Cox Sparks Rensselaer Past Colgate
TROY, N.Y. – Freshman left winger Eleeza Cox tallied a
pair of goals, including the eventual game-winner in the second
period, to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's
hockey team to a 4-1 victory over Colgate University in ECAC Hockey
action on Friday. With the win, the Engineers improve to
5-12-4 overall and 2-5-1 in conference play. The Raiders slip
to 7-11-1 and 2-5-1 in the league.
Locked in a 1-1 tie after the opening period of play, the Engineers
grabbed the lead as Cox (St. Catharines, ON/Ridley College) found a
loose puck in front and chipped it in. Senior captain Alisa
Harrison (Vienna, VA/Washington Pride) earned the lone assist after
she skated down into the slot and fired a shot at the Colgate
net. Raiders goalie Kimberly Sass (East Amherst, NY/Buffalo
Bison) dove out to cover the puck, but could not hold onto it as
Cox skated it and got a piece of it, flicking it into the empty-net
at 18:07.
It was Cox who made it a two-goal advantage (3-1) late in the third
period as she collected a feed from Harrison and banked it
in. Harrison had an outstanding effort in front to keep it
into the zone, firing her own shot at Sass before diving to make
short pass to Cox at 18:54.
Facing a 3-1 deficit, the Raiders pulled Sass in favor of the
extra-attacker, but sophomore defender Madison Marzario (Prior
Lake, MN/Shattuck-St. Mary's) sealed the Engineers victory after
she intercepted the puck in RPI defensive zone and flipped it the
length of the ice into the empty-net 49 seconds left.
Colgate broke out onto the scoreboard first in the contest as
rookie Melissa Kueber (St. Albert, AB/Paul Kane) fired in a shot
off a deflection by an RPI defender. Sophomore Taylor Volpe
(Tustin, CA/Gilmour Academy) earned the primary assist on the
goal.
Rensselaer rallied late in the frame to tie things up as junior
assistant captain Taylor Horton (St. Thomas, ON/Bluewater Jr.
Hawks) collected a chip pass from senior Sierra Vadner (Apple
Valley, MN/Minnesota Thoroughbreds) and fired it in over Sass's
shoulder at 17:10.
The Engineers, which held a narrow 20-18 margin in shots for the
game, saw rookie netminder Kelly O'Brien (Sussex, WI/Madison
Capitals) post 17 saves for her third win of the season. Sass
posted 16 saves in the loss for the Raiders.
The Engineers return to action on Saturday, welcoming #3 Cornell to
the Houston Field House at 4pm. Live stats for the game will
be available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/rpi/whockey/ and a live
pay-per-view webcast via America One can be followed at
http://www.b2tv.com/partner_members.asp?id=27. The Raiders head to
Schenectady for a 4pm contest at Union.












