Box Score

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Sophomore Kristin Richards (Toronto, ON) scored a penalty shot goal with 52 seconds remaining in overtime to lift Niagara University past Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 5-4 in non-conference women's hockey action on Friday.  With the win, the Purple Eagles move to 1-4-0, while the Engineers see their four-game unbeaten streak come to an end, and are now 2-1-2.
 
Locked in a 4-all tie after three periods of play, the Engineers attacked the offensive zone quickly as junior Taylor Horton (St. Thomas, ON/Bluewater Jr. Hawks) rifled a shot off the faceoff from the top of the far circle as RPI went on the power play.  Niagara continued to fight back in the opposite end and capitalized as the Engineers' were called for a hooking penalty.
 
The Purple Eagles opted to take the penalty shot and it was Richards who sealed the home team's first win of the year as she skated down the slot and lifted the puck into the right corner of the net over the blocker of RPI goalie Brianna Piper (Oakville, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros) for the win.
 
Rensselaer held a 4-2 lead after just 1:34 into the third period, but the advantage slipped away as Niagara battled back to tie the game with just 6:27 remaining.  Junior forward Jessica Hitchcock (LaSalle, ON) started the flurry as she skated in on Piper and sent a low shot at the rookie goalie.  Piper made the initial save, but the shot rebounded back out to Hitchcock, who roofed it into the top right corner to cut the lead to 4-3 at 11:12.
 
The Purple Eagles tied things just over two minutes later as Jenna Hendrikx (Winchester, ON) collected a pass from junior Kelsey Welch (East Amherst, NY) and sent one past Piper's right side at 13:33. Both teams had their chances late in the game, but neither could capitalize as it headed into overtime.
 
It was the Engineers who struck first in the opening stanza as Horton poked in a shot through a scrum in front of the net.  Working into the zone, senior captain Alisa Harrison (Vienna, VA/Washington Pride) navigated the puck down low as Niagara came out to defend in the low slot.  A quick pass at the top of the goal mouth from Harrison saw Horton bang it in for the 1-0 lead at 6:49.
 
RPI made it a 2-0 advantage to open the second period as senior Jill Vandegrift (St. Paul, MN/Minnesota Thoroughbreds) netted her first of the season just one minute into the frame.  Corralling a pass across the blueline from sophomore Madison Marzario (Prior Lake, MN/Shattuck-St. Mary's), Vandegrift skated through the slot and fired a shot from just inside the edge of the right circle past Moses.
 
The Engineers, who found themselves plagued by penalty troubles in the period, saw the Purple Eagles take advantage at 7:54.  With a 5-on-3 advantage for 34 seconds, Niagara's Kathleen Bortuzzo (Thunder Bay, ON) sent a sharp pass from the far circle to Kelsey Gunn (Smith Falls, ON) at the top of the slot.  She then fired a shot through traffic that went in over the blocker of Piper.
 
Niagara nearly made it a 2-2 game just seconds later as the Eagles crashed the net in front of Piper.  RPI's goalie held solid in front, but could not hold off Niagara for long as Richards sniped one in from the right circle off a pass from senior Erica Owczarczak (West Seneca, NY) at 11:26 to tie it at 2-all.  
 
The Engineers battled back to regain the lead less than a minute later when sophomore Jordan Smelker (Anchorage, AK/Team Alaska 19U) collected a pass from Marzario and skated in through the far circle.  She fired a shot past Moses into the left corner to make it a 3-2 game at 12:15.
 
Sophomore Toni Sanders (York, PA/Susquehanna Rapids U19) gave the Engineers a 4-2 lead to open the third stanza as she corralled the puck and skated down the slot for a quick shot in at 1:34.
 
In goal, Moses earned the victory with 14 stops, while Piper made 27 saves in the loss for the Engineers.
 
The same two teams will face one another on Saturday as they meet at 2pm at Dwyer Arena.