Before last weekend's short respite, we noted that the Engineers were difficult to pin down. They did nothing to change that notion this weekend, winning two games against St. Cloud State by scores of 4-1 and 2-1 despite being outshot 77-41 on the weekend.
Kelly O'Brien was excellent in net for the Engineers, turning away 75 of 77 shots faced, including a career-high 44 saves on Friday afternoon, while many of the players had the opportunity to earn a road sweep in front of their family and friends in St. Cloud.
Friday
Mahoney/Wash/Sanders
Smelker/Mari Mankey/Svoboda
Horwood/Gruschow/Walsh
Letuligasenoa/Missy Mankey
Huhtamaki/Marzario
Banks/Schilter
Behounek/Godin
Middlebrook
O'Brien
RPI grabbed a 1-0 lead late in the first and held onto it until a 3-goal third period lifted them to an eventual 4-1 victory over St. Cloud State on Friday night, but it was Kelly O'Brien who stole the show with 44 saves on 45 shots.
Alexa Gruschow gave the Engineers that 1-0 lead at 17:59 of the first, first feeding Jordan Smelker for a shot then collecting Smelker's rebound and putting it past netminder Julie Friend.
O'Brien was called on to keep the Engineers in the game through the second period, which saw the Engineers outshot by a whopping 15-2 margin.
With some adjustments made during the intermission, RPI came out with a stronger third period and saw their lead doubled to 2-0 about five minutes in when Toni Sanders received a pass from Lauren Wash behind the Huskies' net and beat Friend up high.
St. Cloud State cut RPI's lead to 2-1 at 11:04 of the third with a power play goal by Payge Pena out of a scrum in front of O'Brien.
Wash scored a power play goal of her own with 2:19 remaining in regulation, with a little give and go from Jenn Godin to set her up for the shot.
Ali Svoboda put the game away with an empty net goal 32 seconds later, putting the Engineers up by the final 4-1 margin.
O'Brien was named the game's first star, making 14, 15, and 16 saves in the three periods respectively, while Toni Sanders (1G, 4 shots) was the game's second star and SCSU's Payge Pena (1G) was third star.
Saturday
Mahoney/Wash/Sanders
Smelker/Mari Mankey/Svoboda
Horwood/Gruschow/Rooney
Letuligasenoa/Missy Mankey/Hylwa
Huhtamaki/Marzario
Banks/Schilter
Behounek/Godin
O'Brien
RPI jumped out to an early lead thanks to two power play goals in the first period on Saturday, and O'Brien made the lead hold through the remainder of the game as RPI held on for a 2-1 victory where they were once again outshot.
The Engineers scored on their first two power plays of the game, with Smelker picking up the first as a pass from Kathryn Schilter found her all alone on the doorstep.
Heidi Huhtamaki picked up the second assist on the play, and would also figure in the second goal, earning the primary helper on a Madison Marzario goal, a slap shot from the point which got past Katie Fitzgerald to make it 2-0.
A long 5-on-3 chance for the Huskies late in the first was successfully killed by the Engineers, and the second period passed with just one penalty on each team and no scoring. RPI was held to six shots in each of the first two periods.
A shorthanded goal got SCSU on the board in the third period, with Molli Mott scoring for the Huskies early in the period. O'Brien turned away the remaining shots, making 10 saves in the third period and 25 overall for her sixth win of the season.
RPI has one weekend of ECAC play at Princeton and Quinnipiac remaining before a month-long holiday break. Game times are 7pm Friday against Princeton and 4pm Saturday against Quinnipiac.
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RPI at St. Cloud State
Non-Conference Game - Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (St. Cloud, MN)
11/29/13 - 4:07pm
RPI 4, SCSU 1
RECAPS:
RECORD: 5-8-1 (3-3 ECAC)
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RPI at St. Cloud State
Non-Conference Game - Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (St. Cloud, MN)
11/30/13 - 4:07pm
RPI 2, SCSU 1
RECAPS:
RECORD: 6-8-1 (3-3 ECAC)
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Upcoming Games
Dec. 6 - at Princeton (7pm)
Dec. 7 - at Quinnipiac (4pm)
Jan. 4 - at Providence (7pm)
Jan. 5 - at Providence (4pm)
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