Box Score / Game Highlights

TROY, N.Y. – Freshman left winger Eleeza Cox tallied a pair of goals, including the eventual game-winner in the second period, to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's hockey team to a 4-1 victory over Colgate University in ECAC Hockey action on Friday.  With the win, the Engineers improve to 5-12-4 overall and 2-5-1 in conference play.  The Raiders slip to 7-11-1 and 2-5-1 in the league.
 
Locked in a 1-1 tie after the opening period of play, the Engineers grabbed the lead as Cox (St. Catharines, ON/Ridley College) found a loose puck in front and chipped it in.  Senior captain Alisa Harrison (Vienna, VA/Washington Pride) earned the lone assist after she skated down into the slot and fired a shot at the Colgate net.  Raiders goalie Kimberly Sass (East Amherst, NY/Buffalo Bison) dove out to cover the puck, but could not hold onto it as Cox skated it and got a piece of it, flicking it into the empty-net at 18:07.
 
It was Cox who made it a two-goal advantage (3-1) late in the third period as she collected a feed from Harrison and banked it in.  Harrison had an outstanding effort in front to keep it into the zone, firing her own shot at Sass before diving to make short pass to Cox at 18:54.
 
Facing a 3-1 deficit, the Raiders pulled Sass in favor of the extra-attacker, but sophomore defender Madison Marzario (Prior Lake, MN/Shattuck-St. Mary's) sealed the Engineers victory after she intercepted the puck in RPI defensive zone and flipped it the length of the ice into the empty-net 49 seconds left.
 
Colgate broke out onto the scoreboard first in the contest as rookie Melissa Kueber (St. Albert, AB/Paul Kane) fired in a shot off a deflection by an RPI defender.  Sophomore Taylor Volpe (Tustin, CA/Gilmour Academy) earned the primary assist on the goal.
 
Rensselaer rallied late in the frame to tie things up as junior assistant captain Taylor Horton (St. Thomas, ON/Bluewater Jr. Hawks) collected a chip pass from senior Sierra Vadner (Apple Valley, MN/Minnesota Thoroughbreds) and fired it in over Sass's shoulder at 17:10.
 
The Engineers, which held a narrow 20-18 margin in shots for the game, saw rookie netminder Kelly O'Brien (Sussex, WI/Madison Capitals) post 17 saves for her third win of the season.  Sass posted 16 saves in the loss for the Raiders.
 
The Engineers return to action on Saturday, welcoming #3 Cornell to the Houston Field House at 4pm.  Live stats for the game will be available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/rpi/whockey/ and a live pay-per-view webcast via America One can be followed at http://www.b2tv.com/partner_members.asp?id=27. The Raiders head to Schenectady for a 4pm contest at Union.