Engineers Comeback Falls Short

Final	1	2	3	Final
Syracuse (6-9-0)	0	3	1	4
Rensselaer (3-10-4)	1	0	2	3

Scoring Summary
1st - 13:24	Vandegrift, Jill (Rensselaer)
2nd - 03:23	C-MATTIMOE, Holly (Syracuse)
2nd - 10:46	KNERR, Julie (Syracuse)
2nd - 15:47	SKELLY, Megan (Syracuse)
3rd - 07:38	GOODNOUGH, Kaillie (Syracuse)
3rd - 15:51	Smelker, Jordan (Rensselaer)
3rd - 18:47	PP - Le Donne, Andie (Rensselaer)

Syracuse	Rensselaer
G: 4 Players (#3, #7, #14, #16 - 1) A: ROACH, Caitlin - 2 Sh: LACOMBE, Allie - 3 Sv: DRINKWATER, Jenesica - 28	G: 3 Players (#18, #19, #21 - 1) A: 4 Players (#3, #16, #19, #21 - 1) Sh: Eleeza Cox - 5 Sv: Kelly O'Brien - 10

TEAM STATISTICS	Syracuse	Rensselaer
Power Plays	0 for 4	1 for 4
Shorthanded Goals	0	0
Penalties (min)	5 (10)	5 (10)
Shots on Goal	16	31
Face Offs Won	26	26

full stats

TROY, N.Y. - Syracuse University had a three-goal second period and
the Orange held off a feverish comeback from the Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's hockey team to defeat the
Engineers, 4-3, in a non-league game at Houston Field House.

Syracuse held a 4-1 lead late in the third period when RPI scored
twice in a three-minute span to pull within 4-3 with under two minutes
remaining. The Orange, behind sophomore netminder Jenesica Drinkwater
(Brantford, ON/Stoney Creek), kept the home team off the scoreboard
for the final 1:13 to improve to 6-9-0. Rensselaer falls to 3-10-4.

The visitors opened a 3-1 lead with their three second period goals.
Junior Holly Carrie-Mattimoe (Sherwood Park, AB/Vimy Ridge Academy)
tied the score just 3:23 into the period when she deflected a Caitlin
Roach (Dearborn Heights, MI/Honeybaked) pass into the back of the net.

Freshman Julie Knerr (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, PQ/College Bourget) put the
visitors in front just over seven minutes later on a nifty individual
effort. After collecting a long pass from Taylor Metcalfe (Oakville,
ON/St. Thomas Aquinas), Knerr drove down the right side, stopped
abruptly in the bottom of the faceoff circle, pulled the puck back and
fired a shot past RPI netminder Kelly O'Brien (Sussex, WI/Madison
Capitals).

The Orange made it a two-goal advantage at 15:47 when senior captain
Megan Skelly (Taber, AB/National Sport Academy) scored on a
wraparound. Skelly's initial shot from the below the right faceoff
circle was wide but she collected the loose puck and beat O'Brien to
the opposite side for her third goal of the season.

Syracuse got its fourth goal at 7:38 of the third period when freshman
Kaillie Goodnough (Mannsville, NY/National Sports Academy) scored on a
slapshot from blueline. That goal, Goodnough's third of the year,
chased O'Brien, who was replaced by classmate Brianna Piper (Oakville,
ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros).

Rensselaer, which held a 31-16 edge in shots on goal, saw sophomore
Jordan Smelker (Anchorage, AK/Team Alaska 19U) score from the slot at
15:51 with the Engineers skating with an extra attacker. Junior
defenseman Andie Le Donne (Toronto, ON/Durham Lightning), who assisted
on Smelker's marker, tallied an extra attacker of her own, this one at
18:47, to bring RPI to within one goal, but the home team could not
get the equalizer.

The Engineers got on the board first when freshman defenseman Kathryn
Schilter (Aurora, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros) sent a shot from the far
boards that was deflected on goal by senior forward Jill Vandegrift
(St. Paul, MN/Minnesota Thoroughbreds). Vandegrift's shot from just
outside the crease was saved but she backhanded the rebound over
Drinkwater (Brantford, ON/Stoney Creek) for her fourth goal of the
season. The assist on the goal, which came at the 13:24 mark, was
Schilter's second of the season.

Drinkwater finished with 28 saves for the win, while O'Brien stopped
10 shots in suffering the loss. Piper saved both shots she faced in
relief.

Rensselaer and Syracuse are right back in action on Saturday afternoon
at the Houston Field House. Faceoff is 4pm.