Box Score / Post-Game Comments

TROY, N.Y. – Powered by a three-goal second period, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's hockey team kept its playoff hopes alive with a 4-2 victory over Dartmouth College on Senior Day at the Houston Field House.  The win moves the Engineers to 9-19-4 overall and 6-12-2 in ECAC Hockey.  The visiting Big Green are now 16-8-2 and 12-6-2 in the conference.
 
RPI's win, coupled with a Brown victory at Colgate, keeps the Engineers and Bears locked in a tie for the eighth and final spot in the ECAC Hockey Playoffs with two games remaining on the season.  The Big Green slip to fifth in the standings, just two points out of the top four which secure home ice for the playoffs.
 
Facing a 2-0 deficit to open the second period, the Engineers battled back in a big way, taking a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.  Holding steady for most of the frame, RPI broke out at 16:43 as rookie Taylor Mahoney (Cary, IL/Chicago Mission) notched her first career tally.
 
Deep in the Big Green zone, senior captain Alisa Harrison's (Vienna, VA/Washington Pride) shot was deflected out to the far boards.  Mahoney settled it and wheeled around in the circle for a shot at the Dartmouth netminder.  The puck remained loose despite the save as Mahoney poked it in to make it 2-1.
 
Harrison earned her second assist of the night less than two minutes later as she corralled a pass on the fly from junior Taylor Horton (St. Thomas, ON/Bluewater Jr. Hawks) at the top of the far circle.  She made a heads-up play, finding sophomore Toni Sanders (York, PA/Susquehanna Rapids 19U) cross-ice, who one-timed it into the right corner for a 2-all game at 18:41 after just coming onto the ice.
 
Rookie Eleeza Cox (St. Catharines, ON/Ridley College) then gave the home team its first lead of the contest as she flipped the puck up over the shoulder of Lindsay Holdcroft (Pittsburgh, PA/U19 Team Pittsburgh) at 19:13.  Sophomore Jordan Smelker (Anchorage, AK/Team Alaska 19U) picked up the primary assist after chasing the puck down behind the net and firing it up from her knees.
 
In the final period, the Engineers continued to pressure as Horton netted her sixth of the season at 5:37.  With the play in the RPI zone, senior Sierra Vadner (Apple Valley, MN/Minnesota Thoroughbreds) found the puck at the far boards and shifted it toward the middle.  Horton picked it up and raced through the neutral zone, battling with a Dartmouth player into the offensive zone.  In the slot, she was able to wrist it just under the crossbar for the 4-2 lead.
 
Dartmouth opened the game's scoring at 3:42 as rookie Karlee Odland (Vauxhall, AB/Medicine Hat Hounds Midget) grabbed a pass at the top of the circles from senior Erica Dobos (Bethel Park, PA/NAHA) and skated in deep. She shifted to the right, catching RPI netminder Brianna Piper (Oakville, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros) off guard before deking it in on the left side.
 
The Big Green made it a 2-0 advantage minutes later on the 11th tally of the year by junior Camille Dumais (Beaconsfield, PQ/Dawson College).  Senior Reagan Fischer (Irma, AB/Lloydminster Midget AA) started the play as she carried it in front the neutral zone and fired it over to Dumais, who backhanded it in at the left post.
 
 
Piper moved to 4-7-3 on the season after stopping 22 shots for the Engineers, while her counterpart, Holdcroft is now 13-7-2 following a 30 save effort.
 
Following the game, the team recognized its six seniors for their tremendous efforts to the program.  Among those honored were Harrison, Vadner, Jill Vandegrift (St. Paul, MN/Minnesota Thoroughbreds), Amanda Castignetti (Anchorage, AK/Shattuck-St. Mary's), Laura Guillemette (Ste-Marie-de-Beauce, PQ/Notre Dame) and Alicia Miksic (Chestwick, PA/Fox Chapel Area).
 
Rensselaer concludes its regular season schedule next weekend, traveling to Princeton and Quinnipiac on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (4pm), respectively.  Dartmouth is also in action next weekend, hosting its final games of the season against Yale and Brown.