Box Score

HAMDEN, Conn. – Junior netminder Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros) stopped all 16 she faced, backstopping the Rensselaer women's hockey team to a 1-0 victory over Quinnipiac, in game 2 of the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals, at TD Bank Sports Center. With the win, the Engineers improve to 15-14-6, while evening the best-of-three series at 1-1. The Bobcats fall to 19-9-8.

Game 3 of the series will take place tomorrow afternoon (2pm), with the winner of that contest advancing to the League Semifinals next weekend.

van der Bliek, who made 13 of her saves in the second period alone, becomes Rensselaer's all-time leader in career wins (41-31-11) and shutouts (16). Quinnipiac freshman Victoria Vigilanti (Woodbridge, ON/Missisauga Jr. Chiefs) finished with 23 stops.

Sophomore Alisa Harrison (Vienna, VA/Washington Pride) backhanded home a rebound at the side of the Quinnipiac cage to give the Engineers all the offense they needed at 11:15 of the second period. A shot from the top of the left circle by sophomore Amanda Castignetti (Anchorage, AK/Shattuck St. Mary's) was blocked, but the efforts of freshman Taylor Horton (St. Thomas, ON/Bluewater Hawks) and then Harrison earned the 1-0 lead, which stood as the game-winner. The tally, which came on the power-play, was Harrison's 11th of the season.

Rensselaer's defensive pressure tightened in the third period, allowing just a single shot on goal. Quinnipiac pulled Vigilanti for an extra-attacker with 50 seconds left, could not muster a scoring chance.

A tightly checked first period saw Rensselaer hold a 7-2 edge in shots on target. One of the Bobcats' shots came on a late power-play. The Engineers killed off all three penalties they were assessed in the contest, while going 1 for 2 on the man advantage.