Box Score
TROY, N.Y. – Junior defenseman Melanie Guillemette (North Bay, ON/Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres) broke a scoreless tie at 15:10 of the third period to lift the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women’s hockey team to a 1-0 victory over Robert Morris University in non-conference action this evening. The Engineers improve to 10-8-4 overall while the Colonials drop to 10-12-1.
After going scoreless through the first two periods, which saw Rensselaer hold a narrow 22-20 shot advantage, Guillemette broke through the Robert Morris defense with her seventh goal of the season.
Senior Brooke Thompson (Rochester, NY/Rochester Edge) got things started when she carried the puck into the zone, sending a quick backhanded pass to the stick of Julie Aho (Ann Arbor, MI/Birmingham Rangers), who waited in the slot. Aho chipped the puck over to Guillemette in the left circle for the tally past Colonials netminder Brianne McLaughlin (Sheffield Village, OH/Ohio Flames).
Solid goaltending prevailed in the opening frame as both teams had chances to light the lamp. Robert Morris, which posted a 13-7 shot advantage in the first period, had its best opportunity to score mid-way through the stanza when junior Megan Picinic (Cliffside Park, NJ/Princeton Tigerlillies) intercepted the puck off an RPI stick and broke in alone for a short-handed attempt, but Engineers goalie Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros) made the stop.
Junior Jaime Jacquard-Sowa (North Vancouver, BC/BC Breakers) had Rensselaer’s best chance in the opening frame after sophomore Whitney Naslund (Bloomington, MN/Bloomington Jefferson) won the face-off and chipped it out to the defenseman, who slid into the high slot for a shot that ricocheted off the left post and out.
Despite holding a 14-7 lead in shots in the second stanza, RPI could not get past McLaughlin, who stopped 31 shots in the loss for Robert Morris. van der Bliek also posted 31 saves on the night, improving her personal record to 7-3-2.
The same two teams return to the ice tomorrow afternoon for a 3pm face-off at the Houston Field House.
