Box Score
TROY, N.Y. – Freshman Whitney Naslund (Bloomington, MN/Bloomington Jefferson) tallied two goals and two assists to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women’s ice hockey team to a 7-0 victory over Union College in ECAC Hockey League action at the Houston Field House. With the victory, the Engineers improve to 7-11-0 overall with a 3-4-0 league mark. Union falls to 4-11-1 and 0-7-0.
The Engineers broke open the game with four unanswered first period goals to take a 4-0 lead. Laura Gersten (Queensbury, NY/Troy-Albany Ice Cats) got the flurry started less than three minutes into the frame after senior Sarah Daniel (Calgary, AB/Bowness Bruins) sent a pass up to Gersten, who was positioned at the top of the right circle. The rookie defenseman sent a hard shot past the reach of Union goalie Alex Zirbel (Clearwater, FL/Shattuck St. Mary’s) for the 1-0 advantage.
Freshmen Allysen Weidner (Wichita, KS/Shattuck St. Mary’s) and Allison Wright (Oakville, ON/Oakville Ice) scored less than a minute apart to give the Engineers a three-goal advantage at the 9:33 mark. Weidner picked up the puck in front off a rebound of a Melissa Boik (Allen Park, MI/Honeybaked U-19) point shot and sent it past Zirbel at 8:50. Wright tallied her goal, an unassisted marker, after collecting the puck from a Union stick and breaking in on Zirbel alone.
Sophomore Jaime Jacquard-Sowa (North Vancouver, BC/BC Breakers) added RPI’s third goal at 15:25, converting her own rebound past Dutchwomen goaltender Amanda Hanson (Brainerd, MN/Brainerd), who replaced Zirbel after the Engineers third tally.
Rensselaer found the back of the net with less than 40 seconds remaining in the second period with Naslund’s fifth goal of the season.
The Engineers wrapped up the scoring in the third period on tallies by Naslund and Wright. Union’s Brenna Malnar (Soughgate, MI/Honeybaked U-19) nearly put the Dutchwomen on the scoreboard mid-way through the third period when she corralled a loose puck in front of the net and swung shot at RPI netminder Ashley Mayr (Burnaby, BC/BC Breakers), who deflected it.
Mayr posted six saves in the victory to improve to 6-9-0 on the season. Sophomore Emily Ford (Plymouth, MA/Tabor Academy) stopped two shots in relief. Zirbel, who shouldered the loss for Union, posted four saves before giving way to Hanson. She made 27 saves in relief.
Rensselaer and Union wrap up their two-game series on Saturday in Schenectady. Game time is 4pm at Messa Rink. The game will be broadcast live on 91.5 FM, WRPI, and www.wrpi.org.
