The women’s hockey team saw another milestone performance this past weekend—one that will send it to its first appearance in the ECAC semifinals next weekend at Harvard University. Playing in a best-of-three series against the No. 9 in the nation Princeton University Tigers, the Engineers swept the quarterfinal with victories of 2-1 and 1-0 on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Friday’s game held significant moments in the program’s history. Not only was it the Engineers’ first Division-I playoff win, it was also the longest game in RPI women’s hockey history, and Head Coach John Burke’s 100th career win in his six-year coaching tenure. “It’s really not that big of a deal,” said Burke of his accomplishment. “I’m more proud of how the girls have been playing lately.”
Junior Allison Wright notched her eighth goal of the season at the 16-minute mark of the second overtime frame to propel the Engineers 2-1 over Princeton. Rookie defenseman Alisa Harrison chipped the puck out to Wright in the slot, who beat senior goaltender Kristen Young for the sudden-death game-winner. “It was great, and I was obviously very happy to win as everyone else was,” said Wright of her goal. “At that point though, I didn’t care who put the puck in the net as long as RPI won.”
Earlier in the three-hour-long game, senior Jamie-Lynn Stewart gave the Engineers the early lead as she buried her fourth of the season on the power play at 15:33 of the first. Junior Laura Gersten and freshman Amanda Castignetti, who made point-to-point passes before getting the puck to Stewart, assisted on the play.
The second frame remained nearly scoreless until the final 30 seconds of play, when the Tigers came back to tie the game at one. With a second remaining on a penalty to sophomore Engineer Kendra Dunlop, sophomore Tiger defenseman Sasha Sherry made a quick pass to freshman Heather Landry. The rookie was able to send the puck past sophomore goalie Sonja van der Bliek for her seventh of the year.
Both teams battled to a scoreless third, sending the game into overtime. Neither team was able to score in the first 20-minute session; however, Wright ended the game 16 minutes into the second overtime.
“We were smart and kept the game simple,” explained Wright on the team’s tactics for the long game. “During the two overtime periods, it was important for us to let the puck do the work and to wear out Princeton.”
Van der Bliek stopped 31 shots to snap the Tigers’ six-game winning streak, while Young made 23 saves in the loss. “Sonja has been playing great, and has been coming up with some big saves,” boasted Burke of the goaltender’s star performance.
“All I try to do is look at it one game at a time. There is no secret to my success except hard work and focus,” said van der Bliek of her performance lately. “For every game, I just try to do my job in the net and depend on my team to take care of the rest.”
With one win under their belt, the Engineers needed only one more victory to advance to the next stage of the playoffs. Turning aside 32 shots, including 13 in both the second and third periods, van der Bliek posted her fifth shutout of the year to lead RPI to a 1-0 triumph over the Tigers.
Similar to the night before, the Engineers took an early lead as senior captain Melissa Boik netted her seventh goal of the season—and the eventual game-winner. While on the power play, RPI drove the puck into Princeton’s offensive zone. After a point-to-point pass from freshman defender Sierra Vadner to Boik, Boik rocketed the puck through traffic and past Young for the tally.
With its playoff chances on the line, Princeton stepped up its game in the remaining two periods of play. Despite a scoreless second frame, the Tigers held a 13-1 shot advantage and had several chances to tie the game up. Van der Bliek held strong in net, and several RPI skaters blocked shots to keep the Tigers scoreless.
The third period played out much like the first, as the Tigers worked hard to net the equalizer. Junior Julie Johnson and senior Christine Foster each had two solid chances to tie the game, including a point-blank shot on van der Bliek. However, the Engineers prevailed in maintaining the shutout win. In a last-ditch attempt to score, Princeton pulled Young with 2:25 remaining in the game, but still could not get past van der Bliek.
Young stopped 11 of 12 shots in the loss, which snapped Princeton’s six-game winning streak.
With the two wins, RPI, seeded sixth in the tournament, improves to 18-13-4 overall on the season and 11-8-3 in the ECAC, while third seed Princeton drops to 18-11-2 overall and 13-5-4 in the league. The Tigers have not advanced past the quarterfinals of the ECAC playoffs in the last three seasons of play.
The team’s focus has remained the same throughout its entire playoff run. “We have been working hard every day at practice, in the weight room, and in the classroom, while working on the same things we have been doing all year that have gotten us this far,” said van der Bliek. Gersten is confident that this momentum will carry RPI through the next round: “The atmosphere in the locker room is amazing. Everyone just wants to go out there and give it their all this weekend. You work all season to be able to play in these types of games, so we’re all excited to get out there and play.”
Next weekend, the Engineers head out to Cambridge, Mass. to face the top seed in the tournament and No. 7 in the nation Harvard Crimson. “Harvard always likes to come out strong from the start,” explained Gersten. “We will have to match their intensity. These games will come down to who wants it more, so I think it will be a hard-fought game.” Earlier this season, RPI tied Harvard 1-1 on the road, and lost in a tight game 5-4 at the Houston Field House. “We feel pretty good about our chances,” explained Burke. “Each year the games are closer and closer with the top teams like Harvard. That being said, we know that we still need to bring our game and keep an eye out on a couple of special players on their team.” With a win next weekend, the Engineers could head onto the ECAC finals to see which team emerges top dog in the league.
