Engineers Win Thiller at Clarkson

Photo by DSPics.com

Final	1	2	3	Final
Rensselaer (13-13-4,8-8-2)	1	0	1	2
Clarkson (15-10-5,9-6-3)	1	0	0	1

Scoring Summary
1st - 04:58	Marie-Jo Gaudet (Clarkson)
1st - 05:05	Melissa Boik (Rensselaer)
3rd - 16:46	Nicole McDonald (Rensselaer)

Rensselaer	Clarkson
G: 2 Players (#4, #11 - 1) A: 2 Players (#20, #27 - 1) Sh: 4 Players (#8, #10, #11, #86 - 2) Sv: Sonja Van der bliek - 25	G: Marie-Jo Gaudet - 1 A: Kimberly McKenney - 1 Sh: Carlee Eusepi - 4 Sv: Lauren Dahm - 12

TEAM STATISTICS	Rensselaer	Clarkson
Power Plays	0 for 3	0 for 5
Shorthanded Goals	0	0
Penalties (min)	5 (10)	3 (6)
Shots on Goal	14	26
Face Offs Won	17	38

full stats

Boxscore

POTSDAM, N.Y. - Senior Jamie-Lynn Stewart (Cambridge, ON/Cambridge Jr. Fury) scored with 3:14 remaining in the game to lift Rensselaer to a thrilling 2-1 victory over Clarkson in ECAC Women's Hockey action on Saturday at Cheel Arena. The Engineers are now 13-13-3 overall and 8-8-2 in conference play, while the Golden Knights fall to 15-10-5 and 9-6-3 in ECAC Hockey.

The win by the Engineers marks the team's first season sweep over the Golden Knights. RPI won in Troy, 2-1 on January 23rd.

Stewart connected for the game-winner with a quick shot from the top of the crease after taking a behind-the-net pass from sophomore Kendra Dunlop (Granum, ALB). Senior Nicole McDonald (Ottawa, ONT) also assisted.

Clarkson struck first in the game, lighting the lamp at 4:58 of the opening period on a goal by senior Marie-Jo Gaudet (Sherbrooke, PQ/Lafleche College). Collecting a pass from classmate Kimberley McKenney just outside the RPI zone, Gaudet deked around an Engineers defender for a breakaway tally into the right corner of the net past the reach of Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros).

It took Rensselaer just seven seconds to tie things at 1-1 as senior captain Melissa Boik (Allen Park, MI/Michigan Capitals) scored her sixth of the year. Setting up on the face-off, rookie Alisa Harrison (Vienna, VA/Washington Pride) won it and chipped it back to Boik at the point. She rifled the shot through traffic for the equalizer at 5:05.

In the RPI net, van der Bliek made a number of outstanding saves to preserve the tie at the end of the frame, including several critical glove stops in the closing seconds, as the Golden Knights held a 13-5 advantage in shots after the first 20 minutes of play.

The second stanza went scoreless as Clarkson once again held the favor in shots with an 8-3 lead. Lauren Dahm (Baldwinsville, NY/Syracuse Under-19) made key stops on the RPI power play as junior Allison Wright (Oakville, ON/Oakville Ice) had more than one attempt to bang it home from the corner of the net.

In goal, van der Bliek posted 25 saves while her counterpart, Dahm had 12 stops. The Knights, which outshot RPI, 26-14, went 0-of-5 on the power play, while Rensselaer was scoreless in three man-advantage opportunities.

Notably, Boik became the all-time leader in career games played this afternoon, competing in her 122 contest. She surpassed for Engineer Ellen McNamara '08, who had 121. Additionally, Stewart and senior Jaime Jacquard-Sowa (North Vancouver, BC/BC Breakers) played in their 121st games today.

RPI heads to Yale and Brown next weekend as the playoff race heats up in the final two weeks of the regular season. The Engineers, currently in seventh place (18 points), face the ninth-place Bulldogs (10 points) on Friday at 7pm at Ingalls Rink. Rensselaer then tackles the 11th-placed Bears (8 points) on Saturday at 4pm at Meehan Auditorium.