ROUTE 7 RIVALRY: Rensselaer opens a home-and-home series with Union College on Friday at the Houston Field House (3pm) ... The Engineers travel to Schenectady on Saturday to finish the yearly series (3pm).

ENGINEERS LAST WEEKEND: RPI earned a scoreless tie with fourth-ranked Quinnipiac last Friday, as freshman netminder Lovisa Selander turned away all 40 shots he faced ... The Engineers then dropped a narrow 3-2 decision to Princeton on Saturday ... Trailing 3-0 heading into the third period, Rensselaer mounted a comeback, as junior Katie Rooney and freshman Mackenna Thomas each netted goals ... The Tigers were able to hold on for the victory, thanks to 10 third period stops from junior goaltender Kimberly Newell.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live statistics for RPI home games can be followed at www.sidearmstats.com/rpi/whockey.

ON RPI TV: Home women's hockey games can be seen live, for free, on RPI TV or online at www.rpitv.org.

RPI SCORING LEADERS: The Engineers are led offensively by senior Mari Mankey, who has four goals and 10 assists for 14 points ... Classmate Alexa Gruschow (9 goals, 3 assists) has 12 points, while junior Katie Rooney (6 goals, 2 assists) and sophomore Shayna Tomlinson (2 goals, 5 assists) have eight and seven points, respectively.

IN GOAL: Freshman Lovisa Selander is 4-10-4 with a 2.18 goals against average and a .931 save percentage, while senior Sara Till is 1-1 with a 3.26 goals against average and an .882 save percentage.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Engineers come into the weekend at 8.5% (7 for 82) on the power play and 83.6% (46 for 55) on the penalty kill.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Four of senior Jenn Godin's six assists have come on the power play ... Classmate Mari Mankey has a team-high two game-winning goals, including the deciding tally against then-No. 4 Clarkson on November 7 ... Junior Katie Rooney has a shooting percentage of 17.1%, which is good for 10th in ECAC Hockey ... Freshman Josefine Hansen (46) and sophomore Amanda Kimmerle (45) rank second and third, respectively, in blocked shots.

FOR THE DUTCHWOMEN: Senior Kathryn Tomaselli (5 goals, 3 assists) leads Union with eight points in 22 games ... Junior Alli Devins (1 goal, 5 assists) has six points, while four players have five, including senior Jamie Smith (4 goals, 1 assist). 

UNION GOALTENDING: Freshman Melissa Black (0-14-3) has started 19 of the team's 22 games this season ... She carries a 2.64 goals against average and a .934 save percentage ... She averages 37.7 save per contest.

2014-15 SEASON SERIES: RPI won the season series last year, tying the opener, 2-2, in Schenectady, before topping the Dutchwomen, 4-2, at the Houston Field House ... Laura Horwood had a goal and an assist in each game, while Shayna Tomlinson totaled four assists ... Kelly O'Brien made 20 saves in the tie, before stopping 25 in the Engineers' victory.