Women's Hockey - Quinnipiac & Princeton (8/9 Jan)

RPI took what was slated to be one of the toughest weekends of the season and managed to make a decent showing of it, fighting hard to earn a 0-0 tie against fourth-ranked Quinnipiac on Friday before falling short in a late comeback bid in a 3-2 loss against Princeton on Saturday.

Quinnipiac

Rooney/Tomlinson/Mankey
Horwood/Gruschow/Thomas
Grigsby/Hylwa/Tremblay
Wash/Orzechowski

Hansen/Godin
Behounek/Banks
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

Games don't always need a lot of scoring to be exciting, and it was proven on Friday as RPI battled #4 Quinnipiac to a scoreless tie that featured a lot of back-and-forth action and some excellent goaltending, especially from RPI's Lovisa Selander who made 40 saves for her second shutout of the season. Her counterpart in the Quinnipiac net, Sydney Rossman, made 15 saves for a shutout of her own.

The tie broke a 10-game winning streak for Quinnipiac, which still sits atop the ECAC standings.

RPI nearly took a lead in the first period, as Mari Mankey was left alone on the doorstep to take a feed from behind the net, but the senior couldn't get a clean shot off. Quinnipiac had several chances of their own, including shots off the pipe in the first and second period.

Selander made a save on a Quinnipiac 2-on-1 chance early in the third period to keep the scoreboard clean. Her 40 saves were critical as the Engineers were outshot by a nearly 3-1 margin on the evening.

The scoreless tie is the first for the Engineers since a 2008 game against now-defunct Wayne State, while it's the second of the season for the Bobcats, with the first having come in November against Colgate.

Princeton

Horwood/Gruschow/Thomas
Rooney/Mankey/Wash
Grigsby/Hylwa/Tremblay
Orzechowski

Hansen/Godin
Behounek/Banks
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

After no goals and just three penalties on Friday, Saturday's score sheet had a lot more to offer as RPI fell short in their comeback bid against Princeton by a 3-2 tally.

Princeton jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period, with Jaimie McDonell taking a feed through traffic and putting it past Selander.

With back-to-back RPI penalties late in the first and early in the second, the Tigers' power play went to work and cashed in at 3:36 of the middle frame. Molly Contini tipped home a shot by Karlie Lund, taken after the puck popped out of a scrum in front of Selander.

Things looked bleak for the Engineers as Princeton extended the lead to 3-0 at 8:14 of the second, with Cassidy Tucker getting the puck in front of the RPI net and putting it top shelf for the goal.

RPI settled down after the third goal and stopped the bleeding, holding Princeton scoreless for the remainder of regulation. Ths third period saw RPI launch a comeback bid, started by Katie Rooney at 3:25 of the third. Rooney charged the net as Mari Mankey carried the puck behind the goal line, and quickly redirected it past Kimberly Newell when Mankey fed it to the front.

Makenna Thomas cut the deficit to 3-2 at 16:30 on the power play, deflecting a shot from Hannah Behounek at the top of the circle to bring the Engineers within a goal.

Unfortunately for RPI, that was as close as they would get to the tying goal, as the late push with the extra attacker was cut short by a penalty in the game's final minute.

With the one point weekend, the Engineers fall into ninth place in the ECAC but will have an opportunity to make up a little ground next weekend in the home-and-home against Union. Though the Dutchwomen have no wins and just five ties on the season, they always manage to play RPI tough. If the Engineers want to chart a course for the playoffs, however, these games are pretty strongly in the "must-win" column.

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RPI vs Quinnipiac
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/8/16 - 7pm
RPI 0, QU 0 (OT)

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5197
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wquiren1.j08

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2016/1/8/WICE_0108165001.aspx?path=whock
QU: http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com/news/2016/1/8/WIH_0108163252.aspx?path=whockey
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqu-NspdTy4
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/1027

RECORD: 5-10-4 (3-4-2 ECAC)

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RPI vs Princeton
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/9/16 - 4pm
Princeton 3, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5198
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wprnren1.j09

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2016/1/9/WICE_0109164157.aspx?path=whock
Princeton: http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210624394&DB_OEM_ID=10600
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_zmhQqtFrY
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/1028

RECORD: 5-11-4 (3-5-2 ECAC)

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ECAC Standings

1. Quinnipiac - 23 pts (10-1-3) (.821)
2. Princeton - 19 pts (9-4-1) (.679)
3. Harvard - 15 pts (7-3-1) (.682)
4. Clarkson - 12 pts (5-3-2) (.600)
5t. Colgate - 10 pts (3-2-4) (.556)
5t. St. Lawrence - 10 pts (5-5-0) (.500)
5t. Dartmouth - 10 pts (4-5-2) (.455)
8. Yale - 7 pts (3-4-1) (.438)
9t. Cornell - 8 pts (3-4-2) (.444)
9t. RPI - 8 pts (3-5-2) (.400)
11t. Brown - 2 pts (1-9-0) (.100)
11t. Union - 2 pts (0-8-2) (.100)

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Upcoming Schedule

Jan. 15 - Union (3pm)
Jan. 16 - at Union (3pm)
Jan. 22 - at Brown (7pm)
Jan. 23 - at Yale (4pm)