TROY, N.Y.  – Sophomore Andie Le Donne's slapshot from the top of the circle proved to be the difference as the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's hockey team came-from-behind to defeat Harvard University, 2-1 on Saturday. With the win, the Engineers claim their fourth straight victory over the Crimson, and are now 8-7-3 overall with a 6-3-1 conference mark. Harvard slips to 6-7-2 and 5-3-2 in ECAC Hockey.

Tied at 1-all after two periods of play, Le Donne (Toronto, ON/Durham Lightning) stole the puck in the neutral zone and carried it into the zone. Shifting toward the middle, she fired a shot in from the top of the near circle, which blew past Crimson netminder Laura Bellamy (Duluth, MN/Duluth Denfield) for the eventual game-winner.

Rensselaer found itself facing a 1-0 deficit to open the game as Harvard scored at 11:05. Carrying the puck in from her own zone, senior Ashley Wheeler (Concord, MA/Lawrence Academy) skated into neutral territory before chipping the puck over to classmate Katharine Chute (Wayzata, MN/Blake School), who then shifted to the far boards.

Keeping her eyes on the middle of the ice, Chute fired a shot into the mid-slot to Wheeler, who was able to knock the puck in under the skate of RPI netminder Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros) despite losing her footing on the shot.

Rensselaer rebounded in the middle stanza, outshooting the visitors by a 12-4 margin for the frame. The number of chances in the Harvard zone finally paid off at 13:41 as sophomore Taylor Horton (St. Thomas, ON/Bluewater Hawks) notched her team-leading seventh goal of the season.

As the Crimson attempted to clear the puck behind the net in their own zone, Le Donne raced to the far boards to intercept. Skating through the circle, she found Horton, who flew through the slot and blasted a shot into the open right corner.

Harvard, which held an 8-5 edge in shots in the third period, tried to get one by van der Bliek in the closing minutes of the frame as they pulled Bellamy in favor of the extra-attacker. The RPI defense held strong, blocking a number of shots to preserve the victory and take four critical league points.

In goal, van der Bliek stopped 18 shots and recorded a milestone with the win. She moves to 50-39-14 in her career, solidifying her position as the program's all-time wins leader. Her counterpart, Bellamy had 19 stops in the loss. Additionally, RPI extends its unbeaten streak to eight games, posting a 4-0-4 record in that span.

The Engineers continue their homestand next weekend, hosting #2 Cornell and Colgate on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (4pm), respectively at the Houston Field House. Harvard also returns to action next weekend, hosting St. Lawrence and Clarkson.