Tuesday, December 30, 2014

The Return of Happy?

Hey, y'all. Hope you didn't mind us just going silent for a couple of weeks. We like to take some time off for the holidays, too.

But it's game time tonight. The big question for the last two weeks has very clearly been "who's gonna be back?" We still don't have an answer for that question, not until the lineup sheet gets published for tonight's tall task against the hottest team in these United States, the Harvard Crimson - ranked 4th in the nation and with a nation-best six-game winning streak ongoing.

Harvard cleaned RPI's clock in Troy in early November, and that was a team that still had most of its top players on the ice, including Jason Kasdorf. So even if the Engineers are able to put everyone they want out on the ice at the Bright-Landry-Sneddon-Taylor-Mazzolini-Lombardi Hockey Center tonight, it's still probably going to be a tough row to hoe. A team on a five-game losing streak against one of the best ranked teams in the country? Impossible.

That is, of course, what they said just before RPI took on Union. So anything's possible. That's why they play the game. It's why we watch.

We'll be watching and waiting to see if Kasdorf, Lou Nanne, and Drew Melanson especially are back, but also looking for guys like Travis Fulton and Zach Schroeder, who are solid contributors themselves. With any luck, Matt Neal and Mark Miller, who have been playing injured, will be more effective with the rest.

Hey, at the end of the day, win or lose, it's RPI hockey, and we love watching.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Men's Hockey - Boston University (13 Dec)

Facing off with one of the best teams in the nation (now the best team in the nation according to the recently released USCHO poll) with a very banged up squad was expected to be a pretty tall task for a team struggling to put points on the board. Saturday night's game between BU and RPI ended up looking very much like the lopsided game observers expected, but only on the scoreboard. The Terriers skated off with a 5-1 victory, but faced a tough battle from an impressive Engineers squad nonetheless.

Boston University
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan
Wood-Neal-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-Miller-Nanne
Curadi-DeVito-Gillespie

Leonard-Bradley
Wilson-Reno
Prapavessis-Bell

Diebold

Lou Nanne's return to the lineup was both unexpected and short-lived. The freshman forward did not skate in the pre-game warmup, but was ready by game time. Unfortunately, an open-ice hit late in the first period found him skating to the locker room clutching the same shoulder he injured almost a month earlier against Quinnipiac.

Jason Kasdorf nearly made his return to the ice as well, dressing for the first time since suffering a lower body injury against New Hampshire, but he did not see any game play.

Nanne's return to the lineup, brief as it may have been, kept RPI from the difficult position of having to start two defensemen as forwards. Nanne functionally replaced the injured Travis Fulton, while Kenny Gillespie suited up in place of the once again injured Zach Schroeder on a very motley fourth line consisting of a defenseman, a non-natural center, and a seldom-used winger.

That line, however, was very nearly responsible for the game's first goal. Eight and a half minutes into a solid back-and-forth contest that saw the Engineers controlling early play, Jimmy DeVito appeared to give RPI a 1-0 edge - what would have been only their fourth such lead of the season - by placing a rebound perfectly top-shelf through traffic. Matt O'Connor, the BU netminder, protested immediately that he had been interfered with by Luke Curadi, and after a quick replay the goal was disallowed. The replay did show Curadi shoving O'Connor to the far side of the crease, although O'Connor did manage to recover in time to get back across and try to make a play on the shot by DeVito.

RPI continued to pour on the offensive chances in the first period, and on the play that saw Nanne re-injure his shoulder, O'Connor was forced into an outright robbery of a shot by Mark Miller that seemed destined for the net. O'Connor, on his stomach, managed to get a leg on Miller's shot to keep the game scoreless. The BU junior made 18 saves in the first period alone to maintain the 0-0 scoreline into the first intermission.

On the other side, Scott Diebold was earning his keep as well. He made 11 saves on 11 shots in the first period, and played strong hockey in the first half of the second period, helping to keep the game scoreless through the halfway point.

A slow-rolling redirection off a skate coming from a shot by BU freshman defenseman John MacLeod broke the deadlock at 11:57 of the second period. MacLeod had just managed to keep the puck in the RPI end after a big open ice hit on Gillespie moments earlier, a hit the RPI partisans in the crowd thought may have been a bit high. The referees, as they had for much of the game to that point, let them play, and BU capitalized to take the lead.

An ill-advised hit from behind by Milos Bubela just over a minute later put BU on the power play, and freshman phenom Jack Eichel showed why he's one of the top prospects in the world with a perfect pass that linemate Danny O'Regan practically feathered into the net to make it 2-0.

Things didn't look terrible for the Engineers from that point on in the second period, but a freak goal with just six seconds left in the period made the hill to climb more of a mountain. As time wound down, BU's Brandon Hickey whipped the puck toward the crease from behind the RPI end line, and the puck caromed off the back of Scott Diebold and into the cage to make the score 3-0 after two periods despite some continued even play on the ice.

An offensive zone faceoff win for the Terriers midway through the third period effectively sealed BU's victory, as they quickly moved the puck into the slot for freshman J.J. Piccinich to wrap past Diebold for the 4-0 lead.

RPI peppered Matt O'Connor with shots all night, and the goaltender was major reason why BU was able to claim the victory. He ended the night with 35 shots, although he missed out on the shutout when Milos Bubela picked up his fourth goal of the season with a shot from the top of the slot that O'Connor simply did not see as it beat him to the right. It was the team-lead-tying fourth goal of the season for the junior from Slovakia.

In an unusual circumstance, Seth Appert pulled Scott Diebold from the net with just over a minute left in the game to get an extra attacker on the ice, but a fairly quick BU clearance allowed the Terriers to regain their four-goal edge with an empty netter.

The Engineers now get some time to recuperate and recover as the holiday break begins. Their next game is the Tuesday after Christmas, which is 17 days removed from their battle against the Terriers. They'll need as many players as possible back into the lineup, because the post-holiday fun kicks off with a game against the Harvard Crimson that counts for ECAC points, followed by a pair at home against another one of the top teams in the nation, the Miami RedHawks.

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

#2 Boston University at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Meehan Auditorium (Providence, RI)
12/13/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Boston University 5, RPI 1

RECORD: 6-12-1 (4-4-0, 8pts)

Upcoming games
30 Dec - at #4 Harvard
02 Jan - #6 Miami
03 Jan - #6 Miami
09 Jan - at #14 Quinnipiac
10 Jan - at Princeton

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Back to the Church

What is a cathedral?

Technically speaking, it's a high place of worship, but it's a word that gets thrown around a lot in the sports world as it pertains to buildings. Lambeau Field and Soldier Field, it is said, are cathedrals of football. Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are often called cathedrals of baseball.

There are cathedrals of college hockey. Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis. Lynah Rink in Ithaca. Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor. Just to name a few.

We submit that Houston Field House fits the category.

It's certainly not the most glamorous place in the world. It's big and cavernous, swallowing sound from all but the most full crowds. Its birth as a Navy warehouse in Rhode Island is apparent from the moment you step in. The seats are mostly wooden and they're laid out in a manner unfamiliar to most places, walking up to your seat instead of walking down.

If you want all of the most modern accoutrements, go ahead and check out Ralph Englestad Arena in Grand Forks or Agganis Arena in Boston. They've got all the bells and whistles and they fill the places up more often than not. If you want architecture, we didn't have Eero Saarinen like Yale did. We're not above saying that we'd like to have something like that someday.

But the history is undeniable. Houston Field House is the place, arguably, where the concept of small schools competing with the big dogs was born and fostered through the Engineers' success in the early 1950s. It's one of only four buildings currently used as a home arena in college hockey that once hosted the Frozen Four. It's a place that has turned out a number of players who have reached the NHL, and whose alumni have competed in every NHL season for over 30 years. The NCAA record books are dotted with the names of players who called the Field House their home.

There's no hard and fast rule for what constitutes a "cathedral of college hockey." It's a plaything for discussion. You don't have to agree with us in the slightest. But it's a cathedral to us, and we're coming home to it tonight.

(This is the part where we give a "what's up" to the First Church of RPI Hockey.)

As we mentioned yesterday, tonight's game against one of the best American-born prospects in decades, Jack Eichel, and his Boston University Terriers isn't likely to be very competitive. They're playing pretty well, well enough to be the #2 team in the nation. RPI might as well be playing this game from a hospital bed.

But it's another opportunity to come see a traditional old rivalry, waking up the ghosts of college hockey's past while getting a golden opportunity to gaze upon the game's future. Come back to church. You won't regret it tonight.

Friday, December 12, 2014

The Walking Dead

The first half of the season is coming to an end following tomorrow night's home game (the first in a month), and it couldn't come at a better time.

Let's recap the situation in the infirmary, shall we?

Chris Bradley suffered a shoulder injury in early November, which kept him out of five games, including four ECAC contests.

Luke Curadi missed four games, including three ECAC contests, with a concussion picked up in the Harvard game. Curadi has been playing at forward since his return due to other injuries - he hasn't seen the blue line in over a month.

Milos Bubela has been in and out of the lineup with concussion issues. He missed three games in October (and basically four, since he didn't see much ice against Notre Dame), and another two in mid-November. He's currently tied for second in goals for the Engineers.

Matt Neal had an illness that kept him sidelined during the last league home weekend in November.

Travis Fulton separated his shoulder, either against Brown or in practice this week (it wasn't made clear). Either way, the spark plug who has played an important energy role for the Engineers is out tomorrow.

Zach Schroeder hurt his ankle against Quinnipiac and missed the next four games because of it. Now word has come out that the injury was re-aggravated against Brown and he'll now miss a fifth game tomorrow.

Mark Miller, according to reports, is playing hurt with injuries to his ribs and shoulder and has been for the last month. He has yet to miss a game this season but has been very limited in practice for the last several weeks - and obviously, playing hurt makes any player more susceptible to picking up an injury they can't play with, no matter how tough you are.

Lou Nanne hurt a shoulder against Quinnipiac, which has been a recurring injury issue for him - he had double-shoulder surgery last year. Nanne was the team's leading scorer before being sidelined. He's missed the last six games and and is expected to miss his seventh tomorrow.

Drew Melanson has mononucleosis and will miss his third game in a row tomorrow night. Following linemate Nanne's departure from the lineup, he became the team's leading scorer. That role is now held by Riley Bourbonnais.

Miller, Nanne, and Melanson made up what was arguably the team's most dynamic scoring line, full of speed and with just the right combination of passing, scoring, and physical play. That line was just beginning to look very dangerous when it was broken up by the injuries and illnesses.

Last and certainly not least, Jason Kasdorf missed time as a freshman with a shoulder injury, missed basically the entire season last year with a shoulder separation that required surgery to keep it from recurring, and now has an undisclosed lower-body injury that he picked up against New Hampshire on the 25th of November. He wasn't removed from that game immediately upon injury, instead coming out during the first intermission for what was then deemed a "precautionary measure." He's since missed the last four games, all losses for the Engineers. He's not expected to play against BU, either.

Add it all up, and 10 injured and ill players have lost 27 games to injuries, mostly within the last month. That number is expected to reach 32 tomorrow, and that doesn't even take into effect the loss of defensemen like Curadi, Craig Bokenfohr, and Phil Hampton who have occasionally had to play forward because of the ongoing injury concerns.

RPI is a team that was expected to have scoring struggles to begin with, and when you have seven forwards that have had injury and illness concerns in a very short amount of time, especially when three of those seven have proven to be very important to helping the team score, you're going to have problems.

It's no secret, either, that Kasdorf has been this team's most valuable player practically since he arrived in Troy. Scott Diebold is a decent enough goaltender - and before him, Bryce Merriam - but over the last three seasons, it's been very apparent that the team simply is better (and plays better) with Kasdorf in net over Diebold or Merriam. Last season may well have been a lost season if only because of the freak injury Kasdorf suffered very early on.

The bottom line is that this all seems to add up to the last month basically being lost because of the mounting and unrelenting injuries this team has had to deal with. Every squad in the nation has to deal with injuries over the course of a season, but rarely does it get this bad, where you have so many important players unable to contribute. The best team in the nation would be struggling without its top goaltender and two of its most important scorers, to say nothing of losing so many other key elements. For RPI, which wasn't likely to be in the discussion as one of the best in the nation, it hurts even more.

If there's anything to be thankful for with all of this, it's that the lion's share of the games during this difficult time have been non-league contests. At the end of the day, this isn't a team that's going to be banking on its overall record to reach the NCAAs, it's Lake Placid or bust, baby. In that light, the brutally difficult non-league schedule, made even more difficult by these injuries, are little more than exhibition outings preparing the team for more crucial games in league play. That's what tomorrow night's game against BU is going to end up being, unfortunately.

The Engineers have 17 days after they play BU before they get back into things with a game that matters at Harvard - arguably, the best team in the ECAC right now, a team that steamrolled RPI at the Field House in November. Bradley was the only major component missing for the Engineers in that game. It's part of a continued grueling schedule facing RPI when they come back from break, many in league play, so let's hope 17 days is enough to get healthy.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Men's Hockey - at Yale & Brown (5/6 Dec)

The rollercoaster ride continues for the men's team. Thanks to injuries and illnesses to some of the Engineers' most crucial components, the trend is heading back downslope after a disastrous weekend of results against what has historically been an important road trip for RPI to pick up some points. With Drew Melanson sidelined by mononucleosis and with Lou Nanne and Jason Kasdorf continuing to miss time due to injuries, the Engineers struggled through the last full ECAC weekend of the calendar year, falling 5-2 against Yale and then becoming the first league team to drop points to Brown in a 4-2 loss in Providence.

Yale
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan
Wood-Neal-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-Miller-Fulton
Curadi-Schroeder-DeVito

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bradley-Hampton
Wilson-Reno

Diebold

Melanson's absence was salved somewhat by the return from an ankle injury of Zach Schroeder. Travis Fulton moved up to the Miller line, while Schroeder slotted in on the fourth line.

The opening period against Yale was a rough one for the Engineers, as they managed just 2 shots on goal in the first 20 minutes. The Bulldogs began to take full control of the period in the final 10 minutes, though RPI withstood the attack for much of the period. Just as it appeared that the Engineers might get out of the first with no score, Yale struck with under 2 minutes left in the period after a sustained attack in the RPI zone to go up 1-0.

The game's turning point came about six minutes into the second. Shortly after an RPI attack ended with a puck off the post, the Bulldogs went the other way with it and scored to make the score 2-0 instead of the 1-1 tally the game could have featured if the Engineers had been able to finish the attack.

Jake Wood scored his first goal of the season with 4:05 remaining in the second period, but any momentum RPI could have taken into the second intermission was scuttled just over two minutes later as Yale scored their third even strength goal of the game and second in the last two minutes of a period to make it 3-1 Bulldogs.

RPI hardly gave up the ghost at that point. After a solid first 10 minutes of the third period, RPI pulled to within one for a second time on the evening with a power play goal from Milos Bubela. The junior's third goal of the season made the score 3-2, but once again, that reduced lead for the Bulldogs didn't last long. Only 50 seconds later, the Bulldogs put one in the back of the net to regain the two-goal edge.

An empty netter with just over a minute left to play sealed RPI's fate. It was a game where the Engineers didn't play poorly, but they made enough spot errors and gave up goals at the very worst possible times - late in periods and just after their own goals - to doom themselves to a loss.

Brown
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan
Wood-Neal-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-Miller-Fulton
Curadi-Schroeder-DeVito

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bradley-Hampton
Wilson-Reno

Diebold

Without much of a choice due to injuries and illnesses, the Engineers ran the exact same lineup against a Brown team that had been absolutely blown out the previous night against Union, who went up 7-0 on their way to a 7-1 victory.

Unfortunately, many of the same pitfalls that created a loss on Friday night reared their ugly heads again on Saturday. This time, it was a quick - and soft - goal that put the Engineers down 1-0 for the 15th time in 18 games this season. Brown, a team that has had trouble scoring goals this year, put themselves on the board just 50 seconds in to make it 1-0.

Jacob Laliberte notched his second goal of the season about two and a half minutes later on the power play to even the score, but once again, a quick goal given up blunted the momentum that RPI could have gained from having evened things up. Another soft one, this one only 31 seconds after the goal from Laliberte put RPI back behind just as quickly as they'd tied the game.

Several 4-on-4 opportunities were generated over the next 30 or so minutes, but nothing came of them and the Bears maintained a tedious 2-1 edge even as the Engineers began taking control of the game in the second period. Despite a 17-7 domination in shots on goal in the middle stanza, it was Brown scoring - for the fourth time in five periods on the weekend, a goal coming in the last two minutes of a period - to make it 3-1.

By the time the Bears picked up their fourth goal of the game 7:13 into the fourth period, again despite some strong play by the Engineers, it was a hole too big for RPI to extract itself. Jake Wood's second goal of the season with 3:22 left to play earned the Engineers a little more respectability, but it wasn't enough to stop the team's losing streak from extending to four games overall and three games in ECAC play.

The 0 point weekend was the first time since Brown and Yale became travel partners that the Engineers failed to earn at least a weekend split on that particular road trip. It also sent the team, which held first place on its own ahead of the Quinnipiac game, down into a tie for 5th place with St. Lawrence, a team with a game in hand over the Engineers. RPI is now four points out of first place and only two out of 10th, with just one more league contest - against the hottest team in the ECAC, Harvard - left to be played before 2015.

Things will not get easier from here. 6 of RPI's next 8 games are against ranked opponents, with the next four in a row coming against teams currently ranked in the top 10. This Saturday, the Engineers return to the Field House for the first time in a month to take on Jack Eichel and Boston University. With any luck, at least some of RPI's walking wounded will be back in the lineup, as the team sorely missed its top two scorers and top netminder this past weekend.

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

RPI at Yale
ECAC Game - Ingalls Rink (New Haven, CT)
12/5/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Yale 5, RPI 2

RECORD: 6-10-1 (4-3-0, 8pts)

RPI at Brown
ECAC Game - Meehan Auditorium (Providence, RI)
12/6/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Brown 4, RPI 2


RECORD: 6-11-1 (4-4-0, 8pts)

Upcoming games
13 Dec - #2 Boston University
30 Dec - at #5 Harvard
02 Jan - #6 Miami
03 Jan - #6 Miami
09 Jan - at #15 Quinnipiac

Monday, December 8, 2014

Women's Hockey - Brown & Yale (5/6 Dec)

RPI finished the 2014 portion of the schedule (hitting the halfway point of the season with 17 games down and 17 remaining) by hosting Brown and Yale, two of the other teams in the bottom half of the ECAC standings.

After roaring out to a 7-0 lead over Brown on Friday, the Engineers' penalty kill surrendered four straight goals and the Bears tacked on one more at the last second for a 7-5 final. Another pair of power play goals allowed on Saturday turned a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 Yale lead and though the Engineers drew to within one on an extra attacker goal, couldn't knot it up and ended the year with a 3-2 loss.

Brown

Mahoney/Gruschow/Raspa
Horwood/Tomlinson/Svoboda
Wash/Renn/Mankey
Rooney/Hylwa/Walsh

Banks/Schilter
Kimmerle/Godin
Middlebrook/Behounek

Piper

RPI had a 4-goal first period for the first time in eight years and Alexa Gruschow had two goals and two assists including the game winner, but the Engineers finished on a sour note surrendering five straight but holding on for a 7-5 victory.

The Engineers last scored four in the opening period on 12/8/06 in a 7-0 win over Union. This time around Jenn Godin opened the scoring, skating into the zone all alone while the rest of the Engineers took a line change and giving RPI a 1-0 lead.

Marisa Raspa scored two goals just 13 seconds apart to triple RPI's lead. The goals temporarily gave the freshman the team lead in the category, but that would be taken back by Alexa Gruschow when she later scored the sixth and seventh goals for the Engineers - one each on the power play and shorthanded.

Between those events, Delaney Middlebrook scored her first goal as an Engineer in the middle of the first to make it 4-0, then Laura Horwood scored the Engineers' fifth at 1:13 of the second.

After going up 7-0 early in the third on Gruschow's shorty, the Engineers proceeded to surrender four straight power play goals, a glaring weakness the team has exhibited all season with a 67.2% success rate - last in the nation by a margin of 8.5%.

Brown's power play goals included a 5-on-3 goal followed by a goal on the remaining 5-on-4 just 26 seconds later. They would tack on one more for good measure in the game's final second, taking what could have been the Engineers' largest margin of victory in five years and instead turning it into a two-goal win by a 7-5 final score.

Yale

Mahoney/Gruschow/Raspa
Horwood/Tomlinson/Svoboda
Wash/Renn/Mankey
Rooney/Hylwa/Walsh

Banks/Schilter
Kimmerle/Godin
Middlebrook/Behounek

O'Brien

Laura Horwood drew the Engineers even at 1-1 late in the first period, but another pair of goals on a 5-on-3 and the ensuing 5-on-4 cost RPI a shot at a weekend sweep as they eventually fell 3-2 to Yale in Troy on Saturday afternoon.

Horwood's goal was a nice one, as the sophomore put her first shot over the net before circling around the corner back to the slot to find a loose puck and backhand it into the net to draw things even.

Yale had taken the lead early, as RPI did the day before, with a tally 1:40 into the first. Mallory Souliotis picked up the goal with a big slapper through traffic from the point which found its way past Kelly O'Brien.

Yale's second and third goals came late in the second period, with Delaney Middlebrook and Kathryn Schilter both in the box. Taylor Marchin made it 2-1 with a slapshot of her own on the 5-on-3, then Aurora Kennedy scored the game-winner on another shot through traffic from the point just moments later.

Alexa Gruschow brought the Engineers back to within one at 18:42 of the third, with O'Brien out of the net in favor of the extra attacker, but 1:18 wasn't enough time to find another goal and RPI fell to Yale by a 3-2 final score.

With the loss on Saturday, the Engineers now sit in a 4-way tie for last place with Brown, Union, and Colgate. While there's a lot of hockey left to play, it will be an uphill struggle for the Engineers to catch up to Yale or Dartmouth in the fight to make the playoffs. There's nothing to be done for a while, though, as the team now has a month-long break for the holidays before continuing their homestand with five games in nine nights at Houston Field House to say hello to 2015.

-----

RPI vs. Brown
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
12/5/14 - 7:00pm
RPI 7, Brown 5

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wbrnren1.d05
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4439

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2014/12/5/WICE_1205142343.aspx
Brown: http://www.brownbears.com/sports/w-hockey/2014-15/releases/20141205ojla0x
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/877-womens-hockey-vs-brown-university

RECORD: 3-11-2 (1-4-0 ECAC)

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RPI vs. Yale
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
12/6/14 - 4:00pm
Yale 3, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wrenyal1.d06
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4438

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2014/12/6/WICE_1206141737.aspx
Yale: http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/w-hockey/2014-15/releases/20141206o9jj7z
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yTOo2aAF4U
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/878-womens-hockey-vs-yale

RECORD: 3-12-2 (1-5-0 ECAC)

-----

Upcoming Schedule

Jan. 2 - Princeton (3pm)
Jan. 3 - Quinnipiac (3pm)
Jan. 6 - Providence (4pm)
Jan. 9 - Dartmouth (7pm)
Jan. 10 - Harvard (4pm)

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ECAC Standings

1. Quinnipiac - 14 pts. (6-1-2) (.778)
2. Clarkson - 13 pts. (6-2-1) (.722)
3t. Harvard - 11 pts. (6-1-1) (.781)
3t. St. Lawrence - 11 pts (5-3-1) (.611)
5t. Cornell - 10 pts. (5-2-0) (.714)
5t. Princeton - 10 pts. (5-4-0) (.556)
7. Yale - 6 pts. (3-3-0) (.500)
8. Dartmouth - 5 pts (2-4-1) (.357)
9t. Brown - 2 pts (1-5-0) (.167)
9t. RPI - 2 pts (1-5-0) (.167)
9t. Union - 2 pts (1-5-0) (.167)
9t. Colgate - 2 pts (1-6-0) (.143)

Friday, December 5, 2014

Climbing the Mountain

Lou Nanne was the leading scorer for the Engineers. Then he hurt his shoulder and he's missed four games (set to become five and probably six this weekend).

While he was out, Drew Melanson became the team's leading scorer. He's out now, too. Mononucleosis.

Jason Kasdorf has been an absolute rock for RPI between the pipes almost since he arrived on campus. The team has simply played better when he's in goal. He's missing his third straight game tonight.

The injuries have not been a few and they're impacting some of the most key players on the squad. With that as the backdrop, the Engineers take off for Yale and Brown this weekend needing a minimum of 2 points to keep up their momentum in league play. It's not going to be easy, especially tonight against a Yale team that has found its groove on defense.

Meanwhile, the time is now for the women. Tied with Union in last place with no points in league play so far, there will be few weekends better to nab league points than at home against Brown (2 points, earned against St. Lawrence) and Yale (2 points, earned against Colgate). The Engineers finally picked up their second win last Friday against RIT, but then had a power outage the next afternoon in being shutout by the Tigers.

It's a daunting task facing both squads, but that's why we watch.


Wednesday, December 3, 2014

ECAC Power Rankings (November)

Time for the first installment of our usually thrice annual ECAC power rankings. We don't publish after October, because the Ivies don't have enough games to fully evaluate, and we don't publish after February, because the league standings are ranking enough at that point.

Generally speaking, these power rankings are a reflection on each team's entire body of work, not just their activity in league play, but there is a premium placed on performance in league games. It's not perfect, but it's at least a generally agreeable method for sussing out who's hard and who's soft when it comes to the ECAC.

Enjoy.

1. Harvard - It's been said for quite some time that Harvard has a talented team, and they're finally starting to prove it. The way they've opened their season, they're not just the best team in the league so far, they're one of the very best teams in the country (and the country should be used to the top ECAC team having that role by now). 6th in the nation in both offense and defense, 2nd in power play and 4th in penalty kill, there's just not too many places where the Crimson are failing right now. Finally, they're living up to the promise of their talent because they're playing like a team.

2. Yale - This may end up being a team that lives and dies with its defense, but if so, they're off to a solid start. The "three-goal" rule has applied very strictly to the Bulldogs. They're undefeated when they give up two or fewer goals, they've yet to nab even a draw when they allow three or more. The offense isn't going to remind anyone of the national championship run, not yet, anyway. That makes this a different Yale team. In the recent past, they've needed to get just enough out of their defense to get by. That's been turned on its head lately. Will it last? We'll see.

3. St. Lawrence - The question marks that this team had to start the season are being filled in, and quickly. Kyle Hayton already has half as many shutouts in 14 games as his predecessor put together in 132. The "scoring by committee" that RPI is seeking is actually taking place in Canton, and in spades: all but six skaters on the team have at least two goals, and one of those six leads the team with 10 assists. That combines to make this young team dangerous. If they keep it up, the future is extremely bright.

4. Quinnipiac - Their thief-in-the-night journey to the Capital District notwithstanding, there's still been a great deal to like about the Bobcats' early showings. While they've turned in some games that leave one scratching their heads, Quinnipiac has proven that they have the chops to compete. While neither the offense or the defense has left anyone dumbfounded yet this season, they've done enough to have themselves in first place by themselves, and that's never a bad place to be. There's room for improvement, but a strong power play and their results thus far have put the Bobcats in a good place moving forward. Right now, that's enough.

5. Dartmouth - Want to turn some heads in college hockey this season? Keep a team with Jack Eichel on it from scoring any goals whatsoever. The Big Green did that last weekend by shutting out Boston University and moved themselves up considerably from where they might have been otherwise on that feat alone. When the offense is clicking, and it usually has been, the Big Green have been winning games. Now the defense is starting to come along as well, and that's always a good combination to have.

6. Colgate - The Raiders' offense has been mostly as advertised (although they've had some rough outings), but the defense, especially since the start of the ECAC season, has been uneven at best. Still, there are a lot of teams that wish they could be playing as well as Colgate has - it's just that expectations in Hamilton were higher than what they've rolled out thus far. Many of the Raiders' victories this season have come against tomato cans - only two of their 10 combined wins and ties have been against teams with records over .500. Not their fault, and it does show they're winning games they must win, but the defense needs to better than its lately been.

7. Cornell - The Big Red are already making some serious strides in the right direction, and in a turn of events that will shock no one, it's defense that is leading the way. As mentioned in our Cornell preview, they played one of the nation's most lowest scoring schedules last year, and only Northern Michigan games have been more low-scoring than Cornell's so far. That's actually been increased in the last couple of weeks - only nine goals were scored combined in the Big Red's first four games of the season. They could be dangerous if they start scoring with some consistency.

8. RPI - Far too wildly inconsistent to be ranked any higher than this. They've been shut out five times and as good as the defense has frequently shown that it can be, they haven't produced any of their own (although they've limited the opposition to a single goal on six occasions). The Engineers walk a razor's edge when they are playing well (they're 5-2-1 in games decided by two or fewer goals) and when they're bad, they're very bad (1-7 in games decided by three or more). This has to improve if they're going to take advantage of their early positioning.

9. Clarkson - Inconsistent is a good word to use for the Golden Knights as well. They've had good nights offensively. They've also been shut out three times. The defense has been on more often than it's been off, but it hasn't strung together any real solid runs outside of ECAC play. Fortunately for Clarkson, they're in a strong position after six games in the league, which gives them something to build upon. If the offense can even get to a point where it, like the defense, is merely on more than off, they're in contention for a top four spot.

10. Union - A strong start to the season has been blunted by a sputtering start to the league schedule. After rattling off five non-conference wins to start the year, the Dutchmen have encountered difficulties on both sides of the puck. They followed up their long winning streak, which included last year's national championship, with a six-game winless stretch, which included a throttling at the hands of RPI and most recently, an 8-2 drubbing by Western Michigan. At the very least, there are signs of potential all around for Union, including the revival of its power play, so they may not stay down for long.

11. Princeton - That the Tigers aren't bringing up the rear based on how their season has gotten out of the gate is more a testament to how badly the bottom-ranked team has played and not a statement on Princeton being better than expected, since they were roundly picked to be the worst team in the conference. They've been on that level, but they've been beaten to the bottom, so to speak. The Tigers have the nation's worst offense and the defense is in the bottom 10. Frankly, if it wasn't for their wins over Cornell and Michigan State, they'd be sitting in the spot most expected of them.

12. Brown - Before the season started, we asked Brown to "show us first" before we placed them as high as some of the preseason rankings suggested they were capable. This is why. The offense is far too reliant on a limited number of players and has been roundly ineffective - only Princeton's goal generating has been worse nationally. Defensively, the puck just isn't being kept out, and the nation's worst penalty kill isn't helping. Put together, only Colorado College has a worse scoring margin differential than the Bears, and they simply haven't been competitive in most of their games.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Men's Hockey - at New Hampshire & Michigan (25 Nov and 28/29 Nov)

Now deep into the second chunk of non-conference games, the Engineers played three road games in five nights with mixed results against traditional college hockey powers. They managed to put forward a dominating performance at New Hampshire on Tuesday night last week, but only managed a 2-1 victory when all was said and done. They were the better of the two teams on Friday night in the Great Lakes State, but had to eat a 3-2 loss after spot mistakes late in the third period. Running out of juice by Saturday, RPI came out strong in the first 10 minutes but unraveled after that to finish the week with a 6-0 rout as Michigan completed a weekend sweep.

New Hampshire
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan
Melanson-Neal-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-Miller-Wood
Curadi-DeVito-Fulton

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bradley-Hampton
Wilson-Reno

Kasdorf

With players returning to the RPI lineup - especially Luke Curadi and Chris Bradley - the lines began to solidify a bit on Tuesday. Lou Nanne and Zach Schroeder, who had missed the UConn game, would ultimately be out for the entire slate of games for the week, but still project to hopefully be back for the ECAC contests against Yale and Brown.

Meanwhile, an eyebrow raiser in the lineup saw Curadi being slotted as a left-winger on the fourth line, something Seth Appert would later say was something he's been looking to try for some time, and felt confident enough to go forward with it in light of the injuries up front and the team's depth on the blue line.

The Engineers' worst period on Tuesday may have been the first period, but it was the one in which all of the game's goals were scored. UNH struck first on the power play 8:09 in on Warren Foegele's first collegiate goal to put the home team up 1-0. RPI picked up their first goal about six and a half minutes later, basically also on the power play. With the Wildcats killing off their penalty just a few seconds earlier, Curtis Leonard scored with a laser pinpointed blast from the blue line to knot the score, with assists to Matt Neal and Drew Melanson.

Just under two minutes later, RPI struck again to take a lead they would not relinquish. With Travis Fulton jamming the net, Parker Reno came up from the blue line to poke home a rebound to make the score 2-1. It was Reno's second collegiate goal, and first of the season.

Near the end of the period, Michael Prapavessis very nearly made it 3-1 in favor of the Engineers, but he hit a post for the second time in three games.

Jason Kasdorf came out of the game at the start of the second period for what would later be determined to be a precautionary measure as he suffered an undisclosed lower body injury in the first period. It was his replacement, Scott Diebold, who would be the story of the remainder of the game, as he stopped 11 shots in each of the next two periods to preserve the RPI victory.

Diebold's dominance in net was only part of the overall RPI success in the final two periods. The Engineers began controlling the puck well and playing good defense throughout the game. The penalty kill was especially effective, killing off the last six opportunities that the Wildcats got, including a very late penalty to Milos Bubela that effectively gave UNH the final 1:50 with a 6-on-4 situation. Diebold himself lived up to the old adage that your best penalty killer has to be your goaltender, as he made some huge saves in the final moments to deprive the home team of another goal.

Michigan (Friday)
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan
Melanson-Neal-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-Miller-Wood
Curadi-DeVito-Fulton

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bradley-Hampton
Wilson-Reno

Diebold

After the team stopped in Buffalo the following night to take in the Sabres-Jets game, they ultimately dressed just about the same lineup as Tuesday with one major exception. The injury to Kasdorf from the New Hampshire game was deemed enough to rule him out for the Michigan series. Appert remarked that Kasdorf likely would have played if it were a league weekend in February or March, or a playoff series, but that the team wanted him back to 100% before he saw action again in the first half of the season.

RPI, as has been the case in nearly every game this season (save three), were behind after the game's first goal, which Michigan notched late in the first period to go up 1-0. The opening 20 minutes were otherwise pretty even, both teams putting up nine shots on goal and the game establishing some early back and forth flow.

The Engineers took advantage of their opportunities in the second period to tie the score. Although Michigan began putting together something of a more solid lead in shots, RPI converted on what would ultimately be their only power play opportunity of the night as Milos Bubela scored his second of the year from Jacob Laliberte and Riley Bourbonnais to tie the score at one 8:45 into the second period.

RPI played their most convincing hockey in the third period, taking the lead with 13 minutes left on a Bourbonnais redirection of a shot by Drew Melanson to put RPI up 2-1. The goal was Bourbonnais' fourth of the season, his first since his hat-trick against Union.

From there, RPI looked strong. As the minutes ticked by, they looked primed to at the very least defend their lead, if not score an insurance marker, but a pair of mistakes with about three minutes left in the game put them behind. A soft goal by Tyler Motte with 3:02 remaining in the period tied things up at two, and then just 29 seconds later, Diebold got a piece of a shot by Zach Hyman, but couldn't keep it from the back of the net. In the blink of an eye, RPI was the team that was down a goal. In both circumstances, defensive let-downs created scoring opportunities that the Wolverines simply converted.

Michigan (Saturday)
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan
Melanson-Neal-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-Miller-Wood
Curadi-DeVito-Fulton

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bradley-Hampton
Bell-Reno

Diebold

The only change to the RPI lineup from Friday was the insertion of Bradley Bell in place of Jared Wilson, a move that was intended to get the freshman some playing time against a top-level team.

Early play between RPI and Michigan on Saturday actually resembled the early parts of the third period from Friday more than anything else - some good back and forth play that RPI had their chances with. Unfortunately, that proved to be one of the few bright spots for the Engineers on the evening.

Michigan opened the scoring 7:53 in on a put-back goal by Kevin Lohan. A power play goal just seconds into the Wolverines' first opportunity of the game about seven minutes later made it 2-0, and a solid individual effort by Syracuse native Boo Nieves three minutes after that put the Engineers down 3-0.

Nieves made it 4-0 in the second period with another strong individual effort, practically going coast-to-coast while on the power play. It was a rough night in net for Diebold, who stopped just 19 of 23 shots after 40 minutes, but he gutted out the remainder of the game with Jason Kasdorf unavailable.

Michigan notched another pair of goals in the third period for the final score of 6-0. The Engineers managed a respectable 26 shots on net, including two against Michigan's practice goaltender, but rarely looked ready to crack the scoreboard following the first 10 minutes of the game. The game was equal parts rough play by RPI and outstanding work by a Michigan team full of talent and starting to put the pieces together.

RPI returns to ECAC play this coming weekend with the Yale/Brown road trip, then faces a harrowing schedule afterwards, mostly of non-conference games. #3 Boston University is the team's last home game of the year the following weekend, then after Christmas they do battle with #9 Harvard, probably the best team in the ECAC, and coming home after New Year's for a pair of games with #4 Miami. One thing this team will certainly be by the time the core of the league schedule begins in January is battle-tested.

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

RPI at New Hampshire
Non-Conference Game - Whittemore Center (Durham, NH)
11/25/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, New Hampshire 1


RECORD: 6-7-1 (4-2-0, 8pts)

RPI at Michigan
Non-Conference Game - Yost Ice Arena (Ann Arbor, MI)
11/28/14 - 7:30pm

RESULT: Michigan 3, RPI 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI

RECORD: 6-8-1 (4-2-0, 8pts)

RPI at Michigan
Non-Conference Game - Yost Ice Arena (Ann Arbor, MI)
11/29/14 - 7:30pm

RESULT: Michigan 6, RPI 0


RECORD: 6-9-1 (4-2-0, 8pts)

Upcoming games
05 Dec - at Yale
06 Dec - at Brown
13 Dec - #3 Boston University
30 Dec - at #9 Harvard
02 Jan - #4 Miami

Monday, December 1, 2014

Women's Hockey - RIT (28/29 Nov)

A return to action after a week off saw RPI host fellow tech school RIT, who they hadn't played for nine seasons since elevating to Division I, for a pair of non-conference games at Houston Field House. The Engineers came out strong on Friday night, skating to a 4-1 victory, but a sweep was not in the cards as they were shutout in Saturday afternoon's rematch by a 3-0 margin.

Friday

Horwood/Tomlinson/Svoboda
Mahoney/Gruschow/Raspa
Rooney/Mankey/Hylwa

Middlebrook/Schilter
Kimmerle/Behounek
Renn

O'Brien

A big first period had the Engineers ahead 3-1, and Kelly O'Brien put up 26 saves en route to her second win of the year as RPI beat RIT 4-1 on Friday night.

It was RIT scoring first on the night, with Lindsay Grigg banging home a rebound on the doorstep for the early 1-0 lead.

Shayna Tomlinson knotted it up near the midpoint of the period, taking a feed from Laura Horwood who had just won a puck battle along the back boards and putting it past goalie Brooke Stoddart.

Marisa Raspa tallied the game-winner at 16:20 of the period, when Stoddart misplayed a dump-in behind the net, allowing the Engineer freshman to poke the puck into a wide open net and give RPI the lead.

Ali Svoboda topped off the period for RPI with a power play goal at 18:53. The play was set up when Whitney Renn blocked a clearing attempt at the blue line, feeding the puck to Laura Horwood for a shot which was blocked by a sliding Tiger defenseman. The rebound was ripe for Svoboda to put top shelf and the shot was on target for a 3-1 lead.

After a second period which saw neither scoring nor penalties for either team, Taylor Mahoney scored an insurance goal late in the third, taking advantage of yet another rebound opportunity given up by Stoddart.

Though the shot tally finished deadlocked at 27, the Engineers had the best of the play despite playing with a short bench and looked to be in good position going into Saturday's game with several players returning to the lineup.

Saturday

Horwood/Tomlinson/Svoboda
Mahoney/Gruschow/Raspa
Rooney/Mankey/Hylwa
Wash/Walsh

Middebrook/Behounek
Kimmerle/Renn
Godin/Banks

O'Brien

More players on the bench didn't translate to a stronger performance for RPI on Saturday as they were shutout 3-0 by RIT at Houston Field House. Jetta Rackleff, taking over in net for Stoddard, earned her second shutout of the season in a 20-save effort.

The Tigers scored once in each period, with the first goal coming off the stick of Celeste Brown at 10:39 of the first. Brown's wrister beat O'Brien from the faceoff circle and Cassie Clayton picked up the assist with the pass that set Brown up to break into the zone.

Marissa Maugeri doubled the RIT lead late in the second period, putting a rebound past O'Brien after the RPI netminder stopped a breakaway a moment earlier.

Brown's second of the game put RIT ahead 3-0 at 11:27 of the third, and things got a little chippy in the game's closing minutes - including an odd pair of matching delay of game penalties called out of a scuffle that included some high cross-checks.

RPI will need to rediscover some offense next weekend as they close out the 2014 portion of the schedule at home against Brown and Yale. Both teams have had a hit-or-miss start to their season and hold a 1-3 record in ECAC play. With both opponents likely to feature in the lower half of the league standings, a pair of wins would go a long way to giving the Engineers a foothold into the playoff race.

-----

RPI vs. RIT
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/28/14 - 7:00pm
RPI 4, RIT 1

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wrenrit1.n28
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4436

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2014/11/28/WICE_1128143316.aspx
RIT: http://www.ritathletics.com/news/2014/11/28/WHOCKEY_1128142528.aspx
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW47PQ3MdgQ
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/872-womens-hockey-vs-rit

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

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RPI vs. RIT
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/29/14 - 4:00pm
RIT 3, RPI 0

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wrenrit1.n29
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4437

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2014/11/29/WICE_1129142242.aspx
RIT: http://www.ritathletics.com/news/2014/11/29/WHOCKEY_1129144208.aspx
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/873-womens-hockey-vs-rit

RECORD: 2-11-2 (0-4-0 ECAC)

-----

Upcoming Schedule

Dec. 5 - Brown (7pm)
Dec. 6 - Yale (4pm)
Jan. 2 - Princeton (3pm)
Jan. 3 - Princeton (3pm)

Friday, November 28, 2014

Bring the Funk

It's back to hockey after the post-Thanksgiving food coma.

At home in Troy, the women take on RIT, the reigning CHA champions. This season for the Tigers... a lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of what-have-yous. Cross your fingers here that the Engineers are finally getting over the injury bug.

That's something the men have been doing over the last couple of weeks, and they've persevered pretty well. We're just waiting to see when Lou Nanne and Zach Schroeder get back into the lineup. If it's not this weekend against Michigan, hopefully, it's at least next week against Yale and Brown, games which arguably will go a lot farther in helping RPI succeed this season.

The Engineers have historically held some kind of mystical advantage over the Wolverines. From that epic and immortal takedown in the 1954 national tournament to the win in the 2009 GLI, RPI has an unexpected 7-3-1 all-time record against Michigan. That's pretty nifty. Let's extend it, eh?

It's been a while. Let's go retro this weekend, just for fun (as always, if you have any killer pumpup ideas, feel free to tweet at us). Ann Arbor's likely to be fixated on its hatred of Ohio State this weekend, so let's slip on into Funkytown and slip out with a couple of good results.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Bull Durham

We've already learned that Luke Curadi is not only back in the lineup, he's dressing as a forward tonight.

This will be interesting.

The Engineers tackle the second of four consecutive non-conference contests tonight on the frozen lake that is the Whittemore Center in New Hampshire.

Most of the team that has been injured or sick are now back - missing only Lou Nanne and Zach Schroeder. With any luck, we'll see them back out on the ice by next Friday, when the ECAC schedule gets underway again.

In the meantime, here's crunk to get you pumped up or something. Another round of shots!

 

Friday, November 21, 2014

BOHICA

We got two up close and personal examples of Rule 83.5 this past weekend in Troy. One was an exercise in how to apply it. The other was an exercise in how to royally screw things up in ways only the average ECAC referee can.

This is known around these parts as the "Second Union Rule" or the "National Union Rule," as it was adopted following the Union-Michigan State game in the 2012 national tournament where a goal for the Spartans was waved off because Union's Josh Jooris, apparently intentionally according to the NCAA, lifted the net off its moorings just before the puck went in (the "First Union Rule" or the "ECAC Union Rule" provides for all 12 ECAC teams making the post-season tournament).

The rule was redefined as such in the summer of 2012:
83.5 Goal Cage Dislodged - In the event that the goal post is displaced, either deliberately or accidentally, by a defending player, prior to the puck crossing the goal line between the normal position of the goalposts, the Referee may award a goal. 
In order to award a goal in this situation, the goal post must have been displaced by the actions of a defending player, the puck must have been shot (or the player must be in position to shoot) at the goal prior to the goal post being displaced, and it must be determined that the puck would have entered the net between the normal position of the goal posts. 
When the goal post has been displaced deliberately by the defending team when their goalkeeper has been removed for an extra attacker thereby preventing an impending goal by the attacking team, the Referee shall award a goal to the attacking team. 
The goal frame is considered to be displaced if either or both goal pegs are no longer in their respective holes in the ice, or the net has come completely off one or both pegs, prior to or as the puck enters the goal. This rule also applies to other types of net anchoring systems.
So there are a few elements to examine here.

First, there's a defined difference between "may award a goal" and "shall award a goal." The referee is given leeway to award a goal but is not required to when this happens with the goaltender in the net. If it's an empty net, he's required.

This is pretty standard, it allows the referees to use judgment when it pertains to the other elements that we're about to discuss.

In order for the goal to be awarded, three things have to be true. First, the goal has to have been dislodged by the actions of a defending player. This would include a defending player pushing an attacking player into the net - the reverse would be cause for disallowing a goal. Second, the puck must have been already shot, or the shooting player must already be in position to shoot, when the net is dislodged. Third, the puck must be determined to have crossed the line where it would have counted had the net been in the proper position.

Let's examine this first in the Princeton game, where a Princeton goal was disallowed.

With RPI leading 1-0, Princeton's Ryan Siiro took a shot toward the RPI cage from the top of the right faceoff circle that was saved by Jason Kasdorf, the rebound falling just to his right. Princeton's Ben Foster worked it free and came around behind the net to the left side.

Foster beat out Jimmy DeVito to grab the rebound, but Craig Bokenfohr and Phil Hampton skated into the area to try and help out - Bokenfohr into the mix with Foster and DeVito, Hampton into the crease. Princeton freshman Eric Robinson arrived late to the party and ultimately checked Hampton into the cage, knocking it loose.

At this point, Foster had the puck to the left of the cage. He passed it to Siiro, who moved into the slot, and Siiro one-timed it into the cage, which was off both of its moorings at that point.


This goal was rightfully disallowed because the circumstances met only one of the three criteria for it to be upheld. Siiro's shot did go where the net would have been, but it was the actions of an attacking player - Robinson checking Hampton - that dislodged the net, and the shot was not imminent when the net was dislodged - Foster had the puck behind the cage and passed it in front only after the net came loose.

Referee CJ Hanafin got this one right from start to finish. He did the right thing by awarding a goal on the ice, then reviewing the play. Under Rule 83.5, this is not a goal, so he disallowed it. For anyone who might still be on the fence, Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty agreed after the game after reviewing video that the goal should not have been awarded. (We like Hanafin a lot because he's an Engineer. Some of us here were crestfallen when we heard he'd become an ECAC referee, but he seems to be raising the bar. He's done well so far and he's been fair.)

Compare this with the disallowed RPI goal the next night against Quinnipiac.

On the power play and with RPI down 2-1, Mike Prapavessis digs the puck out of the corner to the left of the net. He brings it up and around through the faceoff circle and the slot, waiting for his opportunity to catch QU goaltender Michael Gartieg off balance. He gets it when defenseman Connor Clifton, also trying to defend against Prapavessis, falls to a knee and into Gartieg. Prapavessis takes his shot and rings it off the post, the rebound coming straight back out.

Meanwhile, once Clifton and Gartieg collide, QU forward Matthew Peca, standing at the top of the crease, makes a bee-line for the net, sliding into the right-side post to dislodge the net shortly after Prapavessis' shot rebounded off the post. Drew Melanson, now standing over Clifton, does not move with the puck coming directly back to him, and simply puts the puck into the open but dislodged cage.


The goal was awarded on the ice, and it met all three requirements. First, the cage was dislodged by the actions of Peca, who skated straight into the cage unaided. Second, while the shot by Melanson did not come before the cage was dislodged, the rebound from Prapavessis' shot (which happened and hit the post before the dislodging) was coming straight to him already and he did not have to move to take the shot, which occurred a split-second after the net was dislodged. Third, the puck clearly enters the net in a way that it would have been in had the goal been in the proper place.

And despite all of this, the tying goal was waved off. In a search for justification, there are some very, very thin arguments that can be made. All four were posited by our researchers in an attempt to find something that would rationalize the goal being waved off.

1. Melanson is near Clifton just before the latter takes out his own netminder, but he doesn't appear to do anything that would cause Clifton to go down. He does push through Clifton, who is impeding his progress forward, in the bottom of the slot with his stick on the ice. If he'd shoved Clifton into Gartieg, that could be goaltender interference (which was never suggested anyway), but it doesn't seem to be there.

2. While Peca is moving to the net, Melanson's stick is in his vicinity, but it's tough to make even a cursory argument that Melanson did anything to put Peca into the net. It's possible, even likely that Peca was only trying to get himself in a position to defend Prapavessis' initial shot, but he's honestly lucky that he wasn't called for delay of game.

3. One could try to make the argument that Melanson wasn't yet preparing to take his shot at the moment the puck was dislodged, but the shot, based on the trajectory and speed of the rebound and the fact that Clifton and Gartieg were taken out of the play, was clearly imminent at the time the net was dislodged by any reasonable definition of the word.

4. The last question is whether the whistle had blown, or whether there was "intent to blow." That's rendered fairly irrelevant by the fact that the referee behind the net never came close to blowing the play dead (he had his arms at his sides the whole time), and in fact signaled a goal on the ice.

Ultimately, this is exactly the type of situation that the Second Union Rule was intended to fix, and the referees blew it. Compounding the error, it was called a goal on the ice, and then waved off without clear evidence to support a reversal.

By the way, this was not the first time last weekend that Quinnipiac got away with one on a bad call by the referees that directly impacted the scoreline. The previous night in Schenectady, the Bobcats notched the game winner on a play in which the goal-scorer was offsides.

It's not possible to tell with 100% surety from this camera angle because of people standing on the Union bench, but unless the 5'7" Travis St. Denis (bottom of the screen) has abnormally sized legs, he's totally offside right before he takes a pass he ends up putting in the net for the winning goal.
No coach is going to get overly upset over calls that are blown this badly, because most teams still have other opportunities to rectify the problem themselves. Bad calls are part of the game and referees are human, but you'd think they'd at least get the call right with the opportunity to review the play. It's true that the Engineers had other chances before and after this call to get a goal and they didn't. This goal being disallowed wasn't the reason they lost on Saturday. Who knows if QU then goes down and scores off the ensuing faceoff or something. But there's no team that wouldn't prefer to be in a 2-2 situation than down 2-1, and the missed call changes things for the worse for the team being dealt a raw deal. Union in particular had less than a minute to make up for the bad call that put them behind.

So now the league has a team in first place, half of whose wins were assisted by the men in stripes. Are we happy?

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Men's Hockey - Princeton/Quinnipiac, at UConn (14/15, 18 Nov)

Three games in five nights is difficult enough under the best of circumstances. When your team is battling illness and injury, it tends to make things worse, especially when that team is still trying to get into an offensive groove. With all of that as the backdrop, it makes the 1-1-1 record the Engineers put together in that three game stretch pretty easy to accept, especially considering the manner in which the only loss came about. After taking down Princeton 3-1 on Friday night, RPI fell by the same score against Quinnipiac in somewhat controversial fashion, bouncing back with an even more depleted roster on Tuesday night with a 1-1 draw against Hockey East's UConn.

Princeton
Fulton-DeVito-Bourbonnais
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Laliberte-Schroeder-Wood

Leonard-Prapavessis
Hampton-Bokenfohr
Wilson-Reno

Kasdorf

We got a little more clarity on some of the absences seen the previous week - Chris Bradley has been sidelined with a shoulder injury, Luke Curadi out with a concussion, and added to that list for the ECAC weekend was Matt Neal, who was sick.

The Engineers managed to score the game's first goal for only the second time all season as Mark Miller rocketed a pass from Drew Melanson to the back of the net at 8:45 of the first period to give RPI a 1-0 edge. Three minutes later on the power play, another one-timer from just about the same part of the ice put the Engineers up 2-0 as Jared Wilson blasted a pass by Milos Bubela for his second goal of the season.

Princeton almost halved the RPI lead late in the first period, but the apparent goal was waved off due to the net being disloged by an Engineer checked into the cage by a Princeton player.

RPI carried the 2-0 edge into the third period, pretty much sealing things up with a second goal by Miller midway through the final frame. Like the first two goals, it was an a one-timed shot from near the top of the slot, and this feed came from the stick of Riley Bourbonnais.

The Tigers pulled back within two just under two minutes later with a power play goal by Ben Foster that ended Jason Kasdorf's shutout bid, but Princeton would get no closer. The Engineers managed 35 shots on goal, a big improvement from their outing a week prior against Harvard, and Kasdorf stopped 24 of 25 shots for the victory.

Quinnipiac
Fulton-DeVito-Bourbonnais
Liljegren-Schroeder-McGowan
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Wood-Laliberte-Gillespie

Leonard-Prapavessis
Hampton-Bokenfohr
Wilson-Reno

Kasdorf

Late in the Princeton game, the Engineers lost Milos Bubela to a concussion, leaving the already short-staffed Engineers with just 12 healthy forwards. Freshman Kenny Gillespie was inserted into the lineup, seeing his first collegiate action.

As with Friday night, it was RPI who struck first. A centering pass by Wilson was tapped home by a speeding Lou Nanne for his team-leading fourth goal of the season, putting the Engineers ahead 1-0 just 5:22 into the game.

RPI continued to dominate play in the first period until a tripping call against Craig Bokenfohr put them on the penalty kill. That kill did a pretty decent job, but late in the Bokenfohr penalty, a dicey tripping call against Mike Prapavessis put the Engineers down two men for 18 seconds. That danger zone was killed off without much of a problem either, but then an even dicier call against Parker Reno for high-sticking generated yet another two-man advantage for Quinnipiac, this one 17 seconds long. The Bobcats ultimately cashed in for a goal, but it came 19 seconds after the Reno call, officially coming 5-on-4, but tying the game nonetheless to the great displeasure of the home fans.

A deadlocked and fairly uninteresting second period gave way to a more interesting third period, and the Bobcats took the lead just under six minutes into the third with some sustained pressure in the RPI zone. The Engineers spent a good 90 seconds trapped in their own end, getting the puck out once but not far enough out to change the line that had been stuck out there for some time, and Quinnipiac eventually converted to take a 2-1 lead.

The Engineers did not back down. Despite struggles on the power play all night, they were the beneficiaries of a holding call with just over five minutes left to play. Early in the advantage, Prapavessis dug the puck out of the corner and then skated through the slot, trying to outwait Bobcat goaltender Michael Gartieg. When Gartieg went down, Prapavessis took a shot that rang off the post, and in the immediate interim, Quinnipiac's Michael Peca slid into the net to dislodge it. Immediately after the net was dislodged, Drew Melanson picked up the rebound and put it into the open cage for what should have been his first collegiate goal. Called a goal on the ice, the officials reviewed it and disallowed the goal for reasons that were not made abundantly clear.

The 2-1 lead for Quinnipiac intact, the Engineers pulled Kasdorf from the net late, but gave up an empty-netter to seal the victory for the Bobcats.

All told, RPI played a brave game despite some horrendous officiating practically from start to finish, and despite missing some very key players. They also lost another two important forwards during the game, as Lou Nanne was boarded behind the Quinnipiac net in the third period (no call), leading to him skating off favoring his surgically repaired shoulder, while Zach Schroeder picked up an ankle injury during the night.

UConn
Liljegren-Neal-McGowan
Melanson-Miller-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-DeVito-Wood
Fulton-Bokenfohr-Gillespie

Leonard-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Bell-Hampton

Diebold

Now with only 11 healthy forwards following the loss of Nanne and Schroeder and the return from illness of Matt Neal, Kenny Gillespie was again in the lineup, joined on the fourth line by Craig Bokenfohr. The Engineers dressed literally every healthy skater they had available for their mid-week non-conference road game, and reports got out after the game was over that defenseman Phil Hampton was battling an illness himself despite playing.

After an uneventful first period, UConn got themselves on the board first in the cavernous XL Center (which is almost literally across the street from the RPI Hartford campus) about three minutes into the second period, shortly after the Engineers killed off their second penalty of the game. The Huskies pounced on a turnover in the RPI zone and put it past Diebold to go up 1-0, but it was the only goal the senior would allow on the evening. He eventually stopped 33 of 34 shots that he faced.

RPI pulled back within one late in the period, with Drew Melanson making up for the power play goal he was deprived of three nights earlier, officially notching his first collegiate goal from Neal and Curtis Leonard with just 2 ticks remaining on the clock to make it 1-1.

UConn dominated the third period almost completely, outshooting the Engineers 13-4, but Diebold was rarely tested beyond his capacity. The Huskies came close on a couple of occasions to taking the lead, but were unable to convert on one-timers or put shots wide. To some extent, RPI was lucky to get to the overtime period.

In that overtime period, however, it was all RPI as they poured on the output. They managed 7 shots in the extra five minutes, more shots than they managed in either the first or the third periods, and only two shy of their second period production. However they weren't able to find the winning goal, having to settle for a 1-1 tie, a draw that undoubtedly goes into the book as a "good" tie considering that they scored the game tying goal and fielded a less than ideal lineup.

RPI is off this weekend, but is back in action this coming Tuesday as they travel to play a struggling New Hampshire team in Durham ahead of a trip to Michigan against the equally struggling Wolverines. Most of the injured players are expected to be back in the lineup by the time the team gets to Ann Arbor.

By the way, the #1 team in the nation right now? 10-0-0 Michigan Tech. If anyone ever tells you that RPI's never going to get back to where they once were, they're lying.

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

Princeton at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/14/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Princeton 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RECORD: 5-6-0 (4-1-0, 8pts)

#20 Quinnipiac at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/15/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Quinnipiac 3, RPI 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RECORD: 5-7-0 (4-2-0, 8pts)

RPI at UConn
Non-conference Game - XL Center (Hartford, CT)
11/18/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 1, UConn 1 (OT)


RECORD: 5-7-1 (4-2-0, 8pts)

Upcoming games
25 Nov - at New Hampshire
28 Nov - at Michigan
29 Nov - at Michigan
05 Dec - at Yale
06 Dec - at Brown

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Women's Hockey - at Quinnipiac & Princeton (14/15 Nov)

RPI continued looking for their first league win in a set at Quinnipiac and Princeton this weekend. Quinnipiac ran their unbeaten streak to 9 straight with a 6-1 thrashing of the Engineers on Friday, then RPI rallied late but came up short in overtime Saturday in a 2-1 loss to Princeton.

Quinnipiac

Horwood/Tomlinson/Svoboda
Rooney/Wash/Mankey
Mahoney/Gruschow/Renn
Walsh/Raspa/Hylwa

Kimmerle/Schilter
Middlebrook/Behounek
Godin/Banks

Piper

Quinnipiac has been on a roll to start the season and the train showed no signs of letting up as it rolled over RPI 6-1 on Friday night. Erica Uden Johansson had a goal and two assists while Nicole Connery scored two more for the Bobcats.

Nicole Kosta struck first for Quinnipiac, capitalizing on a sustained period of pressure in the RPI end and winning a puck battle in the corner before carrying the puck into the slot and firing it past Brianna Piper.

Uden Johanssen scored at 11:07 of the second, making the most of a 2-on-1 opportunity to double the Bobcats' lead.

Shiann Darkangelo added a power play tally late in the second, parking in the slot, taking a feed from the point and turning to put it home before the penalty killers could react.

Connery scored her two goals about six minutes apart early in the third period. The first was a quick redirection on a pass toward the crease, the second coming on a quick break back into the zone after RPI was unable to get the puck down ice.

Laura Horwood broke the Bobcats' shutout bid at 16:15 of the third, crashing the crease the put the puck past Chelsea Laden to cut the lead to 5-1.

Taryn Baumgardt put a cap on the evening for the hosts, scoring at 17:13 to make it a 6-1 lead which would hold up as the final score. The Engineers were outshot 32-13 on the night, including 12-3 in the first and 8-1 in the second.

Princeton

Horwood/Tomlinson/Svoboda
Rooney/Wash/Renn
Mahoney/Gruschow/Raspa
Walsh/Mankey/Hylwa

Kimmerle/Schilter
Middlebrook/Behounek
Godin/Banks

O'Brien

After taking a drubbing on Friday night, RPI looked for redemption against Princeton on Saturday and came close, but eventually fell short in a 2-1 overtime loss.

The Engineers rallied in the third period to erase a 1-0 Princeton lead, with Horwood scoring her second of the weekend, but Cristin Shanahan's tally at 2:18 of overtime would give the Tigers the win.

Morgan Sly also scored for Princeton, her 2-on-1 goal giving the Tigers the 1-0 lead midway through the second period.

While Saturday's effort was much better for the Engineers, they now find themselves in an 0-4 hole to start conference play, and have now lost six in a row.

After a week of rest which may prove helpful in getting some players rested and healed from injuries, RPI will host RIT for a nonconference series on Thanksgiving weekend, launching a stretch of nine straight home games which will last into January.

-----

RPI at Quinnipiac
ECAC Hockey Game - TD Bank Sports Center (Hamden, CT)
11/14/14 - 7:00pm
QU 6, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wquiren1.n14
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4434

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2014/11/14/WICE_1114144912.aspx
QU: http://quinnipiacbobcats.com/sports/wice/2014-15/releases/201411148u9pws
Complete Game Video: http://quinnipiacbobcats.com/QU_Women-s_Ice_Hockey_Video_vs._Rensselaer

RECORD: 1-9-2 (0-3-0 ECAC)

-----

RPI at Princeton
ECAC Hockey Game - Baker Rink (Princeton, NJ)
11/15/14 - 4:00pm
Princeton 2, RPI 1 (OT)

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wprnren1.n15
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4435

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2014/11/16/WICE_1116142846.aspx
Princeton: http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209767549
Video Highlights: http://ecachockey.com/women/video/2014-15/20141115_Princeton_WH

RECORD: 1-10-2 (0-4-0 ECAC)

-----
Upcoming Schedule

Nov. 28 - RIT (7pm)
Nov. 29 - RIT (4pm)
Dec. 5 - Brown (7pm)
Dec. 6 - Yale (4pm)

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Next Man Up

It's the first of two consecutive Tuesday matchups for the Engineers, and if you're healthy, you're probably playing tonight.

Lou Nanne (shoulder) is out tonight, but should thankfully be back next week. Also missing tonight will be Chris Bradley (shoulder), Luke Curadi (concussion), and Milos Bubela (concussion). Zach Schroeder (ankle) is questionable.

With the dressing room resembling a MASH unit, perhaps now's the best time to get back into non-conference games. Tonight, RPI faces off in Hartford (home of an RPI campus!) against UConn, a team that beat Boston College, tied Boston University, and lost to Sacred Heart. If that makes sense to you, we have a number of questions about life to ask you.

So... with so many players out of the lineup... who's going to be the man?

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Suddenly, A Newfound Respect For Mike Schafer


"You wonder why the guys were pissed at the end at center ice. It's not the kids. They take the lead from us, so yeah, I contributed to it because I'm pissed off at their coach at the end of the game for being such an a**hole." - Mike Schafer, November 8, 2014, after a 1-0 loss at Quinnipiac.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Put On the Red Light

Eight shots.

That's how many the Engineers put up on St. Cloud State last weekend in getting shutout for the second time this season. Harry Doyle from Major League comes to mind.


Didn't catch Perry Laskaris' broadcast on WRPI on Saturday, so let's just assume he said something along these lines. According to the research WaP reader Zachary Gannam (who hooked us up with knowledge on teh Twittars), it's the lowest shot total in RPI's Division I history.

Eight shots will be unlikely to get the job done tonight against a team that's allowed a whopping three goals in eight games played this season - #5 Quinnipiac. Tomorrow, they're up against Princeton, a team that doesn't quite have the defensive capabilities of the Bobcats, but they're scoring goals at a pretty hefty pace. Quinnipiac hasn't lost since falling to Clarkson back in March (8 games in a row), Princeton hasn't fallen since dropping a 2-1 decision to Penn State in their first game of the year (5 games in a row). This isn't shaping up to be a stellar weekend for the ladies, to say the least, not unless something drastic happens.

For the men, we've talked about how they're in a precarious first-place position. Now's the time to solidify that. Princeton has been giving up shots like The Ruck was on fire. Their team GAA is 3.50, AKA that's awful. Granted, it's a pretty small sample size of four, but this is what we expected from the Tigers this season. Might be perfect for the offensive issues RPI's become well known for lately.

Quinnipiac might be a different story tomorrow. Keeping the puck out of the net is an all-gender thing in Hamden, apparently. They kicked off their ECAC season last weekend with back-to-back shutouts of Colgate (a team of goal scorers) and Cornell (a team of no goal scorers). Before that, they were pretty sieve-tastic, so you never know. Bottom line, as mentioned in this space yesterday, four crucial home points for the Engineers this weekend.

No, this isn't The Police. You thought it was going to be The Police, didn't you? It's not.

Try this on instead. It's dubstep, so it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. This is either going to pump you up or wreck your ears. It's fun, and although it's instrumental, the title basically tells you all you need to know for this weekend's metric for success. Heck, flip the ice, and you can use the artist AND the title. See, we just reduced hockey to it's most simple form. Score goals. Don't let the other team score goals. Keep it simple, Tute.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

This Is Still A Thing

Soak it in. We posted the ECAC standings about two weeks ago after RPI beat Union in the first (and to that point, only) league game of the season, therefore starting off the season in first place.

Oddly enough, three games later, there they remain. Enjoy.



There are some super important caveats to mention with this, however.

1) Every team with the exception of Union has at least one game in hand against the Engineers, and all of those but Dartmouth and Harvard have two games in hand.

2) By winning percentage, a more accurate indicator when the total number of games played is skewed, the Engineers are only in a tie for third with Clarkson.

3) As awesome as it is to be 3-1-0 to start the league schedule, RPI has walked a razor's edge to get there - they were 3:49 away from an outright loss at Union and 18.2 seconds away from heading to overtime against Dartmouth. That 3-1-0 record could have easily been 1-3-0 or 1-2-1 for the breathing room they've been leaving themselves.

4) All of their league games have been more or less at home so far. Three home games against one road game, and the one road game was a single road, Route 7. After this coming weekend, RPI is left with just six more ECAC games in Troy, against 10 on the road, all of them farther away than their last one. The Princeton-Quinnipiac games this weekend marks the final league games at home until the middle of January, and fully 2/3 of the remaining league schedule in Troy comes in the final three weeks of the regular season.

5) It's the middle of November.

But, at least it's nice, even this early, to know that RPI controls its own destiny for first place. The only other teams that can make that claim right now are Quinnipiac, St. Lawrence, and Clarkson.

That's what makes this coming weekend's home series that much more important. Regardless of how they got there or the games other teams have in hand, the fact remains that they're in the catbird seat. There's a golden opportunity on Friday and Saturday to stay there for the time being.

Let's see how far this string runs.