Box Score

HAMDEN, CT -- Quinnipiac women's ice hockey lost 4-0 to Rensselaer Saturday afternoon at the TD Banknorth Sports Center. The loss drops the Bobcats to 4-20-4 on the season and 1-12-3 in ECAC Hockey play. The Engineers move back over .500 with the win and are now 12-11-4 overall and 5-8-3 in the ECAC. Three power-play goals cost the Bobcats as they were unable to stop the Engineers with the man-advantage.

The Engineers opened the scoring with two first period power-play goals. Melanie Guillemette scored the game's opening goal, 11:20 into the first, on a long shot from the point with the man-advantage. The high wrist shot beat Quinnipiac goaltender Jamie Miller (Richmond Hill, Ont.) over her right shoulder as she was screened in front of the net by two RPI forwards.

With 1:23 remaining in the period, Jamie-Lynn Stewart scored another power-play goal for the Engineers. Stewart set-up for a screen in front of Miller, but blocked her teammate Whitney Naslund's shot from the point and was able to slip the puck into the net for the 2-0 lead at the end of the opening frame.

It took the Engineers just 22 seconds into the second period to make it 3-0. RPI scored its third power-play goal of the game on a rebound off the stick of Nicole McDonald. McDonald planted herself to the right of the goal and put the rebound off of the skate of a Bobcat defender and into the back off the net. Laura Gersten took the original shot from the point and was credited with her eighth assist of the season.

The Bobcats' best scoring chance came at the 5:17 mark when Breana Burton (Surrey, B.C.) shot the puck across the goal mouth behind Rensselaer's goalie, Sonja van der Bliek. Trudy Reyns' slapped a shot that van der Bliek knocked to the stick of Burton who wristed the puck past the far post.

The final period saw the Bobcats fire 12 shots on net, while the Engineers where held to six. However, Quinnipiac was unable to find the back of the net despite two power-play chances in the period. The Bobcats tried to gain more momentum in the waning moments as they pulled Miller for nearly three minutes to play the extra attacker on the power play.

Rensselaer sealed the win with an empty net goal from Allysen Weidner with 1:32 remaining in the game on a long shot from the neutral zone.

Quinnipiac returns to action on Friday, Feb. 8 when they travel to take on Brown in Providence, R.I. at 7 p.m. before playing Yale at Ingalls Rink Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.