No. 5 Clarkson claims win with five unanswered goals

After losing the previous night to No. 6 St. Lawrence, the Rensselaer Engineers hosted the No. 5 Clarkson Golden Knights in their sixth ECAC game of the season.

RPI had the game’s first real scoring opportunity five and a half minutes into the first period. Engineer Maddy Papineau snatched the puck after a Clarkson forward failed to corral a pass. Papineau skated through the neutral zone and drew three Golden Knights toward her, freeing up Ellie Kaiser in the middle of the ice. Papineau lifted a perfectly-weighted pass to put Kaiser one-on-one with Clarkson goaltender Michelle Pasiechnyk, but the goalie reached out her pad to deny Kaiser when she switched to her backhand.

The Engineers went on the power play five minutes later after Clarkson’s Bridget Stevenson launched forward Georgia Bailey head-first into the end boards with a cross-check. Forty seconds into the power play, RPI’s Taylor Larsen passed the puck to Papineau at the edge of the right faceoff circle. Papineau quickly darted the puck across the zone to Kaiser on the opposite wing. With two Golden Knights in the shooting lane, Kaiser aimed a pass inches wide of the far post for Marah Wagner on the doorstep. Wagner angled the blade of her stick to tip the puck past Pasiechnyk for her second goal of the season, putting the Engineers up 1‒0.

Despite having few offensive opportunities to start the game, Clarkson came alive in the final minute and a half of the first period. Nicole Gosling buried a shot past a screened RPI goaltender Amanda Rampado to tie the game at 1‒1, then Sena Catterall lifted a backhand over Rampado’s blocker from close range just 11 seconds later to give the Golden Knights the lead. Clarkson doubled their lead with less than five minutes remaining in the second period. Rampado saved a tight-angle shot, but the rebound fell to Catterall in front of the net and she slid the puck under the RPI goalie for her second goal of the game.

A little over four minutes into the final frame, Clarkson went on the power play after RPI’s Andrea Trnkova earned a minor penalty for interference. With 20 seconds left on the penalty, Clarkson’s Keira Hurry launched a shot that was blocked by Engineer Sophia Jones right in front of the Rensselaer net. Catterall tracked the puck as it fell to the ice and directed it in before the diving Rampado’s glove could intervene. The goal put the Golden Knights up by three and earned Catterall her first collegiate hat-trick. Nearly four minutes later, Brooke McQuigge tipped a shot from teammate Haley Winn to beat Rampado for Clarkson’s fifth and final goal. The win extends the Golden Knights’ season record to 11‒0‒1. Click here for the box score and tune in to watch the Engineers live on ESPN+.

Despite starting their ECAC campaign with two overtime wins, the Engineers are now on a four-game losing streak after facing Colgate, Cornell, St. Lawrence, and Clarkson—all of which currently reside in the top seven of the NCAA rankings. The Engineers return to action on Friday in Providence to take on Brown before facing the No. 11 Yale Bulldogs on Saturday.