The Colgate women’s hockey team soared this weekend as it both launched its 2012 Au­tism Awareness Project and took away two wins from Union and Rensselaer with scores of 3-0 and 3-2, respectively.

The team came out strong at the start of Fri­day night’s Union match, pressing the Dutch­women’s goal and firing a number of close shots on net. Colgate maintained possession of the puck and created the majority of the scoring op­portunities by spreading its offense and moving the puck. First-year forward Taylor Craig drew first blood when at the 12:25 mark, a shot from sophomore forward Rachel Walsh rebounded to Craig who was able to fire it into the top of the net for her first collegiate point. First-year for­ward Miriam Drubel also took credit with an as­sist. Two minutes later, the gap between Union and Colgate widened during a power play when Walsh fired a shot off a rebound after sopho­more defender Shannon Doyle fired the puck at the net. Junior forward Jenna Klynstra took an assist on the goal. In the opening 20 min­utes of play, it was clear that the Raiders were in control as they outshot Union 17-1.

The second frame was not as successful as the first for the Raider team. Both sides were able to shoot eight times on net but neither posted a goal. Colgate kept the Dutchwomen scoreless on two power plays, however, which was a feat in and of itself.

Toward the end of the tilt, both teams picked up the intensity as Union fought to stay alive and ‘Gate hustled to stay on top. This time around, it was Union who gained the 8-6 shooting advantage with three extra skater opportunities in the frame. Even so, the Raiders took advantage of a power play situation with yet another goal early in the third period. Senior defender Amanda Kir­wan picked up a loose puck and snuck it into the low right corner of the goal to finish off the night with a 3-0 Colgate shutout win.

Senior goaltender Kimberly Sass tallied 17 saves for Colgate in her third blanking of the season.

After barreling through Union, the Raiders were ready to take on Rensselaer in their second game for Autism Awareness of the weekend. Both teams lagged out of the starting gate as they tried to get a feel for one another. Nine minutes into the game, Colgate was charged with a penalty that allowed the Engineers to gain the first power play opportunity of the game. The Raiders upped the ante, however, and refused to be taken advantage of. They were able to hold RPI scoreless during the two-min­ute period and gained their own extra skater only six minutes later. By the end of the first period, both teams had shot four times on goal but neither had scored.

The second 20-minute frame was similar to the first, but with both teams becoming more physical. Colgate was weighed down with four penalties thanks to aggressive playing but was still able to keep the En­gineers at bay.

Going into the final stanza, both teams were hungry for the game-winning strike. The Raiders were the first to successfully attack the net and scored just over two minutes into the period to take the first lead of the game, 1-0. On the score, Walsh picked up a pass from sophomore forward Taylor Volpe and hit the back of the net to tally the opening goal. Colgate did not enjoy the lead for long, however. Only 48 seconds later, the Engineers retaliated to tie the game. The Raiders were determined to regain the lead and got back on top 40 seconds later at the 3:38 mark.

Colgate enjoyed two power play opportuni­ties and scored once again to increase the Rens­selaer deficit to two. The Engineers took a risk by pulling their goalie in favor of another skater, and while they were able to take another goal off the Raiders, they were unable to close the deal and walked away with a loss.

Contact Emma Barge at [email protected]