Women's Hockey - SLU & Clarkson

RPI returned to action this past weekend, kicking off the home stretch of the ECAC season with games at home against St. Lawrence and 3rd-ranked Clarkson. RPI came out of the weekend with just one point - the source, however, was a bit surprising as the Engineers managed a 1-1 tie with Clarkson after falling 3-1 to St. Lawrence.

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Friday

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

Castignetti/Gersten
Le Donne/Vadner
Gaylord/Daniels

van der Bliek

RPI got off to a slow start Friday evening, managing only three shots in the first period, while taking three penalties to SLU's none. Laura Gersten gets credit for keeping the period scoreless as she managed to stop a SLU power play chance with van der Bliek out of position at the side of the net. The Engineers picked up the pace in the second, nearly reversing the shot count from the first (10-5 RPI vs 10-3 SLU) and notching a goal as Allison Wright put a shot past SLU netminder Brittony Chartier. Katie Daniels and Sierra Vadner picked up assists on the tally.

That was it for RPI's offense in the game, as they couldn't muster another goal despite two power play opportunities late in the second. SLU came out firing in the third and tied it just 1:34 into the period on a shot that van der Bliek initially saved before knocking it into the net while trying to cover. The Saints took the lead only three minutes later as Michelle Zimmerman fired a shot off van der Bliek's mask which bounced into the net.

An empty net goal for the Saints with 16 seconds left would send the game to the books with a final score of 3-1.

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Saturday

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

Castignetti/Gersten
Le Donne/Vadner
Gaylord/Daniels

van der Bliek

Saturday's game was hard-fought and very physical, but with very few penalties called either way. Report from the game was that it looked like the coaches were expecting a loosely-called game, as the coaches didn't spend much time disputing non-calls, contrary to typical behavior. Clarkson had the stronger first period, outshooting RPI 15-10 and picking up an unassisted goal from Brittany Mulligan. The first power play of the game didn't come until the second period, but it came in RPI's favor and Whitney Naslund capitalized on it, tipping in a shot that followed up a nice back-and-forth passing play by Laura Gersten and Amanda Castignetti. The second period saw RPI turn the shot count around, as the Engineers outshot the Golden Knights 15-9.

Clarkson got two power plays of their own in the third period, but RPI held strong to force overtime. Clarkson took a penalty in the extra frame which allowed RPI to play the last 1:14 with the man advantage, but they couldn't put it away and the teams split the two points down the middle. While a win would have been nice, earning the tie with the #3 team in the country is nothing to be sad about.

RPI ends the weekend in 7th place in the ECAC, but with games in hand over each team above them other than Cornell. RPI takes to the road next weekend to take on a decent Harvard squad and a Dartmouth team that is struggling the season after dominating in the ECAC last year. The games are Friday and Saturday at 7pm and 4pm respectively.

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RPI vs. St. Lawrence
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/8/10 - 7:00pm
SLU 3, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wrenstl1.j08
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20100108&vis=slu&home=rpi&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/1/8/WICE_0108104102.aspx
SLU: http://www.stlawu.edu/athletics/saints/women%27s+hockey/story/3758

RECORD: 7-9-4 (4-3-2 ECAC Hockey, 10 points)

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RPI vs. #3 Clarkson
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/9/10 - 4:00pm
RPI 1, Clarkson 1

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wclkren1.j09
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20100109&vis=ckn&home=rpi&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/1/9/WICE_0109105344.aspx
Clarkson: http://clarksonathletics.com/news/2010/1/9/WHOCK_0109103200.aspx

RECORD: 7-9-5 (4-3-3 ECAC Hockey, 11 points)

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ECAC Standings (as of 1/11/10):

          GP    Pts     ECAC      All
Clarkson    11     19     9-1-1     15-4-2
Quinnipiac  14     17     6-3-5     9-7-6
Princeton   14     17     7-4-3     9-9-3
Cornell     10     16     7-1-2     8-7-2
SLU         11     14     6-3-2     9-7-5
Harvard     11     13     6-4-1     8-4-3
RPI         10     11     4-3-3     7-9-5
Dartmouth   11      9     4-6-1     6-8-2
Colgate     10      7     2-5-3     6-13-3
Yale        10      5     2-7-1     4-10-3
Brown       10      3     0-7-3     2-10-4
Union       10      1     0-9-1     4-17-1

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Upcoming Games

Jan. 15 - at Brown
Jan. 16 - at Yale
Jan. 22 - at Dartmouth
Jan. 23 - at Harvard

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WOMEN’S HOCKEY

The Engineers went 0-1-1 last week, falling to St. Lawrence (3-1) on Friday, before tying third-ranked Clarkson (1-1) on Saturday. Junior netminder Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON) made 56 saves on the weekend, including 33 in the draw with the Golden Knights.

Rensselaer (7-9-5; 4-3-3 ECACH) kicks off a season-long league road trip on Friday and Saturday, when it visits Brown (7pm) and Yale (4pm), respectively. Live video for Friday’s game will be available through the B2 Networks at http://www.b2livetv.com/partner_members.asp?id=1. Live stats and video for Saturday’s contest will be available at http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/w-hockey/2009-10/schedule.