The women’s hockey team split the weekend after two tough but uneventful games as they racked up points in the ECAC Hockey League and set themselves up for a playoff berth on the road. Friday night’s disappointing 3-0 loss to Colgate University was followed by a tight 1-0 victory over a weak Cornell team.
Coming into Saturday’s game in Ithaca, RPI held a position that they haven’t often been in this season. After Rensselaer’s 8-2 victory earlier in the year and looking at the Big Red’s dismal 3-18-1 record, the Engineers were the clear favorites to win the game. Cornell didn’t let this one go easily, however, as they returned with their top goaltender and injuries plagued RPI’s freshmen defenders.
RPI was ready for them as they showed up prepared for the fight. “We knew they were going to come out strong in their own rink,” said Head Coach John Burke.
Allysen Weidner, the freshman out of Wichita, Kan. would put the Engineers on the board late in the first period. Her eighth goal of the season was assisted by classmate and team leader Whitney Naslund. It was Naslund’s 16th on the season.
In a nail-biter, RPI held precariously onto their one goal lead for the victory and two league points. Sophomore goalie Ashley Mayr needed just 11 saves to get the shut out as RPI consistently out-shot the Big Red. The second period saw the visitors control the game while out-shooting their opponents 15-2. A goal by sophomore Nicole McDonald was called back after it was made clear that a player was in the crease.
In a desperate attempt to force the game into overtime, Cornell pulled their goalie for an extra skater late in the third, but the attempt was to no avail as RPI preserved the win to split the weekend.
The previous night, the team had traveled to Hamilton to play a strong Colgate team. “I thought we did a really good job, it was a hard fought game,” said Burke. The Raiders (now 12-10-2, 11-3-1 in the league) came out fast, lighting up the scoreboard just 1:27 into the game with a goal by Nicole McDonald. RPI would be out-shot 30-21 in a game were they happened to score two of the three for Colgate.
Despite several close shots by Naslund in the first stanza, the team couldn’t get past Raider netminder Brook Wheeler.
Colgate put the game out of reach in the second with a pair of goals while out-shooting the visitors 16-5 in the period.
“I thought that Colgate had a great start,” said Burke. A fast start for the Raiders and two unfortunate bounces was a tall order to overcome for the Engineers. “We played really strong, but not very smart” said Burke of the team’s play after the second bad bounce. “We couldn’t get anything going after that, and we have to give some credit to Colgate for that.”
Although RPI has now lost both games against the Raiders, they are now looking ahead to next weekend’s return to the Houston Field House as they welcome Ivy Leaguers Dartmouth and Harvard and their swarm of Olympians. After a set of brutal losses in Cambridge, Mass., and Hanover, N.H. earlier this season, the team will have an opportunity to show what they’ve learned since the last meeting and put up a serious fight this time. “I think we’re a totally different team” said Burke of the changes the team has undergone. The first weekend of league play, and on the road was not the ideal first time to meet some of the best teams in the nation. “We know what to expect from the league and our opponents.”
“The girls are looking forward to playing at home and having good support from the student body,” he finished.
