When the whistles blew for the final time this weekend, the Rensselaer women’s hockey team’s once spotless record lay strewn apart, a stellar start to the season and their big shot to prove themselves now just a figment of the imagination. The skaters, fatigued and beaten, limped back to Troy and managed to remain positive despite suffering their fourth-straight loss while being outscored 19-7.
Ever since junior captain Sarah Daniel started playing hockey for RPI, the team never lost more than two games in a row; she sees the bright side of the situation, though, saying, “This four-game losing streak is a bit rough to take. But it was good because it reminded us of what it takes to be at this level. I feel like the team really came together, we were playing as a team both games.”
“I don’t think they’re way out of our league,” Daniel said of Clarkson. “It was 1-1 after the first period. I think that if we were at full strength it would have been a lot closer,” referring to three of the top four scorers who sat out due to disciplinary action. “They made a mistake, they had broken team rules, sitting out the weekend was their punishment,” was all Head Coach Burke had to say of freshmen Emily Donowick, Nicole McDonald, and Jamie-Lynn Stewart.
Ironically, going into Saturday’s game against No. 9 Clarkson, Stewart was excited that the team was at full strength before the suspensions occurred: “[It’s] our opportunity to prove that we’re for real.” Letting her team down along with Donowick and McDonald meant jumbled lines and digging deep for forwards, but Burke was impressed with the women who did play. “A lot of kids stepped up their play in certain situations they weren’t used to being in.”
A repeated theme of the weekend between Daniel, Burke, and senior Julie Welte was that they felt like the team got worn down, and the shorthanded bench really hurt late in the games. They do, however, expect things to be back to normal next week.
Burke agreed with Daniel, saying, “We’re very pleased with the team’s work ethic, it was a hard-played game.” He wasn’t extremely worried about the recent losses, knowing that sometimes there’s going to be bumps and that the team was working through them.
Standing out against the disappointing weekend was sophomore Brooke Thompson, who broke her finger during the Clarkson game, then tallied three goals the next afternoon against the Vermont Catamounts. One of her goals was called back for an unknown reason, but she still played a great game both days. Burke asked for an explanation as to why the goal was recalled but the official did not give him one.
Everyone was impressed with her recovery. “She’s one of the toughest kids I’ve been around—men’s and women’s—she’s a resilient player,” said Burke.
“She got right back on the ice. She missed one or two shifts, and got back out there,” explained Welte. Daniel echoed her, saying, “That’s exactly the kind of determination that we like to see from the team. She didn’t miss a beat.”
As the big game against Clarkson started on Saturday afternoon; everything was going perfect for the Engineers as Welte scored the first goal to take an early lead. Of the goal, she said, “It was a good cycle play. We kept it in front of their net and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.” Daniel and freshman Jamie Jacquard-Sowa had the assists.
Close to the end of the first period, Clarkson’s Brooke Beazer was able to score tying the game at one apiece. From there, the Golden Knights scored six consecutive goals including a string of three power play goals capitalizing on every man-advantage opportunity during the game.
Both teams changed goalies in the last third of the game, with RPI switching senior Rosina Schiff out for freshman Emily Ford. RPI was out-shot during the night 27-10.
The next afternoon in Burlington, Vt., was supposed to be a quick and easy victory over a slower, less skilled, and weaker opponent. “Vermont is not a highly skilled team, but they just keep coming after you,” explained Burke of the game.
Once again, the Engineers came out strong and took the lead when Thompson scored with help in the scrum from seniors Jennifer Onksen and Kari Rabatin. Vermont was also able to score before the first period was over off a power play.
In the second period, the Rensselaer women made two quick goals at the 5:31 and 5:53 mark, putting themselves up 3-1. Jacquard-Sowa was assisted by fellow freshman Laura Menken. Then on the power play, Thompson scored her second of the night when sophomore Ellen McNamara sent her the puck, while she was breaking away for the net.
Luck was not with RPI this weekend, as the Vermont Catamounts would score three unanswered goals to win 4-3. In net, freshman Ashley Mayr made 25 saves but could not pull off the win, and the Engineers fell to a record of 13-5-2.
“They’re not a top team in the nation yet, but they’re quite underrated because a lot of their losses were just by one or two points. They don’t have the best record, but they worked hard,” was Welte’s take on the Catamounts.
On the weekend, Daniel optimistically added, “I think the overall sentiment is that we hate to lose—every good team hates to lose. But we don’t lose the lesson so we’ll learn our lesson and we’ll be better next week and from here on out because of it.”
The women resume play with a set of games at Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Conn. They handily beat Sacred Heart 4-0 and 11-1 when they met in early October.
