Friday, November 30, 2012

Meow

This weekend, the Engineers face off against Princeton and Quinnipiac in what have already basically become do-or-die contests. Sitting at the bottom of the ECAC with 0 points thus far on the season, and two points behind everyone else, getting swept wouldn't be a final death blow, but it would make things very, very, very difficult going forward. Points are simply a must this weekend.

Are we talking about the men or the women?

Answer: Yes.

Tonight in Troy, the men take on a Princeton team that pulled off an unexpected home sweep of Cornell and Colgate three weeks ago, but has done basically nothing else impressive, especially a 7-2 execution at the hands of Clarkson and a 3-1 loss to struggling UMass-Lowell last week. The Tigers are one spot behind the Engineers in KRACH, which would tend to predict a close game tonight and certainly one RPI can win.

The one hangup - RPI is expected to have a short bench. From what's been said, C.J. Lee and Zach Schroeder are still out, Mark McGowan has mono and hasn't been practicing, Craig Bokenfohr and Phil Hampton are suspended for the weekend due to an "on-campus incident," and it sounds like Brock Higgs and Johnny Rogic are going to be game-time decisions tonight. That's dicey heading into a must-win weekend.

The women head into Hamden to face off with Quinnipiac tonight. When last we saw the Bobcats just 20 days ago, the Engineers put 32 shots on senior netminder Victoria Vigilanti but could only come away with two goals, the second a late extra attacker goal. She's been a tough cookie to crumble for RPI, but they're going to need to find a way tonight.

The ladies then move on to Princeton, a team they lost to 6-5 in a game that was probably the perfect example of a "track meet," as the teams basically traded goals all night long. Can the defense improve enough against the Tigers to pull out a win? That's going to be the key.

A more difficult task awaits the men tomorrow night against Quinnipiac, with the Bobcats' early season inconsistency pretty much vanished. After they were stunned by American International on November 6 - probably the most shocking Election Night result of all, a 2-1 loss - Quinnipiac has since gone unbeaten in six straight games, including four big ECAC victories in a row, to include a sweep of Colgate and Cornell. Through the stretch, the Q has gotten the good offense, the good defense, and the good power play they need to be one of the elite teams in the league that we thought they'd be.

How about a little Uncle Ted for the weekend pumpup? This is a pretty rockin' live version, but there are a few colorful words, so you may want to wait until you get home from work to get pumped.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

New World Order

We are in the final season of the fourth iteration of the conference system in college hockey. Next year, things are going to look mighty different.

Fourth, you ask? What were the other three? Well, here they are, roughly.

1961 - 1981: The ECAC and the WCHA rule the roost, though the latter is generally stronger. Every national championship during this time period was won by a team from one of these conferences, through to 1983. The CCHA begins as a relatively minor conference midway through this period.

1981 - 1985: Still largely a period of dominance between the ECAC and the WCHA, but the CCHA's addition of Michigan and Michigan State shifts the balance a bit away from the WCHA.

1985 - 2000: The Hockey East split leads to a shift of power between the new conference, the WCHA, and the CCHA, with the ECAC in slow decline, especially after the early 1990s.

2000 - 2013: The era of the "Big Three," as the ECAC moves out of a position of power to become the lone mid-major, while the MAAC/AHA comes to being as the lone minor conference.

2013 - ???: The Big Ten tsunami rearranges the college hockey landscape as never before.

What could we be looking at in this fifth iteration of conference paradigm in college hockey?

Well, now that every team has lost a game this season, let's look at the current KRACH ratings to see where the new conference structure would stand if it were theoretically in place today - not a perfect comparison, since conference schedules will shift, but this is what it looks like.

Hockey East - 1, 2, 6, 7, 14, 19, 26, 34, 43, 44, 45, 52
NCHC - 3, 9, 10, 11, 15, 18, 20, 39
ECAC - 4, 5, 8, 13, 16, 17, 21, 23, 31, 32, 33, 46
Big Ten - 12, 27, 37, 42, 49, 54
WCHA - 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 35, 36, 38, 50
Atlantic Hockey - 22, 40, 41, 47, 48, 51, 53, 55, 56, 57, 59
Independents - 58

Look at the NCHC - that's a holy cow stat right there. Seven of its eight teams are currently among the 20 best in the nation, and the eighth (Minnesota-Duluth) won a national championship two years ago. Think that might be a power conference?

The Big Ten is having a shockingly bad season in it's year before birth (to wit - independent Penn State is ranked ahead of 1-7-2 Wisconsin, and Michigan ain't that far ahead of them), but this season is likely the exception and not the rule, considering that four of the six teams in the conference are regulars in the national tournament under the current structure.

Also, no one can deny Hockey East's excellent standing, especially with Notre Dame about to join the fold. Three of its usual "Big Four" are off to a great start (Maine... not so much), although the biggest problem Hockey East faces is its gap between haves and have nots. Providence's decent start has them somewhere in the middle (26th), but besides the Friars there's a big gap between UMass-Lowell (19th) and Merrimack (34th). Still, in recent seasons we've seen the Warriors competitive and the River Hawks not so competitive. They'll be a strong conference.

Atlantic Hockey, with all but two of its teams outside the top 2/3 of the nation, will continue their current role of providing their tournament winner an automatic bid and nothing more. They are still a cost-containment league and until that changes, they are where they are.

That leaves the fate of the original two up for ponderance... the ECAC and the WCHA.

First, the ECAC. The only changes our league needs to worry about is how the shifting paradigms affect recruiting. The last shift certainly affected things for the worse, but with five teams offering a full complement of scholarships and the league as a whole attractive for the educational side, there's only so far the ECAC will slide. It's probably already reached the bottom, really.

But the new WCHA could be in an almost worse situation than the ECAC, and quickly. A mashup of the leftovers between the CCHA and current WCHA after the Big Ten and NCHC tore away basically all of their top programs, it's hard to peg an absolute best program from this new group of nine. By KRACH, right now, it's Alaska followed by Ferris State. You'd almost have to call the Bulldogs early favorites.

The currently comprised ECAC has won only five national championships, among only three of its members, and none since 1989 (Harvard). The new WCHA will have eight, among four members, but none since 1994 (Lake Superior State). That's not overly dissimilar.

There's one other way to look at which conference has the most power teams - NCAA bids. The conferences have averaged the following total bids per season in the last 10 years (since the tournament was expanded).

WCHA - 4.4 mean, 4/5 median, 5 mode (High 6 - 2008; Low 3 - 2007 and 2009)
CCHA - 3.9 mean, 4 median, 4 mode (High 5 - 2004 and 2012, Low 3 - 2003)
Hockey East - 3.6 mean, 4 median, 4 mode (High 5 - 2007; Low 2 - 2008)
ECAC - 2.2 mean, 2 median, 2 mode (High 3 - 2005, 2009, 2011; Low 1 - 2004)

Now apply the total bids per season to the new conferences.

NCHC - 4.2 mean, 4 median, 4 mode (High 7 - 2011; Low 3 - 2003 and 2005)
Hockey East - 4.1 mean (High 6 - 2007; Low 3 - 2008 and 2010)
Big Ten - 3.1 mean, 3 median, 3/4 mode (High 5 - 2004; Low 1 - 2011)
ECAC - 2.2 mean, 2 median, 2 mode (High 3 - 2005, 2009, 2011; Low 1 - 2004)
WCHA - 0.9 mean, 1 median, 0/1 mode (High 3 - 2010; Low 0 - 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011)

That's astounding to see. In the new WCHA, there were four different years in the last ten that none of the teams made the tournament. In fact, between 2004 and 2009 (six consecutive years), there wasn't a single team that will play in the WCHA next year that earned an at-large bid - Bemidji State, on three occasions in that span, won the CHA's automatic bid.

What does that mean? Well, for starters, it means the WCHA is dropping off a long ways prestige-wise. But a cursory look at the numbers tells us that, at least at first, hockey's new world order is still going to consist of the "Big Three," but two of those will be brand new conferences. The ECAC will still be a mid-major, in all likelihood.

The WCHA, however, looks like it's going to have to fight - and hard - to be mid-major level. It essentially ended up as the Island of Misfit Toys after realignment, and although its autobid now represents a big chance for teams that frequently don't get to compete for either the WCHA or CCHA autobid most years in the past, the new league may be hard-pressed to pick up an at-large bid even with the regularity of the ECAC, which almost always gets one and not unfrequently snags a second.

The NCHC, once it gets assembled, will almost certainly never get 7 bids as it did in 2011 (that would be almost the entire league, and someone has to finish in last), but the mean totals could average out about right. That would likely mean, more often than not, the WCHA will probably have to settle for its autobid, but at least they'll probably grab an extra bid every once in a while, which pegs them above Atlantic Hockey. But it looks like a quick drop from the top for college hockey's oldest conference, almost certainly quicker than the ECAC's fall from grace. Their motto is "just got tougher," put in place after Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha joined the fold. They can keep it next year, but it'll have a different meaning.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Women's Hockey - at Syracuse (23/24 Nov)


If you were hoping to see the Engineers close out their two weekends of non-conference play on a positive note, you were sorely disappointed this weekend as RPI was shutout 4-0 on consecutive nights at the hands of the Syracuse Orange. While the Orange have been steadily improving since starting their Division I team in 2008, there's no good way to spin the results of this weekend for the Engineers, which saw them outshot by a 60-31 margin across their two games.

Friday

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

Le Donne/Schilter
Daniels/Banks
Godin/Marzario

O'Brien

A first period in which RPI was outshot 14-1 set the tone for a rough afternoon, with Kelly O'Brien stopping 32 shots but the Engineers still surrendering four goals en route to a 4-0 defeat Friday evening at Tennity Ice Pavilion in Syracuse.

Margot Scharfe scored on the only power play of the first period to put the Orange up 1-0. Melissa Piacentini tacked on a goal just shy of the midpoint of the second period, then picked up a second at 7:01 of the third period to take it to 3-0.

With back to back power play chances in the latter half of the third period, RPI took a risk in pulling O'Brien in order to try for a 6-on-4 push, but the effort backfired and Holly Carrie-Mattimoe notched a shorthanded empty netter at 13:24 to make it a 4-0 game. O'Brien returned to the net for the remainder of the game and the 4-0 score stood with the Orange outshooting the Engineers 36-14 on the night.

Saturday

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

Godin/Marzario
Daniels/Banks
Le Donne/Schilter

O'Brien

While the overall effort from the Engineers improved from Friday to Saturday, back to back penalties in the third period made all the difference as a pair of power play goals helped push Syracuse to their second 4-0 shutout in a row.

A first period which had been going much better for RPI took a turn for the worse at 10:19 when Sadie St. Germain scored to give the Orange a 1-0 lead.

A fairly evenly matched second period followed, with RPI and Syracuse trading penalties but neither team capitalizing on their opportunities. In the third period, however, the wheels fell off for RPI once again.

A checking call on Lauren Wash early in the third period set Syracuse up for a power play goal just 16 seconds into the man advantage, and another penalty less than 30 seconds after the goal had Syracuse putting RPI in a 3-goal hole all before the five minute mark of the period.

An empty net goal would finish things off in much the same fashion as the night before, with the Engineers being shutout in consecutive games for the first time in nearly two years.

RPI returns to ECAC action next weekend with a rematch of their last league games at Quinnipiac and Princeton. The Engineers will need a substantially better effort then they've shown in the past few weeks if they hope to improve upon the sweep they suffered at the hands of these teams three weeks ago. Game times are 7pm Friday from Hamden and 4pm Saturday from Princeton.

-----

RPI vs. Syracuse
Non-Conference Game – Tennity Ice Pavilion (Syracuse, NY)
11/23/12 - 7pm
Syracuse 4, RPI 0

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/11/23/rensselaer-vs-syracuse/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wrensyr1.n23

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2012/11/23/WICE_1123124333.aspx
SU: http://www.suathletics.com/news/2012/11/23/WICE_1123123100.aspx

RECORD: 2-9-2 (0-4-0 ECAC)

-----

RPI vs. Syracuse
Non-Conference Game – Tennity Ice Pavilion (Syracuse, NY)
11/24/12 - 4pm
Syracuse 4, RPI 0

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/11/24/rensselaer-vs-syracuse/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wrensyr1.n24

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2012/11/24/WICE_1124123812.aspx
SU: http://www.suathletics.com/news/2012/11/24/WICE_1124124120.aspx

RECORD: 2-10-2 (0-4-0 ECAC)

-----

ECAC Standings

1. Cornell - 14 points (7-1-0)
2t. Clarkson - 12 points (6-0-0)
2t. Harvard - 12 points (6-0-0)
4. St. Lawrence - 10 points (5-1-0)
5. Quinnipiac - 9 points (4-3-1)
6. Dartmouth - 7 points (3-2-1)
7. Princeton - 4 points (1-5-2)
8t. Union - 2 points (0-2-2)
8t. Brown - 2 points (1-5-0)
8t. Yale - 2 points (0-5-1)
8t. Colgate - 2 points (0-6-2)
12. RPI - 0 points (0-4-0)

-----

Upcoming Games

Nov. 30 - at Quinnipiac (7pm)
Dec. 1 - at Princeton (4pm)
Dec. 7 - Brown (7pm)
Dec. 8 - Yale (4pm)

Friday, November 23, 2012

Orange Friday... and Saturday

It's becoming a yearly tradition for the women, and a fun one at that - an annual nonconference weekend against the Syracuse Orange.

If you go back several decades, you can find sports in which Syracuse and RPI once competed against each other - notably, four 'Cuse wins in football between 1901 and 1930, and a few lacrosse meetings back when both schools had excellent programs and there was little to no distinction between large and small schools. Syracuse, which not unreasonably brands itself as "New York's College Team," especially in the New York City area, doesn't have a huge offering of varsity athletics, but they do typically field competitive football (or used to), basketball, and lacrosse teams, something few schools can - but they practically never play schools like RPI.

Women's hockey is the exception. Ever since the Orange began their varsity program in 2009, they've had a yearly weekend of games against the Engineers, and after three seasons it's becoming a friendly rivalry that's been fairly close, as 'Cuse holds a 3-2-1 series edge. The series returns to Syracuse this weekend for the second time, where RPI picked up a win and a tie two years ago before a split in Troy last season.

Syracuse (6-5-1) split weekends with Union, Quinnipiac, and UConn earlier this season, all teams the Engineers have played with mediocre results. They're seeking to run with usual CHA beasts Mercyhurst, and doing a decent job of it sitting just one point back in the standings. Granted, Penn State is now in the CHA to provide some of those wins (two for the Orange), but 'Cuse has already eclipsed their overall point total from last season in just four games. All signs point to a tough weekend for an Engineer squad still searching for a boost - but not one that would be impossible to overcome with the right showing.

Here's this weekend's pumpup. Sure, it's about the Vietnam War, but the title's right.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Arguing With Math

So, the other day I was reading USCHO looking for some insight, and I found this.

Hard to argue with the math, which shows ECAC Hockey leading the way

Oh, really? Well, allow me to retort.

The argument that the ECAC "leads the way" nationally in this final season under the current structure is predicated apparently on one item alone - the league boasts the best non-conference record in the nation. That is true - the ECAC is 21-12-7 in non-conference play thus far, a national best .613. Eliminating AHA from the mix, you have a record against the "big three" of 11-8-3. Not bad at all.

Apparently, we're supposed to care that Dartmouth was #1 in the PairWise Rankings before last week's games, too.

OK, now before we start, let's be frank. We don't seek to pile on our own league here. In fact, we defend our league where we can - for example, two seasons ago when the larger college hockey world howled at the audacity of Yale claiming to be the top team in the nation (which they were for several weeks), the Bulldogs had few more fervent defenders than us.

But... seriously. Let's cut the crap.

First, the easy one. The PairWise are a complete joke in October, worthless in November, an oddity in December, intriguing in January, worth pondering in February, and vital in March. Let's see... yes, it's November.

Now, the more complex one.

This far into the early part of the season, if you want a general indication of which teams are doing well and which ones aren't, your best bet is actually... the polls. Yes, there are always a few jokers in there who don't know what they're talking about (see also whoever it was who had Union as the top team in the nation following the Dutchmen's tie with UConn, despite the existence of a Boston College team which is now 28-1 in its last 29 games). But by and large, it's good enough for its purpose this early in the season. Meaningless, of course, but at least an indicator.

And what do we have here! Five ranked ECAC teams? Inconceivable! Yes, Union, Dartmouth, Cornell, Harvard, and Quinnipiac are all ranked in the Top 20. That's a full quarter of the ranking. Heck, Hockey East only has three. But who are these teams playing outside of their own conference?

#1 BC: 1 CCHA
#2 DU: 1 Hockey East, 1 AHA
#3 UNH: 2 WCHA
#4 Minnesota: 2 CCHA, 1 AHA

Are we seeing a trend here?

#5 Miami: 2 ECAC, 2 Hockey East

Aha! Finally, a top team that has played against the ECAC. And... the final scores were Miami 3, Colgate 0 and Miami 5, Colgate 1. Way to go, Raiders. You let the whole conference down.

#6 Notre Dame: 2 Hockey East, 2 WCHA
#7 North Dakota: 1 CCHA, 2 Hockey East
#8 Union: No ranked non-conference opponents
#9 Western Michigan: 2 ECAC. 2 AHA

OK, what do we have here... oh, St. Lawrence beat WMU in overtime 4-3, then lost the next night 3-2. A split, not too shabby. But let's cut to the chase here. The ECAC is 5-5-1 against currently ranked teams. .500 isn't too bad, of course, but the only way to get there is to include Colgate's 10-3 win over now-#20 Niagara, and we aren't really seeking to compare the ECAC to Atlantic Hockey are we?

Cornell's sweep of Colorado College is about the only real noteworthy event for the league in nonconference play thus far. It's the only matchup that has taken place all season between a ranked ECAC team and another team that's ranked. And now they're being jumped in league play so far. The other four ranked ECAC teams? Their non-conference resumes don't include a single ranked team to date.

St. Lawrence's overtime win over Western Michigan probably ranks as the league's non-conference victory of the year - it is the only time an ECAC team has beaten a team in the Top 10 with the exception of Dartmouth's win over Union in league play.

The bottom line is that the ECAC may be doing well outside the conference, but the majority of the success is coming against the middle and bottom third of the national strata, and the league's standard-bearers aren't exactly collecting impressive non-conference wins.

We don't want to put down our league, but facts are facts - since day one here at WaP, we've said the ECAC no longer deserves to be part of a "Big Four" grouping with the WCHA, CCHA, and Hockey East. It's more college hockey's only example of a "mid-major." However, it's fair to say that, early on, there are more teams that are likely to be able to make a national splash. All five of the league's currently ranked teams have shown brushes of greatness this season. Throw St. Lawrence into that mix as well - that's half the league (and a good reason why RPI is going to probably struggle to overcome their putrid league start).

But are all six of those teams going to be there at the end? Of course not. History tells us that once the league season begins in earnest, we'll be stabbing each other in the back and bringing each other down to size. Heck, it's already beginning, just ask Cornell and St. Lawrence. In the end, the league is going to be extremely fortunate to get three teams into the tournament, and four is almost certainly out of the question. Five and six will be impossible.

So let's give credit where credit is due - the ECAC certainly does have more that its usual share of teams that could do well on a national level this season. But "leading the way?" Child, please.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Men's Hockey - Mercyhurst (16/17 Nov)

A turnaround was practically a necessity for the Engineers heading into a home non-conference weekend series against Mercyhurst, and with luck, that's exactly what they gained. RPI pulled off its first home weekend sweep since January 2011 and its first home non-conference sweep since October 2010 with 4-2 and 4-1 victories over Atlantic Hockey's Mercyhurst, a result that probably is not a cure-all but certainly helped to stop the bleeding from three consecutive weekends of bad results for the Engineers.

Friday
Neal-Laliberte-Haggerty
Higgs-Miller-Lee
Zalewski-McGowan-Bubela
Fulton-O'Grady-Burgdoerfer

Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bokenfohr
Curadi-Hampton

Merriam

With Jacob Laliberte's return from injury and a "message received" return to the lineup by several regular starters, RPI's starting lineup looked much more impressive than it had in its last outing against Harvard. Laliberte and Ryan Haggerty specifically returned to reunite the "NHL line," RPI's top scoring line this year.

Milos Bubela got things going six minutes into the game with his second career goal, snapping RPI's scoreless stretch of 138:26 dating back to, interestingly enough, Bubela's first career goal, which was against Union in Schenectady. Craig Bokenfohr picked up his first collegiate point with an assist on the play, which put the Engineers ahead 1-0. Bubela redirected Bokenfohr's initial blast from the blueline into the net.

Nick Bailen notched his third tally of the year about four minutes later to put RPI up 2-0 by ripping a shot from the top of the slot that beat the goaltender on the stick side. All was looking pretty rosy for the Engineers at that point.

Unfortunately, the offense seemed to go into hibernation for the next 30 minutes or so. RPI mustered just 16 shots on goal in the game's first two periods, failing to score on any of five shots in the second despite two power play opportunities. Fortunately, Bryce Merriam continued his strong play in net for RPI, carrying over from a good showing at Harvard with 14 saves in the first 40 minutes.

Three minutes into the third period, some good stickwork behind the net by Mike Zalewski ended with the freshman registering his first point. Zalewski dished the puck quickly to Mark McGowan in front of the net, who one-timed it to the back of the net before his defender could react, giving RPI their first 3-0 lead of the season. Luke Curadi picked up the secondary assist, which was also his first collegiate point.

Mercyhurst didn't just roll over and play dead, however. In all, they put 15 shots on Merriam in the final period, including two in a span of 4:23 that eluded him, making it a 3-2 contest with nine and a half minutes left to play. The first Laker goal came on a power play that started with a somewhat dubious hooking call against Bubela, the second was a shorthanded goal off a too many men penalty against Mercyhurst, marking the third time in four games that the RPI power play had given up a shorthanded goal.

The Lakers pushed hard late for the tying goal, but Merriam stayed up to the task until an iffy cross-checking call against Mercyhurst with 1:45 remaining in regulation basically doomed their chances of tying the game. The Engineers deftly spent much of the power play's first minute simply playing keepaway in the Mercyhurst end, but Bailen eventually found a shooting lane at the top of the right faceoff circle and put a wrister into the back of the net, providing RPI with a little extra insurance and a 4-2 final score. The win snapped a five-game losing streak and a seven-game winless streak for the Engineers dating back to the first week of the season.

The one downside for the Engineers was the loss of C.J. Lee to injury at the end of the second period. Lee tried to make a check in the RPI zone, but hit the boards hard on his back instead. He favored his left leg as he was helped off the ice, he did not return to the game.

Saturday
Neal-Laliberte-Haggerty
Higgs-Miller-Tinordi
Zalewski-McGowan-Bubela
Fulton-O'Grady-Burgdoerfer

Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Hampton

Kasdorf

Lee's injury forced Matt Tinordi back into the lineup, taking the captain's place on the second line after he was unable to skate in the warmups - this was a game-time decision. Tinordi appeared likely to return to the lineup anyway, Greg Burgdoerfer was listed as the extra skater on the lineup sheet and simply returned to his place on the fourth line when Lee couldn't go.

Although Scott Diebold had been listed on the sheet as the likely starter, word came down early that freshman Jason Kasdorf would get his first collegiate start instead, giving the Houston Field House crowd their first real-game look at the Engineers' lone NHL draft pick.

RPI completely dominated pretty much every facet of the game in the first period on Saturday, outshooting Mercyhurst 12-3 in the opening 20 minutes. They were assisted by two almost back-to-back power play chances midway through the period, but they were unable to break onto the board.

A boarding call on Bubela six minutes into the second period changed the face of the game completely. While the Lakers had been continuing to trail RPI in shots significantly up to that point, the Mercyhurst power play unloaded an outright barrage on Kasdorf, eventually scoring on a poor defensive showing by the RPI penalty kill to go up 1-0 and practically even the shot output for the game.

Things threatened to get worse minutes later as a RPI turnover on the power play led to a breakaway for the Lakers, but Kasdorf came up with a huge save to preserve the one-goal deficit and keep the Engineers from giving up yet another shorthanded goal.

Just two minutes after the RPI power play opportunity expired, Bailen set up the Engineers' first goal by carrying the puck into the zone and behind the net before dishing it to Mark Miller in front, setting up the freshman's first collegiate goal, which knotted the game at one.

The Engineers would pull ahead early in the third period with Jacob Laliberte's team-leading fifth goal of the season. The sophomore picked up a beautiful pass from Bailen to the Mercyhurst goaltender's left and slammed it home to put RPI up 2-1. Minutes later, a second effort by Greg Burgdoerfer after a wraparound attempt hit paydirt, giving the senior his first goal of the year and putting RPI up 3-1.

Again, Mercyhurst refused to die, eventually putting up a total of 13 shots on RPI's freshman goaltender, but he was equal to the task, sucking up a number of shots that might have otherwise led to rebounds on his way to a 30-save night and his first collegiate win. Marty O'Grady would hit his first goal of the year on an empty-netter with 1:10 left to produce the final 4-1 score.

The back-to-back victories were the first for RPI since they closed out the ECAC regular season with a shocking road sweep at Colgate and Cornell back in February (and extended to three games with a win in Game 1 of the ECAC First Round against Clarkson).

Other junk - Ranked teams in the ECAC this week include #8 Union (idle, down one), #11 Dartmouth (lost to Colgate and tied Cornell, up one), #13 Cornell (lost to Harvard and tied Dartmouth, down three), #17 Harvard (beat Cornell and lost to Colgate, no change), and #18 Quinnipiac (swept Clarkson/SLU, previously unranked). Also receiving votes were Yale (66), St. Lawrence (57) and Colgate (1). Other ranked opponents on the RPI schedule include #3 New Hampshire (up two, one first place vote), #10 Boston University (up one), #12 St. Cloud State (up three), and #16 Ferris State (up four). Minnesota State received one vote.

Cornell is off to a horrendous start in ECAC play. They lost four ECAC games all last season, they have already lost three just six games into this year's schedule.

The ranks of the ironmen continue to fall as C.J. Lee was sidelined by injury on Saturday, leaving Matt Neal, Nick Bailen, Brock Higgs, Mark Miller, Guy Leboeuf, and Milos Bubela as the only players on the roster who have seen ice time in all 10 games this season. All but two players on the roster have played in at least three games this season, Andrew Commers is the only one who has appeared just once and Jason Kasdorf the only one who has appeared just twice.

Zach Schroeder has missed four consecutive games with injuries, Ken Schott of the Daily Gazette reports that junior Johnny Rogic is also sidelined due to injury.

Jacob Laliberte remains near the top of the national race in scoring, he has 11 points in 8 games for a 1.38 points per game average, tying him for 11th in the nation alongside Dartmouth's Eric Robinson.

With three power play goals on the season, Nick Bailen is tied for 9th in the nation - the eight players ahead of him are tied for first with four. His nine points in 10 games has him tied for 11th in the nation in scoring among defensemen.

The defense has rebounded a bit, but is still down in the national doldrums, at a 3.20 GAA, RPI is tied for 48th in the nation out of 59 teams.

The Engineers have their second bye weekend of the still-fairly-young season coming up for Thanksgiving weekend, but their next two weekends will be key going forward, as they face four more ECAC games before the New Year. They've found ways to win against Mercyhurst, now they have to find a way to handle the somehow-always-monstrous-in-Troy Princeton Tigers on the last day of November before tangling with the as-yet-undefeated-in-the-ECAC Quinnipiac Bobcats on the first day of December. Then they hit the road to take on Yale and Brown. Points are a must, because the Engineers are the only team left in the league without any. In two weeks' time, we'll find out if this is a team that has a shot at the middle of the ECAC table, or whether it's going to be another scrape-and-claw for home ice in the first round season.

ECAC Standings
1. Dartmouth - 9 points (4-1-1)
2. Quinnipiac - 8 points (4-0-0)
3. Union - 6 points (3-1-0)
4. Harvard - 6 points (3-3-0)
5. Clarkson - 5 points (2-1-1, +3 GD)
6. Princeton - 5 points (2-1-1, +1 GD)
7. Colgate - 5 points (2-3-1)
8. Yale - 4 points (2-2-0)
9. Cornell - 4 points (1-3-2)
10. Brown - 2 points (0-2-2, -2 GD)
11. St. Lawrence - 2 points (0-2-2, -6 GD)
12. RPI - 0 points (0-4-0)

Mercyhurst at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/16/12 - 7:05pm

RESULT: RPI 4, Mercyhurst 2

BOX SCORES


Mercyhurst at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/17/12 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 4, Mercyhurst 1

BOX SCORES
RECORD: 3-5-2 (0-4-0 ECAC)

Upcoming games
30 Nov - Princeton
1 Dec - #18 Quinnipiac
7 Dec - at Yale
8 Dec - at Brown
27 Dec - at #12 St. Cloud State

Women's Hockey - Robert Morris (16/17 Nov)


In the first of two weekends of non-conference play on either side of Thanksgiving, the Engineers welcomed the Colonials of Robert Morris University to Houston Field House.

After an unlikely upset of Mercyhurst to win the CHA tournament last season, RMU had jumped out to a 5-2-1 record following four exhibition wins (albeit against mostly weaker competition), and they got the better of the Engineers on the weekend, taking a 3-2 Friday victory before skating to a 1-1 tie on Saturday.

Friday

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

Le Donne/Schilter
Godin/Marzario
Daniels/Banks

O'Brien

An extra attacker goal late in the third period drew RPI to within one, but it was too little, too late as the Engineers dropped a 3-2 decision to Robert Morris in an early game Friday afternoon.

RMU opened the scoring at 8:31 of the first period, with Maddie Collias picking up the goal by crashing the net while the puck was fired from the near side boards.

The initial RMU lead was short-lived as Taylor Horton evened it up two minutes later, splitting the defense before beating RMU goalie Kristen DiCiocco glove side to make it 1-1.

A parade to the penalty box dictated the pace of the second period, with five penalties on the Colonials and three on the Engineers, but is was only RMU able to score on one of their opportunities. Just seconds past the midpoint of the second, Thea Imbrogno was able to sneak one past Kelly O'Brien with a crowd in front of the crease to make it a 2-1 game.

Cobina Delaney extended RMU's lead to 3-1 with a breakaway goal in the waning minutes of the third period and it looked to have put the game on ice, but Alexa Gruschow picked up her eighth goal of the season at 19:39 when a late power play coupled with the extra attacker had the Engineers skating 6-on-4.

Unfortunately for RPI, 21 seconds was not enough to set up another possession and push for another goal, and the 3-2 score held up for RMU in game one.

Saturday

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

Daniels/Marzario
Le Donne/Banks
Jakubowski/Schilter

O'Brien

A dominant first period and strong third period showed a lot of promise for an RPI squad that's had a tough go of it early in the season, but an RPI goal in the game's opening minutes was matched by one for RMU in the game's final minutes resulting in a 1-1 tie on Saturday afternoon.

It was only 1:12 into the game on Saturday when Jordan Smelker forced home a rebound to give the Engineers an important early lead, and the Engineers proceeded to lay on the pressure for the remainder of the first period. While the puck spent most of the period in the RMU zone, it notably did not find its way into the back of the net, and RPI entered the intermission only ahead by one.

The second period was nearly a complete role reversal, with RMU racking up a 10-3 shot advantage and thoroughly dominating the puck possession game, but fortunately for the Engineers, O'Brien held the visitors off the board during the onslaught, including a pair of great saves on a 2-on-1 opportunity for RMU.

The 1-0 RPI lead held through most of the third, with RPI going back to some of the play that benefited them in the opening frame, but as luck would have it, RPI surrendered the tying goal with less than five minutes after O'Brien made a great save on an RMU shot but wasn't able to get to the rebound before Kelsey Thomas put it home.

A late power play opportunity for RPI in the third, as well as one for RMU in overtime went by with out another goal, and the 1-1 score held up. It was a game the Engineers could have won, but at the same time, a tie was an improvement over the one-goal losses that have been piling up for the Engineers.

In other news, the Engineers finally hired a second assistant coach to replace Collette Youlen, who left during the offseason. Melanie Greene, Vermont '10 was behind the bench this weekend and it was nice to see a full complement of staff behind the bench once again.

RPI travels to Syracuse next weekend for a non-conference pair against the Orange before returning to ECAC play with a pair at Quinnipiac and Princeton the following weekend. Game times are 7pm Friday and 4pm Saturday for both series.

-----

RPI vs. Robert Morris
Non-Conference Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/16/12 - 3pm
RMU 3, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/11/16/robert-morris-vs-rensselaer/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wrenrmu1.n16

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2012/11/16/WICE_1116124126.aspx
RMU: http://www.rmucolonials.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205745650
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB909LY4PvY

RECORD: 2-8-1 (0-4-0 ECAC)

-----

RPI vs. Robert Morris
Non-Conference Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/17/12 - 3pm
RPI 1, RMU 1 (OT)

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/11/17/robert-morris-vs-rensselaer/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wrenrmu1.n17

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2012/11/17/WICE_1117122333.aspx
RMU: http://www.rmucolonials.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205747623
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPf1mxn5WWc
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/512-womens-hockey-vs-robert-morris-game-2

RECORD: 2-8-2 (0-4-0 ECAC)

-----

ECAC Standings

1t. Cornell - 12 points (6-0-0)
1t. Clarkson - 12 points (6-0-0)
3. St. Lawrence - 10 points (5-1-0)
4. Quinnipiac - 9 points (4-3-1)
5. Harvard - 8 points (4-0-0)
6. Dartmouth - 6 points (3-1-0)
7. Princeton - 4 points (1-5-2)
8t. Union - 2 points (0-2-2)
8t. Brown - 2 points (1-5-0)
8t. Yale - 2 points (0-5-1)
11. Colgate - 1 point (0-5-1)
12. RPI - 0 points (0-4-0)

-----

Upcoming Games

Nov. 23 - at Syracuse (7pm)
Nov. 24 - at Syracuse (4pm)
Nov. 30 - at Quinnipiac (7pm)
Dec. 1 - at Princeton (4pm)

Friday, November 16, 2012

Have Mercy

It's a full weekend of college hockey at Houston Field House this weekend as both the men and the women have a pair of games for you to feast your eyes on tonight and tomorrow. Translation: get thyself to Troy.

Both teams are in a bad way right now - the men, perhaps, a little more than the women. Both have now started off their ECAC schedules with an 0-4-0 record, the women with a -6 goal differential (three of the losses were one goal games) and the men with... a -14 goal differential. Remember, that is in four games, the last three of which were four goal losses. Both are the only teams in the ECAC with no points.

Unfortunately, none of that is set to change this weekend, as both teams are playing a non-conference series, but it does give both sides the opportunity to get things right before heading back out on the hunt for points.

The ladies will take to this ice this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon (3pm starts for both) against College Hockey America's Robert Morris (5-2-1). The Engineers have a few opponents in common with the Colonials, but it's hard to draw much from it - both teams beat Vermont (RMU doing it twice) and both lost to BU, though RMU was able to pull out a tie with Northeastern while RPI lost.

Similarity reigns on the men's side as they battle Atlantic Hockey's Mercyhurst (3-2-1). In this case, it's just Ferris State as a mutual opponent, the Lakers lost and tied with the Bulldogs a week after RPI beat and tied them. They're not quite pushovers, as they went into RIT last week and pulled out a win in a tough barn, besides, it's not like the Engineers are playing well enough lately to take anyone for granted.

It's deja vu around here... the men and women opened last season going a combined 2-7-2 in league play by this point last year, but it's pretty obvious that 0-8-0 is even worse. At any rate, here's a song you can tap your foot to and get the weekend off to the right start, even while it sort of describes the current situation on the hill.

BTW, all four games this weekend are on WRPI... so if you can't be there, be sure to tune in.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Immortality

College hockey players have been a part of the Hockey Hall of Fame since its first induction class in 1945: the first player alphabetically in that first class was Hobey Baker, a man who needs no introduction.

But with the notable exception of Cornell's Ken Dryden in 1983, the ranks of the Hall of Fame were largely closed to NCAA alumni, and for good reason - there just wasn't much talent that came from college.

The dam began to burst in 2000 with the induction of Boston College's Joe Mullen, but it wasn't until 2009, when Minnesota-Duluth's Brett Hull and Boston College's Brian Leetch were inducted in the same year that the true impact of college hockey's renaissance that started in the mid-1980s began to truly be noticed in the ranks of the legendary. Then in 2011, Cornell's Joe Nieuwendyk and North Dakota'a Ed Belfour added to the list.

This week, four more names were added to those of the greatest players to ever suit up. Of the four, one was a name that will never be forgotten in Troy: Adam Oates.

When he came to RPI, Adam Oates was not the odds-on favorite to be one day standing in Toronto and speaking about his career. Three years later, he was the cornerstone of a national championship winning team, propelling the Engineers to a second national championship, making the school one of the few which can claim multiple titles in multiple eras of the game.

On that long night in Detroit, it's unlikely anyone could have guessed that they were, in addition to watching the reigning Hobey Baker Award winner, were watching two men who would one day be inducted into the Hall of Fame, eventually linked not only by the epic battle that took place that night, but three years of mutually beneficial service together in St. Louis.

It may not have happened as soon as most RPI partisans would have preferred, but the day is finally here. Adam Oates is where he belongs - one of the greatest players in school history developed into one of the greatest playmakers in NHL history, and now, his name is written among the greats. Of the millions who have ever grabbed a stick and started playing, he is one of only 255 recognized as one of the best to play the game.

Congratulations, Mr. Oates.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Men's Hockey - at Dartmouth/Harvard (9/10 Nov)

Somehow, it keeps getting worse. A week after the Engineers were swept by Union to start the ECAC season, they produced an anemic result in their first road weekend of the league schedule, dropping a 4-0 contest at high-flying Dartmouth before losing to nationally-ranked Harvard by the same score with a less-than-full lineup on the ice.

Dartmouth
Lee-Higgs-O'Grady
Tinordi-Neal-Haggerty
Zalewski-McGowan-Bubela
Rogic-Miller-Burgdoerfer

Leboeuf-Bailen
Leonard-Dolan
Bradley-Bokenfohr

Diebold

Three Engineers were unavailable for Friday's game - leading scorer Jacob Laliberte and his classmate, Zach Schroeder, were both ruled out for the weekend with injuries, while Luke Curadi served his one-game suspension on Friday for the game DQ he picked up in the Union game in Schenectady. Replacing Curadi was freshman Phil Bokenfohr, who got his first collegiate action, and Marty O'Grady returned to game action from the injury that scuttled the first five weeks of his season.

Scott Diebold, in net for the fourth straight Friday, got behind early on a shot that snuck through on the very short side, seeming to find the only area between Diebold and the post to slide in giving Dartmouth a 1-0 lead in the game's third minute. The Big Green outshot RPI 8-4 in the first period, and no penalties were called until late, when both teams picked up minors.

Dartmouth made it 2-0 in the fifth minute of the second period, but the Engineers seemed ready to push for the goal that would cut their deficit in half, especially midway through the period when a Dartmouth penalty led to RPI's first full power play opportunity. The five-on-four could not have gone more disastrously for the Engineers. Just under a minute into the advantage, a breakaway for Dartmouth led to a short-handed goal and a 3-0 lead for the Big Green, and just four seconds after the penalty expired, another goal for the Big Green that followed an extended period in the RPI zone made it 4-0.

RPI called timeout and replaced Diebold with Bryce Merriam, marking the second consecutive game in which the starting goaltender had been removed. The remainder of the second period finished without much fanfare - Merriam made one save in the period's last eight minutes, meanwhile RPI uncorked only 10 shots in the game's first 40 minutes total.

The Engineers would enjoy three power play opportunities in the third period, but never really came close to finding their first goal. Meanwhile, the Big Green went into lockdown and finish mode, scaling back their offense and focusing on keeping the Engineers from being able to break onto the scoreboard. Dartmouth goaltender Cab Morris, who had been brilliant in beating RPI in Troy last year on national television, didn't need to flash the glove or his stick with any real frequency, but still made 18 saves to pick up the shutout, the first of his collegiate career.

Harvard
Fulton-Miller-Burgdoerfer
Zalewski-McGowan-Bubela
Rogic-Neal-O'Grady
Higgs, Lee

Leboeuf-Bailen
Curadi-Bokenfohr
Hampton

Merriam

Saturday's lineup was all about message sending in the RPI locker room. All of the scratches on Saturday who had played on Friday were considered healthy, plus Brock Higgs and C.J. Lee did not see ice time in the first period. Travis Fulton and Phil Hampton got their first appearances in an RPI uniform.

The odd lineup was far from what would be considered a "best available" lineup, especially with RPI rolling just three forward lines in the first period.

RPI came out of the gate looking ready to go, but nothing came of their early activity in the Harvard zone, where much of the game's early moments unfolded. An early penalty to Luke Curadi was killed off well, and Bryce Merriam soon began standing on his head keeping the puck out of the net, turning in a brilliant first period in which he made 20 saves on 22 shots.

Harvard's first goal came on a redirect in front that Merriam simply could not reach. Two minutes later, the Engineers dug themselves a deep hole when Mark McGowan and Guy Leboeuf took almost back to back penalties, forcing RPI onto a long two-man disadvantage with only four defensemen available, two of which had never appeared in a college hockey game before that weekend.

Mark Miller, Nick Bailen, and Luke Curadi played nearly the entire 1:30 or so of the five-on-three (Matt Neal replaced Miller late), and Bryce Merriam continued to stand on his head, eventually killing both penalties off and giving RPI a small opening to get back into things. However, with the short bench, Curadi was back out on the ice much earlier than he likely would have been otherwise, the fatigue possibly being the reason he lost his feet while defending the puck, allowing the carrier a clear path to the net and a 2-0 lead for the Crimson.

RPI's best period of the weekend was undoubtedly the second period, but not until the waning moments of that middle stanza. Harvard had picked up a third tally midway through the period on a turnover to make it 3-0, but the Engineers looked ready to score with a serious flurry of activity in the period's final three minutes. Mark Miller and Travis Fulton especially had excellent chances, and if not for some frenzied backchecking by Harvard along with some big saves by goaltender Raphael Girard, the Engineers could have broken onto the scoreboard.

That flurry of activity did not follow into the third period, as Harvard entered a simiar lockdown and finish mode that Dartmouth had the previous night, simply looking to wind the game up as quickly as possible. RPI only managed 6 shots in the third period, and Harvard produced only two - the second of which was fired into an empty net with 3 seconds left to play to make the final tally 4-0, the same as the previous night.

The Engineers thus completed a two-game weekend without scoring a goal for the second consecutive season, having done the same last year at Ferris State.

Other junk - Ranked teams in the ECAC this week include #7 Union (beat Harvard and lost to Dartmouth, up one), #10 Cornell (swept by Princeton/Quinnipiac, down six), #12 Dartmouth (swept RPI/Union, previously unranked), #16 St. Lawrence (tied Brown and lost to Yale, down three), and #17 Harvard (lost to Union and beat RPI, down three). Yale (24), Quinnipiac (22), and Princeton (1) also received votes. Also ranked this week on the RPI schedule are #5 New Hampshire (up four), #11 Boston University (no change), #15 St. Cloud State (no change), and #20 Ferris State (down two). Also receiving votes was Minnesota State (1).

Dartmouth (5-0-1) is the only remaining Division I team that is undefeated.

RPI has given up four or more goals in five consecutive games for the first time since the 2008-09 season.

Just eight games into the season, the entire RPI roster has seen ice time. However, only Lee, Neal, Higgs, Bailen, Leboeuf, Bubela, and Miller have played in all eight games.

Scott Diebold has had rough starts in all of his four games. His first goals were given up at 1:32, 3:25, 1:59, and 2:36 of the first period. However in each case, it was the only goal allowed in the first period.

The downward spiral continues. A week after putting up a win and a tie against last year's national runners-up, RPI blew a pair of two-goal leads in the third period at Mankato, were swept by their rivals two weeks later (including a devastating six-goal period), and now have gone a full weekend without scoring. That makes the upcoming home weekend against Mercyhurst an important firewall - the Lakers aren't going to be pushovers by any stretch of the imagination, but after four games against three very good ECAC squads and the aforementioned spiral, this weekend has the potential for either stopping the bleeding or continuing the descent.

ECAC Standings
1. Dartmouth - 8 points (4-0-0)
2. Union - 6 points (3-1-0)
3. Princeton - 4 points (2-0-0, +6 GD)
4. Quinnipiac - 4 points (2-0-0, +4 GD)
5. Yale - 4 points (2-2-0, +2 GD)
6. Harvard - 4 points (2-2-0, -3 GD)
7. Clarkson - 3 points (1-0-1)
8. Cornell - 3 points (1-2-1)
9. Brown - 2 points (0-2-2)
10. St. Lawrence - 1 point (0-1-1)
11. Colgate - 1 point (0-3-1)
12. RPI - 0 points (0-4-0)

RPI at Dartmouth
ECAC Game - Thompson Arena (Hanover, NH)
11/9/12 - 7:05pm

RESULT: Dartmouth 4, RPI 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 1-4-2 (0-3-0 ECAC)


RPI at #14 Harvard
Non-Conference Game - Bright Hockey Center (Boston, MA)
11/10/12 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Harvard 4, RPI 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECORD: 1-5-2 (0-4-0 ECAC)

Upcoming games
16 Nov - Mercyhurst
17 Nov - Mercyhurst
30 Nov - Princeton
1 Dec - Quinnipiac
7 Dec - at Yale

Women's Hockey - Princeton & Quinnipiac (9/10 Nov)


Looking to carry some momentum forward from a Halloween victory over Vermont, RPI took the ice at home against Princeton and Quinnipiac. Instead of building on the Vermont win, the Engineers instead dropped a pair of one-goal decisions - a wild 6-5 affair against Princeton on Friday night, and a 3-2 loss to Quinnipiac on Saturday in which the Engineers outplayed their visitors for long stretches.

With the two losses, the Engineers start out the ECAC schedule 0-4 and sit alone at the bottom of the league standings with no points and two weeks of non-conference play to get back on track before a rematch of this weekend's games on the road.

Princeton

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

Daniels/Banks
Godin/Marzario
Le Donne/Schilter

Piper

Most people probably wouldn't have predicted back-to-back five-goal games for the Engineers after their win against Vermont. Even fewer would have predicted RPI to score five on Princeton then still take a loss, but that's exactly what happened on Friday as Princeton took a 6-5 victory in a back-and-forth game that never saw a two-goal lead for either team.

RPI seemed to be off to a good start when Lauren Wash took a feed from Madison Marzario, skated into the slot and ripped a shot past Kimberly Newell at 1:05 for an early 1-0 lead.

Sally Butler tied the game at 3:14, putting home a rebound on a delayed penalty after a defensive zone turnover left Olivia Mucha with the puck for the initial shot, and shortly thereafter the Engineers found themselves trying to kill a 5-on-3. Molly Contini scored on the 2-man advantage to give Princeton a 2-1 lead, but Eleeza Cox tied it at two with a power play tally of her own at 10:38.

The game nearly went to intermission tied at two, but Mucha was able to tap in a pass that snuck through three Engineer skaters to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead heading into the first intermission. The play was set up after Piper gloved a puck and was forced to play it by the officials with Princeton skaters heading for the net; they stole the puck behind the net and set up a possession which led to Mucha's goal.

The pace didn't slow down in the second period, with the Engineers and Tigers trading a pair of goals each in the middle frame. Alexa Gruschow tied things up early in the period, poking home a loose puck near the Princeton crease, but Mucha struck again on a power play in the middle of the period to regain the lead, 4-3.

The teams traded another pair of power play goals, with Toni Sanders scoring for RPI and Alex Kinney for Princeton each picking up a tally, to head into the locker room in the exact same spot as the first time, with Princeton leading 5-4 instead of 3-2.

Early in the third period, Kristen Jakubowski (playing in her first game since February 2011 due to a concussion) tied the game at five and started off a period which was nearly all in RPI's favor - except for one small problem, as Molly Contini was able to score Princeton's 6th goal from the doorstep at 8:11, after the RPI players got caught staring at the puck carrier and allowed Contini and a teammate to sneak in from the slot for an easy tap-in.

The Engineers would throw everything they had at Princeton in an effort to get yet another tying goal, outshooting the visitors 12-5 in the final period, but fell short in their attempt to tie the game for the fifth time and fell 6-5.

Quinnipiac

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

Godin/Marzario
Daniels/Middlebrook
Le Donne/Schilter

O'Brien

After a disappointing finish on Friday, Saturday looked to be another tough game against a Quinnipiac team we have come to count on for playing chippy, clutch and grab hockey. Unfortunately for the Engineers, there seemed to be no trouble with this style of play from the officials, who turned a blind eye on several occasions while Engineers were hauled down by the shoulders, instead awarding a whopping two minor penalties to the visitors in blue as they stole a 3-2 victory despite being outshot and outworked for much of the game.

RPI got off to a bad start in this game - make no bones about it. Shorthanded just a minute and a half into the game, the Engineers fell behind 1-0 on a Nicole Kosta power play goal, then saw the defecit grow to 2-0 just a minute and a half later when Nicole Brown was able to skate across the slot and catch Kelly O'Brien moving for another goal.

Lauren Wash cut the Bobcats' lead to 2-1 in the final minute of the first, poking home a puck from just outside the crease as nearly the entire QU squad tried unsuccessfully to fall on it in front of the net.

The second period, despite RPI having to kill a pair of penalties, saw the Engineers outshoot their opponent 10-7 and control most of the period. Victoria Vigilanti was solid in net as usual for the Bobcats, holding off the offensive pressure from the Engineers.

Kelly Babstock extended the QU lead to 3-1 in the third period when a puck found its way to the back of the net with a pile of skaters falling on top of O'Brien, leaving her little chance at making a save.

RPI pressured hard as the third period wore on, pulling O'Brien with about two minutes left in favor of the extra attacker with a 2-goal hill to climb. Eleeza Cox got the Engineers halfway there with a quick one-timer while sliding across the slot at 18:39, but a second goal proved elusive and RPI ended up on the short end of the 3-2 final score.

RPI's penalty kill continued to be a sore spot this weekend as the Engineers were just 5/9 (.555) on the kill over two games (although they allowed just the early power play goal on four chances against QU). They remain last in the nation on the kill at 65.9%, with the next six teams ahead all above 73%.

The Engineers now have two weeks of non-conference play, at home against Robert Morris next weekend and at Syracuse the following, to work on their special teams play and look to make some improvements heading back into league play, with a rematch at Quinnipiac and Princeton first on the agenda. After the Syracuse weekend it'll be all ECAC games for the Engineers with the exception of a weekend pair against Providence in January.

-----

RPI vs. Princeton
ECAC Hockey Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/9/12 - 7pm
Princeton 6, RPI 5

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/11/09/princeton-vs-rensselaer/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wprnren1.n09

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2012/11/9/WICE_1109124240.aspx
Princeton: http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205731766
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC4m-xIk1a4

RECORD: 2-6-1 (0-3-0 ECAC)

-----

RPI vs. Quinnipiac
ECAC Hockey Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/10/12 - 4pm
Quinnipiac 3, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/11/10/quinnipiac-vs-rensselaer/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wquiren1.n10

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2012/11/10/WICE_1110123303.aspx
QU: http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com/sports/wice/2012-13/releases/20121110zn3drz
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVuKrYa_5ds

RECORD: 2-7-1 (0-4-0 ECAC)

-----

Upcoming Games

Nov. 16 - Robert Morris (3pm)
Nov. 17 - Robert Morris (3pm)
Nov. 23 - at Syracuse (7pm)
Nov. 24 - at Syracuse (4pm)

Friday, November 9, 2012

Super Troopers

Both the men and the women will be grappling with league opponents this weekend, and both will be on the hunt for their first ECAC points of the season... not exactly something you want to be saying when they've played four league games between each other.

For the ladies, it's a home weekend against Princeton (tonight) and Quinnipiac (tomorrow afternoon) in a pair of games they could be competitive in. Here's John Burke's evaluation of what to expect:


For the men, it's just as much of a need-points weekend, especially now that they are winless in five straight games. Tonight they tangle with an unbeaten-in-four Dartmouth squad before wrestling with a nationally-ranked Harvard team that skunked Bentley and Brown but failed to impress in their first challenge with Yale. It gets worse for RPI - they'll be without leading scorer Jacob Laliberte this weekend, victim of an up-high hit at the hands of Mat Bodie last Saturday, out with concussion symptoms.

What are we listening to today? Just some basic pumpup - couldn't derive a themed selection today, so instead just enjoy this work of hard driving heavy metal from Iron Maiden. We're going to need to see some troopers this weekend for sure. Cheers.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Getting Up For the Big Game

Before I start with this venting of frustration, let me get this out of the way: this is not an attack on Seth Appert. It is, however, a critique of the program under Coach Appert. Take from it what you will.

I got to thinking while sitting through the latest demolition of the Engineers, this time at the hands of Union (again). When was the last time we got to celebrate a blowout victory? It's something I thought of when I tried to find the last time RPI gave up six goals in a single period (I couldn't find it).

If we define a blowout as a four-goal-or-more separation in the final score, here are the blowouts of the Appert era.

October 21, 2006: Denver 5, RPI 1
December 9, 2006: Princeton 6, RPI 2
December 30, 2006: Union 5, RPI 1
January 5, 2007: Harvard 5, RPI 1
January 6, 2007: Dartmouth 6, RPI 2
January 12, 2007: Union 5, RPI 0
February 10, 2007: Cornell 6, RPI 1
December 15, 2007: Miami 7, RPI 3
December 16, 2007: Miami 5, RPI 1
January 12, 2008: Colgate 4, RPI 0
February 2, 2008: Princeton 4, RPI 0*
February 15, 2008: Colgate 4, RPI 0
February 16, 2008: Cornell 7, RPI 1
October 21, 2008: UMass 6, RPI 0
November 15, 2008: Quinnipiac 5, RPI 1
November 29, 2008: Northeastern 5, RPI 1
December 5, 2008: Yale 7, RPI 3
December 6, 2008: RPI 7, Brown 2
December 14, 2008: Miami 7, RPI 1
January 2, 2009: Boston University 6, RPI 2
January 10, 2009: RPI 5, Princeton 1
March 14, 2009: Cornell 4, RPI 0
December 30, 2009: Michigan State 6, RPI 1
February 20, 2010: Princeton 7, RPI 0*$
December 4, 2010: RPI 6, Brown 2
January 14, 2011: Cornell 5, RPI 1
January 22, 2011: RPI 5, Dartmouth 1
February 19, 2011: RPI 5, Clarkson 1
March 26, 2011: North Dakota 6, RPI 0
October 14, 2011: Ferris State 4, RPI 0
November 15, 2011: Union 5, RPI 1
December 29, 2011: UMass-Lowell 7, RPI 2
January 14, 2012: Union 5, RPI 1
January 27, 2012: RPI 4, St. Lawrence 0
February 4, 2012: Colgate 8, RPI 3*
February 18, 2012: Princeton 6, RPI 2$
March 2, 2012: RPI 5, Clarkson 1
November 3, 2012: Union 7, RPI 3
* - Big Red Freakout!
$ - Senior Night

That's a record of 7-31 in blowout games. By the definition of Saturday's game, we did win a pair of blowout contests last season, against the North Country teams (and one in the playoffs, no less). But by and large, they're fairly hard to come by. The NCAA tournament team of 2010-11 only posted three themselves. Up the requirement to five goals, and the record diminishes to 1-10. No matter how you slice it, the team's blowout to blownout ratio... sucks.

Then it struck me that a lot of the blowout losses were in "big" games. The NCAA tournament game, of course, but, like many (but not all) of the other non-conference games on that list, RPI was simply matched up against a far superior team (especially early in Appert's tenure - the 3 games against Miami, for instance).

So what constitutes a "big game?" Well, Freakout! would seem to qualify. Union has become our biggest rival, a team we play three times a year (at least), so that's one. Senior Night is usually supposed to be added incentive to win. Of course, the playoffs.

Freakout! record: 1-4-1 (12 GF, 28 GA)
Senior night record: 0-5-1 (8 GF, 24 GA)
Union record: 4-16-3 (46 GF, 81 GA)
ECAC playoff record: 7-13-0 (2-6 in series)

Three of the blowout losses were at Big Red Freakout! Two were on Senior Night (although to be fair, in 2010 Freakout! was held on Senior Night). Five were against Union, which tallies to more blowout losses against the Dutchmen than we have wins, period (and again, to be fair, Union has gotten very good).

The saving grace, really, is Black Friday, where the team can boast a 4-2-1 record under Appert - though both losses are in the last two years. And if you're still holding onto Clarkson as the main rival, that record is 5-9-1 with both teams scoring 43 goals in the 15 games - somewhat better than against Union, but again, Union has been better than Clarkson in the last six years.

What else is there? Well, why not throw in tournament play? Although the titles they confer are mostly a matter of bragging rights, the usual ambiguity as to the second night's opponent and the opportunity to play for some hardware makes a tournament a little bigger than your average non-conference fare.

2006 Governor's Cup: Champions
2006 RPI Tournament: 3rd Place
2006 Catamount Cup: 4th Place
2007 Icebreaker: 4th Place
2007 Governor's Cup: Champions
2007 RPI Tournament: 2nd Place
2007 Lightning Classic: 4th Place
2008 Governor's Cup: 3rd Place
2008 RPI Tournament: 4th Place
2009 Denver Cup: 4th Place
2009 Alaska Goal Rush: 4th Place
2009 RPI Tournament: 2nd Place
2009 Great Lakes Invitational: 2nd Place
2010 RPI Tournament: Champions
2011 UConn Hockey Classic: 4th Place
Overall record: 8-17-5

Now, it's hardly fair to fault some of these poor results, especially the 2007 Icebreaker (Minnesota, BC, and Michigan) and the Lightning Classic (Notre Dame, Colorado College, and UMass), and the big win against Michigan came at the '09 GLI, but some of these tournaments, especially the last one, were simply putrid. Losses to Niagara, Mercyhurst, Army, and Holy Cross, and a tie with American International are strewn throughout.

What am I trying to say here? I'm not really sure I'm saying anything other than trying to quantify frustration. Some of the early teams Appert coached were just rough squads that were low on talent. But as the talent level has picked up, these trends of underperforming in key games hasn't really changed much. Possibly, the disparity in blowouts to being blown out could point to an inadequate strategy when playing from behind. I have no clue.

I do know one thing, though. Appert likes to say that every game is equally important. On some level that's true. All games factor into the Pairwise Rankings, and every ECAC game is worth two points. But on an emotional level, for both players and fans, certain games hold more meaning to them. Union, even when they were a joke on the ice, always managed to get up for RPI. Today, even with a team that will be written into their (new) history books as an all-time great lineup, they still manage to get a little something extra for RPI, a team that, by recent history, they should have every right to overlook. Those big wins develop momentum, and although that can change from shift to shift and period to period, the game to game momentum is just as important, and nothing kills spirit like a big loss in a big game.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Men's Hockey - Union (2/3 Nov)

When last we left the RPI-Union series, the Engineers had been making strides against a solid Dutchmen side in last year's ECAC Quarterfinals, losing twice despite controlling play well. This past weekend, RPI took a distinct step back, having their moments in both games but making costly mistakes at home before a dreadful second period in Schenectady (largely powered by a lack of discipline and poor sportsmanship), resulting in a zero-point weekend to kick off ECAC play.

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

Leboeuf-Bailen
Curadi-Leonard
Bradley-Dolan

Diebold

Mark McGowan made his return to the lineup after missing the Minnesota State games with what was believed to be a minor injury - Greg Burgdoerfer replaced Andrew Commers on the fourth line, and Scott Diebold made his third consecutive Friday night start in net.

Union has a number of ways that they like to score goals. The first is to control the puck well at the point and score on a redirect in front, which is how they beat Diebold about five and a half minutes into the first period to take a 1-0 lead following a squandered opportunity on the power play for RPI. The Engineers proceeded to play with fire for the rest of the first, giving the solid Dutchmen power play unit three different opportunities on the man advantage, but the defense held up to keep it a 1-0 game after one.

A fourth power play chance arrived early in the second period, and this time Union capitalized, making good use of their second popular method for scoring goals - quick shots off the faceoff, this one coming late in a penalty to Guy Lebeouf to make it 2-0.

RPI would draw within one on the power play. Nick Bailen's second goal of the year came a little after the game's halfway point to make the score 2-1, and RPI began taking the initiative to score the game's tying goal, largely dominating play for much of the remainder of the second period.

Unfortunately, despite nine shots in the second, that tying goal was not forthcoming, and Union pounced late in the second to establish a commanding lead. The Dutchmen scored their second goal of the period with their third popular method for scoring goals, one which RPI saw frequently in the playoffs last year - capitalizing on the opposition's mistakes in the offensive zone, and then counter-attacking. Nick Bailen placed a shot directly into a forward's pads, leading to an immediate breakaway and goal the other way to make it 3-1. Reverting to the same method by which they scored the game's first goal, Union made it 4-1 just 1:20 later, reversing fortunes quickly and putting the Engineers in a big hole just as they were looking to tie the game.

Jacob Laliberte notched his fourth goal of the season with an assist by classmate Matt Neal 6:39 into the 3rd period and the Engineers did what they could to climb back into things, blasting 14 shots in the final period, but despite two power play opportunities, that was as close as they could get as Union's defense went into lockdown mode.

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

Leboeuf-Bailen
Curadi-Dolan
Leonard-Bradley

Merriam

The only line left untouched heading into Saturday's game was the budding "NHL" line of sophomores comprised of Neal, Laliberte, and Ryan Haggerty. Johnny Rogic came into the lineup, replacing Mike Zalewski, and lines and D-pairings were generally jumbled.

Once again, Union got themselves on the board first, and this time it was a power play tally, taking the 1-0 lead just 1:59 into the game shortly after an interference call against Bo Dolan. This time, however, RPI was able to pick up the next goal. Some eleven minutes after going down a goal, the Engineers tied things up with Haggerty's third of the year.

RPI finished the first period strong and generally played well for much of the first half of the second period, although they did allow a goal 4:22 into the middle frame to go down 2-1. Still, early in the second things were still looking generally OK, as the Engineers pressed well for the tying goal just as they had the previous night with the same score.

Things didn't just unravel, they completely fell apart. At 8:23 of the second period, Luke Curadi was assessed a game disqualification - an ejection and a one-game suspension - for a brutal hit to the head on Union defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. That in and of itself would have been pretty bad, leaving RPI down to five defensemen, but it only got worse from there. Union managed three goals on the ensuing major power play, ratcheting up their lead to 5-1 before Bo Dolan scored a shorthanded goal on the same power play to stem the tide momentarily. A Union penalty just seconds after the Curadi penalty had expired offered the Engineers the opportunity to shift momentum, but things only continued to get worse as the Dutchmen scored a shorthanded goal of their own, putting them up 6-2 and basically crushing any opportunity RPI had to get back into the game.

Bryce Merriam, who remained in the game despite the terrible period he was enduring in net (although, to his credit only one of the goals given up to that point of the game was five-on-five), then had to stop the second penalty shot RPI had given up in just four games after Leboeuf was called for hauling down his man on the breakaway, but he turned it aside. Undeterred, Union scored again two minutes later to make it 7-2 heading into the third period.

If RPI was to have a prayer of a miracle comeback, they needed goals in a hurry, and an delayed penalty goal by Milos Bubela, the first of his collegiate career, opened the door a crack about seven and a half minutes into the third, but the Engineers squandered the ensuing power play, then made life even more difficult on themselves with terrible sportsmanship down the stretch. Captain C.J. Lee was ejected and assessed another major penalty for a completely unnecessary hit from behind, and Matt Tinordi was fortunate not to be assessed a game DQ for fighting with a Union player following the hit (both were simply issued misconduct penalties, essentially ejecting them).

Union showed no interest in forcing the matter during their second five-minute advantage of the game, preferring instead to let the clock run down and further kill chances of RPI making a comeback.

Perhaps the lone bright moment of the final half of the game was Jason Kasdorf having the opportunity to log the first minutes of his collegiate career in net. The freshman came on in relief of Merriam to start the third period and stopped 8 shots, 6 of them coming before Bubela's goal as an indication of how little Union was forcing the issue during the Lee major.

Other junk - Ranked teams in the ECAC this week are #4 Cornell (beat and tied Colgate, up two), #8 Union (up two, still with one first place vote), #13 St. Lawrence (swept Alabama-Huntsville, up three), and #14 Harvard (beat Brown and lost to Yale, down one). Also receiving votes were Dartmouth (102, most among unranked teams and 18 away from a ranking), Yale (24), Quinnipiac (15), and Colgate (1). Other teams on the RPI schedule include #9 New Hampshire (no change), #11 Boston University (up one), #15 St. Cloud State (up three), and #18 Ferris State (up one). Also receiving votes was Minnesota State (3).

Interesting little tidbit from the weekend's series - all six goaltenders on the two teams' rosters saw action over the weekend, including all three Union goaltenders on Saturday.

With 10 points in 6 games, Jacob Laliberte is tied for sixth nationally in scoring. Linemate Matt Neal is tied for ninth with 9 in 6 games.

It can't get much harder than last weekend, but the Engineers do now have to hit the road to take on one nationally ranked team in Harvard and one just on the cusp of being ranked in Dartmouth. The Dartmouth game will have to feature a defenseman in his first game of the year with Curadi's suspension. Unfortunately, the poor showing this weekend has turned these road games into areas where RPI's going to need to pick up some points or else risk falling way behind very early.

#10 Union at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/2/12 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Union 4, RPI 2

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


RPI at #10 Union
Non-Conference Game - Achilles Center (Schenectady, NY)
11/3/12 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Union 7, RPI 3

BOX SCORES
RECORD: 1-3-2 (0-2-0 ECAC)

Upcoming games
09 Nov - at Dartmouth
10 Nov - at #14 Harvard
16 Nov - Mercyhurst
17 Nov - Mercyhurst
30 Nov - Princeton

Friday, November 2, 2012

Black Ice

Well, the site's black again. That can mean only one thing - Black Friday.

Take a trip down memory lane... a visit to Black Fridays past. Remember these unis?
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
(special thanks to rpihockey.net and photographer Charlene Markham - great supporters of RPI Hockey!)

Yes, friends, this year marks the 10th version of Black Friday... time flies. Looking forward to seeing the Men in Black tonight, but RPI kicks off with a tough weekend for sure - the home and home against the second Frozen Four team they've played in a month's time, Union.

The Dutchmen haven't started out this season as the same dominant force they were last year, but they still pack quite a punch. RPI may have skated with them well last March, but mistakes became costly and that'll almost certainly be the tale this weekend, too.

For your pump-up enjoyment... here's a thematic diddy from Mr. Robert Zombie and his friend Iggy Pop.




Thursday, November 1, 2012

Women's Hockey - at Vermont (31 Oct)


RPI took a rare mid-week trip to Burlington for a Halloween night game against Vermont and took the opportunity to recover from a rough weekend with a 5-1 win. Despite the score, it was not a spectacular game for the Engineers, who were sloppy with the puck at times and committed several unnecessary penalties against a team that they outnumbered nearly 2-to-1 on the bench.

Vermont

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

Daniels/Banks
Godin/Marzario
Le Donne/Schilter

Piper

A very fast first period saw no action on the scoreboard although the Engineers racked up a solid 10-3 shot advantage and saw the majority of play in the Catamounts' zone. The period's single power play went to the Engineers, but they were unable to crack netminder Kelci Lanthier.

The Engineers opened things up in the second period, starting with a quick goal just 48 seconds in by Jordan Smelker to make it 1-0. Taylor Horton doubled the lead at 3:26, taking a feed from Andie Le Donne and proceeding to outmaneuver several UVM skaters before beating Lanthier for the tally.

With an already short UVM bench made even shorter when Meghan Huertas was sent off on a 10-minute misconduct, Gruschow notched her fifth of the season to make it 3-0 at 16:52 of the middle frame.

RPI would pick up a power play goal on a too many players call at 5:44 of the third period, when Taylor Horton faked her way around the UVM defense to get a clean shot past Lanthier. Gruschow notched her second of the evening just two minutes later on a rebound after Lanthier made a nice stop on RPI's initial shot, and like that the Engineers led by five.

UVM got on the board at 12:21 of the third period with Mari Mankey off on a tripping call, but it would be the only goal the Catamounts would be able to muster on the night.

While it was probably a relief for the Engineers to pick up a win after five straight losses, UVM only had 11 skaters dressed, and spent 10 minutes with an even shorter bench with Huertas off on her misconduct. To take seven penalties against a team that shorthanded is not a shining example of discipline by the Engineers, and with a penalty kill that came into the night last in the nation (64.3%), that lack of discipline will need some work before facing tougher opposition or it will likely cost the Engineers.

RPI is off this coming weekend, but returns to Houston Field House Nov. 9 and 10 for a pair of ECAC matchups against Princeton and Quinnipiac.

-----

RPI at Vermont
Non-Conference Game – Gutterson Field House (Burlington, VT)
10/31/12 - 7:00pm
RPI 5, Vermont 1

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/10/31/rensselaer-vs-vermont/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wrenver1.o31

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2012/10/31/WICE_1031125500.aspx
UVM: http://uvmathletics.com/news/2012/10/31/WHOCKEY_1031124913.aspx
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMkmJlW59U0

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

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Upcoming Games

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