TROY, N.Y.  – Sophomore Jenna Hendrikx scored her second goal in as many games for Niagara University, this time helping the Purple Eagles back from a 1-0 deficit to tie Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 1-1, for the second straight contest. With the draw the homestanding Engineers move to 4-7-4, while Niagara moves to 3-8-3 on the season.

Neither team was able to put the puck in the net through the first two periods, despite a number of outstanding attempts on either side. It was the home team that would strike first in Saturday's affair as junior Kristen Jakubowski (Lake Placid, NY/The Northwood School) re-directed a shot from the point past Purple Eagles netminder Jenni Bauer (St. Catharines, ON/Bemidji State) at 13:13 on the power play.

Junior Amanda Castignetti (Anchorage, AK/Shattuck St. Mary's) carried the puck into the zone down the far side and skated into the circle before dropping it back to senior Sydney O'Keefe (Prior Lake, MN/Prior Lake), who rifled a shot toward the net.

The Purple Eagles wasted little time in scoring the equalizer as rookie Kristen Richards (Toronto, ON/Mississauga Jr. Chiefs) skated into the RPI zone and sent a shot in toward the net. A flurry of players crowded in front as sticks flew to gain control, but the puck squirted out of the pile to Hendrikx (Winchester, ON/Ottawa), who buried it past Engineers' goalie Shannon Ramelot (Bloomfield Hills, MI/Honeybacked 19U) at 14:53.

Despite a number of chances on both ends of the ice, including a point-blank shot in front, off a rebound by Niagara's Natasha Fryer (Oakville, ON/Appleby College), neither team could get the go-ahead marker.

Rensselaer opened the game with several chances to score, but were turned aside by Bauer, who made 12 saves in the opening period. For the second straight game, a penalty shot was awarded, this time to the Engineers as a Purple Eagles player was called for covering up the puck in the goal mouth. Junior Alisa Harrison (Vienna, VA/Washington Pride) came out to take the shot and nearly stuffed it in, but was denied by a nice leg-stop from Bauer.

The second period was another battle at each end as both goaltenders made several outstanding stops to keep the score locked at 0-0. Bauer was tested nearly eight minutes in as rookie Toni Sanders (York, PA/Susquehanna Rapids U-19) intercepted the puck off a Niagara stick for a quick shot, while freshman Jessica Hitchcock (LaSalle, ON/Southwest Wildcats) found a rebound in front and nearly banked a shot past Ramelot, who made the glove save.

For RPI, Ramelot finished with 19 stops, while her counterpart Bauer had 30 saves for Niagara.

The Engineers are back on the ice next weekend, visiting Syracuse University for games on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (2pm). Niagara heads to Ithaca, N.Y., for a two-game set against #2 Cornell also on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (2pm).