The women’s hockey team is heading to the ECACHL playoffs in their first year of eligibility. Although the team dropped two close games last weekend to Clarkson and No. 5 St. Lawrence, No. 3 Dartmouth did the job for the Engineers when the Big Green ended Brown’s season Friday night.
The women Engineers will fight for their season against Olympian-stacked powerhouse Dartmouth this Friday and Saturday in Hanover, N.H. and possibly force a game three on Sunday. It might take some luck to overturn the number three team in the nation, but if they can even force a game three, it will be a huge accomplishment to top off another great season for the team.
After a slow start to the season when the team went 1-8, the success has slowly built upon itself and the momentum will carry on. “We set a goal of making the playoffs, now the next goal is to advance to the next round,” said Head Coach John Burke.
Although the team expects the playoffs to be an annual occurrence in the long run, the first time around is still thrilling. “As a team in our first year, we’re excited but not satisfied by just making the playoffs,” said Burke.
The last six games have been tough on the Engineers’ record with several close losses and three of those six against top 10 teams. Although the team will now be playing next weekend’s games away, the experience against top teams will hopefully pay off for the young team. “We’re really comfortable and really happy with how we’ve played these games [against top 10 teams],” Burke said.
These games against the best teams in the country, however, have strengthened the Engineers. “We’re excited about the match-up with Dartmouth; we know we can hold our own and we’re not afraid of the match-up,” said Burke, who was quick to add that they have “a ton of respect” for the team—but no fear.
With the end of the regular season, last Saturday was Senior Appreciation Night where second-year Captain Sarah Daniel and teammate Ciara Libaridian were honored for their accomplishments. “They were integral on and off the ice,” said Burke. “We were very fortunate to have them in our program.”
That same night, the team lost a close one to number five in the nation, St. Lawrence University. RPI’s goal early in the first by freshman Allison Wright, assisted by classmate Whitney Naslund and sophomore Nicole McDonald, gave the visitors a scare, but wasn’t enough to win the game—despite netminder Ashley Mayr’s career-high 44 saves.
The Saints would score 12 seconds into what would become a busy second period with many penalties assessed to both sides. Then with just under two minutes left in the penalty-free third period, SLU sank the game-winner to take the contest and avoid an upset with a final score of 2-1.
The previous night had been another heartbreaker with RPI again taking an early lead from a Brooke Thompson goal, assisted by junior classmate Kelly Barbera and McDonald. Clarkson waited until 4:44 in the second to make a power play goal and tie it up at one apiece. Sophomore Mel Guillemette answered with her own power play goal at 13:17 and was assisted by Barbera.
After two good periods, the home team took some unfortunate penalties and, combined with a strong finish by Clarkson, gave up two more to lose 3-2 with the last goal coming just 13 seconds before the final horn.
“These games we played in the last couple weeks have given us the confidence and experience that we can play with these guys,” said Burke of the top teams in the nation.
The Engineers head to Thompson Arena in Hanover, N.H. for their first ECACHL quarterfinal best-of-three series starting 4 pm Friday, followed by 2 pm games Saturday and Sunday, if needed. RPI is now 12-20-1 overall, while the Big Green is 23-4-2.
