Engineers Downed at Wayne State

Box Score

DETROIT, MI - Powered by a hat trick from junior forward Melissa Boal (Pakenham, ON/Ottawa Raiders), Wayne State University scored two goals in the second period and three more in the third to defeat visiting Rensselaer, 5-3, in non-conference action this evening. The Warriors improve to 7-4-0 overall while the Engineers fall to 6-5-1 on the season.

After a scoreless first period, which saw both teams have quality scoring opportunities, Wayne State opened the scoring on a goal by junior forward Sam Poyton (Hamilton, ON/Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres). Off a cross-ice pass from classmate Lindsay DiPietro (Manotick, ON/Ottawa Lady Senators, Poyton chipped a backhanded shot in past the reach of Ashley Mayr (Burnaby, BC/BC Breakers) at 6:38.

The Engineers wasted little time in tying things up as junior Nicole McDonald (Ottawa, ON/Ottawa Raiders) found the loose puck off a rebound from Kendra Dunlop (Granum, AB/Warner Hockey School) and put it past Warriors goalie Tiffany Thompson (Dryden, ON/Thunder Bay Queens) at 7:01.

Despite holding a 9-6 shot advantage in the frame, RPI found itself down a goal heading into the second intermission after Boal netted her first of the game and 17th of the season on the power play at 13:25.

In the third period, Boal pushed Wayne State ahead, 3-1, but the Engineers quickly closed the gap just over a minute later as sophomore Laura Gersten (Queensbury, NY/Troy-Albany Ice Cats) banged home a pass from defensive partner Melissa Boik (Allen Park, MI/Michigan Capitals) at 4:29 to cut the Warriors lead.

Wayne State, which was outshot 10-3 by Rensselaer in the frame and 28-13 in the game, re-gained its two-goal advantage at 7:59 on Boal's final goal of the game. Junior defenseman Melanie Guillemette (North Bay, ON/Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres) was able to cut the Engineers deficit to one (4-3) at the 11:25 mark, but the homestanding Warriors got another goal from Poyton to round out the scoring for the 5-3 victory.

In addition to her three goals, Boal also had two assists while Poyton finished with two goals and three assists in the contest. For Rensselaer, nine different players recorded a point on the night, including Guillemette's team-leading sixth goal of the season and fourth on the power play.

Thompson posted 25 saves to pick up the win in goal for Wayne State while her counterpart, Mayr, stopped eight shots in the loss. 

Additionally, seniors Kelly Barbera (Nesconset, NY/Gunnery School) and Ellen McNamara (Macomb, MI/Little Caesars U-19) played in their 100th career game, becoming just the 14th and 15th players, respectively to reach that mark in their careers.  Fellow senior Julie Aho (Ann Arbor, MI/Birmingham Rangers) became the 13th player to reach 100 games played on November 10th at St. Lawrence.

These same two squads return to action tomorrow afternoon for a 3pm face-off, which has been moved ahead from the original 3:30pm start.