As lightly falling snow encapsulated Johnson Rink, the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology Engineers hosted the Rochester Institute of
Technology Tigers.  The Saturday evening affair was won in a decided
fashion, 0-18, by RIT.  MIT's skating has, alas, not improved and so the
Tigers were free to prowl.

The game began with RIT clearly in charge, though much of their haphazard
passing was easily boxed out by the Engineers.  However, with few breakouts
of their own, MIT was pressed by line after line of Tiger attackers.
Colleen Baude (Kasie Strong) provided the final stuff to open the RIT
scoring. Fabulous fresher Strong made it 0-2 when her solo right wing rush
was concluded with a clinical shot high glove side.  The Tigers would
eventually net three more tallies before the end of the first with Erin
Moran's (Baude) strike, off a lovely feed from Baude, being the highlight.

As the second sprang into action, RIT forced the issue and buried 3
quickies to bring the count to 0-8.  Rochester has a tendency to shoot
directly from the face-off and Alysia Park did just that early on.  MIT was
being overrun.  They just didn't have the wheels to deal with the faster
Tigers.  RIT attempted to execute some drop back drills, but due to their
indifferent movement off the puck, that did not amount to much.  Four more
Tiger goals were scored, with Tina Bessette's (Strong) finish of a nice 1-2
with Strong and Strong's (Cora Crowley, Baude) lightning strike off a fall
back set, being outstanding.

The mostly sluggish third period found neither side exactly sparkling.  The
Engineers looked overtaxed, and while the Tigers would score 6 more goals
to make it 0-18, most were common rebounds, or lax defender gifts.  Strong
(Jen Gorczynski) nailed the most elegant score of the night when she
redirected a lovely cross-ice pass from Gorczynski.

RIT have a fair skating game.  They seem to lack purpose and really need to
get their heads up.  While they collected a lot of scores tonight, few were
from intriguing setups.  There was too much stopping and watching and not
enough movement.  The blue liners were led by first-year Marrick Jensen and
junior Gorczynski.  Jensen made a number of slick solo dekes.  Gorczynski
reads plays so well and can lay on some marvelous setup passes.  Up front,
Park whirls and swirls and can make some stylish plays.  She also is a
solid back-checker.  Bessette showed some nice jets and loves to drive up
her wing.  Senior Baude is a classic finisher who can also make the telling
pass.  The woman of the match was Strong.  She has a subtle touch and
provides exquisite dishes.  What makes Strong special is her vision and
ability to use her mates.  Overall, a clever side that could perform at a
higher level.

Skating continues to be MIT's nemesis.  Without it, they suffer the wrath
of their opponents' assault.  The Engineers look more comfortable this
season with their defensive posture.  The team defense and reactions are
more effective.  Defenders Cara Toretta and Erin Syron made some good
marking decisions.  Toretta's recovery to difficult situations was good.
Syron angled off well.  Meanwhile, Michele Verticchio had a good
back-checking game.  Erin Mellencamp was always ready to have a go.  The
MIT woman of the match was fresher goalie Regina Sullivan.  She made some
fine kick saves and knew when to cover up.  Overall, the skating needs
help.





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    good shooting
    rhun
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Women's College Ice Hockey from rhun:  http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cwinters

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