.
Salve Regina cut the lead to two at the 15:18 mark, when Courtney Caulfield put a puck past Engineer goalie Julie Vallarelli off an assist from Cassandra Leone.
The Engineers saw their lead continue to dwindle in the third period, with Seahawk Nicole Cote scoring at 5:45.
Julie Aho regained the two goal lead for the Engineers, scoring off assists from Meredith Langille and Sarah Daniel.
Neither team scored the rest of the game and RPI achieved the solid 4-2 victory.
Rensselaer turned up the heat in the second game, pouring shots on Seahawk goalie Keucher. Daniel scored two goals in the first period for the Engineers; the first at 11:15 from Langille and Allyn Cooper, the second at 17:02 from Deanna Dougherty.
The Engineers took 25 shots in the first period, and held the Seahawks to only one shot.
Bridget Rice scored a quick goal to start the second period. Rice’s fourth goal of the year was assisted by Kari Rabatin and Dougherty at 0:48.
Salve Regina’s Meaghan Toland took the first penalty of the game at 8:55, but the Engineer power play could not convert.
Aho put Rensselaer up by four, scoring at 17:00 with help from Ariel Lampell.
RPI again drastically out shot Salve Regina, putting 29 shots on net in the second period, superior to the Seahawks’ four.
The Engineers again scored quickly off the period break. Just 58 seconds into the third period, Woodward tallied her fourth goal of the year with help from Cooper and Dougherty.
Rabatin scored on the next shift for RPI, with help from Durham and Lane Dielwart. Christina Jankowski added an unassisted goal at 3:19, and four minutes later, Durham tallied her first goal of the year, assisted by Onksen and Jankowski.
Rice finished off the scoring for the Engineers at 11:20, with help from captains Woodward and Dougherty. The 9-0 win was the Engineers’ largest margin of victory for the team this season.
Rensselaer ended up out shooting Salve Regina 87-8. The goaltending for the Engineers was solid, with Vallarelli making the first five saves of the game, and freshman Christina Johnston making the final three to combine for the shutout.
RPI still stands at the top of the division, one point ahead of Manhattanville, who swept RIT this weekend. RPI is currently ranked seventh in the nation.
However, RPI will need help from other members of the ECAC if they are to win the regualr season title.
Although Rensselaer is currently atop the league standings, Manhattanville still has more conference games left on thier schedule, and if they can manage to sweep the rest of their games they will be crowned as ECAC regular season champions.
The Engineers travel to UMass-Boston to conclude the ECAC regular season next weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday’s games will be at noon.
