Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – Junior defenseman Melissa Boik (Allen Park, MI/Michigan Capitals) broke a scoreless tie at 13:12 of the third period to lead Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to a 1-0 victory over area-rival Union College in ECAC Hockey action this evening. The Engineers improve to 8-8-2 overall and 3-5-1 in league play while the Dutchwomen fall to 1-15-1 and 0-8-1 in the conference.

After two scoreless periods of play, RPI finally capitalized with a power play goal mid-way through the final stanza. Off a face-off win by Whitney Naslund (Bloomington, MN/Bloomington Jefferson), Allison Wright (Oakville, ON/Oakville Ice) corralled the puck in the far corner and chipped it out to Boik at the top of the right circle. Firing a shot through traffic, the puck sailed across the ice ringing off the left post and in past Union goalie Lundy Day (Calgary, AB/University of Maine).

Despite numerous opportunities in the opening frame for RPI, including five quick shots on the power play advantage, the homestanding Engineers could not get past Day, who turned aside all 20 shots.

Solid goaltending continued to be the name of the game in the second stanza as both teams once again went scoreless. Wright had the Engineers best opportunity to score in the frame after stealing the puck from the Union defense and skating away in on a breakaway.

Freshman Courtney Kerslake (Sarnia, ON/Bluewater Jr. Hawks) nearly put Union up after finding the puck on her backhand for a quick shot at RPI goalie Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros), who posted five saves. Day held strong, fending off nine Rensselaer shots in the period.

Rensselaer, which outshot Union 45-10 in the game, saw van der Bliek stop each shot she faced. Day shouldered the loss with 44 saves.

Both teams return to action tomorrow afternoon for a 4pm face-off in Schenectady at Messa Rink. Live stats can be found at http://livestats.prestosports.com/union/.  The game will also be available via live pay-per-view at http://www.unionathletics.com.