First Half Finish

Yup, the season's half in the bag already after this weekend. As was mentioned yesterday, once the rink lights go dim in Troy and Providence tomorrow, we'll be without hockey for 19 days until the men face off with St. Cloud State on the 28th and the women host Harvard in January.

Both teams got themselves on the board last weekend, but it's certainly not enough. The women at home tonight and tomorrow afternoon face a golden opportunity - home games against Brown and Yale, which has been the weakest overall travel pairing in the league for a number of seasons. This year, they both have two points, just like RPI and Union do, so this weekend's games are going to be big with regards to determining which teams are going to be shooting for the playoffs, and which ones are going to be trying to keep their heads above water. Four points for RPI would be gigantic, and they're certainly available.

As for the men, they picked up their first ECAC point last weekend but still have sole possession of the league basement, a point behind Saturday's opponent, Brown (who has a game in hand), and three behind 10th place St. Lawrence (who the Engineers have a game in hand over). That makes points on Saturday important, but don't overlook tonight's game in Gun Wavin' New Haven - the series between Yale and RPI has produced some fantastically good contests in the last couple of years, including a big 2-1 win for the Engineers last season. They're underdogs tonight without doubt, but RPI needs points where they can get them at this point, and teams with their backs against the wall can be dangerous. Let's hope that's the case tonight.

The Smiths regale us this weekend with a battle cry for desperate times...