Box Score
TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women’s hockey team extended its winning streak to four games with a 3-1 defeat over the University of Maine in non-conference action this afternoon. The Engineers improve to 4-1-0 with the victory while the Black Bears drop to 1-4-1 on the season.
After a scoreless first period, which saw the Engineers outshoot Maine by a 6-4 margin, Rensselaer broke out with two goals in the second frame. Nicole McDonald (Ottawa, ON/Ottawa Raiders) gave the homestanding Engineers the early 1-0 lead at 5:13. Skating in from the far corner, the junior winger found a narrow space between the shoulder of Black Bears goalie Sarah Bishop (Agawam, MA/Agawam) and the post for a quick wrist shot.
Junior Melanie Guillemette (North Bay, ON/Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres) scored her second goal in as many days to give RPI a 2-0 lead at the 10:26 mark. Corralling a cross ice pass from sophomore Whitney Naslund (Bloomington, MN/Bloomington Jefferson), Guillemette skated in to the near circle, shooting the puck through traffic for the tally.
RPI went up 3-0 in the third period on a tally by sophomore Allison Wright (Oakville, ON/Oakville Ice). Naslund got things started after tipping the puck up in front of the net from the near corner to Wright in front, who sent a quick shot over the glove of Bishop at 9:57.
Maine finally got on the board with just under two minutes remaining. Sophomore Amy Stech (Duluth, MN/Duluth East) slid into the slot after corralling a pass from senior defenseman Kim Meagher (Hampden, ME/Boston College), beating the RPI netminder stick side to narrow the margin. But the Rensselaer defense held strong, holding off the Black Bears through the final seconds for the win.
Freshman netminder Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros) posted 19 saves for Rensselaer, which outshot Maine, 36-20 in the contest. Bishop had 33 saves in the loss for the Black Bears.
Rensselaer is back in action next weekend when it opens its ECAC Hockey schedule against Yale and Brown on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (4pm), respectively. Both games will be at the Houston Field House. Maine travels to seventh-ranked Boston College on Saturday (7pm) and will play at New Hampshire on Sunday (4pm).
