Engineers Fall to No. 8 Huskies
TROY, N.Y. - Sophomore Dominique Thibault (L'Orignal,
PQ/Montreal Axion) scored a pair of goals, including the
game-winner in overtime to give the eighth-ranked University of
Connecticut women's hockey team a 3-2 victory over Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in non-conference action at the Houston
Field House.
The Huskies improve to 8-1-0 and extended their nation-best
unbeaten streak to eight games with the win. The Engineers saw
their six-game unbeaten streak snapped with the loss and are now
5-2-1 on the season.
Thibault, who also scored at 9:38 of the third period, gave
visiting UConn the victory when she gained control of the puck just
inside the near circle and maneuvered into the slot for a wrist
shot past RPI goalie Ashley Mayr (Burnaby, BC/BC Breakers) at 1:46
of the extra session.
After a scoreless first period, which saw both teams post 11 shots,
Rensselaer found the back of the net on the fourth goal of the
season by junior Nicole McDonald (Ottawa, ON/Ottawa Raiders).
Firing the puck from the middle of the far circle, McDonald's shot
richocheted off the stick of a goaltender and deflected over goalie
Brittany Wilson's shoulder at 8:23.
The Huskies wasted little time in scoring the equalizer as junior
Nicole Tritter (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros) tallied her
team-leading fifth goal of the season at 9:18. Off a pass from
sophomore Dominique Thibault (L'Orignal, ON/Montreal Axion),
defenseman Brianna Uliasz (Chalfont, PA/Taft School) took the
initial shot at Mayr, which slid out to Tritter for the goal.
Thibault pushed the Huskies ahead in the third period when she
intercepted the puck off the stick of an RPI defender for an
unassisted short-handed tally, but the Engineers tied things up
nearing the end of the period as sophomore Laura Gersten
(Queensbury, NY/Troy-Albany Ice Cats) scored from the slot on the
power play at 16:28 to set up the overtime drama.
RPI, which outshot the Huskies, 35-26 in the contest, saw Mayr stop
23 shots in the loss. Wilson finished with 33 saves in the victory,
including 14 in the second.
Rensselaer returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Northeastern
at 2pm at the Houston Field House. Connecticut will host Brown on
Sunday at 1pm.
