Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – Junior Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros) stopped all 21 shots she faced as the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's hockey team skated to a 0-0 tie against Wayne State University on Saturday. The Engineers are now 1-0-1 in the early season. The Warriors move to 0-1-1 overall.

Along with five stops in the first and third periods, van der Bliek made 10 saves in the middle stanza and had one save in overtime. Wayne State netminder Delayne Brian (Winnipeg, MB/Notre Dame Hounds) stopped 37 shots, including 12 in the opening and second frames, 10 in the third period and three in overtime.

Rensselaer opened the game with an aggressive push toward the net, holding a 12-5 shot advantage through the first 20 minutes. Intensity picked up in the second period as the teams combined for 22 shots on goal in the middle stanza.

Each team had a number of opportunities to get on the board in the period, including a flurry of shots by the Engineers in front of the Warriors goal. Sophomore Alisa Harrison (Vienna, VA/Washington Pride) generated a majority of the activity after she corralled a pass from senior Whitney Naslund (Bloomington, MN/Bloomington Jefferson) at the left wing.

Taking a shot at Brian, Harrison picked up her own rebound and sent another shot at the Warriors goalie. The puck rebounded out to Naslund, who slid through the slot and sent a shot between the goalie's legs and off the post. Collecting the puck once more, Harrison slid the shot from the goal line to Naslund at the left circle for another chance at the Wayne State goal, but Brian made the quick grab.

In the third period, despite a 10-5 deficit in shots, Wayne State fought to get on the scoreboard. Sophomore Micheline Frappier (Val Caron, ON/Sudbury Lady Wolves) nearly put the Warriors ahead after she stole the puck off an RPI stick in the neutral zone and went at the Engineers goal for a shorthanded breakaway. van der Bliek made the quick save near the post, aided by defensive pressure from senior Allysen Weidner (Wichita, KS/Shattuck St. Mary's).

Neither team could pull ahead in the sudden death overtime, which favored RPI by a 3-1 margin.

The game marked the first scoreless tie for the Engineers since elevating to the Division I level. RPI's last 0-0 draw came eight years ago against RIT on January 27, 2001, when the team was a member ECAC Division III Conference

Rensselaer returns to action next weekend for a two-game set at Niagara University on Friday and Saturday. Both games begin at 2pm. Wayne State is also in action next weekend when it hosts Boston University for a pair of games.