Engineers Earn First Win Over Dartmouth
HANOVER, N.H. - Senior Allison Wright scored the game-winner and
sophomore Sonja van der Bliek made 45 saves to lead the Rensselaer
women's hockey team to a 2-1 victory at Dartmouth in ECAC Hockey
action. The win, which was the first-ever for the Engineers over
the Big Green, moves RPI to 9-10-5 overall and 6-4-3 in conference
play. Dartmouth is now 6-11-2 and 4-9-1 in ECAC Hockey.
The game, which marked the 10th meeting of the two schools, was
also the first contest between Rensselaer and Dartmouth since the
teams met in last season's ECAC Hockey Championship Game. The Big
Green won that contest by a 6-1 margin and held an 8-0-1 advantage
over the Engineers prior to tonight's game.
Tied 1-1 after two periods of play, the Engineers came out in the
third period on the power play advantage, but found themselves
unable to convert. Wright came through at 8:51 to give RPI its
first lead of the game, scoring past Mariel Lacina for the 2-1
advantage. Senior Allysen Weidner and junior Kendra Dunlop were
credited with the assists on the goal.
Dartmouth tried to even things up late in the game, but van der
Bliek held strong between the pipes, stopping eight shots to
preserve the victory. She also had 22 saves in the first period and
15 in the second stanza, coming just three shots shy of her career
mark (48), which she posted in last year's ECAC Hockey Semifinals
victory at Harvard. Lacina finished with 16 saves for
Dartmouth.
Neither team could capitalize in the opening stanza as Dartmouth
held a lopsided 22-5 edge in the period's shots. The Big Green got
thing started in the second period as Alysa Boehm connected on a
pass from Sally Komarek at 14:10 for the tally past van der
Bliek.
Rensselaer battled back late in the frame when Weidner converted a
pass from Dunlop at 18:01 to make it a 1-1 game heading into the
third period.
Both teams had trouble connecting on power play advantages as
Dartmouth went 0 for 5, while the Engineers were 0 for 6.
The Big Green return to action on Saturday when they host Union at
Thompson Arena (4pm). RPI is also on the ice tomorrow, heading to
Bright Hockey Center to face Harvard (4pm).












