The No. 8 Harvard women’s hockey team (17-8-1, 14-4-1 ECAC) defeated Rensselaer (8-19-2, 5-12-4) on Friday by a score of 4-2 at the Houston Field House in Troy, N.Y.

Sophomore Marissa Gedman led the charge for the Crimson by scoring two power-play goals in the second period and gave Harvard a demanding 3-0 lead, which proved too difficult for the Engineers to overcome.

With the win the Crimson continue to position itself for home ice for the first round of the ECAC tournament.

Harvard freshman Samantha Reber started off the scoring for the Crimson with a score off an assist from junior forward Jillian Dempsey a little over five minutes into the game.

After Gedman added her two goals in the second, sophomore Lyndsey Fry stretched the lead to 4-0 in the third when she put a shot past Rensselaer goalie Kelly O’Brien.

The Engineers' senior Laura Guillemette and junior Taylor Horton pulled Rensselaer within two with a little under nine minutes remaining, but the comeback proved to be too little too late as Harvard went on for the 4-2 victory.

The Crimson will look to carry the momentum from the win into Saturday’s matchup versus Union.

—Staff writer Cameron Dowd can be reached at camerondowd14@college.harvard.edu.