TROY, N.Y.  – Facing a one-goal deficit late in the third period, sophomore Clare Padmore buried a loose puck with 44 seconds left in regulation to force overtime and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's hockey team tied Niagara University, 1-1.  With the draw, the Engineers are now 4-7-3, while the Purple Eagles move to 3-8-2 overall.

Trailing 1-0 with less than two minutes remaining, Rensselaer looked to tie things up, pulling its netminder with just 1:11 left in regulation.  The gamble paid off as junior Katie Daniels (Rockton, IL/Chicago Mission) took a shot from inside the near circle.  Her shot sailed into traffic and was tipped to the left side by sophomore Taylor Horton (St. Thomas, ON/Bluewater Hawks) to Padmore (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros), who buried it past Niagara goalie Sarah Moses (New Hamburg, ON/Kitchner-Waterloo Rangers) for the equalizer with 44 seconds left.

RPI had several chances in the overtime session, but were unable to get another past Moses, who finished with 28 saves in the game, including 12 in the first period.

After a scoreless first period, Niagara jumped out to the 1-0 advantage as sophomore Jenna Hendrikx (Winchester, ON/Ottawa) found the loose puck at the left post and buried it into the open net.  Carrying the puck into the zone, rookie Kristen Richards (Toronto, ON/Mississauga Jr. Chiefs) crashed the net, prompting netminder Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros) to come out and play it.

Multiple players slid into the zone as van der Bliek dropped to the ground to cover it, but the puck slid loose to Richards, who passed it around traffic to sophomore Kathleen Bortuzzo (Thunder Bay, ON/Thunder Bay) at the top edge of the far circle.  She was able to get it out to Hendrikx, who got it in just after a delayed penalty was called on the Engineers for the 1-0 lead at 7:35.

The Purple Eagles continued to go after the RPI net and with just 1:23 remaining in the period, Niagara got its chance at another power play as the Engineers were called for a slash.  Because the infraction came in the goal mouth, the visitors were given the choice of a penalty shot or accept the 2-minute minor against RPI.  Junior Caitlin Jenkins (Calgary, AB/Edmonton Chimos) came out to take the penalty shot, but was denied by a fantastic pad save by van der Bliek at the left post.

Rensselaer stepped up the pressure following the penalty shot as several players had point-blank shots at Moses to tie things up, but could not break through, setting up the drama in the third period.

van der Bliek posted 19 stops in the draw for Rensselaer, which had a 29-20 shot advantage.