Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Halloween Hockey

A little extra hockey for you this week with a mid-week event - the college hockey equivalent of a matinee movie showing. The women get their week's game out of the way early with a Halloween visit to one of the scariest places ever - Burlington, VT.

Tonight, the women seek to bounce back from their difficult weekend in the North Country by taking an almost equally tough bus ride to Vermont to take on the Catamounts. Perennial also-rans, Vermont has never had a winning season in Division I - much like Union, they've never even won 10 games in a single Division I season. They kicked this season off with the honor of being the first team to take on Penn State in varsity hockey - and they lost that game. They did beat New Hampshire two weeks ago... but then again, New Hampshire isn't exactly New Hampshire anymore, if you catch our meaning. Basically, if RPI wants to prove that they are the same team that took BU and SLU to the limit, they're looking to pick up a win tonight.

Here's a rare mid-week pumpup for tonight's contest... no Monster Mash or Thriller here, those are way too predictable (plus Monster Mash isn't getting anyone pumped). Try this on for size instead. It's got a beat and you can dance to it, plus there's certainly some kind of Halloweenish thing going on with it. And it's classic. Can't go wrong with classic.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Women's Hockey - at St. Lawrence & Clarkson (26/27 Oct)


There's not much harder of a way to start off the ECAC season than a road trip to the North Country, and RPI was reminded of that fact this weekend, suffering a tough 3-2 defeat to St. Lawrence before being blown out 6-2 at Clarkson the following afternoon - including a stretch of six minutes in the second period which saw the Golden Knights score four goals.

St. Lawrence

Smelker/Gruschow/Svoboda
Wash/Cox/Horton
Mahoney/Mari Mankey/Missy Mankey
Letuligasenoa/Middlebrook/Walsh

Godin/Marzario
Daniels/Banks
Le Donne/Schilter

Piper

A strong comeback attempt wasn't enough to salvage any points for the Engineers on Friday afternoon, as a 3-2 deficit at the end of the first period held through the remainder of the game against a St. Lawrence squad looking for their first win of the season. The Saints, reeling from several consecutive defeats against some of the top teams in the nation, took advantage of two goals by Kelly Sabatine to grab the 3-2 lead late in the first period.

The Engineers opened the scoring a mere 56 seconds into the game when Taylor Horton scored on a 2-on-1 with Katie Daniels. Sabatine tied the game for the Saints at 8:12 and SLU capitalized on an RPI penalty just over two minutes later to take a 2-1 lead.

RPI evened the score a few minutes later when Mari Mankey scored her second of the season, taking advantage of a SLU turnover, but once again the penalty kill would prove to be the Engineers' nemesis and Sabatine picked up the game winner at 17:45 on the power play.

After surrendering three goals on fourteen shots in the first period, RPI's Brianna Piper would be relieved by Kelly O'Brien for the remainder of the game, and O'Brien held the Saints scoreless while the Engineers tried furiously to even the score. After being outshot 14-7 in the first period, RPI held the Saints to just three shots in the middle frame and eight in the third, but were unable to beat the Saints' Carmen MacDonald again after their pair of goals in the first period.

Clarkson

Smelker/Gruschow/Svoboda
Cox/Mari Mankey/Horton
Wash/Mahoney/Walsh
Letuligasenoa/Middlebrook/Missy Mankey

Godin/Marzario
Daniels/Banks
Le Donne/Schilter

O'Brien

If Friday afternoon was rough for the Engineers, things would quickly go from bad to worse on Saturday as RPI surrendered three more power play goals, and allowed four in a span of six minutes en route to a 6-2 thrashing by the #4-ranked Golden Knights at Cheel Arena in Potsdam.

Despite playing a relatively tight first period, the Engineers only managed two shots on goal in the first twenty minutes, and fell behind on an Olivia Howe goal with 3:45 left in the opening frame.

It was the second period that would prove the Engineers' undoing, starting with a Clarkson power play which opened the floodgates. Danielle Skirrow and Carly Mercer each scored power play goals, with Daniella Mateucci and Shannon MacAulay adding two more to put Clarkson up 5-0 just past the midpoint of the second.

With goalies swapped once again - this time O'Brien relieved by Piper - RPI's top line would answer late in the second, with Jordan Smelker getting the Engineers on the board at 17:14 and Alexa Gruschow scoring a power play goal less than a minute later after Clarkson's Brittany Styner took a cross-checking call on Smelker's goal. The pair of goals would be all RPI would manage on the afternoon.

Clarkson tacked on one more power play goal in the third period for good measure, making the final score 6-2 and squarely outshooting the Engineers by a 30-14 margin.

The Engineers will now have a quick turnaround with a Halloween night game this Wednesday at Vermont (7pm) followed by a weekend off before a return to ECAC action November 9 and 10 against Princeton (7pm) and Quinnipiac (4pm) at the Field House.

-----

RPI at St. Lawrence
ECAC Hockey Game – Appleton Arena (Canton, NY)
10/26/12 - 4pm
SLU 3, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/10/26/rensselaer-vs-st-lawrence/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wrenstl1.o26

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2012/10/26/WICE_1026123046.aspx
SLU: http://www.stlawu.edu/athletics/saints/women%27s+hockey/story/11069

RECORD: 1-4-1 (0-1-0 ECAC)

-----

RPI at Clarkson
ECAC Hockey Game – Cheel Arena (Canton, NY)
10/27/12 - 3:30pm
Clarkson 6, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/10/27/rensselaer-vs-clarkson/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wclkren1.o27

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2012/10/27/WICE_1027124836.aspx
Clarkson: http://clarksonathletics.com/news/2012/10/27/WHOCK_1027125042.aspx?path=whock
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9R3uIL4okE

RECORD: 1-5-1 (0-2-0 ECAC)

-----

Upcoming Games

Oct. 31 - at Vermont (7pm)
Nov. 9 - Princeton (7pm)
Nov. 10 - Quinnipiac (4pm)
Nov. 16 - Robert Morris (3pm)
Nov. 17 - Robert Morris (3pm)

Friday, October 26, 2012

Out of the Way

It's always a good thing to get the North Country trip out of the way as soon as possible, and late October is probably the best time ever, if you can get it. The men can't ever get that lucky, since the ECAC schedule doesn't get underway until November, but the women get the opportunity to do just that this weekend, and right in ahead of this "Frankenstorm" thing that's supposed to be on its way. So they'll get the double benefit of being able to make the trip up through the Adirondacks to see the foliage while there's still some left (the whole area is past peak) AND not have to deal with the inclement weather that winter always brings.

Unfortunately, once they get there, it's nothing but pain in the forecast - the North Country teams are almost certainly the most difficult travel partner set in the ECAC this season. But wait, you say. Tonight's opponent, St. Lawrence, has played five games and lost all five. Uh huh. One goal losses to #4 Clarkson in a home-and-home to start the season. Two dismantlings at the hands of #1 Minnesota, the defending national champions. Then this past Tuesday, a non-conference loss at #2 Cornell. I defy you to find a more difficult schedule. It would be practically impossible. Despite being 0-5-0, the Saints still got one vote as the 10th best team in the nation in the latest USCHO poll. That should tell you something. And they're probably thirsty for a win, tonight being their best opportunity thus far to pick one up.

Oh, and did you notice that Clarkson is ranked fourth in the nation? Yeah, that was definitely snuck in there. Their path has been much easier - the aforementioned sweep of SLU, a pair of solid wins over Vermont, and then a road split with always-tough #5 Mercyhurst has the Knights at 5-1-0 ahead of their game against Union tonight.

So yeah... points are at a premium as the Engineers kick off the ECAC schedule this weekend. But hey. At least it isn't going to snow.

Speaking of snow... and since we were deprived of the opportunity for a women's only pumpup to start the season since they didn't have an exhibition this year... here's a pretty killer cover of Led Zeppelin to get the blood flowing for this weekend's games in the North Country. Speakers up!




Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A Spin Around the ECAC

Well, since we've got the time, let's see how the rest of the league's October is going. This is the one month that sometimes, you miss out on what other teams are doing since there are no league games until the Ivies pick up in November.

Clarkson (0-3-0)
It's not really as bad as it looks. Well, it's pretty bad but it's not terrible. When you go out to Colorado College and score eight goals, that's admirable, even if it comes in a pair of one goal losses. Losing at home to Holy Cross, scoring once on 37 shots, that's a different story. The Knights will be looking for their first win (or two) of the season with a pair of home games this coming weekend against Niagara. Freshman Pat Megannety has a pair of goals and an assist, all of which came out in Colorado. In net, Cody Rosen got his third career start in game one against CC, but was pulled in the 3rd period after giving up 5 goals on 30 shots. Freshman Greg Lewis has played all of the time since but has only been fairly better overall. Clarkson definitely will be looking for a more confident defense going forward.

Colgate (2-3-0)
Remember when we said the Raiders were likely to have trouble scoring? Colgate made that prediction look silly after one game, when they annihilated Niagara 10-2, picking up goals from seven different players in the process for their first double-digit output since 1997-98. Then, however, they only scored two goals in the next three games. Granted, the first two of that set was against #3 Miami, but splitting with Bowling Green at home last weekend probably wasn't what the Raiders had in mind. Kyle Baun looks like an early freshman breakout for Colgate with 3 goals and 2 assists, and classmates Tylor Spink and Darcy Murphy also have a pair of goals each. This weekend, they face a challenging RIT team that went to Michigan and picked up a win, then they make their annual trip to Cape Cod where they'll face Quinnipiac in a non-conference game. The Bobcats should provide a better indication of exactly where Colgate is right now.

Quinnipiac (3-1-1)
If not for one head-scratcher home performance against Robert Morris, the Bobcats would be solidly rolling.  This is certainly an experience laden team and the Q appears to be leaning on that experience heavily - the freshman class has put together a combined game tally of 8 appearances - 5 of which are defenseman Alex Barron and one of which was a 28:27 appearance by goaltender Michael Garteig, who played the second half of a baffling 4-0 loss to Robert Morris on the back side of a two-game set in Hamden (he allowed just one goal on eight shots). In fact, the only non-junior/senior to score points thus far is Matthew Peca (2 goals and 1 assist), who was an ECAC All-Rookie selection last year. The Q started their season off by going up to Maine and returning with a 2-1 victory, last weekend they tied and then beat Ohio State at home. This weekend, their only game is that non-conference on Cape Cod against Colgate.

St. Lawrence (3-1-0)
There aren't many teams that go to Orono, Maine, and skate away with a +9 goal differential in two games no matter how bad the Black Bears might be - but that's what the Saints achieved last weekend as very rude guests in the Pine Tree State (since we've been talking a lot of Maine - they're 1-4-0 thus far, their only win coming in the Icebreaker third place game against Army). There was some debate coming into the season as to whether Kyle Flanagan or Greg Carey was the best player on this team, two weeks later the resounding answer is, who cares? The duo has been ridiculously effective early on, and they're 1-2 in scoring nationally with Flanagan at 5 goals and 6 assists and Carey at 3 goals and 7 assists after just four games. Perhaps the biggest thing, though has been Matt Weninger, who has been equally lights out in net for the most part. Expect the Saints to keep the good times flowing after a bye week this weekend as they host Alabama-Huntsville during the first week of November. There hasn't been a lot of depth past Flanagan and Carey thus far, but that may not matter much if they can keep things up.

Union (2-1-0)
Leave it to Union to ruin banner night - they got a rude return from the Frozen Four in the first game of the season when they lost at home to Merrimack, 4-1. The "what the hell?" motif continued when they went down 2-0 six minutes in at Bowling Green the following week before righting the ship to pick up a pair of wins. Troy Grosenick's numbers in net are, thus far, off a bit from his incredible season last year, but they're still decent - and once they got scoring against the Falcons, Union put up 9 goals, so that aspect is intact as expected. The Dutchmen, interestingly, are providing American International this weekend with their first non-conference home game since January 2008 (which was, in turn, their first since 2005). Pretty quick turnaround to go from the Frozen Four in April to the building that's dead last in attendance in Division I (averaging 171 guests per game in 2011) for the last nine consecutive years. AIC draws so poorly that they got outdrawn by 62 Division III schools as well. Fortunately, Union is used to playing in front of small crowds (small arena that doesn't sell out zing), so they probably won't miss a beat - expect a beatdown, followed by another likely win at UConn before the home-and-home with the Engineers rolls around.

The Ivies get underway this weekend too, here's what they've done thus far in exhibitions:
Cornell 6, US Under-18 Team 2
Cornell 2, Brock 2
Dartmouth 2, McGill 1
Dartmouth 4, Norwich 3
Harvard 5, McGill 1
Guelph 3, Princeton 2 (OT)
Guelph 6, Princeton 5

The Ivy Shootout takes place in Providence this weekend, with Dartmouth facing Yale and Princeton at Brown on Friday, losers and winners to face each other the next night. Harvard hosts local minnow Bentley on Saturday, and with bigger fish to fry, Cornell hosts Colorado College for a pair on Friday and Saturday.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Men's Hockey - at Minnesota State (19/20 Oct)

One typical hallmark of a young team is the inability to score goals - we saw that in spades at this time last year. If scoring goals isn't a problem, holding leads can be another issue, and that's something the Engineers were surely kicking themselves over all the way home to Troy this past weekend. Despite holding two-goal leads in the third period both Friday and Saturday nights, RPI was forced to settle for a tie on Friday and to swallow an overtime loss on Saturday following back to back blown leads in the final period, drawing 3-3 and losing 4-3, settling for a one point weekend (if this had been a league weekend, of course), instead of taking all four, which were within the grasp.

Friday
Lee-Rogic-Schroeder
Zalewski-Higgs-Tinordi
Neal-Laliberte-Haggerty
Bubela-Miller-Burgdoerfer

Leboeuf-Bailen
Curadi-Leonard
Bradley-Dolan

Diebold

Following on from the relatively successful home weekend against Ferris State, minimal lineup changes were in order. Before leaving for Minnesota, coach Seth Appert told the Troy Record that the team was nursing some relatively minor injuries, and that the lineup would reflect the hope for some good recovery time for those injuries. When the lineup was produced, Mark McGowan was the only starter against Ferris State not in the lineup - he did not play over the weekend in Mankato, but if Appert was accurate in his description, he should be good to go when the ECAC schedule opens in two weeks against local rivals Union (and on three weeks rest, to boot). Johnny Rogic was moved from the fourth line into McGowan's position between Lee and Schroeder, while Mark Miller moved into the center position on the fourth line with winger Greg Burgdoerfer entering the lineup.

Both teams got their scoring started on their first power plays of the game during the first period. Mankato got themselves on the board first a little over halfway through an interference call against Nick Bailen, and RPI responded about four minutes later as Bailen notched his first goal of the year a little under a minute into the Engineers' first advantage.

Throughout the final 10 minutes of the first period, RPI was forced to hold on for dear life as a Bo Dolan penalty was killed off, a penalty shot caused by a Bailen trip on the breakaway was stopped by Scott Diebold, and a Miller interference call was shortly thereafter killed off. Despite the numerous penalties in the first period, RPI got out of the first 20 with a 1-1 tie and an 8-6 edge in shots.

The Engineers put in some very good work in the second period, making that shot total more lopsided by the end of the middle frame. With about three and a half minutes left in the second, Matt Neal put the Engineers ahead with his first goal of the season, making it 2-1 in favor of RPI heading into the third.

Things were looking very good for RPI following Ryan Haggerty's second goal of the season about seven minutes in on the power play to make it 3-1, but the homestanding Mavericks did not back down. Shortly after a timeout called by Seth Appert following an icing call, Mankato pulled to within one a little over three minutes after Haggerty's goal, and with about three minutes left in regulation, tied the game. Minnesota State ended the third period with an 11-6 edge in shots, almost mirroring RPI's 12-6 advantage from the second period.

Both teams had some good opportunities in the overtime period, especially RPI late with a shot by Zach Schroeder just missing, but ultimately RPI had to settle for a second consecutive tie, this one a little worse than the previous one given the Engineers' two goal advantage which was still in place with 10 minutes left to play. Diebold finished with 22 saves on 25 shots to earn the tie. Neal, meanwhile, had a hand in all three of the RPI goals, notching secondary assists on the Bailen and Haggerty tallies.

Saturday
Lee-Rogic-Schroeder
Zalewski-Higgs-Tinordi
Neal-Laliberte-Haggerty
Bubela-Miller-Commers

Leboeuf-Bailen
Curadi-Leonard
Bradley-Dolan

Merriam

Among the other things Appert mentioned to the Troy Record ahead of the trip was that Burgdoerfer and Minnesota native Andrew Commers had earned ice time in practice - and given that the trip was to Commers' home state, it wasn't too shocking to see Commers get his RPI debut in Mankato, replacing Burgdoerfer for the second game. (The team's other MN natives, Schroeder and Dolan, played both nights. Interestingly, all seven of the team's New York natives were in the lineup on Friday.)

Things got rough early on in game two, as Guy Leboeuf was assessed a five minute major and a game misconduct for hitting from behind just over five minutes into the contest, putting RPI short a defenseman for the rest of the game. That put the Engineers on an extended penalty kill, but the Mavericks were unable to score during the major. Late in the period, after a charging call against Mankato, Schroeder scored his first goal of the season on the man advantage to put the Engineers ahead 1-0.

Neal's second goal of the year came during a 4-on-3 power play in the second period caused in part by a five-minute charging penalty against Mankato after Bryce Merriam was run down in the crease. That tally came just seconds into the major, but it would be the only one the Engineers could muster from the long power play, which was in part cut short by a tripping penalty to Matt Tinordi.

The Engineers brought their 2-0 lead into the third period, but that edge evaporated even more quickly than it had the previous night. Minnesota State scored just 62 seconds into the third period to cut RPI's lead in half, then tied it with another goal 2:37 later. The tie ran for a good 10 minutes or so with plenty of back and forth action before a breakaway with just over five minutes to play gave the Mavericks their first lead of the night, 3-2.

RPI did not back down, however. With Merriam off for the extra attacker, Neal scored his second goal of the night and third on the weekend and year to tie the game with 1:36 remaining in regulation, immediately jolting the Engineers back to life.

It was, however, short lived. 1:09 into RPI's third straight overtime, the Mavericks scored off a faceoff in the RPI zone to skate away with the 4-3 victory. The Engineers, about 30 minutes of gameplay away from two wins on a long road weekend instead got just a tie for their efforts.

Other junk - Following the "one point weekend," the Engineers' vote haul in the weekly USCHO poll dropped from 40 to seven, now ranking 6th among ECAC teams in the poll. Other league teams were #7 Cornell (idle, down one with one first place vote), #8 Union (idle, no change with one first place vote), #17 Harvard (idle, no change), and #20 Quinnipiac (tied and beat Ohio State, no change). Also receiving votes were St. Lawrence (109, just missing a ranking by 7 votes) and Yale (3). Other teams on RPI's schedule this year include #12 New Hampshire (up three, one first place vote), #13 Boston University (down two), and #18 Ferris State (down two). Also receiving votes were Minnesota State (39) and St. Cloud State (12).

Neal is on fire. He's already doubled his point total from last season in just four games, and with eight points, trails only St. Lawrence duo Kyle Flanagan and Greg Carey for the national lead. Laliberte is halfway to his point total from last year with seven points and is tied for fourth nationally in points. Both linemates are among the Top 10 in the nation in points per game.

With Commers and Burgdoerfer making their season debuts over the weekend, the Engineers are down to five players who have yet to make their first appearance after four games: Craig Bokenfohr, Phil Hampton, Travis Fulton, Marty O'Grady, and Jason Kasdorf - though Hampton and Kasdorf did play in the exhibition game.

Scoring is no longer a major concern for RPI... at least, not right now. The Engineers have scored at least two goals in each of their last 12 contests and in 29 of their last 31. Those last 31, it should be noted, followed a start to last season in which the Engineers failed to score at least two goals in 10 of 12 games, which included a stretch of eight games in which RPI scored just five goals. The Engineers have 11 goals in their first four games, they did not reach their 11th goal last year until November 15th, in their 12th game.

As part of that scoring jump, RPI has thus far produced the nation's 4th best power play, clicking at 35.3% so far with a 6-for-17 record. The penalty kill hasn't been too shabby either, as RPI has allowed just one power play goal in four games (Mankato's first goal on Friday) at 12-for-13, a 92.3% success rate.

The Engineers get a rare early-season weekend off next week, but then jump right into the ECAC schedule with the yearly home-and-home weekend against Union to get things going. The Dutchmen are 2-1-0 on the season after an unexpected home loss to Merrimack to start the year, followed by a sweep at Bowling Green. Union is in action next weekend at American International (a rare home non-conference game for the Yellow Jackets, against a Frozen Four team no less) and UConn, so we'll probably be looking at a confident Union squad that has had the opportunity to beat up some lesser teams in the recent past by the time the festivities begin. Friday's game, being the home ECAC opener, is the annual Black Friday game.

RPI at Minnesota State
Non-Conference Game - Verizon Wireless Center (Mankato, MN)
10/19/12 - 8:30pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Minnesota State 3

BOX SCORES
RECORD: 1-0-2 (0-0-0 ECAC)


RPI at Minnesota State
Non-Conference Game - Verizon Wireless Center (Mankato, MN)
10/20/12 - 8:00pm

RESULT: Minnesota State 4, RPI 3 (OT)

BOX SCORES

RECORD: 1-1-2 (0-0-0 ECAC)

Upcoming games
02 Nov - #8 Union (Black Friday)
03 Nov - at #8 Union
09 Nov - at Dartmouth
10 Nov - at #17 Harvard
16 Nov - Mercyhurst

Women's Hockey - Union (20 Oct)

With the ECAC schedule just around the corner, the Engineers had a light family weekend scheduled, with just a Saturday afternoon non-conference tilt against Union on the schedule. Unfortunately for RPI, a combination of sloppier than usual play coupled with an ever-improving Union squad led to a 3-2 defeat for RPI in front of what may end up being one of the largest crowds of the season.

Union

Smelker/Gruschow/Svoboda
Wash/Cox/Horton
Mahoney/Mari Mankey/Walsh
Letuligasenoa/Le Donne/Missy Mankey

Daniels/Banks
Godin/Marzario
Middlebrook/Schilter

O'Brien

From very humble beginnings in Division 1, Union has been on a slow but steady upward trajectory in recent seasons and it showed in Saturday's game against the Engineers. Despite being widely outshot, the Dutchwomen carried play for significant stretches of the afternoon, and used a pair of early goals coupled with capitalizing on an RPI defensive lapse late in the game to fight for a 3-2 win in nonconference play.

Union's first tally came just 9 seconds into a power play and 2:20 into the game. With Delaney Middlebrook off for interference, the Engineers attempted a weak pass around the boards from behind their own net, which was intercepted by Christine Valente and fed into the slot where Courtney Turner put it home for a 1-0 lead.

Turner doubled the lead just past the midpoint of the first period on Union's second power play opportunity of the game. Digging out the puck from the corner, Jessica Kaminsky fed it to the slot for a similar setup to the first goal, and Turner was able to poke it in after several quick tries on the doorstep.

Union held the 2-0 lead through the majority of the second period and it looked like that score would hold into the second intermission, but Eleeza Cox got the Engineers on the board in the final minute of the frame. Taking advantage of some top line minutes, Cox took a feed from defenseman Jenn Godin and snuck it past Shenae Lundberg to make it 2-1.

Alexa Gruschow knotted the score just 3:30 into the third period, fighting through several Union defenders to beat Lundberg and make it 2-2.

The score would not hold, however. With Godin in the box for high-sticking, the Engineers had an opportunity to clear the puck down ice but instead turned it back behind their own net where it was stolen by Camille Corbin. Corbin fed it out to Turner who fired it on net, and the ensuing rebound was put home by Valente to give Union the 3-2 lead.

The Dutchwomen held on to the lead through the final minutes, including a late RPI power play which the Engineers couldn't convert.  RPI racked up a 13-5 shot advantage in the final frame but they wouldn't be able to draw even again.

While the result doesn't count in the standings, it exposed several areas the Engineers will need to work on going into league play. There were more than a few unforced turnovers in the defensive zone which turned into Union scoring opportunities, and all three Union goals directly resulted from opposing skaters being allowed to get in close to the RPI net with little resistance from the defense.

If Union capitalized on these lapses three times, they will undoubtedly be exploited by the upper echelon of the ECAC if the Engineers don't make some tweaks to their game in the coming weeks.

RPI hits the road next weekend to open up the ECAC schedule at St. Lawrence (4pm Friday) and Clarkson (3:30pm Saturday). The Saints are off to a rough start, losing four straight (although they were facing #5 Clarkson and #1 Minnesota). Clarkson, with that #5 ranking, has started off 5-1 following a 14-0 thrashing of the PWHL's Ottawa Senators in an exhibition. The Golden Knights' lone loss came this past weekend at the hands of #7 Mercyhurst. It should prove a tough test to start off the league schedule for the Engineers.

-----

RPI vs. Union
Non-Conference Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/20/12 - 4pm
Union 3, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/10/20/union-vs-rensselaer/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wrenuni1.o20

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2012/10/20/WICE_1020125626.aspx
Union: http://unionathletics.com/news/2012/10/20/WICE_1020125854.aspx
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kTUGeU5QgA

RECORD: 1-3-1

-----

Upcoming Games

Oct. 26 - at St. Lawrence (4pm)
Oct. 27 - at Clarkson (3:30pm)
Oct. 31 - at Vermont (7pm)
Nov. 9 - Princeton (7pm)
Nov. 10 - Quinnipiac (4pm)

Friday, October 19, 2012

On the Wing

Ah, October. In the ECAC, it means one of two things - you're either waiting another four weeks for hockey to start, or you're off on at least one long trip, depending on which side of the Ivy divide you fall on. For the men, it's time for the yearly long October trip.

As dismal as last October was for RPI, the home series against Minnesota State was actually a fairly bright spot. After peppering Austin Lee with 36 shots in Game 1 only to fall 1-0 (that one goal practically coming at the death), a relative offensive outburst took place in Game 2 as RPI picked up a 4-1 victory - the only time the Engineers would clear three goals until December 2 and the only time notching four until January 27. But Minnesota State, ultimately, was a lot like RPI last year, which means they could be a lot like RPI this year, too. They are without the goaltender that earned them the big shutout last time, but it's now on their turf. Should be interesting to see the Engineers' first ever trip to Mankato, MN.

On the women's side, it's a short weekend as one non-conference home game against the Dutchwomen is all they've got. It's time to see just what Union has, as they're no longer the instant pushovers they have been for so many years. Last year, Union finished outside of the basement for the first time since their move to Division I (they managed 11th), so while the Engineers are almost certainly still favorites, it's going to require a little more work than past teams had to put in against the little sisters from Schenectady.

Clear eyes, full heart.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Early Returns

So, what do we now know about RPI Hockey in mid-October? It's not always easy to extrapolate from just a weekend or two of results, but there's little question that if the men could keep things going the way they did against Ferris State, it would be a pretty outstanding year.

Consider the following:

  • Jacob Laliberte's first freshman goal: December 2
  • His first sophomore goal: October 12
  • His third freshman goal: February 11
  • His third sophomore goal: October 13
  • Game in which RPI scored its fifth goal of the season in 2011-12: Fifth
  • Game in which RPI scored its fifth goal of the season this year: Second
  • Goals scored by sophomores against Ferris State this weekend: 5 out of 5
  • Points by sophomores against Ferris State this weekend: 9 out of 14

What does it all mean? It all speaks to the heart of the offense for this team, which is actually exactly where it was last year - with the Class of 2015. It's no coincidence that last year's five freshman forwards practically always played when they were healthy - and none of the five managed to make it through the entire season without illness or injury sidelining them (all missed at least four games).

The quintet - Laliberte, Ryan Haggerty, Zach Schroeder, Mark McGowan, and Matt Neal - notched a combined 23 goals last season, which led the four classes (sophomore forwards scored 10 goals among three, juniors scored 14 among three, seniors 16 among five).

Are they going to be the end all, be all this season? No, almost certainly not - we should expect to see solid contributions from C.J. Lee, Marty O'Grady (when he comes back), Brock Higgs, and Matt Tinordi based on what we saw last year. Nick Bailen has proven to be a scoring threat from afar over the last two seasons, and there's no reason we won't see a lot of Milos Bubela and Mike Zalewski this season, a couple of freshmen with the bonafides to be contributors. (Aside, of course, from the injury potential, knock on wood.)

Whenever you have freshmen as the core of your scoring output, you're bound to have a struggle to score goals, especially early in the season, and that was exactly the case last year. Although there are exceptions - Brandon Pirri and Jerry D'Amigo come to mind - freshmen typically have a need to acclimate themselves to college hockey before they can perform at a high level. Pirri and D'Amigo, it should be noted, also benefited from the presence of a Hobey Baker finalist on the team.

As well, the marginal utility that the program got out of those two players in terms of on-ice production is actually pretty low - D'Amigo already ranks behind classmates Lee and O'Grady on the all-time points list, and Pirri will likely fall behind Lee this season. It took the two seniors three years to accomplish what those players did in one, but that merely has spread out their usefulness.

So on the basic assumption that RPI is unlikely to see players on the level of Pirri and D'Amigo with any striking regularity, most freshmen that arrive in Troy are going to have seasons like Laliberte did last year, when after much anticipation and expectation, he scored "just" five goals. Does his three goal weekend mean we're going to see more of what was anticipated and expected last year? Perhaps. But he's not likely to be the only one improving. There's no getting around the fact that RPI's frosh five from last year are getting more experienced and getting better - which could be very good news going forward.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Men's Hockey - Ferris State (12/13 Oct)

The Engineers concluded their season last year playing some very good team hockey, especially on the road. They arguably controlled play in their final nine road games of the year, going 5-3-1 in those contests and sparking a run to the ECAC Quarterfinals. At home, it was a very different story for RPI. Welcoming the national runners-up to Houston Field House, it didn't seem to be a good opportunity for the Engineers to shine in Troy, but instead they picked up their first home win since January 27, taking down 11th-ranked Ferris State 3-1 on Friday and picking up a 2-2 tie on Saturday.

Friday
Lee-McGowan-Schroeder
Zalewski-Higgs-Tinordi
Neal-Laliberte-Haggerty
Miller-Rogic-Bubela

Leboeuf-Bailen
Curadi-Leonard
Bradley-Dolan

Diebold

Friday's lines were actually just as advertised in the exhibition matchup against Acadia - the extra skaters of Andrew Commers, Greg Burgdoerfer, and Phil Hampton were dropped from the lineup, and sophomore Scott Diebold was given the surprise start in net for the Engineers in the season opener for both teams. Excluding both teams' exhibition matchups, it was RPI's first game since dropping Game 2 of the ECAC Quarterfinals, and Ferris State's first since falling to Boston College in the national championship.

Things started out very poorly for the Engineers, and it seemed a harbinger of things to come. The Bulldogs would score with their very first shot on goal just a minute and a half into the game, a tip-in after a spin-around pass from Diebold's left putting RPI behind the eight ball from the get-go, down 1-0.

Eight minutes in, the Engineers would finally notch their first ever goal against Ferris State (after failing to score in two games last year) to tie the game at one. Nick Bailen found Mark McGowan with a perfect cross-ice head-man pass, allowing McGowan to go in all alone on Ferris goaltender C.J. Motte. McGowan ripped a wrister from the top of the slot that beat Motte top shelf to knot the score.

Ryan Haggerty's first goal of the season midway through the second period broke the deadlock and gave the Engineers a lead they would not relinquish. After an initial shot from the point by Guy Leboeuf, Haggerty eventually picked up a rebound in the slot which he put past a sprawling Motte to make it 2-1 Engineers.

Ferris State was able to maintain some good puck control in the final 40 minutes, but Diebold proved up to the task, stopping 11 shots in the second and 12 in the third, having to make a number of outstanding saves in the final stanza to preserve the Engineers' lead. In total, he finished the contest with 30 saves.

There were a dearth of penalties in the game, with RPI taking only two minors in 60 minutes and Ferris State only three. The Bulldogs' third penalty could not have come at a worse time, as an interference call put them down a man with about two and a half minutes left in regulation, forcing FSU to kill a penalty for most of the time they had left to find the tying goal.

The RPI power play sealed things up about a minute into that man advantage, as a sharp shot by Bailen from the top of the left faceoff circle was redirected in front by Jacob Laliberte to make it 3-1 with just a minute and a half left, giving the Engineers the upset victory at home in the first game of the season.

Saturday
Lee-McGowan-Schroeder
Zalewski-Higgs-Tinordi
Neal-Laliberte-Haggerty
Miller-Rogic-Bubela

Leboeuf-Bailen
Curadi-Leonard
Bradley-Dolan

Merriam

Not surp risingly, the same lines that worked on Friday were rolled out again on Saturday, and on a team with three legitimate goaltenders, a new goalie was between the pipes for RPI in senior Bryce Merriam.

Where Friday's game had seen a low number of penalties, the Bulldogs managed to match their total from that contest in Saturday's first period alone, and much like on Friday, it was RPI's third power play opportunity that would lead to a goal - albeit a goal that had a little controversy to it. After extended pressure in the Ferris State zone, Matt Neal took a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that Motte stopped, and while Ryan Haggerty and Laliberte tried to work the puck free, the net was knocked off its pegs by a defender. Laliberte put the puck across the goal line, and the goal was upheld after review. The defender knocking the net loose was key; this would not have been a goal last year but the situation was changed as part of the new "Union rule," so-named because Union nullified a Michigan State goal in last year's NCAA Tournament in a similar fashion.

Ferris State's first goal of the game came with the Bulldogs pouncing on RPI at the outset of the second period. Just 39 seconds into the middle frame, a tight angle shot from the boards on Merriam's right side bounced in to tie the score at one. For the second straight night, it would be a solid second for Ferris State as Merriam made 10 saves over the course of the period to maintain the tie.

After a slow start to the third period, Ferris State picked up their first lead of the game midway through the period on a rip from the blue line, making it 2-1 and giving them a very serious edge given the way the third period had been playing out to that time. Things didn't look promising for the Engineers to crawl back into things.

However, it took only 24 seconds for RPI to find the equalizer, and it was Laliberte notching his third consecutive goal. After a turnover in the Ferris State zone, Laliberte poked at the puck while fading back toward the blue line to bring the game level again, 2-2.

The Engineers maintained an even keel heading into overtime, even though they managed only three shots on goal in the entire third period. The final five minutes was a different story, as RPI blasted Ferris State with five shots on goal in the extra stanza. Motte was up to the task, however, and the game ended in a 2-2 tie which completed a virtual three-point weekend for the Engineers.

Other junk - The surprise showing vaulted the Engineers up in the consideration for the always volatile early season polls, picking up 40 votes in this week's USCHO rankings. #6 Cornell (idle, down one), #8 Union (swept Bowling Green, up two with one first-place vote for some reason), #17 Harvard (idle, no change), and #20 Quinnipiac (split with Robert Morris, down two) are the ranked ECAC teams this week, St. Lawrence (6) and Yale (3) are the other league teams receiving votes this week. Other ranked teams on RPI's schedule are #11 Boston University (up one), #15 New Hampshire (previously unranked), and #16 Ferris State (down five). St. Cloud State (9) and Minnesota State (3) also received votes.

RPI's penalty kill was 4-for-4 on the weekend, but 17 teams have a similar 100% penalty kill ratings (including Quinnipiac, who has killed all 15 penalties they've taken in three games). RPI's 10 total penalty minutes in two games has them 46th out of 48 teams that have played games thus far in penalties, which won't last given the Engineers' reputation for penalties.

Boston College fell in their first game of the season (to Northeastern), ending their 19-game winning and unbeaten streak. Northeastern, ironically, was the only other team in the nation that won their last game of the season last year, and now has the longest unbeaten streak in the nation with three wins in a row.

Next on the docket for RPI is a trip to Mankato, MN for the second half of the home-and-home series with Minnesota State. The teams split in Troy last year, with the Mavericks winning 1-0 in the season opener for both sides last year and the Engineers winning 4-1 in the Saturday game. Minnesota State also picked up a win and a tie to open this season, taking three points at Alabama-Huntsville over the weekend 4-1 and 2-2.

#11 Ferris State at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/12/12 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Ferris State 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECORD: 1-0-0 (0-0-0 ECAC)


#11 Ferris State at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/13/12 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, Ferris State 2

BOX SCORES
RECORD: 1-0-1 (0-0-0 ECAC)

Upcoming games
19 Oct - at Minnesota State
20 Oct - at Minnesota State
02 Nov - #8 Union (Black Friday)
03 Nov - at #8 Union
09 Nov - at Dartmouth

Women's Hockey - at BU & Northeastern (12/13 Oct)


After a bit of a slow start in the opening weekend, RPI had a tall challenge on hand this past weekend as they headed to Boston for games against two of the top ten teams in the nation. Despite two hard-fought games, the Engineers were unable to squeak out a win, falling 3-2 to #3 BU on Friday and 1-0 to #8 Northeastern on Saturday.

BU

Smelker/Gruschow/Svoboda
Sanders/Cox/Horton
Padmore/Wash/Mari Mankey
Letuligasenoa/Walsh/Missy Mankey

Daniels/Banks
Godin/Marzario
Middlebrook/Schilter

O'Brien

RPI fell behind early on Friday night and spent the rest of the evening trying to play catch-up, as three first period goals for the Terriers saw the Engineers fall behind 3-0. With RPI shorthanded early in the first, Jenelle Kohanchuk poked a puck past Kelly O'Brien from a scrum in the crease to make it 1-0.

Just before the midway point of the period, Sara Lefort doubled the home team's lead to 2-0 by putting a feed from Jill Cardella past O'Brien. Dakota Woodworth would pick up the eventual game-winner at 17:53, sneaking a bad-angle shot into the net and making it appear that things were quickly getting out of hand for the Engineers.

Eleeza Cox got RPI on the board before the end of the period, picking up the rebound from a Toni Sanders breakaway to cut the BU lead to 3-1 at 19:19.

Cox scored her second of the game just past the midway point of the second, a quick tap-in off a feed from Clare Padmore which made it 3-2. That would be the end of the scoring for both teams, and the Engineers ended the day with comeback bid fallen short and outshot 33-19, including just five shots in a third period which saw them on the power play twice.

Northeastern

Smelker/Gruschow/Svoboda
Padmore/Wash/Mari Mankey
Letuligasenoa/Walsh/Missy Mankey
Cox/Horton

Daniels/Banks
Godin/Marzario
Middlebrook/Schilter

O'Brien

Saturday afternoon saw the Engineers take the ice just 2.5 miles from Friday night's game, at Northeastern's Matthews Arena. It would prove to be a lower-scoring affair, with a single Northeastern goal being the only tally on the afternoon despite an edge for the Engineers in shots and faceoffs, as well as control of much of the afternoon's play.

Taylor Horton had a shorthanded breakaway chance late in the first period which Northeastern's Kelly Desjardins turned aside. A checking call on the Huskies' Jordan Hampton moments later would give the Engineers a power play opportunity, which they were unable to convert on.

The second period was all Northeastern, with the home team outshooting their visitors 13-2 and scoring the game's only tally. Skating into the zone with several teammates, Katie MacSorley put a backhand shot on net which O'Brien knocked back out to the slot where MacSorley was waiting to put her own rebound home for the 1-0 lead.

A pair of penalties on Alexa Gruschow would keep the Engineers penned up in their own zone for most of the latter half of the period, unable to mount any offense in the frame.

For as badly as the Engineers were outworked in the second period, they turned things around dramatically in the third, essentially reversing the shot count to rack up a 12-3 advantage in the frame, but none were able to find the twine. With two power play opportunities in the period already gone, the Engineers got another with less than two minutes left thanks to a checking call on Colleen Murphy.

With the man advantage already, the Engineers pulled O'Brien for the extra attacker but ended up with seven skaters on the ice instead of six, which quickly brought an end to the power play. An elbowing call on Gruschow 30 seconds later sent the Engineers back for a defensive zone draw, now shorthanded, and Northeastern was able to run out the clock without any trouble.

RPI will be back in action next Saturday, hosting Union in a single non-conference game at the Field House at 4pm.

-----

RPI at #3 Boston University
Non-Conference Game – Walter Brown Arena (Boston, MA)
10/12/12 - 7pm
BU 3, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/10/12/rensselaer-vs-boston-university/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wbu_ren1.o12

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2012/10/12/WICE_1012125643.aspx
BU: http://www.goterriers.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/101212aaa.html
Video Highlights: http://www.goterriers.com/allaccess/?media=340834

RECORD: 1-1-1

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RPI at #8 Northeastern
Non-Conference Game – Matthews Arena (Boston, MA)
10/13/12 - 3pm
Northeastern 1, RPI 0

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/10/13/rensselaer-vs-northeastern/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wnoeren1.o13

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2012/10/13/WICE_1013124113.aspx
Northeastern: http://gonu.com/news/2012/10/13/WHKY_1013123513.aspx
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV2fZt8SKIc&feature=plcp

RECORD: 1-2-1

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Upcoming Games

Oct. 20 - Union (4pm)
Oct. 26 - at St. Lawrence (4pm)
Oct. 27 - at Clarkson (3:30pm)
Oct. 31 - at Vermont (7pm)
Nov. 9 - Princeton (7pm)
Nov. 10 - Quinnipiac (4pm)

Friday, October 12, 2012

Staring Down the Best

You want tough early weekends? We've got two of them to show off to you... in one weekend. (The math works, trust me.)

For the women, a Boston University team two years removed from the national championship game looms large tonight at Agganis Arena - the Terriers have been to the national tournament three years in a row now, and would have to be considered a legitimate national power at this point. It's going to be a tough test for RPI no matter what, especially after a couple of closer games last weekend against a UConn team we probably wanted to be convincing against. Following BU, the Engineers move across town to take on Northeastern tomorrow afternoon.

For the men, it's a weekend with Ferris State for the second straight October, this time in Troy, but also this time with the Bulldogs having come within a game of hoisting the national championship - and this is Ferris State's first competitive hockey game since that experience in Tampa. The Bulldogs won their exhibition last week by a similar 8-2 over Ryerson, so at least last week the offense appeared ready to go, and the team does bring back much of the defense that brought it to the Frozen Four last season. It's a heck of a difficult way to start the season, much the same way RPI did last year with Ferris and Colorado College.

A wise man once said, to be the best, (woo!) you've got to beat the best. Both teams put that to the test this weekend. We'll have the live tweets you need to stay on top of things, but honestly, if you're in Troy or Boston, you should have your tickets in hand already.

Let's rock.

In honor of the winner of our pump-up poll late last month... here's the jam of the moment.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Amateurish

You should probably get up to speed on the Nic Kerdiles situation in Wisconsin
The University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team could lose high-profile freshman winger Nic Kerdiles to what one school official said was an extraordinary case involving NCAA amateurism rules. 
UW coach Mike Eaves announced Monday that the school is appealing a NCAA decision to make Kerdiles ineligible for the upcoming season. 
If that decision were to stand, it’s doubtful that Kerdiles, a second-round NHL draft pick of Anaheim, would remain in school and return to the Badgers in 2013-14. It’s likely the Ducks would want him to continue his development somewhere else this season, which could mean a move to the Major Junior circuit in Canada. 
... 
Multiple sources in the NHL and college hockey indicate the NCAA acted on photos and postings made public via social media that involve an agent and took place leading up to the NHL Entry Draft in June. 
... 
It’s commonplace for hockey prospects like Kerdiles to have family advisers — almost all are certified as professional sports agents — as long as the adviser abides by NCAA rules that prohibit marketing the player, negotiating with professional teams on the player’s behalf or providing extra benefits like clothes, meals or merchandise of value. 
It’s not clear what specific issues led the NCAA to rule against Kerdiles, an 18-year-old from Irvine, Calif., but the Bucky’s 5th Quarter website culled a photo from an agent’s Twitter account that showed Kerdiles and two of the agent’s clients holding glasses that advertised a specific energy drink. 
The photo could be construed as Kerdiles being marketed by the representative as well as being used to promote a specific product. 
The agent who posted the energy drink photo, Toronto-based Ian Pulver of Pulver Sports, didn’t return a phone call seeking comment Monday. Pulver was also shown in the photo with Kerdiles and others at dinner.
Well, if that just isn't a kick in the pants. As if the NCAA didn't already have enough problems keeping talented young players in school, now something like this comes along to either scare the amateurism back into everyone or drive NHL-minded prospects to major junior.

Like the article says, it's not uncommon for NHL prospects to have "family advisers" while playing in the NCAA - agents in all but name and pay. These "advisers" latch onto prospects in the hopes of cashing in down the road when they negotiate that big contract, a necessary evil when it comes to landing high caliber players for any program, from Wisconsin to RPI.

This "infraction" seems pretty thin. He was caught in a picture with his "adviser" holding a product? Good God, someone call the ambulance, I think I may have fainted.

The NCAA is notorious for being overzealous in its defense of the high and moral position of amateur sports, but college athletics has long been a development area for professional leagues, most notably in football, basketball, and baseball, but in the last 20 years hockey has certainly joined that realm. The major difference with the other three sports is that there isn't really much of a viable alternative to college (unless players are coming right out of high school). That isn't the case with hockey, as a player who can't play in college really won't think twice about heading north of the border to major junior.

This is a simmering problem, and this incident only threatens to make things worse... and for what? A picture on Twitter? Jeez.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Men's Hockey - Acadia (6 Oct)

Another season of RPI hockey is now officially underway, and nearly 3,000 turned out for the first official look at the Engineers this season - a homecoming weekend exhibition against the Acadia Axemen. Despite the nature of exhibitions making the game's outcome irrelevant and the results difficult to interpret, RPI put on a show against the Nova Scotia side for the second consecutive year, skating away with a 6-2 victory.

Acadia
Lee-McGowan-Schroeder
Zalewski-Higgs-Tinordi
Neal-Laliberte-Haggerty
Miller-Rogic-Bubela
Commers, Burgdoerfer

Leboeuf-Bailen
Curadi-Leonard
Bradley-Dolan
Hampton

Merriam

As with any exhibition, the roster was limited only by who could fit on the bench. Freshmen Craig Bokenfohr and Travis Fulton were the odd men out, with senior Marty O'Grady out with injury. Every other player on the roster got at least a little playing time on Saturday night, including all three goaltenders, each of which got to play for one period in order of seniority.

Last season, Scott Diebold played all 60 minutes and picked up a shutout victory. This year, a similar result was not in the cards, and it took only a little over five minutes for that prospect to fall by the wayside, as Acadia notched the game's first goal on a weak shot that Merriam just missed grabbing. The 1-0 score was in place for the next six minutes of game time, and the Engineers broke onto the scoresheet on a four-on-four opportunity. With Milos Bubela in the penalty box for goaltender interference (negating a power play that could have come from a cross-checking call against Acadia), Nick Bailen scored on a scrum in front to tie the game up following an excellent series of passes with the open ice.

Two minutes later, a solid individual effort by Mark McGowan gave RPI the lead. The sophomore forward intercepted a pass along the Acadia blue line and took the puck in by himself, rifling a shot past the goaltender on the short side to make the score 2-1.

Acadia tied things up a couple minutes into the second on a mini breakway that gave middle frame goaltender Scott Diebold trouble. Diebold guessed wrong and went to his left on a fake shot, and the shot instead was slapped into an open net on his right. But RPI responded just under four minutes later on a nifty play by sophomores Matt Neal and Jacob Laliberte. Neal drifted a perfect pass through the slot to a wide open Laliberte, who popped the puck into an open net to make it 3-2 Engineers.

Five minutes into the third period, Neal and Laliberte would link up a second time, this time with Laliberte feeding Neal the puck on another four-on-four (Bailen was called for diving after being cross-checked in the neck). Up 4-2, the power play took center stage as RPI finally got their first real opportunities on the man advantage and did not waste them. The first of these power plays came concurrently with the Neal goal, which was scored during a delayed penalty call, and Bubela became the first of the freshmen to dent the twine, giving RPI a 5-2 lead. Some three and a half minutes later, it was sophomore Ryan Haggerty scoring on the power play, making it 6-2, which is how the game ended.

In net, Jason Kasdorf worked a perfect third period, stopping all nine shots that he faced in the final stanza. Diebold made eight saves on nine shots in the second, while Merriam stopped five of six in the first.

Brock Higgs showed distinct signs of continuing his playmaker role that he had late last season, notching three assists, while Matt Neal added a goal and two assists as part of a dynamic pairing with Jacob Laliberte. Laliberte and Nick Bailen each had a goal and an assist on the night.

The games that count now get underway next week in Troy, as RPI welcomes last year's national runners-up Ferris State, Seth Appert's alma mater. The Bulldogs found success last season on a heavily defense-centric game plan, and given what they return from last year's squad, that same game plan could be in store next weekend. The Engineers were unable to score a single goal in two games in Michigan against Ferris State last year, obviously, that will have to change this coming weekend.

Other junk - As with most years, the Engineers were part of a glut of teams receiving votes in the first USCHO poll of the season, picking up 5. They still had 5 votes in this, the second week of the rankings. Ranked teams in the ECAC are #5 Cornell (idle, up one), #10 Union (lost to Merrimack, down five), #17 Harvard (idle, no change), and #18 Quinnipiac (beat Maine and lost to Acadia, previously unranked). Also receiving votes was Yale (4). Ranked teams appearing on RPI's schedule this season are #11 Ferris State and #12 Boston University - New Hampshire (64), St. Cloud State (62), and Minnesota State (3) also received votes.

Acadia at RPI
Exhibition Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/6/12 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 6, Acadia 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS

Upcoming games
12 Oct - #11 Ferris State
13 Oct - #11 Ferris State
19 Oct - at Minnesota State
20 Oct - at Minnesota State
02 Nov - #10 Union (Black Friday)

Women's Hockey - UConn (5/6 Oct)


With no exhibition on the schedule this year, RPI opened up the season at home with a pair of non-conference games against UConn. In similar fashion to last year's openers against the same opponent, the Engineers walked away with a tie and a win, yielding a 4-1 lead to settle for a 4-4 tie on Friday before rebounding to win Saturday by a 5-3 margin.

Friday

Smelker/Gruschow/Svoboda
Mahoney/Wash/Horton
Sanders/Cox/Mari Mankey
Padmore/Missy Mankey

Daniels/Banks
Godin/Marzario
Middlebrook/Schilter

Piper

Fans got their first glimpse of this season's incarnation of the Engineers Friday evening, and the home squad got things moving early, notching two goals in the latter half of the first period to jump out to a 2-0 lead.

Freshman Alexa Gruschow opened things up with her first career goal at 13:51, putting home a rebound off a Jordan Smelker shot taken as the latter was falling to the ice. Mari Mankey scored the second goal in what would become an all-freshman affair, another case of being in the right place at the right time for a rebound.

Things looked to be solidly in RPI's favor to start the second as a UConn penalty was quickly converted into a 3-0 lead on Gruschow's second of the game, but the Huskies cut the defecit to 3-1 at 11:27 of the middle frame after appearing to bump Piper in the crease.

Lauren Wash restored RPI's three-goal lead at 14:41, but an odd goal cut the lead back to two as a puck tipped off Pipers stick and slowly looped over her head to drop over the line and in the net.

UConn cut the Engineers' lead to one at 13:19 of the third period, and with the extra attacker out in the final minute drew a checking call which allowed them to play 6-on-4 with time winding down.  It took just 17 seconds on the man advantage for the Huskies to tie things up on a scrum in front of Piper, with Rachel Farrel putting home her own rebound to knot things at four. A 5-0 shot advantage in the extra frame did nothing for RPI, as the Engineers were unable to pick up the game winner and settled for the 4-4 tie despite an overall 43-25 advantage in shots for the game.

Saturday

Smelker/Gruschow/Svoboda
Sanders/Mahoney/Horton
Padmore/Wash/Mari Mankey
Letuligasenoa/Walsh/Missy Mankey

Daniels/Banks
Godin/Marzario
Middlebrook/Schilter

O'Brien

With Friday night's goals all scored by freshmen, it would be no surprise on Saturday to see the Engineers' goals come from upperclassmen, including two from Ali Svoboda and one from Jordan Smelker, who combined on their line with freshman Alexa Gruschow for three goals and four assists en route to a 5-3 victory in Saturday's encore game against UConn.

Once again RPI scored first, this time just 3:20 into the game as Missy Mankey picked up a rebound just outside the crease and was greeted with a sprawling goaltender and a clear shot for the 1-0 lead.

Taylor Mahoney would double the Engineers' lead eleven minutes later, taking a feed from Toni Sanders behind the net an snapping it past UConn goalie Sarah Moses to double RPI's lead.

UConn would fight back to tie the game at two, with Kiana Nauheim firing a bomb from the point past Kelly O'Brien and Sarah MacDonnell notching the equalizer just three minutes into the second period on a feed from Stephanie Raithby from behind the Engineer net.

Svoboda would pick up the game's next two goals, giving RPI the lead as she put home a rebound from the doorstep and notching the eventual game winner with a wrist shot that beat Moses top shelf.

Smelker built the Engineers' lead to three at 4:06 of the third period with a spectacular effort that included fighting off a UConn defenseman before taking a blind backhand shot from one knee which snuck past Moses to make it 5-2.

UConn drew back to within two on a Michela Cava shorthanded breakaway goal, but that would be the end of the rally for the Huskies who fell 5-3 and were outshot 32-19 on the afternoon.

Early observations from the weekend - some much needed scoring was provided by the freshmen on Friday, led by Gruschow who on more than one occasion completely outhustled and outmanuevered her counterparts on the UConn squad.  Coupled with Smelker and Svoboda, the Engineers' current top line appears to be shaping up as a lethal threat, combining for twelve points on the weekend.

We saw another dose of goaltender rotation on the weekend, with Piper and O'Brien each getting a start, but did not see freshman Sara Till in action.

The RPI defense was suspect at times, with a few missed passes and miscues resulting in several scoring opportunities for the Huskies. With each of the three defensive pairings including a newcomer to the team, it's likely the pairings are still getting used to playing with one another and things will tighten up in the coming games.

RPI returns to the ice next weekend as they head to Boston for a set against BU and Northeastern. Game time will be 7pm on Friday at BU and 3pm on Saturday at Northeastern.

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RPI vs. Connecticut
Non-Conference Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/5/12 - 7pm
RPI 4, UConn 4

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/10/05/connecticut-vs-rensselaer/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wconren1.o05

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2012/10/5/WICE_1005121637.aspx
UConn: http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100512aaa.html
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--dbqXOFv2k

RECORD: 0-0-1

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RPI vs. Connecticut
Non-Conference Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/6/12 - 3pm
RPI 5, UConn 3

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/10/06/connecticut-vs-rensselaer/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wconren1.o06

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2012/10/6/WICE_1006120119.aspx
UConn: http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100612aab.html
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FGahNf8xM0

RECORD: 1-0-1

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Upcoming Games

Oct. 12 - at BU (7pm)
Oct. 13 - at Northeastern (3pm)
Oct. 20 - Union (4pm)
Oct. 26 - at St. Lawrence (4pm)
Oct. 27 - at Clarkson (3:30pm)

Friday, October 5, 2012

Hockey!

The wait's over, it's back to hockey!

Things get started tonight with the women taking on UConn at home. The Engineers opened their season against the Huskies last year as well, picking up a 3-3 tie and a 1-0 victory in Storrs to get the season off on the right foot. Can they do it again this season? Well, just know that this is UConn's second consecutive weekend traveling to the Capital District, as they kicked off their season in Schenectady last week against the Dutchwomen, falling 3-2. Take from that what you will.

The men have their exhibition this weekend as well as the puck drops tomorrow against Acadia. As mentioned yesterday, it might be hard to glean much from what we see, but it still promises to be a fun outing.

So it's hockey season, it's Friday, and you know what that means... pumpup time! Here's a classic that'll never go out of style to get you set for the season's start.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Whither Acadia?

Following last year's exhibition game with the Acadia Axemen, the Engineers were prohibitive favorites to win the national championship. Or at least, you would have thought so given game's turnout, the reaction to what was seen, and some of the expectations coming off of an NCAA tournament appearance. Two goals for Ryan Haggerty. A goal and two assists for Zach Schroeder. A 19-save shutout for Scott Diebold. All three of those stars of the game, part of an anticipated freshman class. A 7-0 demolition in front of a larger-than-usual exhibition crowd.

Our writeup was a little more reserved, given the general unpredictability of just what one can take away from an exhibition contest, which always features a longer bench than normal and plenty of different line permutations.

Acadia last year was coming off of a strong season and had been undefeated in their five prior exhibition matchups in Canada, so there was, at the time, every reason to believe the the Engineers had just laid the smackdown on a pretty solid team. Unfortunately, it turned out to be nothing of a harbinger whatsoever, as RPI took six games to score the seven goals they had tallied in the exhibition, four of them coming in just one of those six games. Meanwhile, the defense allowed four goals or more in five of the team's first eight contests.


Acadia, incidentally, went on to finish fifth in the eight-team Atlantic University Sport, making the playoffs but falling in a best-of-three quarterfinal series against fourth-ranked Prince Edward Island, two games to one. Still, the Axemen did turn out to be the only team to land two players on the AUS All-Stars first team, with Andrew Clark (who led the league in scoring) and Christopher Owens both earning the honor, and both players are back with the team this season, as is Evan Mosher, who allowed 7 goals on 34 shots against the Engineers last season. In fact, a good number of the same players that were in Troy last year with the Wolfville, Nova Scotia team will be back this season.

So what should we expect from Saturday's game? Well, expect an exciting opportunity to see this year's team for the first time. Expect a solid opportunity to see the freshmen play for the first time. Expect a fun night. And don't expect to translate what you see into anything you can apply for next week's games against the national runners-up, Ferris State.

Bear in mind not only last year's result and subsequent rough season, but consider also that the 2005-06 Engineers lit up the University of Ottawa by a 13-3 score on their way to a 14-17-6 season. In fact, since that game in 2005 (the first season opening exhibition game against a Canadian team since 1994), the Engineers are 2-1-1 in Canadian exhibitions - and the only times RPI skated to a winning season were following the tie (2009 against Prince Edward Island) and the loss (2010 against New Brunswick).

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Know Thyself: RPI

The last couple of years that I've put together the Know Your Enemy summer series, I batted around the idea of putting something together on RPI using the same formula and the same criteria. This year, with the relatively quiet summer we've had, I decided to give it a whirl. So here you go.

RPI
Nickname: Engineers
Location: Troy, NY
Founded: 1824
Conference: ECAC
National Championships: 2 (1954, 1985)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2011
Last Frozen Four: 1985
Coach: Seth Appert (7th season)
2011-12 Record: 12-24-3 (7-12-3 ECAC, 10th place)
All-Time Record: 979-867-114 (954-794-108 in the modern era)
First Game: January 25, 1902 (Cohoes, NY)
First Win: February 26, 1904 (Albany, NY)
First Modern Era game: January 7, 1950 (Clinton, NY)
First Modern Era win: February 3, 1950 (Plattsburgh, NY)

Key players: D Nick Bailen, sr.; F C.J. Lee, sr.; G Bryce Merriam, sr.; F Marty O'Grady, sr.; F Brock Higgs, jr.; F Matt Tinordi, jr.; F Ryan Haggerty, so.; F Jacob Laliberte, so.; D Curtis Leonard, so.; F Mark McGowan, so.; F Zach Schroeder, so.; D Chris Bradley, fr.; G Jason Kasdorf, fr.; F Mike Zalewski, fr.

Key losses: F Patrick Cullen, D Mike Bergin, F Joel Malchuk

(I know, I know, I'm missing this potential impact freshman or that upperclassman primed to break out... I only assembled it the way I assembled the KYE teams, just to be fair. I'm sure I've left out some of the same for other teams.)

I'm going to dispense with the history lesson that accompanies these capsules when we're covering a team for the first time because... well, because our primary readership already knows these things. Not really worth rehashing last year's performance for the same reason.

So how does this year's RPI team stack up with the rest of the league? Honestly, it's tough to say for sure. The offense simply has to be a lot better than it was last year, because even though the Engineers bring back 9 of their top 10 scorers from last year (a better percentage than any other team in the league), none of them were scoring with great frequency to begin with last season. Surely, a great deal of the hope lies in the sophomore class of forwards, which last year formed the backbone of the team's scoring threat while going through the requisite growing pains you see from freshmen.

Defensively, RPI brings back enough to be competitive (especially bringing in an NHL draftee in Kasdorf between the pipes) with probably the fourth best returning D-corps in the league behind Union, Cornell, and Quinnipiac. Bergin was a leader defensively, but Bradley should be a solid replacement and the rest of the returning defense all have decent arguments for lots of playing time.

The offense will be key - last year's 2.00 goals per game average simply will not come close to cutting it, especially considering that it placed the Engineers 54th out of 59 Division I teams offensively. Injuries decimated an already fragile scoring scheme last year, so staying healthy will be key, but growth will be important too. Can the young forwards, still brimming with potential, get the job done this season?

Also worth noting - a 20-win season would put the program on the cusp of 1,000 wins, with 21 enough to roll the odometer. Is it in them? The conventional wisdom says it'll be tough. It's certainly going to be a matter of reaching potential this season, especially on offense. At this point, it's a wait-and-see attitude.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Women's Hockey - 2012-13 Season Preview

Once again, we've hit that time of year when many hockey fans switch from "There's so much offseason left!" to "Wait, the season's here already?" With the women's hockey team set to take the ice Friday night against UConn, let's do a quick rundown of this year's incoming class and the upcoming schedule. We'll summarize the league schedule in the coming weeks.

The Engineers add three forwards, three defensemen, and a goalie to the roster for 2012-13, replacing a talented senior class which included Sierra Vadner, Amanda Castignetti, Laura Guillemette, Alicia Miksic, Alisa Harrison, and Jill Vandegrift. The freshmen (and one transfer student) will be counted on to contribute early and often in order to help the upperclassmen build from last year's disappointing 9-21-4 record and make it back to the playoffs after last year's miss.

On the blue line, Delaney Middlebrook (who transferred in from the now-defunct Niagara University team) will join the team as a sophomore. A 2-year captain at her high school in Minnesota, Middlebrook was a high scoring defenseman who may help to add some points from the blue line. She will be joined by freshmen Brandi Banks and Jenn Godin, both of whom were named MVP of their respective teams prior to their arrival at RPI.

Up front, Alexa Gruschow and Lauren Wash join Mari Mankey (sister of junior forward Missy Mankey) in the freshman class. Gruschow played for the Washington Pride in the JWHL in addition to her high school's boys hockey team. She racked up 108 points in 62 games in 2011-12, with even more penalty minutes (110). Wash was a two-time captain and assistant captain for the New Jersey Rockets of the MAWHA, and led the league in game winning goals. Mankey was also a two-time captain and a top student at Hopkins HS in Minnetonka, MN.

After a trial-by-fire season in goal which saw freshmen Brianna Piper and Kelly O'Brien split time in net, the now-sophomore tandem will be joined by newcomer Sara Till from Rice Memorial HS in Burlington, who captained her team three years in ice hockey as well as a year in field hockey and was named team MVP of both teams as well as lacrosse. After last year's split time, and with Till thrown into the mix, it's anyone's guess as to how the goaltending duties will be divided as the season gets underway.

With no exhibition on the schedule this year, the Engineers will jump right into action this coming weekend with a home series against UConn before hitting the road to take on BU (who fell to Cornell in triple overtime of the NCAA Quarterfinals last season) and Northeastern. The last meeting between the Engineers and Huskies was a 5-1 thrashing by the home team in Boston.

The Engineers will host Union in a non-conference affair before opening up the ECAC schedule in the final week of October at SLU and Clarkson. A road trip to Burlington for a Halloween special against UVM will be followed up by a home series against Princeton and Quinnipiac, before a pair at home against Robert Morris and another on the road at Syracuse will round out the non-conference schedule.

From there, the bulk of the ECAC schedule remains, with a home pair against Providence on 1/11 and 1/12 providing the only other break in the conference action for the remainder of the season.

We'll take a look at the preseason polls in the coming weeks along with a preview of the ECAC schedule and recaps of the season's first games. Keep an eye out on Twitter at @without_a_peer for live tweets of home games once again this season, with score updates (and scattered live tweets) from road games as the season gets underway.