TROY, N.Y. – Led by two goals and two assists each from freshmen Jamie-Lynn Stewart (Cambridge, ON/Cambridge Jr. Fury) and Nicole McDonald (Ottawa, ON/Ottawa Raiders), the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women’s hockey team defeated Union in non-conference action at the Houston Field House.  With the victory, the Engineers improve to 10-1-2 overall, while the Dutchwomen fall to 2-11-0.

Freshman Dale Chaput (Burlington, ON/Toronto Midget Aeros) put the Dutchwomen up 1-0, with just seconds remaining in the first period.  Off a pass from the left of the net by freshman Gabi Wintner (Calgary, AB/PSA Chaos), Chaput put the puck past the right side of Rensselaer goalie Rosina Schiff (St. Louis, MO/Jefferson High School) on the power play with seven seconds left on the clock.

In the second period, Union scored just two minutes into the stanza to take the 2-0 lead.  Junior Elise Nichols (Pittsfield, MA/Troy Ice Cats) passed the puck up from behind the net to Ashley Kilstein (Cherry Hill, NJ/Washington Pride) who scored into a wide-open net from the left side of the goal at 1:44.

Rensselaer came back strong, scoring three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission.  McDonald started the frenzy collecting a pass from Julie Welte (Pueblo, CO/Colorado Xtreme) near the left side of the net scoring on the power play past the Union goalie.  Stewart then tied the game with her fourth goal of the season at the 12:41 mark.  Off a Melissa Boik (Allen Park, MI/Honeybaked U 19) shot, Stewart collected the rebound, lifting the puck over the shoulder of Alex Zirbel (Clearwater, FL/Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep).  Stewart would tally again three minutes later off a behind-the-net pass from McDonald to give the Engineers the lead.

Rensselaer pulled ahead for good in the third period when freshman Melanie Guillemette (North Bay, ON/Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres) connected on a pass from Stewart at the top of the left circle. McDonald would tally her second goal of the evening at the 9:04 mark for the final 5-2 margin.

Schiff stopped 20-of-22 shots in goal for the Engineers to improve to 4-1-1 on the season.  Zirbel posted 34 saves in loss for Union.

Rensselaer and Union will face-off again tomorrow at 2:30pm at the Houston Field House in the finale of the two game series.