Monday, January 30, 2012

Men's Hockey - St. Lawrence & Clarkson (27/28 Jan)

There's still a long way to go in the ECAC schedule - 8 games, which can be an eternity in the standings as it represents over 1/3 of the season - but RPI may well be turning the corner on what has generally been a dog of a season lately. They had to settle for a weekend split with a 4-0 victory over St. Lawrence and a 3-2 loss to Clarkson, but the effort shown in both games may well indicate that the Engineers have, at long last, found themselves as a hockey team and could well be ready to charge into the last segment of the season with some confidence, even with half of those eight games to come against the back-to-dangerous Central New York duo.

St. Lawrence
Lee/McGowan/O'Grady 
Cullen/Laliberte/Haggerty
Tinordi/Higgs/Schroeder
Rogic/Malchuk/Angers-Goulet

Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen
Koudys/Dolan

Merriam

Despite the road sweep the weekend prior, some changes were made to the RPI lineup, especially the return of Alex Angers-Goulet, who had missed several games with a leg injury. His return pushed Greg Burgdoerfer out, but the lines were further jumbled a bit, with Jacob Laliberte moving to center over Marty O'Grady.

No scoring took place in the first period despite three power plays (2 for RPI, 1 for St. Lawrence), and a very well played 20 minutes by the Engineers, who were able to pick up a 7-3 edge in shots heading into the first intermission.

RPI had 23 seconds of power play time bleed into the second period, and once that ended, St. Lawrence managed a pretty solid stretch in the RPI zone for a couple of minutes, ending with an RPI icing. Seth Appert called timeout to give the guys out on the ice an opportunity to catch their breath, but a hooking penalty against Guy Leboeuf (after his man managed to get past him deep in the zone), threatened to allow the suddenly resurgent Saints the opportunity to score first. The penalty kill, however, held up, which helped the tide turn significantly in RPI's favor.

Just under a minute after the Leboeuf penalty expired, Patrick Cullen finally snapped his long point drought by putting the Engineers up 1-0 with a shot through traffic in the slot. Cullen was then instrumental in setting up RPI's second goal just over a minute later on the power play, taking a one-timer from near the blue line that was redirected in front by Matt Tinordi, with the rebound being powered home by Marty O'Grady, extending his goal scoring streak to three straight (and four in three games) to make it 2-0.

On RPI's next power play about three and a half minutes later, Cullen again played the playmaker role, setting up a C.J. Lee one-timer that found the back of the net to give RPI a 3-0 lead. Entering the game with just a single goal on the season for his point spread, Cullen racked up three big points in less than five minutes of game time to help the Engineers reach a commanding lead just past the game's halfway point.

The Engineers tightened their grip with just over two minutes to play in the second, as Bo Dolan notched his first goal of the season on a shot from the top of the faceoff circles, putting RPI up 4-0 for the first time this season. It was the first time RPI had scored four goals in one period since the third period at Clarkson on February 19, 2011 and the first time they'd scored four without an empty netter since the third period against UConn in the RPI tournament on November 26, 2010 (the first in league play since November 13, 2009... also at Clarkson).

With the solid lead in his back pocket, Bryce Merriam worked an outstanding final two periods. He didn't have to overexert himself, but he made 16 stops in the last 40 minutes to pick up the shutout victory.

The win moved RPI into a tie for 11th with St. Lawrence.

With his second shutout in three games, Merriam had recorded 100 saves on 101 shots in that stretch, an outstanding save percentage of .990.

Clarkson

Lee/McGowan/O'Grady 
Cullen/Laliberte/Haggerty
Tinordi/Higgs/Schroeder
Rogic/Malchuk/Angers-Goulet

Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen
Koudys/Dolan

Merriam


No changes whatsoever to the RPI lineup between Friday and Saturday - the Engineers put together a complete 60 minutes against an admittedly weak St. Lawrence team, and went to work immediately against a much tougher squad from Clarkson, who had just had their heads handed to them the night before in Schenectady.

Unfortunately, the early work was overshadowed by a tough goal to give up just two and a half minutes into the affair. A good screen kept Merriam from seeing a shot from the point, and the Golden Knights took an early 1-0 lead.

Things got worse about six minutes later, as C.J. Lee was called for a boarding major after hitting Clarkson's Kevin Tansey behind the Knights' net. Tansey stayed down motionless after what was likely a minor penalty, drawing the extra three minutes. After Lee was assessed the penalty - fortunately for the Engineers, not including a game misconduct - Tansey skated back to the Clarkson bench and didn't miss a shift.

The bit of acting paid off well for Clarkson, who netted their second goal three minutes into the major penalty to go up 2-0.

RPI, who had been playing well before the Lee hit, did not give in at that point as two-goal deficits had commonly done earlier in the season. Guy Leboeuf got things started with his second goal of the season from the top of the slot just over two minutes later to cut the Clarkson lead in half, making it 2-1 after one period.

Midway through the second period, RPI tied things up with Matt Tinordi's third goal of the season, coming on the power play on a redirected shot by Patrick Cullen, making it 2-2. The assist was Cullen's fourth of the weekend, and of the season.

The Engineers played some dominant hockey from there on out, but could not get another one past Paul Karpowich, who played some very solid hockey and bailed his team out very well, slightly reminicient of Merriam's play a week prior in New Haven. A two-on-one break for Clarkson eventually gave the Knights the lead once again with about seven minutes left, and RPI was unable to break the trap that Clarkson fell back into after retaking the lead.

RPI produced several opportunities with Merriam out of the net in the final minute of the game, but couldn't find the third goal even after getting a power play chance with 20 seconds left. Karpowich finished with 29 saves to get his team the victory despite some exceptional play by the Engineers throughout.

The 3 goals on 17 shots was significantly off his pace from the previous three games, but Merriam still has a save percentage over the last two weeks of .966 and a GAA slightly less than 1.00 (when you consider the 1:52 of empty net time on Saturday night) in four games. Not too shabby.

Other junk - Ranked teams on the RPI schedule this week are #6 Ferris State (up four, with one first place vote), #8 Notre Dame (down four), #9 UMass-Lowell (up two), Co-#11 Colorado College (up one), Co-#11 Union (up three), #14 Cornell (down five), and #20 Colgate (re-entering the rankings). Also receiving votes were RIT (15), Quinnipiac (5), and Harvard (4).

While no Engineer has more than five goals this season (Nick Bailen, Marty O'Grady, and Ryan Haggerty), only five skaters have yet to dent the twine - Josh Rabbani, Mike Bergin, Greg Burgdoerfer, Justin Smith, and Luke Curadi. Interestingly, with Bo Dolan's goal against SLU, six of seven defensemen have scored. Curadi, in his defense, doesn't take an awful lot of shots and has only made 10 appearances. In fact, only Rabbani and Bergin on the list of non-goal scorers have more than 10 games in the lineup.

It's now Freakout! weekend, and RPI has won four of their last six games, and they've played very well in four straight. Two tough, ranked opponents in Cornell and Colgate await the Engineers. Points may be at a premium, but if they play as they did the last two weeks, they may be available nonetheless.

ECAC Standings (by win% in parentheses)
1 (1). Union - 21 pts (9-3-3)
2 (2). Cornell - 19 pts (8-3-3)
3 (3). Colgate - 17 pts (8-5-1)
4 (5). Harvard - 16 pts (5-4-6)
5 (4). Clarkson - 15 pts (6-5-3)
6 (7). Quinnipiac - 14 pts (5-5-4)

7 (7). Dartmouth - 13 pts (6-6-1)
8 (8). Yale - 13 pts (5-6-1)
9 (9). Brown - 12 pts (5-7-2)
10 (10). Princeton - 12 pts (5-8-2)
11 (11). RPI - 9 pts (4-9-1, -11 GD)
12 (12). St. Lawrence - 9 pts (4-9-1, -20 GD)

St. Lawrence at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/27/12- 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 4, St. Lawrence 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECORD: 7-17-1 (4-8-1 ECAC, 9 pts)

Clarkson at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/28/12 - 7:00pm
RESULT: Clarkson 3, RPI 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECORD: 7-18-1 (4-9-1 ECAC, 9 pts)

Upcoming games
03 Feb - #14 Cornell
04 Feb - #20 Colgate (Big Red Freakout!)
09 Feb - at Harvard
10 Feb - at Dartmouth
16 Feb - Quinnipiac

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Women's Hockey - Union Home & Home (27/28 Jan)

With it looking more and more like a two-team race for the final playoff spot between RPI and Brown, no weekend could be more important for the Engineers to take four points than the home-and-home against Union - and that's exactly what RPI did. After earning a 3-1 victory on Friday which saw Union melt down and take three penalties in the game's final minute, the Engineers dominated Saturday's game from start to finish to earn a 3-0 shutout and move into a tie with Brown for the eighth spot in the standings.

Friday (at Union)

Smelker/Cox/Vandegrift
Mahoney/Harrison/Horton
Sanders/Guillemette/Mankey
Letuligasenoa/Svoboda

Castignetti/Marzario
Le Donne/Vadner
Walsh

O'Brien

RPI's top line combined for eight points at Union's Messa Rink on Friday, with freshman Eleeza Cox scoring her tenth goal and tacking assists on both of RPI's other goals, while senior Jill Vandegrift had assists on all three Engineer tallies.

Cox opened the scoring at 13:42 of the opening period, collecting a pass from Jordan Smelker and slid a five-hole backhand shot past Union goalie Kate Gallagher.

The second period saw the teams trade only a few penaltes and the Engineers held just a 15-13 edge in shots on goal by the end of the second period in what was becoming a little closer of an affair than the Engineers might have preferred.

While the Engineers appeared to be scrambling a little bit early in the third, there was no need for concern by the time the period hit its midpoint, as Smelker scored her ninth goal at 9:56 in a bid to keep pace with Cox. Cox picked up the primary assist on the goal, feeding Smelker for a wrist shot past Gallagher.

Sierra Vadner pushed the RPI lead to 3-0 just two minutes later, precisely redirecting a pass from Smelker on an odd-man rush to leave Gallagher little chance at a save.

Union would get one back about a minute and a half after Vadner's goal, with Maddy Norton earning her first goal of the season on a deflection past RPI's Kelly O'Brien. That would be the end of the offense for Union. The Dutchwomen would combine for three penalties in the span of 48 seconds in the game's final minute, completely losing their composure to the point where one of the calls (a checking penalty) would likely have been a penalty even in the men's league, where checking is allowed.

The win moved RPI to within two points of eighth place, setting them up to move into a tie with Brown following Saturday's game.

Saturday (vs. Union)

Smelker/Cox/Vandegrift
Mahoney/Harrison/Horton
Sanders/Guillemette/Mankey
Letuligasenoa/Svoboda

Castignetti/Marzario
Le Donne/Vadner
Walsh/Schilter

O'Brien

Unlike Friday's tilt, which actually was pretty strongly contested by the Dutchwomen, Saturday afternoon's game showed a much wider disparity between the teams as the Engineers more than tripled Union in shots on goal and picked up a goal in each period while cruising to a 3-0 shutout - Kelly O'Brien's third of the season for her second straight win.

Eleeza Cox scored the opening goal at 10:22 of the first period, beating a pair of Union defenders while rushing down ice one-on-two before firing the puck past Shenae Lundberg for a 1-0 lead. Cox would go on to score the next goal as well, with just 26 seconds remaining in the second period.

Six penalties passed in the second without either team being able to capitalize on the man advantage; RPI in particular suffered from a lack of shots on each of their three advantages in the frame, earning just seven shots total in the second. Cox's tally would come off a pass from Taylor Mahoney which was nicely redirected past Lundberg.

RPI remedied its lack of shots on the final period, racking up an astonishing 22-1 margin in the third. Four consecutive Union penalties would be killed by a surprisingly effective PK squad for the Dutchwomen, but the Engineers would instead pick up a shorthanded goal as Jordan Smelker fired one into the empty Union net with 1:47 left in regulation to seal the 3-0 victory.

With three weekends left in the regular season, it doesn't get any easier for the Engineers, who still have games against Cornell, Harvard, and Dartmouth on the schedule. Fortunately, Brown faces four out of the same six teams as the Engineers, also facing Clarkson and St. Lawrence in place of the Engineers' matchups against Princeton and Quinnipiac. Remarkably similar schedules for two teams battling to make the playoffs, and both will play four out of six on the road to round out the regular season. RPI travels to Cornell Friday night to take on the #2 Big Red (7pm) before facing Colgate (another must-win as the Raiders trail RPI by five points) at 4pm Saturday.

-----

RPI at Union
ECAC Hockey Game – Messa Rink (Schenectady, NY)
1/27/12 – 3:00pm
RPI 3, Union 1

BOX SCORES:

RECAPS:

RECORD: 7-16-4 (4-9-2 ECAC)

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RPI vs. Union
ECAC Hockey Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/28/12 – 3:00pm
RPI 3, Union 0

BOX SCORES:

RECAPS:

RECORD: 8-16-4 (5-9-2 ECAC)

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ECAC Standings (all teams have played 16 games)
                Pts   Conf     All
Cornell 28 14-2 19-3
Harvard 23 11-4-1 14-6-1
Dartmouth 22 10-4-2 14-6-2
Clarkson 22 10-4-2 16-7-5
Quinnipiac 22 10-4-2 15-10-2
St. Lawrence 20 9-5-2 15-8-4
Princeton 16 7-7-2 8-10-4
Brown 12 4-8-4 7-9-7
Rensselaer 12 5-9-2 8-16-4
Colgate 7 3-12-1 8-18-1
Union 6 2-12-2 4-20-4
Yale 2 1-15 1-22
-----

Upcoming Games

Feb. 3 - at Cornell (7pm)
Feb. 4 - at Colgate (4pm)
Feb. 10 - Harvard (7pm)
Feb. 11 - Dartmouth (Senior Night) (4pm)
Feb. 17 - at Princeton (7pm)
Feb. 18 - at Quinnipiac (4pm)

Saturday, January 28, 2012

There's Always One

"In case you haven't noticed, and judging by the attendance you haven't, the Indians have managed to win a few here and there, and are threatening to climb out of the cellar." -- Harry Doyle, Major League

Great day for RPI hockey yesterday as the women put up a solid 3-1 victory over Union in Schenectady before the men rode a dominating second period - easily their best performance of the year - and kept a completely out of sorts St. Lawrence team from doing anything notable in the other two periods to take a 4-0 victory.

That's three wins in a row for the men's team, which they haven't accomplished since the five game stretch last January. Oddly enough, the attendance last night dipped below 3,000 for the first time since the Brown game - which was also a shutout.

The women now have a little separation on the back of the pack - three points ahead of 10th place Colgate, and two behind 8th place Brown. With a victory at home this afternoon (while Brown takes on 3rd place Harvard), RPI could well tie the Bears for the final playoff spot, setting up a three week scramble for points between the Engineers and Brown.

Two games at the Field House tonight... come on out for both! You won't be disappointed.

Special treat today: a reader-submitted photoshop effort. This one comes to us courtesy of Tom Kinstrey, who reminds us all of the... natural charisma of the Clarkson fan/student/alum.



Friday, January 27, 2012

It's a Long Way to the Top

This weekend isn't really make or break - it could well be more of a "break," however, if either team has a rough outing.

For the women, it's four points or bust, but this isn't your usual roll over and play dead Union team. They've been stealing points here and there, however, and if RPI doesn't bring their A-game, they could suffer their first loss to the Dutchwomen since 2004, when Union was a Division I team and RPI was still in Division III. A sweep, and they may just take the driver's seat for 8th place.

For the men, it's an opportunity to prove that last week's sweep was no fluke. Tonight, they take on St. Lawrence, in a game they must win if they are going to pull themselves out of the basement. With a victory, they can move into a tie for 11th place with the Saints. With a loss, they're four points clear of the field again. Then tomorrow, it's Clarkson, a team that has done well without exactly knocking anyone's socks off. If Bryce Merriam can stay hot through this weekend, the long road to redemption could begin in earnest.

We may have used this one in the past... matter of fact I think we kicked off last year's season with it. Doesn't matter, it still rocks and it's apt. The first rule of pumpup is that you can never go wrong with AC/DC anyway.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Pipeline 2012: The New Breed

In a season as difficult as this one has been, there can be some respite in looking into the future. Fortunately, in the last two seasons, we've set aside time in January to discuss the state of recruiting.

Thanks to Reilly Hamilton and RPI TV for their outstanding graphics for a third year running. We've included a projection as to who on the RPI roster (and no longer on the RPI roster, for that matter) these incoming recruits are expected to replace positionally, but that doesn't mean they're going to be mirror images of them. Some may take a season or two to get to that potential. Some may already be better than the guy they're replacing.

Recruiting never ends. This is unlikely to be the final list for 2012. Specifically, we're possibly going to be looking for one more forward, at least if we are looking to break even on the number of forwards lost and gained given that five forwards are graduating and three are currently known to be coming in next season. Defensively there exists the possibility of one more (especially if Mike Bergin chooses not to use his redshirt season), but there's no certainty.

As of now, there are five recruits who are currently expected on campus in August 2012, and a sixth who could arrive then as well. There are between two and four recruits expected in August 2013, and either one or two expected in August 2014.

Listed next to the player names are their current number, their position, and their birth year. They are listed in the order of their commitment, and also by their anticipated arrival year, with those expected or possibly arriving after this coming August at the very bottom.



Team: Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)
Projected to replace: Bryan Brutlag or Mike Bergin

Given that the Engineers have no defensemen on the team this year who will have exhausted their eligibility following the season (due to Bergin's injury as a freshman), Bradley will either replace Bergin if he decides not to stay for his redshirt year as Malchuk did, or he'll add depth to the defensive corps that has been missing essentially ever since Bryan Brutlag was moved to forward. Once Jacob Laliberte enrolled at RPI, Bradley became the recruit with the longest tenured commitment, making his decision in September 2010.

A lot of what we said last year still holds true: He has been described as a "big, puck-moving defenseman," which is exactly what Seth Appert has been looking for on the blue line lately. He's not as big as Luke Curadi, Curtis Leonard, Pat Koudys or Guy Leboeuf, but he's big enough to be another difficult obstacle for forwards in the ECAC to navigate. He's bigger than Bergin or Brutlag anyway, so regardless he makes a fifth big-un on the blue line.

He doesn't appear on the score sheet with any great frequency (though he's been picking up some points as of late - had a hat trick last week, actually), but from all reports, he's a solid defensive defenseman, much like Curtis Leonard. Bradley wasn't drafted last year despite being ranked by the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau, but he could well step in and make contributions to this team right away.



Team: Vernon Vipers (BCHL)
Projected to replace: Patrick Cullen

Zalewski hasn't received the hype that Jacob Laliberte got ahead of his arrival in Troy - in part thanks to the lack of drama regarding his status - but he may well be able to have an impact approaching that of Brandon Pirri or Jerry D'Amigo. While Laliberte ran up gaudy numbers in the weaker Ontario league, Zalewski is connecting for over a point per game in British Columbia, which, along with the USHL, is one of the top level junior circuits out there.

As we mentioned last year: Mike's older brother, Steve, played four years at Clarkson before moving on to play for the San Jose Sharks. Sharper college hockey aficionados will remember another older brother, Rich, who helped lead Oswego State to a Division III national championship a few years back. Like his brothers, Mike has chosen to stay close to home, which was a big part of his decision to come to RPI.

Like any American playing in the BCHL, he's a talent that's worth waiting for. He was good enough to get drafted by the USHL (by Youngstown, Bradley's team) even after he had made it evident that he was planning to play in the BCHL this season. That's how much he was sought after scoring in bunches for his high school team in New Hartford three years ago, and then again for the Syracuse Stars of the EJHL two years ago. He's already blown through last year's goal and assist totals, which shows great growth. According to hockey scout Dan Sallows during last season, Mike and his older brother Steve "mirror each other with their offensive ability, good work ethic, and strong two-way play."

Expect Zalewski to make some good strides next year and bolster RPI's offense relatively quickly.



Team: Omaha Lancers (USHL)
Projected to replace: Alex Angers-Goulet or Justin Smith

Last year we deemed Miller an unknown quantity because of a quirky statistic - he led Omaha in goals when he committed to RPI in November 2010, then failed to register a point in 15 straight games. In fact, he finished with just five goals and five assists on the season in 59 games played - which gave him one goal and three assists in the last 47 games of the season.

This year, it seems like more of the same, without much explanation. As one of the team's two captains, Miller has appeared in all of the first-place Lancers' games. He takes a healthy number of shots, averaging 2.3 per game. His penalty minutes are not in line with what you would expect from a forward who would project as a bruiser or enforcer. Before he arrived in Omaha, he'd previously been lighting it up offensively with a midget team in Kansas City and was a 2nd round USHL draft pick in 2010.

Without having seen him play, it's hard to know based on all of that exactly what to expect from Miller at RPI. Is he a defensive-minded forward? Is he a big penalty killer? Or, since he's wearing the C this year for Omaha,  perhaps he may fit in well as a positive role model in the locker room in same mold as Justin Smith, who doesn't see an awful lot of ice time. In pretty much all respects, we're going to have to wait until he arrives on campus to see what he's got in him, though Seth Appert did mention recently at an alumni event that he likes Miller's work ethic, comparing him to Bryan Brutlag in that regard.



Team: Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)
Projected to replace: Jeremy Coupal


We talked a little bit about Kasdorf last year when he appeared to be the heir apparent to Allen York upon his commitment just about a week after last year's pipeline piece. For a time, it appeared that Kasdorf's arrival was going to be accelerated, but Scott Diebold's commitment in April 2011 allowed his timetable to remain intact. With York's early departure, he will physically replace Jeremy Coupal on the roster, but in doing so will give RPI three serviceable Division I-level goaltenders for the first time since 2003-04, when Nathan Marsters, Kevin Kurk, and Andrew Martin were all on the roster together (though Marsters ultimately saw almost 90% of the playing time).

Kasdorf was drafted by his hometown Winnipeg Jets in the sixth round of the 2011 NHL Draft, just 10 draft spots below Patrick Koudys. This year, he moved from the Portage Terriers in the relatively weak Manitoba junior league to the rigors of the USHL. While he wasn't expected to put up the same kind of outstanding numbers that he did in the MJHL, his numbers thus far in Des Moines are a bit underwhelming, especially when you consider that both of RPI's current goaltenders are putting up better numbers in a more difficult league during the very definition of a difficult season. His win-loss record would seem to indicate that he has been getting some good offensive support.

It remains to be seen exactly what the goaltending equation will be next season, especially since we've seen a lot of fluctuation this season even with just two options. At the very least, Kasdorf, who shares a birth year with Diebold, will have a freshman season that will allow him to acclimate gradually to Division I, something which paid off in spades for the man it is hoped he can emulate, York. Much is expected of him, but we won't know how things will play out until he arrives, especially since he'll have a senior and a sophomore to share ice time with.



Team: Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL)
Projected to replace: Joel Malchuk

Bourbonnais comes from a family with college hockey experience, as both his father and his uncle played for RIT. WaP spotted Bourbonnais on a visit to RPI last season, and it was rumored that a scholarship offer was made at that time. When the summer passed with no commitment, conventional wisdom said that he'd taken a pass, but that turned right around in mid-September when his commitment to RPI was announced for 2012.

After playing a key role in 2009 on the Greece Athena/Odyssey undefeated state championship team, Bourbonnais moved on to Berkshire Prep (despite being drafted by Niagara of the OHL), playing two seasons for the Bears just over the border in Berkshire County, Mass. Shortly before committing to RPI after graduating from Berkshire, he moved on to the USHL, where his skills as a playmaker are being put to very good use. He picked up six points in the RoughRiders' first four games, but his production has not kept up on that level.

Some reports have Bourbonnais at an even six feet, which makes him just about the perfect size for a Seth Appert forward. His scouting report describes him as "an exceptional skater with soft hands," and "a playmaker." As one of the top rated forwards in the 1993 birth year from New York, Bourbonnais is an excellent "get" for RPI. Expect him to be an early contributor, especially if he finds his scoring touch more frequently in Cedar Rapids before the end of the year.


Team: Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)
Projected to replace: Josh Rabbani or C.J. Lee


The most recently known recruit hit the news just in the last week, and he may be a very solid gain for the Engineers. Bubela has most recently played for the Slovak U-20 team, where he just finished a solid World Junior Championship tournament in Alberta with two goals and three assists to help Slovakia reach the quarterfinals, including a goal against the defending champion Russians in the preliminary round.

Shortly after the tournament concluded, Bubela committed to RPI and was signed to Dubuque, which is where Luke Curadi plied his trade last year under former Engineer assistant coach Jim Montgomery, who's obviously still willing to lend a hand to help out the Tute, but who had to use a coveted foreign player spot to take Bubela. The defending champion Fighting Saints are having another decent year this season, and it will be interesting to see how well Bubela fits into the USHL. His position as one of the best young players in Slovakia - one of the upper-tier hockey playing nations in the world - certainly makes him an attractive pickup for the Engineers.

We won't have to worry about missing Bubela for the WJC the way we lost Jerry D'Amigo's services during that tournament (and would have a second time if he'd stuck around) since he aged out of the tournament following this year's installation. The bigger question is whether Bubela will be in Troy come August, or whether he'll do another spin in the USHL next year. It is expected that Appert will try to get him in for next season, but it depends on whether Bubela has enough classes to pass through the NCAA clearinghouse in time.

Bubela will be the second Slovak to don the Cherry and White, following Alexander Valentin '06, and only the sixth player from outside of the United States and Canada to do so - Rafael Maximo de Arozarena of the Class of 1917 (Mexico), Mikael Hammarstrom '04 (Sweden), Mathias Lange '09 (Austria), and Andrei Uryadov '09 (Russia).



Team: The Gunnery (Prep-CT)
Projected to replace: C.J. Lee or Marty O'Grady

A senior this season at The Gunnery, Wood was the first known recruit for the Class of 2017 when he committed to the Engineers in early January 2011. He's currently scoring at about the same clip that he was last season, although he was scoring more goals last year. Wood isn't going to be the biggest guy on the ice by any stretch of the imagination, but he will likely spend next season in the BCHL (or the USHL) preparing to take the step into Division I.

By the metric of "the earlier the better," Wood's relatively early commitment - those who were freshmen when he gave his verbal will be seniors when he arrives - could by itself underscore the potential that he represents, but these days even in the ECAC it's not uncommon to nail down even role players this far out. That said, if Wood is destined to be a role player, he's probably going to be a pretty good one. His scouting reports call him an "old school player" who is tough with physical play and a willingness to do battle for loose  pucks. Add the scoring what have been described as some "sweet moves" and you've got a solid prospect, one that's right in Seth Appert's wheel well. Those in the know have described him as being very similar to Chase Polacek when the two-time Hobey Baker finalist was in prep school in Minnesota.

The fact that he is attending a prep school in New England instead of playing junior hockey at home could also point to a focus on education which could well make RPI a perfect fit for him in the long run. Those are the kind of players Appert has sought - top guys who excel in the classroom as well as on the ice. It's been written that he plans to be an engineer, though that may have been intended as a "big E."



Team: Chicago Steel (USHL)
Projected to replace: Greg Burgdoerfer


Here, enjoy this. And this. Aaaaaand this too. Oh heck, just check out the DeVitofights channel on YouTube. You can probably tell just by looking at DeVito's statline that he's a physical player, and while he won't be able to engage in the fisticuffs the way he does in the USHL, there's no doubt that DeVito is an enforcer, a tough, physical player who's not afraid to back down from a challenge. His point line indicates that he has some degree of offensive ability as well, which is a great combination.

DeVito was offered a scholarship last month and accepted it earlier this month for a 2013 arrival in Troy. Presently in his second season with Steel - which allows him to play relatively close to home - he's already surpassed last year's goal, assist, and penalty minute totals despite playing in fewer games thus far.

Since he's a relatively new recruit, that's about all we know about DeVito thus far, but we can probably expect to see him back in a Chicago Steel jersey for a third straight season next year, and three seasons in the USHL definitely never hurt anyone. It will be interesting to see what his progression looks like by next season.



Team: Delbarton School (Prep-NJ)
Projected to replace: Marty O'Grady or Brock Higgs


Sorry we couldn't find a decent picture of Melanson - even more sorry because he may well be the heir to Jacob Laliberte when it comes to long anticipated arrivals. The Delbarton junior is one of a trio of talented members of his class (one of whom is slotted for Yale in 2014) making the Green Wave a dominant force in New Jersey prep hockey.

Melanson has been on our radar since he committed to RPI last January, just a couple of weeks after our pipeline feature ran. He has some size to him for his age and plenty of room to grow. The word "beast" has been used to describe his play. He's got speed - his current coach, who has led Delbarton to five state championships in the last six years, says Melanson is the fastest player he's ever coached. Obviously, he's got a scoring touch. Blue chip is a term that appears to apply to him, and apparently he's now getting a ton of attention from the professional ranks.

There are a pair of concerns right now with Melanson, the first being that he may not be getting too much of a challenge playing close to home in New Jersey, which could limit his growth as a player. To that end, do not be surprised to see him playing in the USHL next season, and possibly for the next two seasons, given that his arrival in Troy is still unknown, either 2013 or 2014. If he is coming in 2013, he'll certainly be in the USHL next year. The other concern is that which any ECAC fan would be concerned about when it comes to early commitments from blue chip prospects - that larger programs with, ahem, low morals, may try to convince Melanson to break his commitment. That doesn't seem likely, but it wouldn't be a first.

At any rate, it will certainly be a lot of fun watching Melanson's development, and he should be an absolute treat to watch in the Cherry and White.



Team: Selects Academy (Prep-CT)
Projected to replace: Pat Koudys or Bo Dolan


Your eyes do not deceive you - RPI has a commitment from a player with a 1996 birth year. Do you remember what you were doing in 1996? Yeah, you feel old now too.

Obviously, there's not a great deal that you can say about a just-committed (late last month) 15-year-old. Manley was a strong enough defenseman to be chosen to represent New York at the national development camp in Rochester last summer. He has a 6'5" cousin who played for the US National Team Development program at one point and is now in Division III with Geneseo. Odds are that while Manley probably won't still be 5'8" when he gets to RPI, he probably won't be 6'5" either.

It's too early to be sure of whether Manley is a blue-chip prospect or not, but the bonafides from his early resume are certainly there. We'll have plenty of time to track his development, however, as he is currently expected on campus in 2014, the year this current crop of freshmen hit their senior season.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Men's Hockey - at Brown & Yale (20/21 Jan)

Last week, we commented on what a difference four days could make in a team's psyche as they went from a victory to a difficult loss against Union. Well, six days can apparently be a positive aspect, too. The Engineers put in 120 solid minutes of play on the road this past weekend and posted arguably their best two-game result of the season thus far, shutting out Brown for the second time this season with a 3-0 victory over Brown and earning a gritty 2-1 victory over Yale.

Brown

Lee/Higgs/Schroeder 
Cullen/McGowan/Haggerty
Laliberte/O'Grady/Tinordi
Rogic/Malchuk/Burgdoerfer

Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen
Koudys/Dolan

Merriam

Alex Angers-Goulet missed a second consecutive week with an injury he picked up against Harvard, and Matt Neal's bumpy health year continued with a stomach bug that kept him at home all weekend.

Things looked rough for the Engineers early on as they picked up a pair of early penalties that put them on the penalty kill for basically four of the game's first five minutes. C.J. Lee picked up an interference penalty just 14 seconds into the game, followed by a high-sticking call against Greg Burgdoerfer, but the RPI penalty kill successfully snuffed out both Brown advantages. All told, the first period was fairly even, but produced no scoring.

Brown's second period began much the same way RPI's first period began - with a pair of early penalties. The major difference was in the subsequent execution of the ensuing power plays, both of which the Engineers scored on to take control of the contest. Nick Bailen scored his fifth goal of the season 59 seconds into the first power play chance at 1:39 to put RPI on the board, then Marty O'Grady notched his second goal of the year a little less than three minutes later to make it 2-0.

Things threatened to get much worse for Brown as they picked up yet another penalty just 19 seconds after O'Grady's goal, but head coach Brendan Whittet called timeout to rally the troops, and the Bears successfully killed off that power play.

Meanwhile, with the two-goal lead, Bryce Merriam became the star of the game. The junior goaltender stopped 14 shots in the first period and 16 in the third, making a total of 36 saves in all to earn his second career shutout, which also happened to be his second shutout of the season and second shutout of Brown. Merriam stopped all 58 shots that the Bears put on him this season.

Zach Schroeder added an empty netter with 1:30 left in the game to seal the victory, his fourth goal of the year.


Yale
Lee/Higgs/Schroeder 
Cullen/McGowan/Haggerty
Laliberte/O'Grady/Tinordi
Rogic/Malchuk/Burgdoerfer


Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen
Koudys/Dolan

Merriam

You go with what works sometimes in hockey... the lineup was exactly the same on Saturday as it was on Friday, and it paid off in spades for the Engineers.

After a first period in which the teams largely felt each other out, the second period included a barrage of shots from Yale thanks to some very solid puck possession by the Bulldogs. Merriam faced 19 shots in the second period alone, but turned away each and every one of them to maintain the 0-0 score through 40 minutes of play. Yale was able to maintain a 27-11 shooting advantage after two periods.

The main event of the second period involved a serious scrum in front of Merriam after Yale's Clinton Bourbonais ran into him. RPI got a power play out of it, but lost Mike Bergin for 10 minutes after he was assessed a misconduct for leaving the bench during the tussle.

That misconduct proved dangerous for the Engineers early in the third period as Pat Koudys was assessed a tripping penalty, putting the available complement of defensemen for the penalty kill down to four, but the penalty kill and Merriam stood tall once again, as the PK went a perfect 8-for-8 on the weekend.

Despite the wide disparity in shots, RPI was the first onto the scoreboard as Marty O'Grady finally broke the ice 5:45 into the third with his second goal of the weekend. Just over three minutes later, he did it again by stealing the puck right out from under Yale goaltender Jeff Malcolm's blocker, putting it into the empty net after Malcolm had thought it was covered, putting RPI up 2-0 on O'Grady's fourth goal of the season and third of the weekend.

Yale pulled Malcolm from the goal with just over two minutes left to play, and with the extra attacker the Bulldogs took complete control of the RPI zone, unleashing an absolute frenzy of shots that had Merriam scrambling to and fro, making save after save. He would finish with 18 saves in the third period for a total of 45 in the game, but he lost his shutout bid on a very weak shot that Yale's Kevin Limbert appeared to miss. Setting into position for the wrister, the puck instead trickled slowly between his legs and into the back of the net, making it 2-1 with 1:42 left in the game. The goal ended a shutout streak of 121:15 for Merriam.


The Bulldogs continued to push for the equalizer, but a tired RPI defense, led again by Merriam, stood up to the challenge and managed to escape with a 2-1 victory, the Engineers' first four-point weekend since hosting Brown and Yale (in that order) on January 28 and 29 of last year - last Freakout! weekend.


The immediate schedule does look promising for RPI if this past weekend's games are more than just a fluke. They have pulled within 2 points of getting themselves out of the cellar, and lo and behold, it's 11th place St. Lawrence, nursing a six-game winless streak in league play, coming to Houston Field House on Friday. After Clarkson on Saturday, it's then Freakout! weekend once again, which kicks off with a very difficult challenge in Cornell, but then features a Colgate team winless since the start of 2012 in the main event. Have we reached a turning point? We'll see.

Other junk - Ranked teams on the RPI schedule this week are #4 Notre Dame (up three), #9 Cornell (no change), #10 Ferris State (up three), #11 UMass-Lowell (up three), #12 Colorado College (down one) and #14 Union (down two). Also receiving votes were Colgate (ex-#18, 43 votes), Quinnipiac (24), Harvard (8) and RIT (7).


ECAC Standings (by win% in parentheses)
1 (1). Cornell - 19 pts (8-1-3)
2 (2). Union - 17 pts (7-3-3)
3 (7). Quinnipiac - 14 pts (5-5-4)
4 (3). Colgate - 13 pts (6-5-1)
5 (4). Clarkson - 13 pts (5-4-3)
6 (6). Brown - 12 pts (5-5-2)
7 (8). Harvard - 12 pts (3-4-6)
8 (10). Princeton - 12 pts (5-8-2)
9 (5). Dartmouth - 11 pts (5-5-1)
10 (9). Yale - 11 pts (5-6-1)
11 (11). St. Lawrence - 9 pts (4-7-1)
12 (12). RPI - 7 pts (3-8-1)

RPI at Brown
ECAC Game - Meehan Auditorium (Providence, RI)
1/20/12- 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Brown 0

BOX SCORES
RECAPS
RECORD: 5-17-1 (2-8-1 ECAC, 5 pts)

RPI at Yale
ECAC Game -  Ingalls Rink (New Haven, CT)
1/21/12 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 2, Yale 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RECORD: 6-17-1 (3-8-1 ECAC, 7 pts)

Upcoming games
27 Jan - St. Lawrence
28 Jan - Clarkson
03 Feb - #9 Cornell
04 Feb - Colgate
10 Feb - at Harvard

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Women's Hockey - Yale & Brown (20/21 Jan)

With the ECAC season already approaching its end - just ten games remained at the start of the weekend - the Engineers needed to pick up points against Yale and Brown to say the least. Unfortunately, RPI picked up just two of four points on the weekend with a 4-2 victory over Yale on Friday before dropping a disappointing 3-2 decision to Brown on Saturday afternoon. The Engineers are now two points behind Brown in the race for the final playoff spot, with the Bears holding a game in hand over RPI.

Yale

Smelker/Cox/Vandegrift
Sanders/Harrison/Svoboda
Mahoney/Guillemette/Mankey
Letuligasenoa

Marzario/Castignetti
Schilter/Horton
Walsh

Piper

Yale picked up the game's first goal, but four unanswered tallies from the Engineers in the second period would be more than enough to lead the Engineers to a 4-2 victory over the Bulldogs at Houston Field House on Friday. Eight Engineers would record points in the game, with no player tallying more than one as the scoring was spread across the lineup.

After a strong first period from the Engineers, which saw the home squad outshoot the visitors 14-6, the teams headed to the locker rooms scoreless - despite several power play opportunities each way in what quickly became a very physical affair.

Yale would strike first early in the second period - another early-period goal the likes of which we have seen on more than a few occasions this season - with Jackie Raines putting a rebound opportunity past Brianna Piper from the doorstep for the 1-0 lead. The tables turned after the initial goal and the remainder of the period would be all RPI.

Laura Guillemette tied the game 5:01 into the middle frame on a rebound of her own. With Taylor Mahoney rushing down ice 1-on-1 with a Yale defender, Guillemette followed her into the zone. Mahoney took a shot through the defenseman which was steered aside by Genny Ladiges, but the rebound came right out front to Guillemette for the tap-in.

Jill Vandegrift put the Engineers ahead at 11:46, cashing in on a loose puck which popped out of a scrum in front of the Yale net during an RPI power play. Alisa Harrison extended the lead to 3-1 at 16:36 when Ladiges misplayed the puck behind her net and a miscommunication with her defenseman allowed Harrison to swoop in, collect the puck and wrap it around and into the wide open net.

With just three seconds remaining in the second period, Jordan Smelker provided the Engineers' fourth unanswered goal with a great individual effort to carry the puck through traffic in front of the Yale net before roofing a backhander past Ladiges. The Engineers would pile 24 shots on Ladiges in the period.

A series of RPI penalties in the final period gave Yale several opportunites, and although they would muster just five shots on goal, they would connect with one at 9:20 of the third, with Raines picking up her second of the game from the point. With the puck sneaking through nearly a half-dozen skaters in front of Piper, it appeared she never saw the puck until it was in the back of the net.

RPI ended the game having more than doubled the Bulldogs in shots, 44-20, en route to the 4-2 final score.

Brown

Smelker/Cox/Vandegrift
Sanders/Harrison/Svoboda
Mahoney/Guillemette/Mankey
Letuligasenoa

Castignetti/Marzario
Schilter/Vadner
Walsh/Horton

Piper

With two points in the bag after Friday night's win, RPI looked to build on the victory Saturday afternoon against Brown. With each point becoming more important as the games pass, the Engineers squandered an opportunity in allowing two goals on four shots in the second period, then taking a penalty just 15 seconds after tying the game late - and allowing Brown to score the game-winning goal on the ensuing power play.

A back-and-forth first period saw chances for both teams but few better than the one the Engineers got at the end of the period as they received nearly a minute and a half of 5-on-3 power play time following a pair of Brown penalties. RPI couldn't capitalize on the chance and instead it was Brown who gained the momentum with a goal just 31 seconds into the middle frame (sound familiar?). Controlling the puck in the RPI zone, Paige Pyett fired a shot from the point which Jessica Hoyle redirected past Piper for a 1-0 lead.

Janice Yang gave the Bears a 2-0 lead at 11:03 with a 4-on-3 power play goal, collecting the puck off her skate and sliding it around a sprawling Piper for the tally.

RPI battled back to tie the game in the third period, with Jill Vandegrift scoring at 2:51 of the final frame and Eleeza Cox tipped a puck past Katie Jamieson at 13:32 to knot the score at two.

At 13:47, Alisa Harrison would be sent off for interference and the Bears took just fifteen seconds to capitalize, with Alena Polenska putting a rebound past Piper for a 3-2 lead which would hold up through an RPI power play and a long string of extra attacker time for the Engineers.

The loss set the Engineers back by two points in the race for eighth place, with Brown holding both a two-point lead and a game in hand over the Engineers. Next weekend's games against Union will be critical for RPI - if they suffer another one of these letdowns that have plagued them the past few seasons against bottom-four teams, they may see their shot at the playoffs fade away before their eyes. The teams will meet in Schenectady at 3pm Friday and Troy the same time on Saturday.

-----

RPI vs. Yale
ECAC Hockey Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/20/12 – 7:00pm
RPI 4, Yale 2

BOX SCORES:

RECAPS:

RECORD: 6-15-4 (3-8-2 ECAC)

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RPI vs. Brown
ECAC Hockey Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/21/12 – 4:00pm
Brown 3, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:

RECAPS:

RECORD: 6-16-4 (3-9-2 ECAC)

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ECAC Standings
                GP    Pts     Conf    All
Cornell 14 26 13-1 18-2
Quinnipiac 16 22 10-4-2 14-9-2
Harvard 14 19 9-4-1 12-6-1
Dartmouth 14 18 8-4-2 12-6-2
St. Lawrence 14 18 8-4-2 14-7-4
Clarkson 14 18 8-4-2 14-7-5
Princeton 16 16 7-7-2 8-10-4
Brown 13 10 3-6-4 6-7-7
Rensselaer 14 8 3-9-2 6-16-4
Colgate 14 7 3-10-1 8-16-1
Union 14 6 2-10-2 4-18-4
Yale 13 2 1-12 1-19
-----

Upcoming Games

Jan. 27 - at Union (3pm)
Jan. 28 - Union (3pm)
Feb. 3 - at Cornell (7pm)
Feb. 4 - at Colgate (4pm)
Feb. 10 - Harvard (7pm)
Feb. 11 - Dartmouth (4pm)

Friday, January 20, 2012

Time for the Beast

This is arguably a bigger weekend for the women than it is for the men, so let's start off with them. Yale and Brown are coming to Troy, and both of these come across as very winnable games for the Engineers, given that Yale is 1-10-0 in ECAC play and Bruno is 2-6-3. Now, RPI isn't exactly lighting the world on fire at 2-8-2, but given the wide gap between 7th and 8th place (a shocking 8 points), the Engineers are now in a battle for the last playoff spot.

Does that mean being a sacrificial lamb for Cornell at the end of the day? Yes it does. But being that lamb is better than being at home, so the battle is on with Brown and Colgate for the spot. RPI is 1-0-1 against those teams this year. With the Union home-and-home next week, the time is certainly now for the Engineers to establish themselves as the team to beat for 8th place - eight points is not outside the realm of possibility in the next two weekends.

Meanwhile, the men are running out of time to turn the season around, and they face a Brown team tonight that has the ignoble position of being one of four teams RPI has beaten this year, and the only ECAC team. That might mean tonight would be a good time to bounce back from the whupping they took last week. Yale isn't lighting the world on fire themselves. However, the team is 1-8-0 on the road, and that doesn't impress anyone.

Gets tougher and tougher to get psyched up for the weekends. Here, try this one on for size. We haven't done any rap lately, especially not anyone as talented as the Nina. This is the clean version, don't worry kiddies.




Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Men's Hockey - American International (10 Jan), at Union (14 Jan)

What a difference four days makes. Less than a week after finally getting the monkey off their back with a mid-week win over American International (3-1) that snapped a seven-game winless streak, the Engineers backslid considerably on Saturday, getting overwhelmed early with a long two-man penalty kill followed by two shorthanded goals given up on consecutive power plays, falling to Union 5-1 in a game they never really were in.

American International
Lee/Higgs/Schroeder 
Neal/McGowan/Haggerty
Laliberte/O'Grady/Tinordi
Cullen/Malchuk/Rabbani
Burgdoerfer

Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen
Koudys

Merriam

Following the tie against Harvard that snapped a losing streak of six straight, RPI played its final non-conference game of the season on a Tuesday without school being in session - it made for a pretty empty Field House to begin the game (plus no band), although the final attendance did reach over 3,000, which is impressive considering all of that and the team's record.

Alex Angers-Goulet suffered a leg injury against Harvard and was out of action - a sickness affecting a few undisclosed members of the team also had an effect on the lineup, which led to 13 forwards and 5 defensemen dressing for the game against the Yellow Jackets.

RPI dominated play throughout the first two periods as we have rarely seen them dominate all year. Through the first 40 minutes, the Engineers uncorked 31 shots, while Bryce Merriam saw only 6 - three in each period - on the other end of the ice. However, some very solid play by AIC goaltender Ben Meisner kept RPI from scoring in the first period despite 14 shots on goal. He kept the Engineers out of the net for the first 13 minutes or so of the second period as well; although RPI thoroughly controlled the game, it was 0-0 halfway through.

The Engineers finally broke through with a shot right off a faceoff win from the point. Marty O'Grady won a draw in the AIC zone back to Curtis Leonard, whose shot beat a screened Meisner for the freshman's first career goal and point, making it 1-0 RPI.

Another blast from the point made it 2-0 about five minutes later, as Greg Burgdoerfer found Nick Bailen at the blue line, and the junior defenseman ripped a shot that was saved by Meisner, but C.J. Lee, who had been robbed on a similar play by  Cab Morris against Dartmouth just a few days earlier, swatted home the rebound into an open net.

AIC found some life in the third period, as they began to control the puck more frequently. RPI had only 6 shots on goal in the final 20 minutes, while the Yellow Jackets pushed to get themselves back into the game, which they did on a 4-on-4 goal with three minutes left to play, cutting the RPI lead in half and placing things in doubt. Meisner was pulled from the net, and AIC had some good chances to draw level, but eventually Joel Malchuk scored RPI's first empty net goal of the season with 28 seconds remaining to seal the Engineers' fourth win of the season.

Regardless of the win, there was much to dislike about the game. RPI was 0-for-6 on the power play and could only manage two goals despite a total domination of the first two periods.

Union
Lee/Higgs/Schroeder 
Neal/McGowan/Haggerty
Laliberte/O'Grady/Tinordi
Rabbani/Malchuk/Burgdoerfer

Leonard/Bergin  
Leboeuf/Bailen
Curadi/Koudys

Diebold

It was hoped that the victory would give the Engineers the push they needed to bounce back into league play with a push for home ice, but it was not to be on Saturday in Schenectady. Although Union had been through a tough outdoor game the previous night in Boston (a 2-0 win over Harvard at Fenway Park), they appeared no worse for the wear against a relatively rested RPI squad.

The Engineers dressed 13 forwards for the pre-game warmup, and Patrick Cullen was removed from the lineup as a game-time decision.

If it could go wrong for RPI early on, it did. Matt Tinordi picked up a hitting from behind penalty just 2:13 into the game, and after getting burned on a move in his own zone, Curtis Leonard added a holding penalty 18 seconds later, giving Union a long 5-on-3. While the Dutchmen technically didn't capitalize on the two-man advantage, they scored two seconds after Tinordi's penalty expired, too early for RPI to add the fourth skater back to the defensive scheme, so it was functionally a 5-on-3 goal that put Union ahead 1-0.

It only got worse as RPI ostensibly got opportunities to draw even. On the Engineers' first power play chance three minutes later, a lazy effort moving down ice ended with Union moving quickly in transition and netting a shorthanded goal to make it 2-0. Four minutes after that, RPI's second power play resulted in yet another shorthanded goal, this one from an exceptionally lackadaisical pass in the defensive zone that caused a turnover right in front of Scott Diebold, who had no chance as Union went up 3-0 after about 13 minutes of play.

That was a bridge too far for the Engineers, but Union dominated play in the first two periods almost as much as RPI had against AIC - the only difference being that they managed goals during that domination. Another power play goal came in the latter half of the second period, making it 4-0.

RPI supposedly put 40 shots on net - a questionable tally - and got only one goal, oddly enough, coming in a shorthanded situation as Nick Bailen scored his fourth goal of the season with six minutes left to play, but by this time it was far too late. Union added an empty netter four minutes later for the final tally.

Both teams officially combined for 80 shots in the game (40 each), which again is questionable, but it does at least underscore perhaps the one player who had an OK game for the Engineers - Scott Diebold. He did not give up a single goal at even strength and was hung out to dry completely on three of the four goals he allowed.

RPI heads back on the road next weekend to face an unpredictable Brown team and an also-down-on-their-luck Yale squad. Time is running out for a turnaround.

Other junk - Ranked teams on the RPI schedule this week are #7 Notre Dame (down four), #9 Cornell (no change), #11 Colorado College (down three), #12 Union (up two), #13 Ferris State (no change), #14 UMass-Lowell (down three) and #18 Colgate (down six). Also receiving votes were Quinnipiac (15), Harvard (6), Minnesota State (4) and RIT (2).

The Engineers are now 6 points behind the rest of the field. To show how big of a gap that is, 11th place Dartmouth and St. Lawrence are 7 points behind first place. 8th place, the last home ice spot, is 7 points out as well. Not looking good for hockey at Houston Field House past Senior Night.

ECAC Standings (by win% in parentheses)
1 (1). Cornell - 16 pts (7-1-2)
2 (2). Union - 15 pts (6-2-3)
3 (8). Quinnipiac - 14 pts (5-5-4)
4 (3). Colgate - 12 pts (6-4-0)
5 (11). Princeton - 12 pts (5-8-2)
6 (4). Yale - 11 pts (5-4-1)
7 (7). Clarkson - 11 pts (4-4-3)
8 (6). Brown - 10 pts (4-4-2)
9 (9). Harvard - 10 pts (3-3-4)
10 (5). Dartmouth - 9 pts (4-4-1)
11 (10). St. Lawrence - 9 pts (4-6-1)
12 (12). RPI - 3 pts (1-8-1)

American International at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/10/12- 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, American International 1

BOX SCORES

RECAPS

RECORD: 4-16-1 (1-7-1 ECAC, 3 pts)

RPI at #14 Union
ECAC Game -  Achilles Center (Schenectady, NY)
1/14/12 - 7:00pm
RESULT: Union 5, RPI 1

BOX SCORES

RECAPS

RECORD: 4-17-1 (1-8-1 ECAC, 3 pts)

Upcoming games
20 Jan - at Brown
21 Jan - at Yale
27 Jan - St. Lawrence
28 Jan - Clarkson
03 Feb - #9 Cornell

Monday, January 16, 2012

Women's Hockey - at Dartmouth & Harvard (13/14 Jan)

The road trip to Dartmouth and Harvard is never an easy one and this year proved no different for RPI, with the Engineers falling 4-2 in Hanover before letting a 3-0 advantage slip away the following afternoon, allowing five straight goals in a 5-3 loss to Harvard.

Dartmouth

Cox/Vandegrift/Smelker
Mahoney/Guillemette/Horton
Letuligasenoa/Svoboda
Sanders/Mankey

Castignetti/Marzario
Le Donne/Walsh
Schilter/Vadner

O'Brien

An early Engineer lead lasted just seven minutes before Dartmouth took control of the game and never looked back, besting RPI 4-2 at Thompson Arena on Friday night.

Amanda Castignetti put the Engineers on the board at 11:47 of the opening frame with a long-range slapshot on the power play, which deflected off a Dartmouth defenseman and past goalie Lindsay Holdcroft.

The Big Green answered just eleven seconds into a power play of their own, after controlling the puck off the faceoff and feeding it to Camille Dumais behind the net. Seeing a pass through the crease coming, Kelly O'Brien slid laterally to prevent the one-timer, but the pass was deflected off an RPI defenseman and straight to senior Kelly Foley who put it home to tie the game at one.

Dumais would pick up Dartmouth's second goal late in the second period, with Jordan Smelker off on a tripping penalty. Dumais rushed down ice with Jenna Hobeika on a two-on-one which the Big Green converted for a 2-1 lead.

Dartmouth would hold the lead for the rest of the contest, making it 3-1 at 2:55 of the third period as Reagan Fischer scored on a delayed penalty against RPI. The Engineers drew back to within one at 15:56 when Jordan Smelker deflected a shot by Sierra Vadner past Holdcroft to make it 3-2.

With Taylor Horton in the box late for tripping, O'Brien went to the bench to allow RPI some 5-on-5 time with the extra attacker, but Dartmouth controlled the puck and just Erica Dobos hit the empty net for the final 4-2 score.

Harvard

Cox/Vandegrift/Smelker
Mahoney/Guillemette/Horton
Letuligasenoa/Svoboda/Sanders
Mankey

Le Donne/Vadner
Castignetti/Marzario
Schilter/Walsh

Piper

It hasn't been often that RPI has jumped out to a large or early lead this season, so it must have been a little surprising when the Engineers found themselves up 3-0 on Harvard just past the midpoint of the second period. Surprised or not, the lead did not last as RPI allowed two goals in a minute and a half to close out the second, two goals in two minutes near the middle of the third, and an empty netter en route to a tough 5-3 loss to Harvard thanks in large part to a hat trick by Gina McDonald.

The Engineers picked up the lone tally of the first period when Laura Guillemette scored on the power play at 4:38 to make it 1-0. They would go on to extend that lead to 3-0 in the span of just over a minute in the second period, with Sierra Vadner roofing a shot past Laura Bellamy at 12:05 before Jill Vandegrift made it 3-0 at 13:07.

Before the period ended, Harvard closed the lead to 3-2 behind a goal from Jillian Dempsey at 16:31 and a 5-on-3 tally for McDonald at 17:57. The Crimson outshot the Engineers 15-5 in the frame, turning the tables and setting up a third period which saw just three RPI shots on goal in what quickly became a Harvard-dominated affair.

Kelly Armstrong tied the game at three just 7:35 into the third period. Given a little too much room to work in the slot, Armstrong had time to tee up a shot and beat Brianna Piper top shelf with a nice shot.

Less than two minutes later, McDonald scored her second of the night on a close-range rebound opportunity in front of Piper to put the Crimson ahead 4-3. McDonald capped off Harvard's first hat trick of the season at 18:56 with an empty net goal.

With a very large gap starting to open up between seventh place St. Lawrence (15 points), eighth place Brown/Colgate (7 points) and the Engineers (6 points) it's becoming a 3-way race to capture the eighth and final playoff spot for the Engineers. No games may be more important in realizing that goal then next two weekends when the Engineers take on Yale and Brown at home before a home and home with Union. With four games against bottom-four teams ahead, now would be the ideal time for RPI to put together a string of wins, rack up some points and catapult themselves into that final playoff position - especially since the remaining RPI schedule gets much tougher, including second games against Cornell, Harvard, and Dartmouth.

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RPI at Dartmouth
ECAC Hockey Game – Thompson Arena (Hanover, NH)
1/13/12 – 7:00pm
Dartmouth 4, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:

RECAPS:


RECORD: 5-14-4 (2-7-2 ECAC)

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RPI at Harvard
ECAC Hockey Game – Bright Hockey Center (Boston, MA)
1/14/12 – 4:00pm
Harvard 5, RPI 3

BOX SCORES:

RECAPS:

RECORD: 5-15-4 (2-8-2 ECAC)

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ECAC Standings
                GP    Pts     Conf    All
Cornell 12 22 11-1 15-2
Quinnipiac 16 22 10-4-2 14-9-2
Harvard 12 17 8-3-1 11-5-1
Clarkson 12 17 8-3-1 14-6-4
Dartmouth 12 16 7-3-2 11-5-2
Princeton 16 16 7-7-2 8-10-4
St. Lawrence 12 15 7-4-1 13-7-3
Brown 11 7 2-6-3 5-7-6
Colgate 12 7 3-8-1 8-14-1
Rensselaer 12 6 2-8-2 5-15-4
Union 12 3 1-10-1 3-18-3
Yale 11 2 1-10 1-17
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Upcoming Games

Jan. 20 - Yale (7pm)
Jan. 21 - Brown (4pm)
Jan. 27 - at Union (3pm)
Jan. 28 - Union (3pm)
Feb. 3 - at Cornell (7pm)
Feb. 4 - at Colgate (4pm)

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Wind Burn

Union returns home from a cold, windy win against Harvard in Boston at Fenway Park to find last-place RPI waiting for them in the NYSDOT salt dome they call Messa Rink. Do I smell third straight "turning point" for the Dutch?

Maybe. But we'll bet they were playing on better quality ice last night.

There's a natural way of things. The ratio of a Euclidean circle's circumference to its diameter is pi. When gravity equals drag, terminal velocity is achieved. And the hockey program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is superior to that at Union College. Some things in nature, of course, get upset from time to time, but there's a reason the expansion from 10 to 12 teams in the ECAC playoffs was referred to as the "Union rule," and why RPI's record is presently described as "Unionian."

Order will eventually be restored to the universe, it always does. Maybe it won't be tonight. But their time will come.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Youth Movement

It has been a rough year on both sides, there's no question. But there's reason for optimism - both the men's and women's teams have young talent that is taking the lead on a lot of things.

At the beginning of the second half of the season, there were two good options for the men - either play your best players and hope for the best result from them, or get your younger players more experience with an eye toward the future.

Ultimately, those options were realistically the same thing. That has seen some upperclassmen fighting for ice time. There's no reason not to expect that, when healthy, we will see all five freshman forwards in the lineup on the men's side.

The freshman are making a significant impact on the women's team as well, with Eleeza Cox, Ali Svoboda, and Taylor Mahoney each making solid contributions already.

Six of the top ten scorers for the men are freshmen and sophomores (and four are freshmen).  Six of the seven freshman skaters have put the puck in the net this season at least once.  Freshmen lead both teams in goals scored (Ryan Haggerty with five and Cox with eight).

Those sophomores and freshmen will be juniors and sophomores next year, and both teams have some pretty solid recruits ready to come in as freshmen next season, too. More on them soon.

In the meantime, it's game day for the women as they head off to play at Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend.  Neither team, of course, can be considered low-hanging fruit, but neither seem invincible either. Might be a good weekend to gain some ground if the team plays as well as they did last weekend in a solid win over Colgate (which was followed by a "hang in there and don't get killed" outing against Cornell, easily the class of the league).

Here's a pumpup for the women this weekend. Been looking for a good excuse to go with Muse, this feels like the weekend.



We'll have another tomorrow for the men as they spend today making sure their immunizations are up to date for the yearly trip to Schenectady.

And once again, apologies for the recent lack of content. Podcasts will be returning as soon as our new computer arrives.

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.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Men's Hockey - Dartmouth & Harvard (6/7 Jan)

RPI's long awaited return to Houston Field House took place last weekend, with Friday's game against Dartmouth kicking off live college hockey coverage on the newly named NBC Sports Network. The team didn't disappoint in effort for the most part, but the results are still lacking. RPI scored first both nights, but couldn't recover from a terrible stretch in the second period on Saturday and fell 4-3 to Dartmouth before losing a 2-0 lead on Saturday to settle for a 2-2 tie with Harvard.

Dartmouth
Lee/O'Grady/Schroeder
Laliberte/Higgs/Haggerty
Angers-Goulet/McGowan/Neal
Tinordi/Malchuk/Cullen

Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen
Curadi/Dolan

Merriam

Although it was feared that the Dartmouth game could have produced a pretty empty crowd, it actually turned out only 32 fans less than the previous home game against Union - although the Union crowd was likely somewhat depressed from what it could have been since that game was played on a Tuesday. 3,501 was the announced attendance and it didn't look untrue.

Joel Malchuk got the Engineers on the board first with an even strength goal at 12:31 of the first period during a first 15 minutes generally dominated by RPI,  but they were unable to carry that lead over into the first intermission. Dartmouth struck back five minutes later on a wrist shot that not only tied the game, but was also followed by a power play as Mark McGowan had been called on a delayed penalty for hooking.

That was killed off, but the Big Green would also grab the next three goals in the second period, including a pair of soft ones that put the Engineers behind the eight ball. A power play goal just four seconds into a Guy Leboeuf penalty eight and a half minutes into the second made it 2-0 Dartmouth, and then five minutes later RPI gave up two goals in just 1:15, both on odd man rushes, putting the Big Green up 4-1 and  visibly frustrating the team, which had been playing fairly well throughout the game until that pair.

Dartmouth would get into a bit of penalty trouble shortly thereafter, allowing RPI to claw their way back into things. Enjoying a long five-on-three chance, the Engineers struck just under two minutes after going down by three, with Ryan Haggerty scoring his fifth goal of the year (and fifth power play goal) to make it 4-2, and then Matt Tinordi potting his second goal of the season just 21 seconds later on the ensuing five-on-four to bring RPI within one.

Despite a solid third period effort, that was as close as the Engineers would get to tying things back up. One power play opportunity midway through the period was all the advantage they would get. Cab Morris made seven stops, including an absolute monster robbery of C.J. Lee with a diving glove save on an open net, and Nick Bailen hit crossbar during the power play. That was as close as they got - one of those games where with just a couple of more minutes, things could have been different. The 1:15 letdown also proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that a team can play very well for nearly the entire game, and still lose if the right conditions exist.

Harvard
Tinordi/Malchuk/Rogic
Laliberte/Higgs/Haggerty
Angers-Goulet/McGowan/Neal
Lee/O'Grady/Schroeder 

Leboeuf/Bailen
Leonard/Bergin  
Koudys/Dolan 

Diebold

The back end of the weekend was not as well attended and included just a few changes in the lineup - Scott Diebold got the nod in net, with Johnny Rogic replacing Patrick Cullen on the Malchuk line and Pat Koudys replacing Luke Curadi on defense.

RPI got off to perhaps their best start of the entire season, notching two goals in the first period for just the second time all season (at Princeton on 12/2) and going up 2-0 also for just the second time all season (at RIT on 11/25). Even more impressively, both goals came at even strength as Zach Schroeder scored 5:11 into the affair with his third goal of the season, followed just 26 seconds later by C.J. Lee with his second of the year, giving the Engineers the early edge.

From there, however, the offensive pressure diminished rapidly. Harvard would pull back within one just two minutes later on the power play with Mike Bergin serving a holding penalty, and the Crimson outshot RPI 12-4 in the first period.

There was no scoring and were no power plays in the second period, but the lopsided shot totals remained. After 40 minutes, the Engineers had just five total shots on goal - that's ONE for the entire second period - trailed 21-5 in shots, and still had the 2-1 lead.

Harvard did not wait long after play resumed to get the tying goal. In a four-on-four situation, the Crimson tied the score just 1:34 into the third period. Harvard picked up the only power play opportunity  of the period - in fact the only one since their first goal of the contest nearly 50 minutes earler - but the Engineers held on. RPI put up more shots in the final 25 minutes (8) than they had in the first two periods, but it was not enough as the team had to settle for a tie.

Diebold finished with 25 saves in a bizarre game that the Engineers led for more than half the contest, but were essentially outplayed in the end, a day after outplaying the opponent for much of the game and losing. That's hockey for you.

Other junk - Ranked teams on the RPI schedule this week are #3 Notre Dame (up two), #8 Colorado College (down two), #9 Cornell (up four), #11 UMass-Lowell (up one), #12 Colgate (down three), #13 Ferris State (up four), and #14 Union (no change). Also receiving votes were Yale (33), Harvard (7) and Quinnipiac (2).

The Engineer offense continues to push its numbers upwards - they have at least two goals in each of their last eight games now - but it still stands next to last in the nation at 1.45 goals per game, just ahead of Alabama-Huntsville's 1.12.

The defense continues to sink. It now stands tied with Wisconsin for 44th (out of 58 teams) at 3.15 goals per game. Combined with the weak offensive numbers, the Engineers are third from the bottom in point differential (-1.7 goals per game), although well ahead of Alabama-Huntsville (-3.04) and Sacred Heart (-3.25).

RPI does actually have a couple of noteworthy players on the national level, though "noteworthy" may be kind of a stretch. Brock Higgs ranks 45th nationally in assists per game (he's putting together two every three games), Ryan Haggerty's five power play goals ranks him 22nd in the nation, and Nick Bailen's 0.60 points per game is 43rd nationally among defensemen.

The first goal of the game is usually the most important, but RPI hasn't made it stick. The Engineers are 2-5-1 when scoring first.

The Harvard tie snapped a six-game losing streak, during which the Engineers gave up at least three goals in each game. RPI is 3-4-1 when holding the opponent under three goals - another oddity.

American International is on a six-game losing streak since beating Brown 3-0 on November 22. This is not a game RPI can afford to lose or even tie if it wants to continue to build momentum. Still, it could prove an important confidence booster heading into the remainder of the season - to include the year's lone road home game out at Houston Field House West in Schenectady this coming Saturday.

ECAC Standings (by win% in parentheses)
1 (1). Cornell - 13 pts (6-1-1)
2 (2). Colgate - 12 pts (6-2-0)
3 (7). Quinnipiac - 12 pts (4-4-4)
4 (4). Union - 11 pts (4-2-3)
5 (3). Yale - 10 pts (5-3-0)
6 (6). Harvard - 10 pts (3-3-4)
7 (5). Dartmouth - 9 pts (4-4-1)
8 (11). Princeton - 9 pts (4-8-1)
9 (9). St. Lawrence - 8 pts (4-5-0)
10 (8). Clarkson - 8 pts (3-4-2)
11 (10). Brown - 7 pts (3-4-1)
12 (12). RPI - 3 pts (1-7-1)

Dartmouth at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/6/12- 7:30pm
RESULT: Dartmouth 4, RPI 3

BOX SCORES

RECAPS

RECORD: 3-16-0 (1-7-0 ECAC, 2 pts)

Harvard at RPI
ECAC Game -  Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/7/12 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 2, Harvard 2

BOX SCORES

RECAPS
RPI

RECORD: 3-16-1 (1-7-1 ECAC, 3 pts)

Upcoming games
10 Jan - American International
14 Jan - at #14 Union
20 Jan - at Brown
21 Jan - at Yale
27 Jan - St. Lawrence