Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Confidence Builder or Groundwork Destroyer?

Tonight's midweek game, strangely, could represent a turning point in the season for RPI. Obviously, at 3-16-1, there hasn't been an awful lot that's gone right.

However, according to KRACH, there is only one team the Engineers should be favored against on the remainder of the schedule - American International, tonight. That makes this a must win contest.

It won't be easy. As a midweek game, attendance will be down. Still no students in town. The band, who to their great credit put together an ensemble for last weekend's games, won't be there. But the win is there for the taking. AIC's never terribly good, even this year when they managed a 3-0 win against Brown.

RPI does seem to be improving. They played very well on Friday. They didn't lose on Saturday. Now, with Union waiting on Saturday and the rest of the league schedule coming down the pike afterwards, this is an opportunity for the team to prove to themselves that they can play well and win a hockey game. Sometimes, that's all you need to go into a tough game with play with confidence rather than wait for the next thing to go wrong.

Of course, anything but a solid win could be the exact opposite. Even a tie, and definitely a loss, could send the team into a tailspin, completely destroying confidence going forward. That's why RPI needs to go out strong and look to make this one decisive. Put the puck in the net, and keep it out on the other end. Doesn't seem too hard.

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