TROY, NY –Freshman Whitney Naslund tallied four points to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's hockey team to a 7-0 victory over Union in ECAC Hockey League action at the Houston Field House. With the victory, the Engineers improve to 7-11-0 overall with a 3-4-0 league mark. Union falls to 4-11-1 overall and 0-7-0 in the ECACHL.
The Engineers broke open the game with four unanswered goals to take a commanding 4-0 lead in the first period. Laura Gersten got the flurry started less than three minutes into the frame after senior Sarah Daniel sent a pass up to Gersten, who was positioned at the top of the right circle. The rookie defenseman sent a hard shot past the reach of Union goalie Alex Zirbel (Clearwater, FL) for the 1-0 advantage.
Freshmen Allysen Weidner and Allison Wright scored less than a minute apart to give the Engineers a three-goal advantage at the 9:33 mark. Weidner picked up the puck in front off a rebound from sophomore Melissa Boik at the point, sending it past Zirbel at 8:50. Wright tallied her goal, an unassisted marker, after collecting the puck from a Union stick and breaking in on Zirbel alone.
Sophomore Jaime Jacquard-Sowa would add RPI's third goal at 15:25, converting her own rebound shot past Dutchwomen goaltender Amanda Hanson (Brainerd, MN), who replaced Zirbel after the Engineers third tally.
Union kept the Engineers at bay for a majority of the second period, but Rensselaer would find the back of the net with less than forty seconds remaining in the frame Naslund's fifth goal of the season.
The Engineers would wrap up the scoring in the third period on tallies by Naslund and Wright, who each finished with two goals in the contest.
Union's Brenna Malnar (Soughgate, MI) nearly put the Dutchwomen on the scoreboard mid-way through the third period when she corralled the loose puck in front of the net, swinging a shot at RPI netminder Ashley Mayr who quickly deflected it.
Mayr posted six saves in the victory to improve to 6-9-0 on the season.
Sophomore Emily Ford stopped two shots in relief late in the third period. Zirbel, who shouldered the loss for Union posted four saves in goal before giving way to Hanson who made 27 saves in relief.
Rensselaer and Union wrap up their two-game series tomorrow in Schenectady. Game time is 4pm at Messa Rink.
