Women's Hockey - Princeton & Quinnipiac, Colgate & Cornell, Yale & Brown

Hi all - I'll be joining Tom here to provide coverage and recaps of RPI women's hockey, starting with the past three weekends' worth of games. Going forward I'll be following the same weekly schedule for game recaps, as well as chiming in with any news or press between games that's worth sharing. So, without further ado:

Princeton

Wright/Harrison/Vandegrift
Horton/Guillemette/Naslund
Padmore/Dunlop/O'Keefe
Chase/Stapleton/Jakubowski

Le Donne/Gersten
Daniels/Vadner
Castignetti/Haller

Van der Bliek

Quinnipiac

Wright/Harrison/Vandegrift
Horton/Guillemette/Naslund
Weidner/Dunlop/O'Keefe
Chase/Stapleton/Jakubowski

Le Donne/Gersten
Daniels/Vadner
Castignetti/Haller

Van der Bliek

RPI opened up the ECAC season with a pair of games on the road at Princeton and Quinnipiac, a road series which they swept last season before going on to upset Princeton in two games at Hobey Baker Rink in the quarterfinals of the ECAC playoffs. Hopes were understandably high given the recent history with these teams, and it seemed this could be the weekend the Engineers needed to snap a five-game winless streak. RPI would take only one point out of the weekend, however, as they skated to a 2-2 tie with Princeton (behind goals from Jill Vandegrift and Kendra Dunlop, and 23 saves from Sonja van der Bliek) before getting drubbed by Quinnipiac 6-1 on Saturday.

Saturday's loss marked the fifth straight weekend series where RPI performed noticeably worse in the weekend's second game. Van der Bliek surrendered three goals on just seven shots in the first period before being pulled for freshman Shannon Ramelot, who surrendered one more in the first before holding the Bobcats scoreless throughout the second and third. Quinnipiac notched two empty net goals while Taylor Horton scored for RPI with the net empty in order to avoid the shutout. RPI outshot Quinnipiac 30-24 but simply couldn't find tha back of the net.

Colgate

Wright/Harrison/Vandegrift
Dunlop/Vadner/Naslund
Horton/O'Keefe/Weidner
Guillemette/Stapleton/Gaylord

Le Donne/Gersten
Castignetti/Haller
Chase/Daniels

Van der Bliek

Cornell

Wright/Harrison/Vandegrift
Dunlop/Vadner/Naslund
Horton/O'Keefe/Weidner
Guillemette/Stapleton/Gaylord

Le Donne/Gersten
Castignetti/Haller
Chase/Daniels

Van der Bliek

The Engineers returned home the following weekend to take on Colgate and Cornell, and the alternating pattern of good and bad performances kept up another week. Friday afternoon at the Field House saw RPI absolutely dismantle Colgate 10-4 with 11 Engineers picking up points in the contest. RPI went 2/3 on the power play and took the lead on two goals just 0:07 apart in the first 1:11 of the game, never looking back and never relinquishing the lead.

Saturday, on the other hand, saw the Engineers put forth one of the sloppiest games of hockey (aside from intramurals) seen at Houston Field House this season. Outshot 29-19 by the Big Red, RPI never really played like they wanted to win this game, with sloppy passing, lazy turnovers, and an all around 180 from the dominating performance turned in the day before. Cornell may have come to town ranked #10 in the nation but the way RPI played this game they could have made just about anyone look like #1.

Yale

Horton/O'Keefe/Weidner
Dunlop/Vadner/Naslund
Wright/Harrison/Vandegrift
Guillemette/Jakubowski/Stapleton

Le Donne/Gersten
Castignetti/Haller
Chase/Daniels

Van der Bliek

Brown

Horton/O'Keefe/Weidner
Wright/Harrison/Vandegrift
Dunlop/Vadner/Naslund
Guillemette/Jakubowski/Stapleton

Le Donne/Gersten
Castignetti/Haller
Padmore/Daniels

Van der Bliek

One more weekend and one more pair of ECAC foes arrived at Houston Field House, this time winless Yale and one-win Brown (who had been shutout four times in the five games prior to their tilt with RPI). RPI played a solid Friday game once again, handily dispatching the Bulldogs 4-1 with goals by Audrey Stapleton, Sydney O'Keefe (2), and Whitney Naslund. And once again, they crapped out on Saturday, tying a Brown team who couldn't muster a goal against Union the night before (0-0 tie) and had scored one goal TOTAL in their past five games (following a 5-1 win over Providence for the Mayor's Cup). The Engineers put 38 shots on net, and scoring one goal on 38 shots is not a ticket to victory in any game. RPI was unable to capitalize on four Brown penalties, including a short 5x3, and Allysen Weidner's unassisted first period goal was the only one of the game for the Engineers.

RPI will look to break the frustrating cycle of hot and cold performances on Fridays and Saturdays this weekend as they play a single game at New Hampshire. The numbers tell the story as RPI is +9 in goal differential on Friday so far this season, and -12 on Saturday. After the game at UNH and a weekend series at Robert Morris, completing the Engineers games against every team in the CHA this season. Afterward they launch into the remainder of the ECAC schedule and will need to start turning in two solid games per week if they want to make the playoffs in a very competitive ECAC.

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ECAC Standings (as of 11/18/09)

Team          GP   Pts   ECAC      All
Clarkson      7    12    6-1-0     12-2-1
Cornell       6    10    5-1-0     5-3-0
Princeton     6    9     4-1-1     5-2-1
Quinnipiac    6    9     4-1-1     6-4-2
SLU           7    7     3-3-1     5-4-4
Harvard       6    6     3-3-0     3-3-1
RPI           6    6     2-2-2     4-6-4
Dartmouth     6    5     2-3-1     2-3-1
Colgate       6    4     1-3-2     2-8-2
Brown         6    3     0-3-3     1-4-3
Yale          6    2     1-5-0     1-5-1
Union         6    1     0-5-1     2-9-1

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RPI @ Princeton
ECAC Game - Hobey Baker Rink (Princeton, NJ)
10/30/09 - 7:00pm
RPI 2, Princeton 2 (OT)

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wprnren1.o30
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20091030&vis=rpi&home=pri&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2009/10/30/WICE_1030090910.aspx
PU: http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=46920&SPID=4275&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=10600&ATCLID=204824464

RECORD: 2-4-3 (0-0-1 ECAC Hockey, 1 point)

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RPI @ Quinnipiac
ECAC Game - TD Bank Sports Center (Hamden, CT)
10/31/09 - 400pm
Quinnipiac 6, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wquiren1.o31
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20091031&vis=rpi&home=qu&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2009/10/31/WICE_1031095335.aspx
QU: http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=87927&SPID=10457&DB_OEM_ID=17500&ATCLID=204824983

RECORD: 2-5-3 (0-1-1 ECAC Hockey, 1 point)

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Colgate @ RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/6/09 - 2:30pm
RPI 10, Colgate 4

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wclgren1.n06
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20091106&vis=col&home=rpi&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2009/11/6/WICE_1106094425.aspx
Colgate: http://gocolgateraiders.com/news/2009/11/6/WHOCKEY_1106091201.aspx

RECORD: 3-5-3 (1-1-1 ECAC Hockey, 3 points)

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#10 Cornell @ RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/7/09 - 2:30pm
Cornell 3, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wcorren1.n07
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20091107&vis=cor&home=rpi&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2009/11/7/WICE_1107095705.aspx
Cornell: http://cornellbigred.com/news/2009/11/7/WICE_1107093134.aspx

RECORD: 3-6-3 (1-2-1 ECAC Hockey, 3 points)

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Yale @ RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/13/09 - 2:30pm
RPI 4, Yale 1

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wrenyal1.n13
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20091113&vis=yu&home=rpi&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2009/11/13/WICE_1113093718.aspx
Yale: http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/w-hockey/2009-10/releases/20091113p2q1wq

RECORD: 4-6-3 (2-2-1 ECAC Hockey, 5 points)

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Brown @ RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/14/09 - 4:00pm
RPI 1, Brown 1 (OT)

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbrnren1.n14
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20091114&vis=bn&home=rpi&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2009/11/14/WICE_1114094729.aspx
Brown: http://www.brownbears.com/sports/w-hockey/2009-10/releases/200911152bxhmv

RECORD: 4-6-4 (2-2-2 ECAC Hockey, 6 points)

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Upcoming Games

Nov 21 - @ UNH
Nov 27 - @ Robert Morris
Nov 28 - @ Robert Morris
Dec 5 - @ Union
Dec 6 - Union

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WOMEN’S HOCKEY

The Engineers went 1-0-1 last week, topping Yale (4-1) on Friday, before tying Brown (1-1) on Saturday. Senior Allysen Weidner (Prior Lake, MN) had a three-point weekend, including the lone RPI goal against the Bears. Rensselaer (4-6-4; 2-2-2 ECACH) returns to action on Saturday, when it visits fourth-ranked New Hampshire (5pm).

Live stats will be available at http://livestats.prestosports.com/unhwildcats/ and can also be seen live on a pay-per-view basis at http://unhwildcats.tv/.