In an important ECAC hockey matchup between Rensselaer and St. Lawrence, the teams battled to a highly entertaining 1-1 tie.
The action came quickly in the first period, as RPI got on the board just 26 seconds in. Laura Horwood was left open in the slot, and Shayna Tomlinson found her with a pass from below the goal line that she buried past Grace Harrison with a quick one-time snap shot.
“My linemates made nice plays on the forecheck and Shayna (Tomlinson) caused a turnover and found me in the slot,” said Horwood. “Our starts have been something we have been working on, so it was nice to get that in.”
A power play to St. Lawrence came just 22 seconds later, and although the Saints didn’t score, the extra skater advantage provided entertainment, including a shot off the post by Amanda Boulier. Two more power plays, one for each team, went unsuccessful and the Engineers carried their 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
The second period was as low scoring and high intensity as the first. The lone goal was netted by St. Lawrence on a four-on-three power play. Boulier shoveled the puck to Hannah Miller, who was parked above the right faceoff circle, and she fired a slap shot past Lovisa Selander with 12:38 to play in the middle frame.
“Brooke (Webster) and (Amanda Boulier) made a few quick passes and then (Boulier) found me and luckily my shot was able to get through,” said Miller
It was an exciting third period, with multiple power plays for both teams, including two late advantages for RPI, and two good chances for the Saints off the sticks of Kennedy Marchment and Nadine Edney, but ultimately, the teams headed to overtime tied. The Engineers had 1:50 of a power play to begin the extra frame.
RPI couldn’t covert with the extra attacker, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie. However, the lack of goals was not indicative of the number of chances. Shots on goal ended at 49-26 in favor of SLU and the teams had a combined 11 power plays, but with some overlap.
“We have to be ready for games like this in the last four; the ECAC is a really tight league,” said Miller. “Obviously we wanted a win, but this is still a big point.”
“Obviously it’s a huge point for us, bouncing back after last night,” said Horwood.
“It was a tough night last night, but I knew our team would respond,” said Engineers coach John Burke. “I thought it was a pretty even game five-on-five, we got into some penalty trouble in the second period which put us on our heels, but I loved the way our kids battled back tonight. We’ve got a really mentally tough team this year that’s playing really hard for each other.
“Every point right now is crucial for everyone. We would have loved to get four points, but a road point is big.”
“We played hard last night, got off to a bit of a slow start tonight, but I think the team did a good job bouncing back after that,” said SLU coach Chris Wells. “We had a few power plays and, though we didn’t score, it gave us some confidence, and then we eventually got one. It was a good game, we worked hard, we just have got to score goals.”
