McCutcheon mangles Union

Fresh off their 4‒0 win at Union the evening before, the Engineers dominated the match on October 9, with ECAC Rookie of the Week Audrey McCutcheon ’25 scoring a hat trick and leading them to a 9‒2 victory. This is the Engineers’ first win in their last 20 home games.

For the starting five minutes of the first period, the possession of the puck was fluid. 5:18 minutes into the match, Union gained a power play as Sarah Bukvic ’23 was sent to the box for boarding. Although down a player, Marah Wagner ’23 scored a short-handed goal 5:58 minutes into the match after a loose puck gave her a one-versus-one against Union’s goaltender. The Dutchwomen failed to score during their power play as Rensselaer’s strong defense kept Union’s offense at bay, ending those two minutes with a score of 1‒0, favoring the Engineers.

With morale at a high, RPI dominated the ice with clean stick-handling and passing. Lauren Severson (Gr) had a breakaway 7:30 minutes into the period, leaving everyone on the edge of their seats; with no follow-up, the puck’s possession slid back to the Dutchwomen. For the remainder of the first period, RPI’s defense was a brick wall, even as Union obtained another two-minute power play in the eleventh minute. While goaltender Amanda Rampado ’23 prevented any shots from reaching the back of the net, that was not the case for the Dutchwomen’s defense. Despite Union’s heavy offensive possession, one slip-up led to the puck escaping the rink. After a face-off in the Engineers' zone, the puck was cleared to Riena Jahnke ’24, who gave a quick pass to Wagner. Wagner faked the defenders out, tapping the puck back to Jahnke who scored in the last minute on an open net.

At the start of the second period, the score quickly changed from 2‒0 to 3‒0. It only took 45 seconds for Bukvic to break into the zone, solo, and follow up her own rebounded shot, popping her first goal of the season over the Dutchwomen’s goaltender’s shoulder. Union’s drought ended 2:24 minutes into the second period as they scored their first goal of the match, making the score 3‒1.

Fire still surged in the Engineers as they tried to respond to the previous goal. Union became a challenge as they kept the puck in Rensselaer’s zone. Approximately five minutes into the second period, Nyah Philip ’24 snatched the puck and flew into Union’s zone with Bukvic set in front of the net to receive, but the puck failed to slide inside. In the tenth minute, Taylor Larsen ’24 crossed the puck to her defensive partner Delaney Weiss ’22 who sent the puck forward to Ellie Kaiser ’24. From there, Kaiser sent a sharp pass diagonally across the ice to McCutcheon who beelined to the net, sinking an unstoppable shot high into Dutchwomen’s net.

In the following four minutes, the score rose from 4‒1 to 7‒1 as the Engineers dominated the offensive game. 11:46 minutes into the second period, Mikayla Capelle ’22 made her scoring debut with an easy tap into the net with an assist from Hannah Price ’23. Only two minutes later, Maddy Peterson ’23 positioned herself in front of the goal in order to nail a rebound into the back of the net. Minute fourteen marked McCutcheon’s second goal: a quick follow-up of Kaiser’s shot, bringing RPI’s total score to an astounding seven points.

With the third period starting, the Engineers were sitting pretty with a six-goal lead over the Dutchwomen. McCutcheon snuck the puck into the close corner to score her third goal 2:19 minutes into the period. Taylor Zahirnyi ’23 assisted the goal with a precise pass across zones. Larsen netted RPI’s final score on a power play. At the fourteen-minute mark, Union got a consolation goal with a slapshot at the top of the zone.

The game finished with a final score of 9‒2 as Rensselaer secured the victory, bringing their Eastern College Athletic Conference record to 2‒0. The Engineers will return on October 22 to take on Boston University at 6 pm at the Houston Field House.

Click here for RPI TV’s broadcast of the game and here for the box score.