Box Score
TROY, N.Y. – Senior Jenna Spring (Cranbrook, BC/Pacific Steelers) scored mid-way through the opening frame and the Bulldogs added another tally in the second period enroute to a 2-0 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in ECAC Hockey League women’s action at the Houston Field House. With the victory, the Bulldogs improve to 9-7-0 and 5-6-0 in the league. The Engineers, which saw their three-game unbeaten streak come to an end in the loss, fall to 8-12-1 overall with a 4-5-1 ECACHL mark.
Yale opened the scoring in the first period on Spring's backhanded goal. Sophomore Crysti Howser (Wilmette, IL/Assabet Midget) started the play when she sent the puck up through the right circle to senior Sheila Zingler (Wausau, WI/Wisconsin Wild). Zingler attempted a shot at Rensselaer goalie Ashley Mayr (Burnaby, BC/BC Breakers), but it went wide to the stick of Spring, who lifted it into the net for the goal at 9:39.
Sophomore Helen Resor (Greenwich, CT/U.S. Olympic Team) made it a 2-0 Bulldogs’ advantage late in the second frame after rifling a shot from the top of the slot past Mayr at 16:41. Battling with an RPI defender in the far corner, Spring cleared the puck up to Resor, who sent the shot through traffic and into the net for the goal.
Despite outshooting the Bulldogs, 9-6, in the middle stanza and 23-20 in the game, the Engineers were unable to get the puck past goalie Shivon Zilis (Markham, ON/Aurora Panthers), who made several impressive saves throughout the final two periods to preserve the two-goal lead for Yale.
Freshman Allysen Weidner (Wichita, KS/Shattuck St. Mary’s) had RPI’s best opportunity to score in the second stanza when she corralled a pass from classmate Whitney Naslund (Bloomington, MN/Bloomington Jefferson) and sent a quick shot at Zilis, who quickly dove onto the puck.
Neither team found the back of the net in the final stanza, which saw Yale gain the upper hand in shots, 8-4. The Engineers, which pulled Mayr for the extra skater late in the period, had a 6x4 advantage for the final two minutes due to a hooking penalty on sophomore Danielle Kozlowski (Melrose, MA/Chelmsford Midget), but were unable to put it past the Yale goalie.
Zilis posted 23 saves in the Bulldogs’ win, while her counterpart, Mayr, stopped 18 shots in the loss.
Rensselaer concludes its four-game homestand next weekend against ECACHL rivals Princeton and Quinnipiac on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Both games begin at 2pm. Yale returns to the ice on Friday evening when it hosts St. Lawrence (7pm). The Bulldogs face Clarkson on Saturday afternoon (4pm).
