Box Score
MILFORD, Conn. - Rensselaer scored four goals in the first period and went onto blank Sacred Heart for the second straight day, 6-0 in women’s hockey action Saturday afternoon at the Milford Ice Pavilion. With the victory the Engineers improve to 15-5-2 overall, while the Pioneers fall to 9-11-3 on the season.
RPI saw senior goaltender Rosina Schiff (St. Louis, MO/Jefferson) and freshman Emily Ford (Plymouth, MA/Tabor Academy), combine for 19 saves in the victory.
Freshman Nicole McDonald (Ottawa, ON/Ottawa Raiders) opened the scoring for RPI just 2:11 into the game. With the Engineers on the power play, McDonald set up in front of the net and tipped in a shot by sophomore Ellen McNamara (Macomb, MI/Little Caesars U 19) past Pioneers goaltender Stephanie Boulay (Anchorage, AK/Groton School). It was McDonald’s 13th goal of the season.
McDonald put the Engineers up 2-0 with her second goal of the game at the 16:05 mark. Corralling the puck around the Pioneer net, McDonald carried it into the slot, and flicked a back-handed wrist shot past Boulay.
Freshman Jamie-Lyn Stewart (Cambridge, ON/Cambridge Jr. Fury) put RPI up by three goals, 23 seconds after McDonald’s goal. Stewart picked up a loose puck in front of the Pioneer net and, with Boulay down on the ice, flipped a shot into the top left corner of the goal for the score for her ninth goal of the season.
The Engineers completed a four goal first period with just one second left on the clock when sophomore Brooke Thompson (Rochester, NY/Rochester Edge) took a pass from senior Julie Welte (Pueblo, CO/Colorado Xtreme) and blasted a shot past Boulay.
RPI scored two more goals in the second period to put the game away. Junior Ciara Libaridian (Los Angeles, CA/Univ. of Findlay) netted her first goal of the season with the Engineers on the power play at 8:38. Less than three minutes remained on the clock in the middle stanza when senior Kari Rabatin (Brookhaven, NY/Tabor Academy) took advantage of a 5 on 3 power play, to net the Engineers’ sixth goal.
Rensselaer out-shot the Pioneers 39-19 and went 3-of-6 on the power play while Sacred Heart couldn’t score in four chances with the extra skater.
The Pioneers will play their final six games on the road starting next weekend with a two-game series at Colby beginning Friday night (7pm). The Engineers are back in action on Friday when they travel to Montreal to battle McGill (7pm) in exhibition action, before returning home on Sunday, February 12th, to face Plattsburgh State at 3pm at the Houston Field House.
