Engineers Victorious in League Opener
TROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's
ice hockey team saw five different players score, led by a goal and
two assists from Alisa Harrison (Vienna, VA/Washington Pride),
enroute to a 5-1 victory over Brown University in the ECAC Hockey
opener for both schools.
With the win, the Engineers improve to 4-4-0 on the season while
the Bears dropped to 0-2-1 overall. The game saw several first for
RPI, which won its first ECAC Hockey opener since joining the
league in 2006-07. Additionally, the Engineers posted 54 shots on
goal in the game, the most by RPI against a league opponent.
Brown took advantage of an RPI miscue in the neutral zone to gain a
1-0 lead at 9:58 of the first period. Stealing the puck off the
stick of an Engineers' defenseman, Bears sophomore Maggie Suprey
(South Boston, MA/Noble & Greenough), navigated into the RPI
zone on a 2-on-1 and sent a low shot through the five hole of
goalie Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros).
The Engineers wasted little time in taking back the momentum in the
period as they tallied two goals just 1:32 apart for a 2-1 lead,
beginning with senior captain Melissa Boik's (Allen Park,
MI/Michigan Capitals) marker at 13:00.
Poised at the near point, Boik corralled a pass off the face-off by
Harrison and sent the puck sailing through traffic and in to tie
things up. Junior Whitney Naslund (Bloomington, MN/Bloomington
Jefferson) made it a 2-1 game soon after as she buried home the
rebound of a Harrison shot in the slot for a power play tally at
14:32. Junior Allison Wright (Oakville, ON/Oakville Ice) was
credited for the second assist on the goal.
Rensselaer, which held a 19-1 shot advantage in the opening frame,s
continued to dominate into the second period, adding a pair of
goals for a commanding 4-1 lead. Junior Jodi Yaworski (Calgary,
AB/Choate Rosemary Hall) made it a two-goal advantage at the 7:20
mark with her first goal of the season. Sophomore Sydney O'Keefe
(Prior Lake, MN/Prior Lake) earned the primary assist after her
shot from the bottom of the right circle was deflected out to
Yaworski, who buried it past Bears goalie Nicole Stock (Buffalo
Grove, IL/Choate Rosemary Hall).
Harrison increased the RPI lead at the 17:11 mark when she slid
through the slot and lifted it over the glove of a reaching Stock
on the right side for a power play tally. Naslund, who took the
shot from the far circle, and Wright, whose cross in front chipped
over to Harrison, earned the assists on the tally.
The third period saw sophomore Kendra Dunlop (Granum, AB/Warner
Hockey School) add her team-leading fourth goal of the season as
she converted a pass from junior Allysen Weidner (Wichita,
KS/Shattuck St. Mary's) in the front left corner for the tally at
19:15. Freshman Jill Vandegrift (St. Paul, MN/Minnesota
Thoroughbreds) was also credited with a helper.
RPI, which held the Bears to just eight shots on goal in the game,
saw van der Bliek make seven saves for her second victory of the
season. Stock posted an astounding 49 saves in the loss, including
17 in the first period and 16 in the second and third frames.
The Engineers return to action tomorrow afternoon when they host
Yale at 3pm. Live stats will once again be available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/rpi/whockey/.
The Bears head to Schenectady on Saturday to take on Union, also at
3pm.












