RPI’s recent string of wins over Harvard and Dartmouth, which stretched back to the start of the 09-10 season, came to an end on the road this weekend as the Engineers dropped a pair of decisions just two weeks after sweeping the same teams. A comeback attempt fell short on Friday night, with the Engineers falling 2-1 to Harvard, while Saturday saw RPI manage just nine shots to Dartmouth’s 34, en route to a 3-0 shutout.
Harvard
Smelker/Harrison/Horton
Padmore/Sanders/O’Keefe
Dunlop/Vandegrift/Stapleton
Letuligasenoa/Guillemette/Mankey
Le Donne/Vadner
Castignetti/Marzario
Daniels
van der Bliek
Harvard got in penalty trouble early, earning the game’s first call at just the 2:50 mark of the first period. The Crimson had little trouble with the kill and built momentum through the first period, throwing twelve shots at Sonja van der Bliek, but did not find the back of the net. Momentum looked to turn in RPI’s favor late in the period as Harvard took two penalties in the final two minutes of the first, setting up a short 5-on-3 situation, but the Engineers found themselves unable to capitalize.
Shortly after the pair of penalties expired to start the second period, Harvard lit the lamp as Liza Ryabkina beat van der Bliek on a one-time feed from Jillian Dempsey, who had picked off an RPI pass at the blue line. A few minutes later, Harvard doubled its lead on another one-timer as Whitney Kennedy fed a pass through the crease to Kalley Armstrong for an easy goal and a 2-0 lead.
A timeout gave the Engineers some reprieve, but a pair of penalties in the latter half of the frame along with a 10-minute misconduct to Sierra Vadner left RPI on their heels and Harvard piling on the shots. RPI weathered the remainder of the second and found themselves the beneficiaries of the officiating in the third period, where three consecutive Harvard penalties gave the Engineers a chance to get back in the game. Jordan Smelker put home an Alisa Harrison rebound at 8:28 of the third to cut the Crimson lead to 2-1, but the RPI pressure late in the game was not enough to tie it up.
RPI outshot Harvard 10-4 in the final period but was outshot 29-20 on the game. The loss put an end to the Engineers’ 5-game winning streak over the Crimson which stretched back to March 2009 when the Engineers defeated the Crimson in the ECAC Semifinals despite being outshot 50-17.
Dartmouth
Smelker/Harrison/Horton
Padmore/Sanders/O’Keefe
Dunlop/Vandegrift/Stapleton
Letuligasenoa/Guillemette/Mankey
Le Donne/Vadner
Castignetti/Marzario
Daniels
van der Bliek
Moving on to Hanover, NH after Friday night’s loss, the Engineers looked to salvage some points from the weekend against Dartmouth, but the Big Green had something else in mind. Behind a pair of power play goals and an empty netter, Dartmouth never gave RPI a chance to get in the game.
Jenna Hobeika opened the scoring for Dartmouth just 4:40 into the game, as she beat van der Bliek over the glove side with a shot that hit the pipe and went into the net. A video review was called for, but the goal was deemed good and gave Dartmouth the only lead they would need – but the Big Green kept up the pressure throughout the game.
After being outshot by a 10-shot margin in the first, Jordan Smelker took a penalty late in the first which carried over to the second period, and Camille Dumais capitalized 26 seconds into the frame to extend the lead to 2-0. Dumais’ shot came on a rebound from Geneva Kliman which van der Bliek initially saved. The disparity in shots grew wider through the second period, seeing a 13-3 Dartmouth advantage in the frame.
The third period saw a complete dearth of offense for the Engineers, who managed just a single shot on goal through twenty minutes of play. An extended length of time with the net empty in favor of the extra attacker did no good for RPI as Dartmouth’s Amanda Trunzo put home an empty netter with 0:20 left on the clock to put the game away by its final 3-0 score.
The Engineers are still within striking distance of a top-four finish in league, but are going to need to step up the offense to accomplish that goal. With another game against a dominant Cornell squad next weekend, along with several other difficult games remaining, RPI needs to take points wherever they can get them to stay on pace for a decent playoff position.
RPI continues play on the road next weekend against Colgate (7pm Friday) and Cornell (4pm Saturday). Neither game will be carried by WRPI, however live stats and pay-per-view video will be available as usual, with links provided on the RPI Athletics website shortly before game time.
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RPI at Harvard
ECAC Hockey Game – Bright Hockey Center (Boston, MA)
1/21/11 – 7:00pm
Harvard 2, RPI 1
BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1011/boxes/wharren1.j21
RECAPS:
RECORD: 9-9-6 (7-5-1 ECAC)
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RPI at Dartmouth
ECAC Hockey Game – Thompson Arena (Hanover, NH)
1/22/11 – 4:00pm
Dartmouth 3, RPI 0
BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1011/boxes/wdarren1.j22
RECAPS:
Dartmouth: http://www.dartmouthsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205081358&DB_OEM_ID=11600
RECORD: 9-10-6 (7-6-1 ECAC)
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ECAC Standings (by points)
GP Pts ECAC AllECAC Standings (by winning percentage)
Cornell 14 28 14-0 20-1
Harvard 14 20 9-3-2 10-7-2
Quinnipiac 14 16 8-6 16-8-1
Dartmouth 14 16 8-6 12-8
Princeton 14 15 7-6-1 10-10-1
Rensselaer 14 15 7-6-1 9-10-6
St. Lawrence 13 14 7-6 12-11-2
Clarkson 13 13 6-6-1 9-13-3
Yale 12 9 4-7-1 5-12-2
Colgate 14 9 4-9-1 7-16-2
Brown 12 5 1-8-3 2-14-3
Union 14 2 0-12-2 1-22-3
GP ECAC Win%
Cornell 14 14-0 1.000
Harvard 14 9-3-2 .714
Quinnipiac 14 8-6 .571
Dartmouth 14 8-6 .571
St. Lawrence 13 7-6 .538
Princeton 14 7-6-1 .536
Rensselaer 14 7-6-1 .536
Clarkson 13 6-6-1 .500
Yale 12 4-7-1 .375
Colgate 14 4-9-1 .321
Brown 12 1-8-3 .208
Union 14 0-12-2 .071
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Upcoming Games
Jan. 28 – at Colgate (7pm)
Jan. 29 – at Cornell (4pm)
Feb. 4 – Brown (7pm)
Feb. 5 – Yale (4pm)
Feb. 11 – Quinnipiac (7pm)
Feb. 12 – Princeton (4pm)
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