Women’s ice hockey (3-4-1, 2-3-1) defeated the Union Dutchwomen (2-12-1, 0-8-0), 3-0, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers (4-10-0, 2-6-0), 3-2, while on the road this past weekend.
After two weeks without wins, these matches mark the second and third Red victories this season and the first two in-conference wins for the Red.
The Red faced the Dutchwomen on Nov. 12 at Schenectady, New York. The first period passed with unresolved tension as shot after shot couldn’t find the net. However, the Red’s luck finally started to turn around when freshman defense Alexa Davis sank her debut goal in the fourth minute of the second period with assists from senior forward Gillis Frechette and junior forward Izzy Daniel.
The Dutchwomen wouldn’t give up without a fight. On a power play less than four minutes later, the home team took seven shots. But the Red defense held, and after proving to be a formidable offensive opponent as well, 16 shots by the Red later, the period ended, 1-0.
Once toward the end of the second and again near the middle of the third, the Red played briefly with an empty net. Although graduate goaltender Lindsay Browning was never out of the goal for long, the tactic seemed peculiar given their goal and past fumbles with an empty net. In the Red’s match against Harvard, the Red gave up two goals in the third period with an empty net.
About 13 seconds into a Red power play, sophomore forward Lily Delianedis scored on an assist by sophomore forward Kaitlin Jockims and Frechette, putting the Red up, 2-0. Even with this lead, the Red continued to pressure the Dutchmen on their side, finding the net once again with a goal by Daniel. The final buzzer blared a resounding Red victory, 3-0.
Buzzing with their previous night’s victory, the Red challenged the Engineers in Troy, New York, the following afternoon. However, they were quickly shocked into a game of catchup when the Engineers’ second shot on goal slipped passed Browning 42 seconds into the first period.
Desperate for a retaliatory goal, the Red took 22 shots in the span of 14 minutes. On a double rebound, Jockims snuck in the Red’s first goal of the match, tying the game, 1-1, for the end of the period.
Dishing back the Engineers’ own medicine, sophomore defender Ashley Messier scored the Red’s second goal within 30 seconds of the second period, raising the Red, 2-1. The rest of the period ricocheted with back and forth shooting, nothing else getting past the goaltenders.
In the third period, the Engineers evened the score during a power play, 2-2, when Delianedis sank the game-winning goal for the Red in the 16th minute. The Engineers desperately tried to regain footing, even attempting to score with an empty net, but the Red held them off, winning their second match of the weekend, 3-2.
The Red look to continue their win streak at home next weekend, taking on the Quinnipiac Bobcats (11-1-2, 5-1-0) and Princeton Tigers (5-1-0, 5-1-0) at Lynah Rink on Nov. 19 and 20.