Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Men's Hockey - Arizona State (11/12 Dec)

The first half of the regular season rolled to a close with a non-conference weekend against the Sun Devils of Arizona State, a first-year program arguably the weakest opponent on RPI's schedule this year. While such weekends have often left Engineers fans nervous about success, RPI left no doubt in taking care of business at home, sweeping ASU 5-1 and 4-1 on back-to-back nights to halt their winless streak at three and give the Engineers a run of 12 games unbeaten in their last 14 for calendar year 2015.

Friday
Melanson-Bubela-Wood
Liljegren-Miller-Rodriguez
Bourbonnais-Schroeder-Nanne
Ohrvall-Fulton-Gillespie

Bradley-Prapavessis
Grant-Reno
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

The most significant change in the RPI lineup was the splitting of the vaunted "M-N-M" line, as the top three lines each included a member of the Engineers' most prolific attacking trio of the last two seasons. Fresh off his shutout against Harvard, Jason Kasdorf's number was called for the second consecutive night - while Jared Wilson was out of the lineup for an undisclosed reason.

It took RPI a little bit of time to get things going in the early going - Arizona State actually hit the post about 8 minutes into the game for the closest either team came to scoring to that point - but once they found paydirt, things began to accelerate. A drop pass by Jake Wood for Drew Melanson ended with the sophomore picking out his corner to beat ASU's Ryland Pashovitz top shelf to put the Engineers ahead 1-0. Then, just 15 seconds later, Riley Bourbonnais scored his 9th goal of the season, crashing the net to put home a shot by Lou Nanne to give RPI the 2-0 edge.

Minutes later, the Sun Devils got a huge opportunity to get themselves back into the game with a long 5-on-3 power play thanks to successive penalties by Melanson and Mike Prapavessis. The RPI penalty kill, strong in recent weeks, held up to the scrutiny, and the Engineers closed out the first period with the 2-0 edge on a 15-7 lead in shots.

RPI hit the gas again in the second period, going up 3-0 on the first collegiate goal for Jesper Ohrvall about seven minutes in. Waiting just outside the crease, the freshman backhanded to the roof of the cage a rebound off a shot by Kenny Gillespie as part of a barrage that saw the Engineers lace Pashovitz with 16 shots in the middle stanza.

Jake Wood's 6th goal of the year came just over five minutes into the third period, basically sealing the game up tight on a tight-angle shot to Pashovitz's left. ASU would spoil Jason Kasdorf's bid for a second straight shutout with a power play goal by Joey Raats with six minutes left to play, but RPI gained the four-goal lead back three-and-a-half minutes later with Ohrvall connecting for the second time on the evening, going north-south and goalpost to goalpost before shooting to the back of the cage to make it 5-1 RPI.

The Engineers unleashed 45 shots on the evening to power the victory, while Kasdorf finished with a respectable 23 saves on 24 shots for his fourth win of the year.

Saturday
Melanson-Bubela-Wood
Liljegren-Miller-Rodriguez
Bourbonnais-Schroeder-Nanne
Ohrvall-Fulton-Gillespie

Bradley-Grant
Prapavessis-Reno
Moore-Hampton

Hackett

A minor swap on defense as Tommy Grant was paired off with Chris Bradley (which happened late in Friday's game), while Mike Prapavessis and Parker Reno, RPI's top two assist leaders, were also paired off. Cam Hackett also got some additional playing time in as the Engineers' split the weekend in net.

RPI wasted little time in picking up where they left off the previous night, and once again, an RPI freshman managed to notch his first collegiate goal in the process. Five minutes into the game, a loose puck bounced to the top of the slot, and Tommy Grant moved up from the blue line to rip one through traffic to the net for the 1-0 lead on Grant's first college point.

But that was as far as the Engineers would get in the first period - they seemed to lack the urgency they played with on Friday night, urgency that had ASU coach Greg Powers calling RPI the hardest working team the Sun Devils had played against to that point. Shots in the first period were relatively even at 10-9 Engineers, and it looked like there'd be a possession fight over the last 40 minutes.

There was a different kind of fight instead about six minutes into the second period - not a full blown scrap, but a serious bout of pushing and shoving that resulted in two Arizona State penalties against just one for RPI, creating a power play for the Engineers. Jesper Ohrvall solved RPI's long-running power play woes, at least for one outing, by notching his third goal of the weekend by sending a nice feed from Meirs Moore into the net about 30 seconds into the man advantage to put the Engineers ahead 2-0.

Late in the period, a power play chance for ASU while the Sun Devils trailed 2-0 gave them the golden opportunity to get back into the game for the second consecutive night. And while RPI's penalty kill did their part by killing off the penalty, the aggressive kill also lengthened the Engineer lead. A clearance by Phil Hampton went to Riley Bourbonnais, who had snuck behind the ASU blueline along with Milos Bubela. A 2-on-0 breakaway was put home by Bubela, who scored his third short-handed goal of the season to make it 3-0 RPI, capping a dominant second period in which the Sun Devils simply could not control the puck for any serious stretch of time, as borne out by the 14-3 edge in shots for the Engineers.

As on Friday night, the Sun Devils avoided being shut out in the final 10 minutes of regulation, this time scoring an even-strength goal as they slowly, across the third period, began to swing some momentum back in their direction. Cody Gylling's third goal of the season on a 2-on-1 break with 7:24 left in the 3rd period spoiled Hackett's push for his first collegiate shutout, but that was as much as ASU would be able to muster. Bourbonnais scored his third point of the evening and 10th goal of the year with an empty-netter in the final minute to give RPI a 4-1 victory and the weekend sweep.

So ends the first half of the season - RPI now has a three-week break for the holidays, picking back up on the road against Miami. The RedHawks have struggled this season, to an extent that we haven't seen in the previous three seasons in which RPI and Miami have done battle. The RedHawks have won seven in a row against the Engineers, including six in the Appert era, but if RPI can return from break playing the way they have for the last two months, they may be able to find a breakthrough of some kind in Ohio.

Current ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 14 pts (6-0-2)
2. Cornell - 13 pts (6-1-1)
3. Harvard - 11 pts (4-1-3)
4. RPI - 11 pts (4-1-3)
5. St. Lawrence - 9 pts (4-2-1)
6. Yale - 8 pts (3-3-2)
7. Princeton - 6 pts (3-5-0)
8. Dartmouth - 6 pts (3-5-0)
9. Brown - 6 pts (2-5-2)
10. Union - 5 pts (2-5-1)
11. Colgate - 5 pts (2-6-1)
12. Clarkson - 2 pts (0-5-2)

By winning percentage
1. Quinnipiac (.875)
2. Cornell (.812)
3. Harvard (.688)
4. RPI (.688)
5. St. Lawrence (.643)
6. Yale (.500)
7. Princeton (.375)
8. Dartmouth (.375)
9. Brown (.333)
10. Union (.312)
11. Colgate (.278)
12. Clarkson (.143)

Arizona State at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
12/11/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 5, Arizona State 1

RECORD: 9-6-3 (4-1-3 ECAC, 11 pts)

Arizona State at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/12/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 4, Arizona State 1

RECORD: 10-6-3 (4-1-3 ECAC, 11 pts)

Upcoming games
02 Jan - at Miami
03 Jan - at Miami
07 Jan - at Princeton
15 Jan - #9 Cornell
16 Jan - Colgate

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Ain't Nothin' But a G Thang

Delaying the usual weekend recap by a day - in part because the mid-season break is upon us, but also to mark a special occasion here at WaP.

We weren't really sure what we were getting into when we started this place up six years ago, but we're still pretty psyched that we did. It's a labor of love, and even though those labors have changed (our lives make it pretty difficult these days to do the podcasts and goofy/cheesy/awful photoshops that we used to have more or less on a weekly basis, and the number of editorials have sadly decreased), we're still here, and still cranking away. Still recapping weekends, pumping up, offering occasional words of wisdom, and cracking wise on Twitter between live tweets.

And this post is something of a mid-season thank-you note to our readers: it is our 1,000th post on the blog. We wouldn't have gotten this far if nobody read us. We're nothing without you.

So, in honor of this milestone, a hearkening back to the "old" WaP, which included goofy/cheesy/awful photoshops. And the winner is... a three-goal weekend by Jesper Ohrvall, finally getting the monkey off his back (and earning ECAC Rookie of the Week honors for his efforts).

Be gone, monkey. Be gone.


Friday, December 11, 2015

Devilish

So, what do we know about Arizona State? The basic details.

* They're not as young as you'd think. At an average age of 22 years and 2 months, the Sun Devils are tied for the 17th oldest team in the nation in just their first Division I season. (RPI's average age is 21 years and 7 months.)

* Still, they've got a lot of freshmen. 15 of them on their 33 man roster, although one is redshirting.

* Nearly all of them, including the ones who were brought up from their club team, played junior hockey at a fairly high level - many from the USHL, NAHL, and the BCHL.

* They've won three games against Division I opponents - one against Alaska on "neutral" ice in Anchorage, two against Lake State in Sault Ste. Marie.

* Pounded arch-rivals Arizona (still a club team) 8-1 in their first game, and annihilated D-III Southern New Hampshire by a 16-3 margin in two games. They're very legit D-I already.

* Led Clarkson 2-1 in Potsdam in the 2nd period before falling 3-2 and then 4-1 the next night.

* According to KRACH, they're at least better than Sacred Heart, Canisius, Niagara, and American International already. Two of those have been to the NCAA tournament recently.

So if you're expecting the Engineers to just waltz into this one without cares, rack up goals, and go home happy, you're probably going to be disappointed.

First off, that really doesn't happen with RPI - they do have an earned reputation for playing to the level of their opponent, which is something they should probably focus on this weekend - play their game, not the opponent's game.

Second, Arizona State's certainly not bad. They've only been shut out twice, and one of those was Quinnipiac.

But... Jason Kasdorf and Cam Hackett are probably the best two goaltenders they've seen since playing Michael Garteig and the Bobcats. Especially if Kasdorf can keep up his momentum from his amazing 43-save comeback against Harvard, and if Hackett can keep playing like he's been playing, it's probably going to be a long weekend for the Sun Devils.

RPI's focus has got to be on not having a letdown against a team they know they should be able to beat. That's been the struggle in recent years. End the calendar year on a positive note and come back in three weeks picking up where they left off. That's what we need to see - so they certainly need to show off a little devil here tonight.




Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Men's Hockey - Dartmouth/Harvard (4/5 Dec)

A mixed bag weekend is nothing new for Engineer fans, but returning home for the last ECAC weekend of the calendar year, it's possible that RPI's string of good luck when it comes to bounces may have run its course - or maybe there's a bit of regression to the mean to be done. Still, despite a 1-point weekend courtesy of the team's first ECAC loss (2-1 to Dartmouth) and a fairly thrilling goaltender's duel (a scoreless draw with Harvard), there's plenty of reasons for optimism when it comes to handicapping the Engineers the rest of the way.

Dartmouth
Liljegren-Bubela-Rodriguez
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Bourbonnais-Schroeder-Wood
Ohrvall, Gillespie

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton
Grant

Hackett

Alex Rodriguez earned an upgrade to the top line thanks to his outstanding play in his first four college outings, while Seth Appert chose to return to the 11x7 lineup that RPI had run so well during its stretch of injuries, pulling Travis Fulton out and replacing him with Tommy Grant in order to better matchup with Dartmouth's size.

The Engineers came out flat in their return to home ice, and Dartmouth pounced, challenging Cam Hackett with 11 shots in the opening period, picking up the game's first goal thanks to some very strong forechecking which persisted throughout the opening 20. Carl Hesler dug out a puck by acing Kenny Gillespie to the punch and quickly rifling it through traffic in front and past Hackett on the short-side to put the Big Green ahead 1-0.

RPI responded much better in the second period, putting a little bit more pressure on Dartmouth sophomore Devin Buffalo, who was in just his second collegiate game (following a 1-1 draw with Michigan a week prior). While the Big Green did a decent job all game long of shutting down the wings, the Engineers pounced on a turnover in the neutral zone for a solid counter-attack that tied the game up. Mike Prapavessis picked out Rodriguez well on the wing, and the freshman burst up the boards to get off a shot that rebounded off Buffalo and right to a trailing Milos Bubela, who put it home for his third of the season.

Dartmouth's wing control helped them secure what proved to be the game winner in the third period. As freshman Karan Toor pinched the wall to keep the puck in the zone following an RPI clearance attempt, he moved it quickly to Grant Opperman, who found Brett Patterson with lots of open ice. Patterson took his shot from the top of the faceoff circle, simply beating Hackett to the same side that produced Dartmouth's first goal of the night, making it 2-1 with 11 minutes left in the third period.

The RPI comeback effort was seriously hampered by an odd five-minute call against Lou Nanne for hitting from behind. Off a faceoff in the Dartmouth end, Nanne went into the corner with a Big Green defenseman and seemed to trip near the zamboni entrance, going head first into the boards and colliding with the defender. Despite being the one shaken up by the play, Nanne was called for the major by the trailing referee, requiring the Engineers to kill five minutes of penalty time while trailing, and leaving their top scoring line without one of its dynamic cogs.

The Engineers had their chances late to tie it up, rolling with the extra attacker for 96 seconds, but they were unable to put one past Buffalo, who finished with 28 saves on 29 shots for his first collegiate win as RPI fell for the first time in seven ECAC matches.

Harvard
Liljegren-Bubela-Rodriguez
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Bourbonnais-Schroeder-Wood
Ohrvall-Fulton-Clary

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

With RPI mired in back-to-back losses for the first time in over a month, things were switched up a little with Kasdorf returning between the pipes for the first time since his injury on November 6, fully rested and fully healed. He did not disappoint.

Much as with the Friday night game, RPI came out sluggish in the first period, and Harvard looked ready to capitalize throughout the opening minutes. The high-powered Crimson offense controlled the puck and the RPI zone for much of the first 20, winning puck battles and peppering Kasdorf with 20 shots. The Engineer senior looked calm and at times even casual in turning aside every single one. There would be more work ahead for him, but getting out of the first period without allowing a goal was crucial.

Slowly, over the course of the game, RPI picked up momentum. The second period was a bit more even, but Harvard sill outshot the Engineers 33-12 across the first 40 minutes. Nevertheless, RPI had its scoring opportunities in the second, perhaps coming closest when Meirs Moore rang one off the inside of the post after getting his shot to elude sophomore Merrick Madsen, but it stayed out of the net.

Moore would hit the post again in the third, and Hobey finalist from last season Jimmy Vesey would touch iron twice in the third period himself without scoring. The tide really started to move RPI's way in puck possession during the final frame, yet still, neither team was able to connect. The Engineers had a full two minute power play chance after a slashing call to Sean Malone with less than 10 minutes to play, but couldn't find a way to nab the game's first goal - though Jared Wilson would hit the crossbar as the penalty expired. RPI was themselves fortunate not to give the Crimson a late power play of their own as a late charge went uncalled.

Jake Wood and Wiley Sherman had opportunities to score in the overtime period for RPI and Harvard respectively, but both netminders continued to be on their game in the extra period. Madsen made 4 stops for the Crimson and Kasdorf added 2 for the Engineers as they finished with 32 and 43 saves to combined for a total of 75 in a scoreless draw.

It was the first 0-0 game for RPI in nearly 90 years, since a scoreless draw with the Amherst Lord Jeffs in 1927, and the first one to take place in Troy in nearly a century, since a 0-0 tie with Mass. Agricultural (now UMass) in 1917. Oddly enough, it was also the 3rd 0-0 draw in ECAC play this season, following similar performances from Cornell/Yale and St. Lawrence/Quinnipiac, all of whom also boast top-end goaltending.

With the ECAC done until after Christmas, the Engineers next finish up their 2015 schedule with a visit from Arizona State for a pair this coming weekend. The Sun Devils are in their first season as a Division I program, but they've picked up three wins against Division I teams already this year - one against the same Alaska Nanooks who went on to beat RPI the following week, and two against Lake Superior State in the Upper Peninsula. The Engineers should be solid favorites against ASU, but they've got to watch against let downs against the upstarts from the southwest.

Current ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 14 pts (6-0-2)
2. Cornell - 13 pts (6-1-1)
3. Harvard - 11 pts (4-1-3)
4. RPI - 11 pts (4-1-3)
5. St. Lawrence - 9 pts (4-2-1)
6. Yale - 8 pts (3-3-2)
7. Princeton - 6 pts (3-5-0)
8. Dartmouth - 6 pts (3-5-0)
9. Brown - 6 pts (2-5-2)
10. Union - 5 pts (2-5-1)
11. Colgate - 5 pts (2-6-1)
12. Clarkson - 2 pts (0-5-2)

By winning percentage
1. Quinnipiac (.875)
2. Cornell (.812)
3. Harvard (.688)
4. RPI (.688)
5. St. Lawrence (.643)
6. Yale (.500)
7. Princeton (.375)
8. Dartmouth (.375)
9. Brown (.333)
10. Union (.312)
11. Colgate (.278)
12. Clarkson (.143)

Dartmouth at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
12/4/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Dartmouth 2, RPI 1

RECORD: 8-6-2 (4-1-2 ECAC, 10 pts)

#8 Harvard at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
12/5/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 0, Harvard 0 (OT)


RECORD: 8-6-3 (4-1-3 ECAC, 11 pts)

Upcoming games
11 Dec - Arizona State
12 Dec - Arizona State
02 Jan - at Miami
03 Jan - at Miami
07 Jan - at Princeton

Monday, December 7, 2015

Women's Hockey - Yale & Brown (4/5 Dec)

One final weekend of ECAC play marked the end of 2015 for RPI, with the Engineers hosting Yale and Brown at Houston Field House.

Yale proved to be a big challenge for the Engineers, as the Bulldogs left Troy with a 4-1 victory that would have been a shutout if not broken by Jaimie Grigsby in the final minute of Friday's game. Brown made for a better matchup on Saturday as the Engineers were backstopped to a 2-0 win by Lovisa Selander.

Yale

Rooney/Tomlinson/Gruschow
Wash/Schwalbe/Mankey
Grigsby/Raspa/Thomas
Tremblay/Hylwa/Orzechowski

Hansen/Renn
Kimmerle/Godin
Behounek/Banks

Selander

Jordan Chancellor scored twice in the span of 2:36 in the first period to help Yale jump out to a 2-0 lead, and the Bulldogs didn't look back as they coasted to a 4-1 win over RPI in Troy Friday night. Yale outshot RPI 43-23 in the contest.

Chancellor opened up the scoring at the 4:56 mark of the opening frame, taking the puck from behind the net and moving into the slot to put a wrist shot glove side past Selander.

Her second goal followed shortly thereafter as she fired home a rebound after Selander made the initial stop on a point shot by Mallory Souliotis.

Souliotis made it a 3-0 lead for the Bulldogs at 13:26 after a total breakdown in the RPI crease left the puck sitting behind Selander long enough for the Yale defender to meander around the net and poke it home.

The rout looked to be on before the first period drew to a close as Jamie Haddad notched Yale's fourth goal of the afternoon. After a 4-on-4 faceoff win in the RPI zone, the goal played out as nearly a carbon copy of Chancellor's first as Haddad was allowed to move right into the slot to put a shot glove side past Selander.

Selander settled down in the second period, turning away all 19 shots faced, then stopped another 7 in the third. However the Engineers couldn't muster any offense until the game's final minute when Jaimie Grigsby stole the puck behind the Yale net and swung it around front and past netminder Hanna Mandl to break the shutout bid and make it a 4-1 game.

The loss marks a continuation of a long winless streak against the Bulldogs for RPI. The Engineers haven't picked up two points against Yale since February 2013 - a season where Yale went 5-21-3.

Brown

Rooney/Tomlinson/Gruschow
Grigsby/Hylwa/Tremblay
Wash/Mankey/Thomas
Orzechowski

Kimmerle/Godin
Hansen/Renn
Behounek/Banks

Selander

After Friday night's loss to Yale, RPI rebounded on Saturday to earn a 2-0 shutout over Brown. Makenna Thomas scored for the Engineers and led all players with seven shots on goal, while Alexa Gruschow picked up another goal - her team-leading ninth of the season.

Gruschow's goal came early in the first period - following a nifty move along the boards to come away with the puck, she cut toward the net and put a laser just under the crossbar leaving no chance for Monica Elvin to make a save.

The Engineers went without a goal throughout most of the rest of the game, though they outshot their guests handily by 13-6, 12-8, and 10-5 margins in the game's three periods. Shayna Tomlinson had a nice chance in the second off a rebound, but the sophomore fired the puck over the net while falling to the ice.

It took until the final minute for the Engineers to tack on an insurance goal, as Thomas scored into the empty net to make it a 2-0 game. Amanda Kimmerle sent the puck down ice where it was tipped by Mari Mankey as she was being tripped at the RPI blue line. Thomas picked it up and skated in 1-on-1 against Abby Niewchas, threading it through the defender and into the empty net.

The Engineers will break for the holidays, not returning to action until January 2nd and 3rd when they travel to Erie, PA to face Mercyhurst in a non-conference pair that will mark the end of non-conference play before RPI launches into 14 straight league games to end the season.

-----

RPI vs. Yale
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
12/4/15 - 3pm
Yale 4, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5193
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wrenyal1.d04

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2015/12/4/WICE_1204151510.aspx?path=whock
Yale: http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/w-hockey/2015-16/releases/20151204pwnbhy
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSNBU9z4aMM
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/1016-womens-hockey-vs-yale

RECORD: 4-9-2 (2-4-1 ECAC)

-----

RPI vs. Brown
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
12/5/15 - 3pm
RPI 2, Brown 0

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5194
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wbrnren1.d05

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2015/12/5/WICE_1205152921.aspx?path=whock
Brown: http://www.brownbears.com/sports/w-hockey/2015-16/releases/20151205rgvxb7
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkfMVLyCwuQ
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/1018-womens-hockey-vs-brown

RECORD: 5-9-2 (3-4-1 ECAC)

-----

ECAC Standings

1. Quinnipiac - 16 pts (7-1-2) (.800)
2t. Harvard - 11 pts (5-3-1) (.611)
2t. Princeton - 11 pts (5-4-1) (.550)
4. Dartmouth - 10 pts (4-3-2) (.556)
5t. Colgate - 8 pts (2-1-4) (.571)
5t. Clarkson - 8 pts (3-3-2) (.500)
5t. St. Lawrence - 8 pts (4-4-0) (.500)
8t. Yale - 7 pts (3-2-1) (.583)
8t. RPI - 7 pts (3-4-1) (.438)
10. Cornell - 6 pts (2-3-2) (.429)
11t. Brown - 2 pts (1-5-0) (.167)
11t. Union - 2 pts (0-6-2) (.125)

-----

Upcoming Schedule

Jan. 2 - at Mercyhurst (3pm)
Jan. 3 - at Mercyhurst (1pm)
Jan. 8 - Quinnipiac (7pm)
Jan. 9 - Princeton (4pm)

Friday, December 4, 2015

Break the Ceiling

It's been a fun couple of months in Engineer Nation. The women turned some heads by picking up points they weren't supposed to at Colgate and Cornell, and then against Clarkson. The men... well, they were written off at the start of the season, then beating Boston College was a fluke, and now... well, now they're where they are now.

This is a crucial weekend for the women's team. Yale and Brown at home. If they want playoffs this year, the Engineers have got to pick up these points - the entirety of league weekends may not get any easier than this duo at the Field House. RPI is winless in their last four (five if you count the exhibition in Montreal) since upsetting Clarkson, but this is definitely a weekend to prove that the Engineers' quick start to the ECAC schedule was no fluke - or at least not as big as it was portrayed at the time. If you're going to be a young team might as well be a young team that's unwilling to wait their turn.

For the men, we've known since the beginning that as much as the team's obviously better than the so-called experts thought coming in, they're probably not the very apex of the ECAC, either. Still, here we are, the beginning of December, and it's still RPI sitting atop the league standings (with Quinnipiac, of course, a team that's proven their bonafides more than the Tute has). That's probably not going to last that much longer - but even if it's just one more night with a win over a Dartmouth team that has frequently struggled on both ends of the ice this year, why not? The longer they stay there, the better the end result's going to be no matter what. Points are points, and they're easier to come by at home than they are on the road. So even with Harvard tomorrow night - let's go for broke!

Fun little tune for this week's pumpup. Been stuck in my head for a couple of weeks and the lyrics are at least somewhat relevant too, so here's your earworm. This is definitely neo-80s style, but it was only released a couple of months ago. Enjoy.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Our Quirky Tournament

We've fielded more than one question in the last two weeks from Engineer fans about the Pairwise Rankings. The response was thusly: it's November, don't worry about the Pairwise. Win hockey games.

Here's the chart we used a few years back to describe the Pairwise Rankings across each month of the college hockey season:

October: Worthless.
November: Farcical.
December: Quirky.
January: Interesting.
February: Important.
March: Essential.

So we've moved from farcical to quirky just recently. October is worthless because the PWR is completely unstable pretty much all the time. November is farcical because there's far too much hockey left to be played, not to mention that the Ivy League - a full 10% of the teams in the PWR - have barely started to play. There's also a solid number of inter-conference games to be played, which can swing things significantly if trends change.

December's review of the Pairwise can at least show us what teams are early contenders for at-large bids, and can reveal what teams are already dependent upon the automatic bid as their route to the tournament. But at this point, tracking game-to-game changes in the Pairwise remains a fruitless and futile exercise - and breaking down tournament fields can be even more tedious. So, let's not.

January is when the PWR at least becomes interesting, because the movement of teams becomes a touch easier to predict and there's a far more clear perception of contenders vs. pretenders, but even then it's still too early to take a lot of it to heart, at least toward the beginning of the month. Later in January, the number of inter-conference games dwindles rapidly, and the PWR becomes far more stable. By February, it can be a valuable resource from game-to-game in order to discern what teams need to see happen elsewhere for them to make the tournament - and by March, of course, the decisions are about to be made.

And what decisions are those? Well, unlike in other NCAA sports where the tournament participants are often decided in those "smoke filled rooms," the PWR makes things pretty clear who is in the tournament, and who isn't. For the sake of the chart below, Atlantic Hockey is expected - as usual - to only be able to send its conference champion to the tournament, and a conference tournament upset consists of a team that would not be in the tournament without the automatic bid winning that bid.

1-10: Always in the tournament, no matter what. 1-4 are #1 seeds, 5-8 are #2 seeds, 9 and 10 are #3 seeds.
11: Almost certainly in the tournament as a #3 seed. There would have to be upset champions in every conference for this team to be out.
12: Also likely in the tournament as a #3 seed. Four upset champions put this team out.
13: The good side of the bubble. Good odds of being in the tournament, but three upset champions put them out.
14: Firmly on top of the bubble. Two upset champions put them out.
15: The bad side of the bubble. Just one upset champion would put this team out.
16: Out of the tournament, unless the Atlantic Hockey champion is in the Top 15 AND there are no upset champions in other conferences.
17-60: Always out of the tournament without an automatic bid.

It's possible that this chart may have to have the bubble shifted upwards, to 12-13-14, or even 11-12-13, if the Big Ten and the WCHA continues to have as miserable a season as they have collectively been having, as they too could find themselves only able to send a conference champion.

So anyway, that's the long-winded reason why we don't care about the PWR right now. Besides - caring about the PWR right now makes one look downright silly when February arrives and you're one of the also-rans hoping for an automatic bid to make the tournament. We warned more than a few Clarkson fans last year who couldn't help but squeeeeeee! over their PWR position in November about this. They did look silly by February.

But human nature being what it is, we've been asked about the Engineers so many times that we broke down and took a peek at where they are in this currently-quirky ranking. They're tied for 13th with Denver and sitting in 14th after losing the tiebreaker (the head-to-head comparison) with the Pioneers. They'd be on the tournament bubble if the season ended today. It doesn't, not even close. Don't get too excited.

According to PWR, the presumed field would currently consist of 6 ECAC teams (including the Engineers), 4 NCHC teams, 3 Hockey East teams, and 1 each from the Big Ten, WCHA, and Atlantic Hockey. In other words, don't hold your breath on any of this being remotely real just yet.

What is it telling us? Well, it's telling us the same thing KRACH is telling us, now that Quinnipiac has tied two games and Colorado College finally won one - the ECAC is certainly well positioned as one of the strongest leagues in the country this year. At least, they are right now. Whether that will continue to ring true depends largely on what happens in December and January.

Now, have no fear, Puckman Nation. Should Rensselaer (as we are really forced to call the school during sessions like this because of the prevalence in PWR of RPI the ranking, the Ratings Percentage Index) still be in the discussion when the discussion actually starts to become interesting after the New Year, we'll debut Engineer Bracketology at that point and continue it until such time as it becomes pointless, if it does. (The good news is that, if it does happen, it's easy to slot the Engineers - they will play in Albany as hosts, should they make the tournament.)

Until then, consider this a quick primer on exactly how the PWR operates. Things have changed since 2011 and 2013, the last times we felt the need to run Engineer Bracketology. The dreaded and annoying TUC cliff has gone, and every team regardless of their RPI is now ranked in the PWR. That means that every possible comparison between the 60 teams - that's 1,770 comparisons for you math majors - is factored into the PWR. Essentially, every team is now a Team Under Consideration.

The PWR now only consists of three factors: RPI, record against common opponents (COp), and head-to-head results (H2H). The team with the better RPI gets 1 point, the team with the better COp record gets 1 point, and both teams get a point for every win they have in H2H. It makes things much easier.

RPI is a percentage equivalent to computed by including a 25% weight to your own winning percentage, a 21% weight to your opponents' winning percentage, and a 54% weight to your opponents' opponents' winning percentage.

But there's a wrinkle to RPI. A team can receive RPI bonuses for "quality" wins against teams in the Top 20 of RPI - from .0500 for a win against the top team in RPI, decreasing in increments until you get to the #20 RPI team, worth .0025.

All games not played on neutral ice are weighted differently, too. When you win on the road or lose at home, that game is weighted by a factor of 1.2 over a game on neutral ice. When you lose on the road or win at home, that game is weighted by a factor of 0.8 over a game on neutral ice. And finally, in a situation where a win actually leads to a decrease in total RPI - which can happen when very good teams beat very bad teams - that game is not counted. A win will always leave a team at least with the same RPI they had coming in if not better.

And that's basically all for now. More to come later, if it becomes necessary. Here's where the Engineers currently stand in terms of "quality wins." It's pretty solid - only Quinnipiac and Boston University have accrued a higher quality win bonus total than Rensselaer.

Quality wins
Boston College (#6, at home)
St. Lawrence (#10, on the road)
Yale (#11, at home)

Missed opportunities
UMass-Lowell (#8, on the road)
Michigan (#12, at home)
Harvard (#2, neutral ice)

Upcoming opportunities in the next 10 games
Harvard (#2, at home) - Saturday
Miami (#20, on the road) - Jan 2/3
Cornell (#9, at home) - Jan 15
Quinnipiac (#1, on the road) - Jan 21

And finally... KRACH is, most of the season long, the best way to compare two teams. Theoretically, taking the two teams' seasons to date into consideration, comparing two teams using KRACH would suggest that the team ranked higher overall would be favored to win a theoretical matchup on neutral ice. It doesn't take into effect anything like home-ice advantage, injuries, momentum, or anything like that, intangibles that have real effects on how games play out, but it's a very decent comparison of teams against each other (now that every team is neither perfect nor perfectly futile).

A good way of gauging conference strength is to look at where conference members are in terms of overall schedule strength according to KRACH. 10 of 12 ECAC teams have schedule strengths that are in the Top 20 in the nation (all but Clarkson at 27th and Colgate at 47th). In fact, 13 of the top 15 are in the ECAC and the NCHC, speaking to the dominance thus far of those leagues in inter-conference play (.648 and .605 respectively).

Here's where the Engineers and their opponents this season currently sit in terms of KRACH. Overall records are included along with Rensselaer's record against them, where applicable.

KRACH
1. Quinnipiac (13-0-2)
2. Harvard (6-1-1, 0-1-0)
4. Boston College (12-1-0, 1-0-0)
7. Cornell (6-1-2)
8. Yale (5-2-2, 1-0-0)
10. St. Lawrence (8-3-2, 1-0-0)
11. UMass-Lowell (10-1-4, 0-1-0)
13. Rensselaer (8-5-2)
14. Michigan (7-2-2, 0-1-0)
15. Miami (5-7-2)
18. Clarkson (7-4-2, 0-0-1)
21. Dartmouth (2-5-1)
25. Western Michigan (4-8-1, 1-0-0)
28. Union (4-6-3, 2-0-0)
29. New Hampshire (4-6-3, 1-0-0)
30. Alaska-Anchorage (6-6-2, 0-1-0)
32. Brown (2-4-3, 0-0-1)
43. Alaska (4-8-2, 0-1-0)
45. Bentley (6-6-1, 1-0-0)
47. Princeton (2-8-0)
49. Colgate (4-10-1)
52. Arizona State (3-8-0)

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Men's Hockey - Shillelagh Tournament (27/28 Nov)

RPI rode into the Thanksgiving weekend atop an eight-game unbeaten streak the likes of which had not been seen with the Engineers in over 15 years. They managed to extend that streak to nine in the opening round of the Shillelagh Tournament in South Bend, Indiana by taking down Western Michigan 4-1, but could not make it an even 10 the following afternoon, falling 4-0 against ECAC rivals Harvard in a game that may well have been more about setting the table for the league meeting this coming week than it was a push to claim the Shillelagh Trophy.

Western Michigan
Liljegren-Bubela-Bourbonnais
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Wood-Schroeder-Gillespie
Ohrvall-Fulton-Rodriguez

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton

Hackett

With the Engineers beginning to return to full health - or as full as it is going to get with Evan Tironese being lost for the season - the RPI lineup for the entire weekend ended up being the same as the lineup that hit the ice in Troy against New Hampshire. The situation in net remained the same - Jason Kasdorf was available if needed, but continued to rest with Cam Hackett playing well and helping to ensure his fitness for a planned return for ECAC league play when that resumes during the first weekend of December.

RPI controlled play for much of the first period and were rewarded for their efforts with the game's opening goal at 9:03 of the opening frame as Alex Rodriguez scored his second goal in as many outings to put the Engineers ahead 1-0, the lone assist going to Mike Prapavessis, who set up a breakaway for Rodriguez with a great pass out of the defensive end.

The RPI offense cranked things up a notch early in the second period, with two goals in the span of 37 seconds to grab a 3-0 edge for the third time in as many contests. On the power play, Riley Bourbonnais struck for his team-leading eighth goal of the season to make it 2-0, and seconds later Lou Nanne scored his fourth goal of the year with a lead assist by Prapavessis to put the Engineers ahead by three.

Western Michigan would get one back on a major penalty to Jesper Ohrvall, who was shown the door for a checking from behind call midway through the second period, but it wasn't due to their own exploits that they got themselves on the board. An errant pass in the defensive zone by Parker Reno bounced off the skate of Jared Wilson and directly into the back of the net before Hackett could see what had happened, and just like that, WMU freshman Corey Schueneman, last to touch the puck for the Broncos, was credited with his first collegiate goal on the power play.

That "own goal" was ultimately the only one the Broncos would get all night. Hackett made the remaining two-goal margin hold up throughout the third period, stopping 10 shots in the final 20 minutes, while Jake Wood provided an insurance tally with 3:20 left in the game to seal up the victory, RPI's third in a row and ninth consecutive game without a loss. Prapavessis added an assist on the Wood goal to secure the first three-point game of the season for any Engineer skater.

Harvard
Liljegren-Bubela-Bourbonnais
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Wood-Schroeder-Gillespie
Ohrvall-Fulton-Rodriguez

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton

Hackett

Harvard defeated the home-standing Fighting Irish of Notre Dame 4-1 in Friday's nightcap, thanks in part to a pair of goals on the power play when both Irish backcheckers were called for penalties in taking down Alexander Kerfoot on the breakaway.

The Crimson power play was striking at a rate of 30% coming into the contest, so it is no small feat that the Engineers, who killed penalties for a total of 13 minutes of game time against Harvard on Saturday, managed to go perfect on the penalty kill. Still, the Crimson certainly proved that they didn't need to be on the man advantage to score goals, netting four of them at even strength against the Engineers, including three in the second period, where RPI usually feels most at home.

RPI missed their best opportunities to take control of things early when two penalties in the opening ten minutes against Harvard freshman Ryan Donato - son of Crimson head coach Ted Donato - went unconverted. All told, the first period was a pretty even affair between the two ECAC squads, but Harvard took a 1-0 lead into the locker room on the back of a goal by Jimmy Vesey, a Hobey Hat Trick finalist a year ago, at 14:44 of the first period.

With 40 minutes to play, it still looked like anyone's game, but the Crimson offense put the pedal down early in the second to outdistance RPI on the scoreboard. Luke Esposito's third of the year at 1:32 put RPI down 2-0, and Kyle Criscuolo's sixth of the year made it 3-0 Harvard about six minutes later, marking the first time since Michigan's empty netter on October 24 that the Engineers trailed by three goals - and the first time since the opening game of the year that they'd trailed by three before an empty-netter.

The younger Donato made it 4-0 with just under four minutes left to play in the second period, and from there on out both teams seemed to focus just a little bit more on not getting hurt and getting ready for round two in Troy a week later. Still, both netminders had very solid third periods, with Hackett stopping 17 shots - on his way to a 41-save performance - while Harvard's Merrick Madsen added to the gaudy numbers he's put up in just a handful of games already this season, earning his third shutout of the year in only his fifth appearance by making 14 saves in the final period on his way to a 31-save effort for the win.

Viktor Liljegren picked up RPI's second major penalty in as many days when he was called for charging with just under 7 minutes left to play, but the RPI penalty kill, as noted, was able to keep Harvard's high powered PP unit from scoring throughout the contest. The loss snapped the aforementioned unbeaten streak at nine games, one shy of standing alone as the longest unbeaten streak for the Engineers since the end of their NCAA-record 38-game unbeaten streak from November 1984 through November 1985. The loss came 30 years and a week from the ending of that record run.

Mike Prapavessis was named to the All-Tournament team in recognition of his three-assist efforts the previous night against Western Michigan.

Next up is the final ECAC weekend of the 2015 calendar year as RPI returns home to square off with Dartmouth and then face their rematch with Harvard. The Big Green have, at times, struggled to both score goals and keep the puck out of the net - perhaps typified by the pair of 7-0 losses they've suffered this season, including one this past Friday at Michigan - which makes Friday's game one that a team that fancies itself a contender for a first-round bye should be able to take care of, especially playing at home. Saturday, we'll see if the Engineers can find a remedy for Harvard  or if perhaps they held a little something back for a game that'll mean more at the end of the season than a non-conference game in Indiana.

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

By winning percentage
1. Quinnipiac (.833)
2. RPI (.833)
3. Harvard (.750)
4. Cornell (.750)
5. St. Lawrence (.700)
6. Yale (.667)
7. Brown (.429)
8. Dartmouth (.333)
9. Colgate (.214)
10. Clarkson (.200)
11. Union (.167)
12. Princeton (.167)

RPI vs. Western Michigan
Non-conference Game - Compton Family Ice Arena (South Bend, IN)
11/27/15 - 4:00pm

RESULT: RPI 4, Western Michigan 1

RECORD: 8-4-2 (4-0-2 ECAC, 10 pts)

#8 Harvard vs. RPI
Non-conference Game - Compton Family Ice Arena (South Bend, IN)
11/28/15 - 4:00pm

RESULT: Harvard 4, RPI 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI

RECORD: 8-5-2 (4-0-2 ECAC, 10 pts)

Upcoming games
04 Dec - Dartmouth
05 Dec - #8 Harvard
11 Dec - Arizona State
12 Dec - Arizona State
02 Jan - at Miami