TROY, N.Y. – Junior Jill Vandegrift (St. Paul, MN/Minnesota Thoroughbreds) netted a hat-trick and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's hockey team came back from an early deficit to defeat the University of Montreal, 8-3, at the Houston Field House on Saturday afternoon.

The homestanding Engineers found themselves facing an early deficit to open the first period as Montreal grabbed a 2-0 lead mid-way through the frame. Vandegrift closed the gap with a tally at 14:15 to make it a 2-1 advantage for the visitors heading into the first intermission.

Montreal made it a two-goal lead (3-1) as Annie-Claude Dumans scored at 2:36 of the second period, but that would be all the scoring in the game for the visitors as Rensselaer came back to score seven unanswered tallies, including four in the second stanza.

Sophomore Andie Le Donne (Toronto, ON/Durham West Lighting) got things going just two minutes later as her blast from the top of the far circle sailed over the shoulder of Rachel Ouellette. Junior Katie Daniels (Rockton, IL/Chicago Mission) pulled things even at 7:03, knocking in a loose puck in front on the power play.

RPI freshman Jordan Smelker (Anchorage, AK/Team Alaska 19U) gave the Engineers the 4-3 advantage at 13:43 after she found the rebound of an Alisa Harrison (Vienna, VA/Washington Pride) shot toward the left side of the net and flicked it in. Vandegrift made it a 5-3 advantage to close out the second period after she collected a pass and slipped it through the right side of the net.

The third period saw the Engineers tack on three more tallies with sophomore Taylor Horton (St. Thomas, ON/Bluewater Hawks) getting things started just 17 seconds into the frame. RPI continued to pepper the net and it paid off mid-way through as Vandegrift chipped it in on the right side off a pass from Smelker.

Rookie Toni Sanders (York, PA/Susquehanna Rapids U-19) wrapped up the scoring for the home team when she hammered her own rebound in through the five-hole of Montreal goalie Joanie Grand-Maison at 17:55.

The Engineers dominated the shots in the game, holding a 36-14 advantage. Sophomore netminder Shannon Ramelot (Bloomfield Hills, MI/Honeybaked 19U) stopped 11 shots in the contest for RPI, while Ouellette made 14 saves in 30:31 of action. Grand-Maison came on in relief and also had 14 saves.

Rensselaer opens its regular season schedule next weekend with a two-game series against WCHA powerhouse and three-time national champion, Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday. Both games begin at 8:07pm (Eastern Time).