Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Junior netminder Sonja van der Bliek stopped all 26 shots she faced and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's hockey team scored two second period goals on their way to a 2-0 shutout of Brown University, in ECAC Hockey action on Friday. With the victory, the Engineers improve to 8-9-5 overall with a 5-3-3 mark in conference play. The Bears are now 2-11-4 and 0-8-3 in ECAC Hockey.

After a scoreless first period, RPI broke out onto the scoreboard as freshman Taylor Horton (St. Thomas, ON/Bluewater Hawks) scored at 13:03 of the second stanza. Making a heads-up play in the Bears' zone, Horton intercepted the puck off a pass and sprinted toward the goaltender for a five-hole shot that banked into the net.

Senior Whitney Naslund (Bloomington, MN/Bloomington Jefferson) then made it a two-goal advantage less than a minute later, when she scored on the power play at 13:52. Off a pass from linemate Allison Wright (Oakville, ON/Oakville Ice), Naslund was able to get it past Brown goalie Katie Jamieson (Waterloo, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros) for her team-leading 12th goal of the season. Earning the secondary assist on the play was sophomore Amanda Castignetti (Anchorage, AK/Shattuck St. Mary's).

In the third period, the defensive tempo picked up as each squad was called for three penalties each. RPI had several chances to add to its lead as senior Allysen Weidner (Wichita, KS/Shattuck St. Mary's) nearly scored on a breakaway attempt, but was hooked down, which resulted in a Bears penalty.

Brown tried to get onto the board late in the game, taking advantage of two RPI players in the penalty box by pulling their goalie, but could not solve van der Bliek (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros), who came up with several big stops in the final seconds.

In addition to nine saves in the first period, van der Bliek also posted 11 stops in the second stanza and 12 in the third. For the Bears, Jamieson made 32 saves, including 10 in the opening period, 11 in the middle frame and five in the third period.

The Engineers return to action tomorrow afternoon in a 4pm tilt at Yale, while Brown hosts Union, also at 4pm in Providence.