Monday, February 29, 2016

Women's Hockey - ECAC Quarterfinals (26/27 Feb)

RPI - and more specifically Lovisa Selander - gave a valiant effort in the Engineers' ECAC Quarterfinal matchup against Quinnipiac, but in the end fell short in a pair of overtime games.

The Bobcats defeated RPI 3-2 in overtime on Friday afternoon, then the Engineers held on well into double-overtime on Saturday before eventually succumbing in a 2-1 loss.

Friday

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

Hansen/Godin
Behounek/Banks
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

A pair of late second period goals gave RPI an unlikely 2-0 lead, but Quinnipiac scored two in the first half of the third to tie things up before eventually going on to win it in overtime with Emma Woods' goal at 2:04 of the extra period.

Lovisa Selander finished with 57 saves on 60 shots, while the Engineers managed a record-low seven shots against Sydney Rossman.

The first RPI goal came off the stick of Jaimie Grigsby when she broke in all alone on Rossman with two minutes left in the second period. Taking the puck straight down the middle, she fired a quick wrister past Rossman for the 1-0 lead.

Josefine Hansen made that lead 2-0 a short 1:29 later with a rocket of a slapshot from the blue line that found the top corner of the net.

The Engineers ended the second period up 2-0 despite being outshot 36-5. Unfortunately that would catch up with them in the third as the Bobcats bounced back to tie the game.

In addition to the overtime game winner, Emma Woods got the Bobcats on the board at 3:52 of the third, on a third try in front of the crease after Selander stopped Taylar Cianfarano's point blank chance.

Nicole Connery tied the game at two at 7:39 with a sharp angle shot that snuck over Selander's shoulder and just under the crossbar.

After regulation ended with the teams tied at two, it didn't take a lot of overtime for Quinnipiac to earn the win. At 2:04 of extra time, Cianfarano put another shot on Selander which was turned away, but the puck caromed off a crashing Woods' leg and into the net. Though the officials reviewed the play, the goal stood and the Bobcats took a 1-0 series lead heading into Saturday's game.

Saturday

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

Hansen/Godin
Behounek/Banks
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

If 57 saves weren't enough on Saturday, Selander made 66 more on Saturday, but it still wasn't enough to carry RPI to a win on Saturday as Quinnipiac defeated them 2-1 in double overtime, ending the Engineers' season.

Jaimie Grigsby scored her second goal of the weekend just 25 seconds in, getting the puck past the defense to beat Rossman in similar fashion to her goal the day before, but Quinnipiac tied it before the midpoint of the first, then the teams went scoreless for over four periods before Nicole Brown finally won it for the Bobcats.

Cianfarano's goal came after she nearly turned the puck over in the RPI zone, but recovered it and put it through traffic in the slot to beat Selander.

After facing an onslaught of shots from the Bobcats, turning away 50 from the start of the second period through the second overtime, Selander was finally solved again at 13:24 of the fifth period when Brown picked up her own rebound and snuck it backhand past the sliding RPI netminder.

With the other series complete, St. Lawrence will face Quinnipiac in the ECAC semifinals while Colgate will go up against Clarkson. Both games, along with the championship game, will take place in Hamden as Quinnipiac hosts as the #1 seed.

The losses spelled the end of the Engineers' season and they will look toward next year with a positive outlook with Selander in net, but needing to solve some offensive and defensive woes if they are to move up in the ECAC.  It was a common theme for RPI to be heavily outshot this season, reflected in Selander setting the school record for saves in a season with 1058, and a .939 save percentage that was good for seventh in the nation, despite the team finishing eighth in the ECAC.

Outstanding goaltending will not take the Engineers anywhere if they can't shore up the play in front of Selander in the coming seasons, as Union has proven over several years with dismal finishes despite having several top notch goaltenders come through the program.

-----

RPI at Quinnipiac
ECAC Quarterfinals - TD Bank Sports Center (Hamden, CT)
2/26/16 - 2pm
QU 3, RPI 2 (OT)

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5618
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wquiren1.f26

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2016/2/26/womens-ice-hockey-no-4-quinnipiac-edges-womens-hockey-in-ot.aspx
QU: http://quinnipiacbobcats.com/news/2016/2/26/no-1-qu-womens-ice-hockey-overcomes-two-goal-deficit-to-beat-no-8-rensselaer-in-overtime-3-2.aspx
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsPBqlwVfhY

RECORD: 10-16-7

-----

RPI at Quinnipiac
ECAC Quarterfinals - TD Bank Sports Center (Hamden, CT)
2/27/16 - 2pm
QU 2, RPI 1 (2OT)

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5619
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wquiren1.f27

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2016/2/27/womens-ice-hockey-womens-hockey-sees-season-end-in-double-overtime.aspx
QU: http://quinnipiacbobcats.com/news/2016/2/27/nicole-brown-lifts-no-1-qu-womens-ice-hockey-past-no-8-rensselaer-in-double-overtime-2-1.aspx
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cWql2dydO0

RECORD: 10-17-7

-----

ECAC Semifinals

#6 St. Lawrence vs. #1 Quinnipiac
#4 Colgate vs. #2 Clarkson

Saturday, February 27, 2016

ECAC Playoffs Set

Two ties to break.

5th: Clarkson wins the first tiebreaker over RPI (3-1).
7th: Dartmouth wins the second tiebreaker over Cornell (11-8).

The playoffs are thus.

#12 Princeton at #5 Clarkson
#11 Brown at #6 RPI
#10 Colgate at #7 Dartmouth
#9 Union at #8 Cornell

Cornell/Union/Colgate/Brown/Princeton at #1 Quinnipiac
Dartmouth/Cornell/Union/Colgate/Brown at #2 Yale
RPI/Dartmouth/Cornell/Union/Colgate at #3 Harvard
Clarkson/RPI/Dartmouth/Cornell/Union at #4 St. Lawrence

Friday, February 26, 2016

Men's Reset (One Game Out)

Quinnipiac (15-1-5) has clinched the #1 seed. They could host any team but Yale, Harvard, St. Lawrence, or Dartmouth in the quarterfinals.

Yale (14-4-3) has clinched the #2 seed. They could host any team but Quinnipiac, Harvard, St. Lawrence, or Princeton in the quarterfinals.

Harvard (11-6-4) has clinched a first round bye. They are the #3 seed with a win or a tie at St. Lawrence, #4 with a loss.

St. Lawrence (11-7-3) has clinched a first round bye. They are the #3 seed with a win against Harvard, #4 with a loss/tie.

Dartmouth (11-10-0) has clinched home ice in the first round and will finish between 5th and 7th. They can clinch the #5 seed with a win over Clarkson, or a tie and an RPI tie/loss. They will host one of Colgate, Brown, or Princeton.

RPI (8-7-6) has clinched home ice in the first round and will finish between 5th and 8th. They can clinch the #5 seed with a win and a Dartmouth loss/tie.

Clarkson (9-9-3) has clinched home ice in the first round and will finish between 5th and 8th. They can clinch the #5 seed with a win and an RPI loss/tie.

Cornell (8-8-5) has clinched home ice in the first round and will finish between 6th and 8th. They can clinch the #6 seed with a win over Clarkson. They will host one of Union, Colgate, or Brown.

Union (6-9-6) will finish 9th and will travel to Cornell, Clarkson, or RPI for the first round.

Colgate (5-14-2) will finish either 10th or 11th. They can clinch 10th with a win over Union, a tie and a Brown tie/loss, or simply a Brown loss.

Brown (3-13-5) will finish either 10th or 11th. They can clinch 10th with a win and a Colgate tie/loss, or a tie and a Colgate loss.

Princeton (3-16-2) finish in 12th.

Current ties in the standings are broken as follows:
5th: Dartmouth wins the first tiebreaker over RPI (4-0).
7th: Clarkson wins the second tiebreaker over Cornell (9-8).

Tiebreakers

Harvard
No tiebreakers possible due to Harvard/SLU game.

St. Lawrence
No tiebreakers possible due to Harvard/SLU game.

Dartmouth
RPI - Won, 4-0.
Cornell - Tied, 2-2, would win on ECAC wins.
Clarkson - No tiebreaker possible due to Dartmouth/Clarkson game.

RPI
No possible tiebreakers won.

Clarkson
RPI - Won, 3-1.
Cornell - Tied, 2-2, would win on ECAC wins.

Cornell
No tiebreakers won.

Colgate
No tiebreakers won.

Brown
Colgate - Won, 3-1.

Multiple tiebreakers
Not possible due to Dartmouth/Clarkson and RPI/Cornell.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Engineer Bracketology: Week 8

So close. And yet so far. The Engineers were literally 2:13 away from a season sweep of Quinnipiac that, beyond being improbable, may well have just always been impossible. They're very good. But how different is the Pairwise if Rensselaer's able to hold onto those very late leads? Well, the Engineers would be sitting in a tournament position right now (14th) - and the Bobcats wouldn't be a #1 seed, let alone the #1 overall (5th). It's a razor's edge, and it's easy to fall off the side of it. And while losing to Quinnipiac didn't really make Rensselaer fall, it ended up being a lost opportunity to climb the ladder.

1. Quinnipiac*
2. St. Cloud State*
3. Boston College*
4. North Dakota
5. Providence
6. Michigan*
7. Yale
8. Denver
9. Notre Dame
10. Boston University
11. Omaha
12. Harvard
13. UMass-Lowell
14. Cornell
15. Penn State
16. Minnesota
18. Michigan Tech*
19. Rensselaer
23. Robert Morris*
In since last week: Cornell
Out since last week: Penn State
Last in: UMass-Lowell, Cornell
First out: Penn State, Minnesota
League breakdown: 5 HEA, 4 NCHC, 4 ECAC, 1 B1G, 1 WCHA, 1 AHA

Certainly feels like a losing effort, right? Farther back in the Pairwise again, we might as well wrap this all up. (Believe me, I wouldn't mind not having to do this.) But there's still some hope out there, and it can be found by taking a peep at the RPI cliff.

14. Cornell .534
15. Minnesota .532
16. Penn State .532
17. Michigan Tech .528
18. St. Lawrence .524
19. Rensselaer .524
20. Miami .523
--
21. Dartmouth .523
22. Robert Morris .523
23. Minnesota State .521
24. Northeastern .520
25. Clarkson .516

At this point, it's probably safe to write off Union becoming a quality win factor. We wanted them to go on a run in the ECAC, they did not, time's pretty much up. We're going to move on from them, but we're still rooting for them on Friday against Cornell for other reasons.

Really, the most important thing to see here right now is just how close teams around the Engineers are in RPI. These differences are extremely thin, so it's easy to see how quickly things can change, especially since basically every team on the list with the exception of Dartmouth and Clarkson (and Cornell, for now) are straight RPI comparisons. Just above this group is Minnesota at .532 and Cornell at .534. Catchable, and quickly. The area between about 14th and 27th or so in the Pairwise (including Bowling Green and Minnesota Duluth not on this list) could see serious upheaval these next two weekends.

That's a lot of teams fighting for, realistically, one or two spots at best - or potentially none at all if there's an upset or two in the conference championships. So all of this certainly puts a damper on expectations, but if the Engineers do well this weekend and then into the playoffs (can never stress enough how important it is to win your own games), the positioning is at least still there. Need to win games. Need a bit of help. But it's a near sight better than what most of the college hockey world is digesting about now.

Quality wins
Boston College (#4, at home)
Yale (#7, at home)
Harvard (#12, on the road)
Cornell (#14, at home)
St. Lawrence (#18, on the road)
Miami (#20, on the road)

Quality ties (half a quality win)
Quinnipiac (#2, on the road)
Harvard (#12, at home)

Missed opportunities
Quinnipiac (#2, at home)
Michigan (#6, at home)
Yale (#7, on the road)
Harvard (#12, neutral ice)
UMass-Lowell (#13, on the road)
Miami (#20, on the road)

Remaining opportunities
Cornell (#14, on the road) - Feb 27

The majority of comparisons that could be flipped soon are, as usual, straight RPI, and they're basically the teams listed above. But there are a few other considerations to check out.

UMass-Lowell (H2H loss) - The final COp games of the regular season for this comparison take place this week as the River Hawks face Boston College in a home-and-home. With the Boston College comparison effectively out of reach despite the H2H win, we can safely root for the Eagles to help keep the COp portion of this comparison locked out and hurt UML's RPI at the same time. Anything other than a UML sweep here helps bolster a COp victory for the Engineers, cancelling out the River Hawks' H2H win and keeping this an RPI comparison. Even if UML does sweep, COp remains tied. RPI doesn't appear to be flippable this week, but sweeps by the Engineers and Eagles would bring this awfully close heading into the playoffs.

Total COp: 3.000 each
Boston College: To be added (1.000 for Rensselaer)

Dartmouth (2 H2H losses) - Breathing room for the Engineers on COp. While we wanted the Big Green to beat Cornell last week to stop the Big Red from rising in the Pairwise, Dartmouth's loss did at least help this comparison by a slight amount. Since we need both RPI and COp to be going Rensselaer's way, keeping COp in the good is important - and that'll stay in the Engineers' favor through this weekend no matter what. RPI's still pretty close, though, so Dartmouth losses still help in that area - and this could still flip away from the Engineers on RPI in a big hurry.

Total COp: 7.000-5.750 Rensselaer
Colgate: 1.000-0.500 Dartmouth
Cornell: 1.000-0.500 Rensselaer
St. Lawrence: 1.000-0.500 Dartmouth
Clarkson: 1.000-0.250 Dartmouth

St. Lawrence (H2H split) - Straight RPI here, but there's a catch. Dartmouth and St. Lawrence play each other on Friday, and the winner stands to gain serious traction on the Engineers no matter what happens in their game, given how close they are to each other and to Rensselaer in RPI as seen above. However, a tie between the two teams should keep both of them at bay and allow Rensselaer the chance to improve on both teams with a win.

Clarkson (H2H loss) - Really not much of a worry here right now as long as the Engineers can take care of their own business this week. There's some separation on both RPI and COp, both of which Rensselaer needs to win to pin down this comparison. Here's COp for the week. A worst case scenario would see it tied at 8.000 after the weekend and flipping the comparison back to the Golden Knights (2-0 on RPI/H2H), but honestly, if that happens, we're probably not doing EB next week because the Engineers got swept.

Total COp: 8.750-7.500 Rensselaer
Colgate: 0.500 each
Cornell: 1.000-0.500 Rensselaer
Harvard: 1.000-0.500 Clarkson
Dartmouth: 0.000 each

Cornell (H2H win) - Not going to delve too far into Cornell this week. They're winning on very thin RPI/COp margins right now, but since there's another H2H on Saturday, this could flip pretty quick just by the Engineers' own hand with a win. As a reminder, there's no functional difference between 1 H2H win and 2 H2H wins (the other side still has to win both RPI/COp to win the comparison), so that's not really a big deal should Rensselaer prevail, it's a bigger concern if they lose because then it's straight RPI and it's an RPI benefit to the Big Red while being an RPI drag to the Engineers simultaneously. The game on Saturday is of utmost importance if Rensselaer's going to have a shot at an at-large bid.

For the cheering section this weekend, it's worth pointing out that much of what is beneficial to the Engineers in the Pairwise runs semi-counter to what they need to happen for ECAC positioning. For instance, the best case scenario for the Engineers in the ECAC on Friday night are wins by Dartmouth and Clarkson, but those aren't as good for the Pairwise. The whole Dartmouth/Harvard at SLU/Clarkson weekend still being a thing that has to happen is really the biggest problem the Engineers have on both the Pairwise and ECAC fronts.

The key for the cheering section:
1. Wherever there is direct COp assistance
2. For the ECAC out-of-conference (no longer applicable, just keeping it for continuity's sake)
3. For improved quality win bonuses (QWB)
4. Against teams ahead of or just behind Rensselaer in the RPI or PWR
5. For non-conference opponents

Engineers Cheering Section
Tonight
Bentley over American International - 5

Friday
Union over Cornell - 4
Harvard over Clarkson - 4
Dartmouth ties St. Lawrence - 4

Weekend series
Michigan over Minnesota - 4/5
Boston College over UMass-Lowell - 1/3/4/5
Maine over Northeastern - 4
Western Michigan over Denver - 5
Bentley over Army - 5
New Hampshire over UConn - 5
Alaska over Michigan Tech - 4/5
Canisius over Robert Morris - 4
Colorado College over Miami - 4
St. Cloud State over Minnesota Duluth - 4
Alaska-Anchorage over Minnesota State - 4/5

Saturday
Clarkson over Dartmouth - 4
Harvard over St. Lawrence - 4

Important COp/H2H games for currently relevant comparisons
Friday, February 26: UMass-Lowell at Boston College
Saturday, February 27: Boston College at UMass-Lowell

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Men's Hockey - Quinnipiac/Princeton (19/20 Feb)

It's not always just how good you are or how well you're playing that determines success. The opponent plays a role in your success or failure as well. This past weekend may have been one of the best examples of that possible. With the Quinnipiac/Princeton travel pairing not only on opposite ends of the ECAC standings but more or less on the opposite end of the national rankings as well, the Engineers got the mostly expected outcomes with different compete levels. On Friday against Quinnipiac, RPI played a mostly complete game in which they played their hearts out only to come up on the short end of a 5-4 result in overtime. The following night, a rough outing with plenty of mistakes turned into a 2-1 victory against Princeton.

Quinnipiac
Bourbonnais-Schroeder-Nanne
Liljegren-Bubela-DeVito
Wood-Miller-Ohrvall
Gillespie-Fulton-Rodriguez

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Grant
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

With Drew Melanson and Parker Reno both still sidelined, the Engineers rolled with the same lineup they did in both games the previous weekend at Harvard and Dartmouth, hoping to more replicate their Friday night result than their Saturday night outcome.

The game got off to an ominous start for the home team. Just 47 seconds in, Travis St. Denis, who had a hat trick last season at the Field House, scored on a deflection to put the Bobcats up 1-0. That lead extended to 2-0 when Kevin McKernan fired a loose puck in the slot over a prone Jason Kasdorf before the game was even 10 minutes old. While the Engineers hadn't been playing poorly to that point, it did appear that they were going to be outclassed.

But a fortuitous bounce late in the period kept hope alive. Shortly after the expiration of RPI's first power play of the game, a shot by Jake Wood from the top of a faceoff circle glanced off the skate of Jimmy DeVito and in, cutting Quinnipiac's lead in half with the junior's second goal of the season.

The second period was a bit of a reversal of fortunes. While Quinnipiac didn't play poorly during the middle frame, the Engineers looked ready to outclass the best team in the nation, and they certainly did on the scoreboard. Early in the period, RPI got the game tied up at two with Alex Rodriguez's third goal of the season, a quick putback after a wrap-around attempt by Kenny Gillespie.

Then the fireworks began. A penalty to St. Denis for roughing as the game became much more physical was followed soon after by two penalties on Quinnipiac against one for the Engineers (Jesper Ohrvall) after a fracas in the Bobcats' end. That gave the Engineers a five-on-three power play for over a minute, and during that extended two-man advantage, RPI hit two posts and saw Milos Bubela absolutely robbed by Quinnipiac goaltender Michael Garteig, who made several incredible saves to keep the game tied.

The Bobcats managed to avoid going behind during that sequence, but in the middle of the period, RPI took the lead anyway when Zach Schroeder potted his fourth of the year by backhanding a bouncing loose puck in the slot (that had squirted out from behind the net) to the back of the cage, putting the Engineers ahead 3-2 for RPI's third lead in as many games against a #1 ranked opponent this season.

Defense became the name of the game for the rest of the second period and well into the third, but the RPI lead held up until seven minutes into the final stanza, when Tim Clifton put home a rebound on a four-on-three power play to tie things back up. From there, the game became a chess match featuring terrific end-to-end action.

With four minutes left in regulation, the Engineers sent the puck down into the attacking zone, and a great individual effort by Viktor Liljegren resulted in the would-be icing call being waved off. Seconds later, he dug the puck out of the corner and just powered a shot that beat Garteig to give RPI a 4-3 lead with just 3:44 remaining in regulation.

Just about 30 seconds later, the Engineers did ice the puck, and with an incredible 3:15 left in a one-goal game, Quinnipiac pulled their netminder for the extra attacker and called timeout. The gambit worked. With their possession powered top line out and the extra skater, the Bobcats held the zone for 1:11 (with just one RPI icing call in the middle) and played their strengths perfectly, scoring the tying goal on a blast from the point by Devon Toews with not one, not two, but three players screening Jason Kasdorf on the shot. RPI held the lead for only 1:40 after Liljegren's go-ahead goal.

On the ensuing center ice faceoff, Bubela was called for delay of game after playing the puck with his hand, forcing the Engineers to kill his minor penalty for the remainder of regulation. They escaped unscathed, but they fell in heartbreaking fashion after QU captain Soren Jonzzon ripped a slapper from the faceoff circle with no screen, a shot that Kasdorf stops nearly all the time, only it found the whole between his glove and leg to hit the back of the net just 15 seconds into overtime.

Ultimately, RPI lost one of the best games they played all season simply because the opposition was able to rise above it with even more superior play.

Princeton
Bourbonnais-Schroeder-Nanne
Liljegren-Bubela-DeVito
Wood-Miller-Ohrvall
Gillespie-Fulton-Rodriguez

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Grant
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

The inspired play didn't seem to carry over into Saturday night's contest against a much weaker opponent in Princeton on Senior Night. The Tigers are accustomed to giving up gobs and gobs of shots per game, keeping Colton Phinney, one of the best goaltenders in the country that most college hockey fans don't know because of the quality of his team, exceptionally busy.

But on Saturday night, RPI managed just 23 shots combined against Princeton - not a bad number for them against an average team, but certainly below average for what the Tigers typically give up. This was something of an indicator of how generally malaised the RPI offense looked in the first two periods or so against Princeton.

While the Tigers certainly weren't lighting the world on fire themselves, they were the ones to get the lion's share of the quality scoring chances in the first period, and they got the first goal of the game early in the second period as Ben Foster wristed one home from the right-side faceoff circle to make it 1-0 Princeton.

The Engineers' lackluster play helped keep things 1-0 until late in the second period, where a good pass got things square once more. Jimmy DeVito made a quick pass from behind the Princeton cage and practically just as the puck was moving to the front of the net, Milos Bubela poked it in to knot the score.

Bubela would score again early in the second period to put the Engineers ahead as the third period started much better from the RPI perspective and continued to improve as the final 20 minutes wore on. The senior's second goal on Senior Night was again set up by DeVito, who drew the defenders away on the break and then slipped the puck past them to Bubela, who had snuck behind the defense and was alone in the slot. Bubela beat Phinney on the short side to give the Engineers their first lead of the night.

The much improved third period helped secure that lead immensely, as RPI spent much of the period on the attack. Though they couldn't find an insurance tally, they did outshoot Princeton 18-6 in the final period, keeping the pressure off Jason Kasdorf in the final frame. The Engineers held off the extra attacker late, and held on for the 2-1 victory, picking up a badly needed two points and keeping themselves in the hunt for a first-round bye - although they'll almost certainly need to finish the season with a sweep and they'll certainly need some help on Saturday in order to get there.

RPI is hoping to get Parker Reno back into the lineup for this coming weekend against Colgate and Cornell, but the timetable on Drew Melanson is a bit more stark - he won't be back this season, apparently, unless the Engineers can make it to Lake Placid (or, theoretically beyond).

Current ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 33 pts (14-1-5)
2. Yale - 29 pts (13-4-3)
3. Harvard - 26 pts (11-5-4)
4. St. Lawrence - 23 pts (10-7-3)
5. Dartmouth - 22 pts (11-9-0)
6. RPI - 22 pts (8-6-6)
7. Cornell - 21 pts (8-7-5)
8. Clarkson - 19 pts (8-9-3)
9. Union - 16 pts (5-9-6)
10. Brown - 11 pts (3-12-5)
11. Colgate - 10 pts (4-14-2)
12. Princeton - 8 pts (3-15-2)

#1 Quinnipiac at #17 RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/19/16 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Quinnipiac 5, RPI 4 (OT)

RECORD: 15-12-6 (7-6-6 ECAC, 20 pts)

Princeton at #17 RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/20/16 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, Princeton 1

RECORD: 16-12-6 (8-6-6 ECAC, 22 pts)

Upcoming games
26 Feb - at Colgate
27 Feb - at #16 Cornell
04 Mar - ECAC First Round Game 1
05 Mar - ECAC First Round Game 2
06 Mar - ECAC First Round Game 3 (if necessary)

Monday, February 22, 2016

Women's Hockey - at Princeton & Quinnipiac (19/20 Feb)

RPI managed one final point on the road against Princeton and Quinnipiac to end the regular season, and it turned out to be a difference-maker as the Engineers finished in the final playoff spot by just a single point.

That point came in a 3-3 tie against Princeton on Friday, before the Engineers were outclassed by Quinnipiac to the tune of a  4-0 loss on Saturday.

Princeton

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

Hansen/Godin
Behounek/Banks
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

Despite being outshot 53-27, RPI managed to put three pucks past Kimberly Newell to earn a 3-3 tie against Princeton Friday evening. Shayna Tomlinson had two goals for the Engineers while Alexa Gruschow had a goal and an assist.

The game got off to a quick start, with the teams trading a lot of shots early in the first, but it was Princeton eventually breaking through when Fiona McKenna snuck a bad-angle shot off the rush past Lovisa Selander for a 1-0 lead.

Tomlinson scored both of her goals in the second period. The first came at 6:15 - from an even worse angle than McKenna's goal, as Tomlinson found the top corner from below the bottom of the faceoff circles.

Her second was a deflection, tipping a point shot from Amanda Kimmerle to put RPI ahead 2-1.

Princeton tied the game at 11:42 on a Kiersten Falck goal, but Gruschow answered just 41 seconds later to regain the lead for RPI.

Karlie Lund spoiled the potential upset for the Engineers by tying the game once again with 3:01 left in regulation. The teams only managed one shot each in overtime as the game ended with a 3-3 final.

Quinnipiac

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

Hansen/Godin
Behounek/Banks
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

After destroying Union 9-0 on Friday, Quinnipiac kept rolling on Saturday by defeating RPI 4-0, outshooting the Engineers 52-14 in the process.

Emma Grecco scored the first goal and eventual game-winner, firing a blast from the point through traffic and past Selander.

RPI had three consecutive power play opportunities in the middle of the first period, including nearly a minute of 5-on-3, but couldn't capitalize - and in fact only managed six shots in the opening frame despite the power plays.

Things got worse in the second as Quinnipiac piled on three more goals and outshot the Engineers 21-2. A faceoff win led to a quick opportunity for Nicole Brown, who made a couple quick moves for an easy backhand past Selander to make it 2-0 just 3:20 into the second period.

Less than a minute later, Kristen Tamberg scored on a cross-ice feed from Brown - a power play goal to make it 3-0. Nicole Connery extended the lead to four at 16:08 with a quick shot off a feed from behind the net that the RPI defense never picked up.

Selander held the lead to four despite facing another 21 shots in the third period, finishing with 48 saves on 52 shots Saturday and a combined 98 for 105 on the weekend.

RPI's one point weekend was not enough on its own to secure a playoff spot - instead it came down to a Clarkson goal, scored in the final minute of their game against Yale, to knock the Bulldogs out of the playoffs and land the Engineers in the eighth and final spot. With that, the playoff matchups for next weekend's ECAC quarterfinals are set:

#8 RPI at #1 Quinnipiac
#7 Cornell at #2 Clarkson
#6 St. Lawrence at #3 Princeton
#5 Harvard at #4 Colgate

All four series will run Friday through Sunday (if necessary) at the home rink of the higher seeds. The championship weekend will be the following weekend at the home rink of the highest remaining seed.

The road to the championship weekend will be an extremely tough one for the Engineers, as it runs through an extremely strong Quinnipiac team which has been ranked in the top 5 nationally since Thanksgiving and just soundly defeated them in the regular season finale.

RPI will be counting on Selander to hold strong in net, but they are going to need to find a couple goals to have any chance - in the two matchups with the Bobcats this season, the Engineers were held scoreless and outshot by a combined 92-29 margin.

-----

RPI at Princeton
ECAC Hockey Game - Hobey Baker Rink (Princeton, NJ)
2/19/16 - 7pm
RPI 3, Princeton 3 (OT)

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5208
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wprnren1.f19

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2016/2/19/WICE_0219164838.aspx?path=whock
Princeton: http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210729407&DB_OEM_ID=10600
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrjX65P0eXc

RECORD: 10-14-7 (8-8-5 ECAC)

-----

RPI at Quinnipiac
ECAC Hockey Game - TD Bank Sports Center (Hamden, CT)
2/20/16 - 4pm
QU 4, RPI 0

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5209
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wquiren1.f20

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2016/2/20/WICE_0220164401.aspx?path=whock
QU: http://quinnipiacbobcats.com/news/2016/2/20/WIH_0220162156.aspx?path=whockey
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V9g6F9C4Xs

RECORD: 10-15-7 (8-9-5 ECAC)

-----

Final ECAC Standings

1. Quinnipiac - 36 pts (16-2-4)
2. Clarkson - 33 pts (14-3-5)
3. Princeton - 30 pts (14-6-2)
4. Colgate - 29 pts (12-5-5)
5. Harvard - 27 pts (12-7-3)
6. St. Lawrence - 23 pts (9-8-5)
7. Cornell - 22 pts (9-9-4)
8. RPI - 21 pts (8-9-5)
--
9. Yale - 20 pts (9-11-2)
10. Dartmouth - 15 pts (6-13-3)
11. Brown - 5 pts (1-18-3)
12. Union - 3 pts (0-19-3)

-----

Upcoming Schedule

ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals
Feb. 26 - at Quinnipiac (2pm)
Feb. 27 - at Quinnipiac (2pm)
Feb. 28 - at Quinnipiac (2pm) (if necessary)

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Men's Reset (One Week Out)

Quinnipiac (14-1-5) has clinched a first round bye and at least a share of 1st. They can clinch the #1 seed outright on Friday with a win, tie, or a Yale loss/tie.

Yale (12-4-3) has clinched a first round bye and will finish no worse than 3rd. They can clinch at least the #2 seed on Friday with a win, tie, or a Harvard loss/tie. The only scenario in which they can finish as the #1 seed requires a win on Friday over Princeton, a Quinnipiac loss to Brown, and then a win over the Bobcats on Saturday.

Harvard (11-5-4) has clinched a home ice playoff series. They can clinch a first round bye on Friday with a win, tie, or an RPI loss. They will finish between 2nd and 5th.

St. Lawrence (10-7-3) has clinched a home ice playoff series. They can clinch a first round bye on Friday with a win and an RPI loss/tie. They will finish between 3rd and 8th.

Dartmouth (11-9-0) has clinched a home ice playoff series and will finish between 4th and 8th. They cannot clinch a first round bye on Friday, but they would be eliminated from contention with a loss to St. Lawrence.

RPI (8-6-6) has clinched a home playoff series and will finish between 3rd and 8th. They cannot clinch a first round bye on Friday, but they would be eliminated from contention with a loss to Colgate, or a tie and a St. Lawrence win.

Cornell (8-7-5) has clinched a home playoff series and will finish between 4th and 8th. They cannot clinch a first round bye on Friday, but they would be eliminated from contention with a loss or tie against Union, or a St. Lawrence win.

Clarkson (8-9-3) will play in a first round playoff series. They cannot catch St. Lawrence or Dartmouth for 4th because of the game between those teams on Friday. The Golden Knights will finish between 5th and 9th. They can clinch a home ice playoff series on Friday with a win, a tie, or a Union loss/tie.

Union (5-9-6) will play in a first round playoff series and will finish either 8th or 9th. The only scenario in which they do not finish 9th requires a road sweep of Cornell and Colgate, with Clarkson being swept at home by Harvard and Dartmouth. Any other result puts the Dutchmen on the road as the #9 seed.

Brown (3-12-5), Colgate (4-14-2), and Princeton (3-15-2) will all be on the road in the first round and will finish between 10th and 12th.

Current ties in the standings are broken as follows:
5th: Dartmouth wins the first tiebreaker over RPI (4-0).

Tiebreakers

Quinnipiac
No tiebreakers won.

Yale
Quinnipiac - Would tie 2-2 in a tiebreaker situation, would win on ECAC wins.
Harvard - Won, 3-1.

Harvard
Dartmouth - Won, 4-0.
SLU - Would tie 2-2 in a tiebreaker situation, unknown ECAC wins difference.

St. Lawrence
RPI - Tied, 2-2, would win on ECAC wins.
Cornell - Tied, 2-2, would likely lead on ECAC wins.
Clarkson - Tied, 2-2, would go to the third tiebreaker.
Harvard - Would tie 2-2 in a tiebreaker situation, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Dartmouth
RPI - Won, 4-0.
Cornell - Tied, 2-2, would win on ECAC wins.
Clarkson - Would tie 2-2 in a tiebreaker situation, would win on ECAC wins.
SLU - Ahead, 2-0, would win in any head-to-head tiebreaker situation.

RPI
Harvard - Won, 3-1.
Cornell - Ahead, 2-0.

Clarkson
RPI - Won, 3-1.
Union - Tied, 2-2, would win on ECAC wins.
Cornell - Tied, 2-2, would likely lead on ECAC wins.
SLU - Tied, 2-2, would go to the third tiebreaker.

Cornell
No tiebreakers won.

Union
No tiebreakers won.

Brown
Colgate - Won, 3-1.

Colgate
Princeton - Won, 4-0.

Princeton
Brown - Would win 4-0 in a tiebreaker situation.

Multiple tiebreakers
DRT-HRV-RPI: Harvard, Dartmouth, RPI
DRT-RPI-SLU: Dartmouth, St. Lawrence, RPI
HRV-RPI-SLU: St. Lawrence, RPI, Harvard (requires St. Lawrence win over Harvard to be relevant)
COR-DRT-RPI: Dartmouth, Cornell/RPI (depends on result of Cornell/RPI game)
COR-DRT-SLU: If Dartmouth/SLU tie - Cornell, Dartmouth, St. Lawrence. If Dartmouth beats SLU - Dartmouth, Cornell, St. Lawrence. Irrelevant otherwise.
COR-RPI-SLU: If Cornell/RPI tie - St. Lawrence, RPI, Cornell. If Cornell beats RPI - St. Lawrence, Cornell/RPI (determined by 2nd or 3rd tiebreaker). Irrelevant otherwise.
COR-DRT-RPI-SLU: Dartmouth, St. Lawrence, remainder goes to undetermined Cornell/RPI tiebreak.
CKN-COR-DRT: If Dartmouth/Clarkson tie - Dartmouth wins, Clarkson/Cornell tiebreak undetermined. If Clarkson beats Dartmouth - Dartmouth, Clarkson, Cornell.
CKN-COR-RPI: Clarkson wins, Cornell/RPI tiebreak undetermined.
CKN-COR-SLU: Clarkson/SLU resolved on 3rd tiebreak or beyond, Cornell 3rd.
CKN-DRT-RPI: Dartmouth, Clarkson, RPI
CKN-RPI-SLU: Clarkson, St. Lawrence, RPI
CKN-COR-DRT-RPI: Dartmouth, Clarkson, Cornell/RPI tiebreak undetermined.
CKN-COR-RPI-SLU: Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Cornell/RPI tiebreak undetermined.
BRN-COL-PRN: Colgate, Princeton, Brown (requires Princeton win over Brown to be relevant)

Scenarios within four points, but not possible due to matchups
DRT-HRV-SLU: Due to the Dartmouth/SLU game.
DRT-HRV-RPI-SLU: Due to the Dartmouth/SLU game.
CKN-DRT-SLU: Due to the Dartmouth/Clarkson game.
CKN-DRT-RPI-SLU: Due to the Dartmouth/Clarkson game.
CKN-COR-DRT-RPI-SLU: Due to the Dartmouth/Clarkson game.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Final ECAC Results (Women)

After all of our discussion on tiebreakers - no teams finish tied.

The playoffs next week are thus:

#8 RPI at #1 Quinnipiac
#7 Cornell at #2 Clarkson
#6 St. Lawrence at #3 Princeton
#5 Harvard at #4 Colgate

Yale finishes their season in 9th, one point out of 8th. They were 25 seconds away from a tie with Clarkson, which would have put them into a tie for 8th with RPI that they would have won for the final playoff spot.

Men's Reset (Three Games Out)

Quinnipiac (14-1-4) has clinched a first round bye and will finish either 1st or 2nd. They can lock up the #1 seed on Saturday with a win, a tie, or a Yale loss.

Yale (12-4-3) has clinched a home ice playoff series and will finish between 1st and 5th. They can clinch a first round bye on Saturday with a win, a tie and a St. Lawrence loss, or losses by St. Lawrence and Dartmouth. They could clinch no worse than the #2 seed with a win and a Harvard loss/tie.

Harvard (10-5-4), Dartmouth (11-8-0), and St. Lawrence (10-7-2) have clinched a home ice playoff series and will finish between 2nd and 8th. None can clinch a bye on Saturday.

RPI (7-6-6) can clinch a home ice playoff series on Saturday with a win, tie, or a Union loss/tie. They would be eliminated from first-round bye contention with a loss, a Dartmouth win, and Harvard loss/tie. They will finish between 3rd and 9th.

Clarkson (8-8-3) or Cornell (7-7-5) can clinch a home ice playoff series on Saturday with a win and a Union loss/tie, or a tie and a Union loss. They will finish between 3rd and 9th.

Union (5-9-5) will play in a first round playoff series. They would be guaranteed to be on the road in the first round after Saturday's games with a loss and a win/tie from Cornell and Clarkson. They will finish between 6th and 11th.

Brown (3-12-4) and Colgate (4-13-2) will be on the road in the first round. They will finish between 9th and 12th.

Princeton (3-14-2) will be on the road in the first round. They will finish between 10th and 12th.

Current ties in the standings are broken as follows:
4th: Dartmouth wins the first tiebreaker over St. Lawrence (2-0).
7th: Clarkson wins the second tiebreaker over Cornell (8-7).
10th: Brown wins the first tiebreaker over Colgate (3-1).

Tiebreakers

Quinnipiac
Yale - Ahead, 2-0.

Yale
Dartmouth, SLU - Won, 4-0.
Harvard - Won, 3-1.

Harvard
Dartmouth - Won, 4-0.
Cornell - Won, 3-1.
SLU - Ahead, 2-0.

Dartmouth
RPI - Won, 4-0.
Clarkson, Cornell, SLU - Ahead, 2-0.

St. Lawrence
RPI - Tied, 2-2, would win on ECAC wins.
Cornell - Tied, 2-2, would likely lead on ECAC wins.
Clarkson - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

RPI
Union - Won, 4-0.
Harvard - Won, 3-1.
Cornell - Ahead, 2-0.

Clarkson
RPI - Won, 3-1.
Cornell, Union - Tied, 2-2, would likely lead on ECAC wins.
SLU - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.
Harvard - Ahead, 2-0.

Cornell
Union - Tied, 1-1, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Union
No tiebreakers won.

Brown
Colgate, Union - Won, 3-1.

Colgate
Princeton - Won, 4-0.
Union - Ahead, 2-0.

Princeton
Brown - Ahead, 2-0.

Irrelevant
Quinnipiac
All but Yale

Yale
All but Quinnipiac, Harvard, Dartmouth, and St. Lawrence

Harvard. Dartmouth, and SLU
Union, Colgate, Princeton, Brown

RPI, Cornell, and Clarkson
Colgate, Princeton, Brown

Union
Princeton

Friday, February 19, 2016

Women's Reset (One Game Out)

Quinnipiac (15-2-4) will be the #1 seed. They will host one of RPI, St. Lawrence, Cornell, or Yale.

Clarkson (13-3-5) will be the #2 seed. They will host one of RPI, St. Lawrence, Cornell, or Yale.

Princeton (13-6-1) has clinched a playoff berth. They can clinch home ice with a win over Union. They will finish between 3rd and 5th.

Harvard (12-6-3) has clinched a playoff berth. They can clinch home ice with a win over Cornell. They will finish between 3rd and 5th.

Colgate (11-5-5) has clinched a playoff berth. They must earn at least one more point than Harvard to clinch home ice. They will finish between 3rd and 5th.

St. Lawrence (8-8-5) can clinch a playoff berth with a win or tie over Brown on Saturday. They are only eliminated with a loss, an RPI win/tie, a Cornell win, and a Yale win. They will finish between 6th and 9th.

RPI (8-8-5) can clinch a playoff berth with a win over Quinnipiac, or losses by Cornell or Yale. They will finish between 6th and 9th.

Cornell (8-9-4) can clinch a playoff berth with a win over Harvard. or a tie and a Yale loss/tie, or simply a Yale loss. They will finish between 6th and 9th.

Yale (9-10-2) must earn at least one point more than Cornell in order to earn a playoff berth, unless RPI and St. Lawrence both lose, in which case they would still need to earn at least a tie with Clarkson. They will finish between 6th and 9th.

Dartmouth (6-12-3) will finish 10th.

Brown (1-17-3) will finish 11th. They can finish in a tie with Union, but they would win the tiebreaker.

Union (0-18-3) will finish 12th.

Current ties in the standings are broken as follows:
4th: Harvard wins the first tiebreaker with Colgate (4-0).
6th: St. Lawrence wins the first tiebreaker with RPI (3-1).
8th: Cornell wins the first tiebreaker with Yale (4-0).

Princeton
Colgate - Won, 4-0.
Harvard - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Colgate
No tiebreakers won.

Harvard
Colgate - Won, 4-0.
Princeton - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

St. Lawrence
RPI - Won, 3-1.
Cornell - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

RPI
Cornell - Won, 4-0.

Yale
RPI - Won, 4-0.
SLU - Ahead, 2-0.

Cornell
Yale - Won, 4-0.
SLU - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Dartmouth
No ties to break.

Brown
Union - Won, 3-1.

Union
No tiebreakers won.

Multiple tiebreakers
COL-HRV-PRN: Princeton, Harvard, Colgate
COR-RPI-SLU: St. Lawrence, RPI, Cornell
COR-RPI-YAL: Yale, RPI, Cornell
COR-SLU-YAL: Cornell, St. Lawrence, Yale
RPI-SLU-YAL: Yale, St. Lawrence, RPI
COR-RPI-SLU-YAL: Cornell, St. Lawrence, Yale, RPI

Let's Shock The World (Again)

Quinnipiac is good at hockey right now, there's no denying that. Whether it's the men or the women, they're dominating the ECAC and that's a long way from where they were a decade ago when they joined our little club.

But we haven't lost to them this year. Not yet, anyway.

It's going to be hard to keep that intact this weekend. The women put up a brave stand against the Bobcats in January, fighting their way to a 0-0 draw in Troy. It won't be nearly as "easy" to do that on the road tomorrow - but hopefully, if everything shakes out well, the playoffs won't still be on the line. They can help themselves with that by getting at least some result against an almost as difficult Princeton team tonight. (As an aside, don't expect Quinnipiac to let off the gas pedal tomorrow. Barring a miracle, they will have nothing to play for in terms of ECAC positioning, but they're still trying to fight off Clarkson in the Pairwise.)

Nine seconds. Before last weekend, that's as close as anyone came in regulation to handing Quinnipiac their first loss in ECAC play (and they still haven't lost one in regulation). Can home ice make the difference tonight? If so, RPI's back in the fight for the top four. If not, it's a three-game fight to the finish to ensure the best placement possible that has to start with a win over a Princeton team that's starting to swirl the bowl.

The last two weekends of the season always end up with heightened importance. There's been a stumble for the men of late. Now's not the time to lose one's head.


Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Engineer Bracketology: Week 7

Well, the Engineers are certainly still hanging around. The win over Harvard boosted them up as one of the best RPI-inducing wins of the year for Rensselaer, they got some good results elsewhere, and they managed to weather the loss to Dartmouth too.

1. Quinnipiac*
2. St. Cloud State*
3. North Dakota
4. Boston College*
5. Providence
6. Michigan*
7. Notre Dame
8. Denver
9. Omaha
10. Yale
11. Boston University
12. Harvard
13. UMass-Lowell
14. Penn State
15. St. Lawrence
16. Minnesota
17. Rensselaer
19. Michigan Tech*
25. Robert Morris*
In since last week: Penn State
Out since last week: Cornell
Last in: UMass-Lowell, Penn State
First out: St. Lawrence, Minnesota
League breakdown: 5 HEA, 4 NCHC, 3 ECAC, 2 B1G, 1 WCHA, 1 AHA

For the record, we've got Boston College vs. Penn State and Providence vs. Harvard in Albany this week.

Moving on to the QWB cliff. Bear in mind that when it comes to quality wins, right now the top QWB-boosted team in the nation is Boston University, whose boost is .0076. The overall impact of this boost is diminished because every other team they are competing with in Pairwise has some kind of QWB boost (only 11 teams don't have a quality win or tie, and none are in the Top 30). For instance, when compared to Boston College (.0070 QWB), it's only a net benefit of .0006 extra in the RPI, which is almost nothing.

And to fully compare, a win for Rensselaer over Quinnipiac, before considering any other result, would boost their RPI by 0.043 - exactly the amount of their current QWB from five quality wins and two quality ties. So in the grand scheme of things, wins and losses are more important than QWB - but it's nice to have and is a component worth looking at. So here's the cliff.

16. Michigan Tech .529
17. St. Lawrence .529
18. Rensselaer .526
19. Dartmouth .525
20. Cornell .525
--
21. Clarkson .524
22. Miami .522
23. Robert Morris .521
24. Minnesota Duluth .521
25. Minnesota State  .520

Union remains in "it could happen" striking range at 29th in RPI, but it's looking less and less likely as time goes by. Even a weekend sweep this weekend (including Quinnipiac on Saturday) would probably not move them up more than a couple of spots. One thing that could help Union move up farther would be teams in front of them in RPI losing. Most of them are already on our "rooting against" list anyway, but we can probably add 26-28 RPI - Bowling Green, Northeastern, and Ferris State.

Quality wins
Boston College (#4, at home)
Yale (#10, at home)
Harvard (#12, on the road)
St. Lawrence (#17, on the road)
Cornell (#20, at home)

Quality ties (half a quality win)
Quinnipiac (#2, on the road)
Harvard (#12, at home)

Missed opportunities
Michigan (#6, at home)
Yale (#10, on the road)
Harvard (#12, neutral ice)
UMass-Lowell (#13, on the road)
Dartmouth (#19, at home and on the road)

Remaining opportunities
Quinnipiac (#2, at home) - Feb 19
Cornell (#20, on the road) - Feb 27

Yes, Quinnipiac is now #2 in RPI, though they remain in first in the Pairwise entirely on the strength of their two-game sweep of St. Cloud State in October. They're still a solid QWB haul, even at home. Needless to say, an upset win on Friday would be pretty outstanding.

Looking around, there actually aren't really too many comparisons to look at this week. BC is untouchable on COp right now, the Michigan comparison is now all but unwinnable thanks to Rensselaer's loss to Dartmouth on Saturday (although it was always a huge longshot anyway), and UML is still 100% RPI until the playoffs, as are Yale, St. Lawrence, and Harvard. And, as always, teams that are not on the Engineers' schedule are always 100% RPI.

Dartmouth (2 H2H losses) - With the Big Green having swept the Engineers this season in league play, that pretty much solidifies this as an RPI/COp requirement for Rensselaer to win this comparison. They have that now, but it's by razor-thin margins on both. This, essentially, makes Dartmouth Public Enemy #1 when it comes to the Engineers and their NCAA at-large hopes.

But there's a catch - and again, it's in Dartmouth's own comparisons with other teams. While Union's win over the Big Green on Friday helped drag down Dartmouth's PWR positioning by keeping Vermont in the driver's seat on their comparison with the Big Green, Dartmouth has a comparison that they themselves are currently winning against a team ahead of them in the Pairwise - Cornell. And that's a win that's actually helping the Engineers for the time being (and possibly into the future). And wouldn't you know, they play each other this coming Saturday in Hanover. More on that in a moment.

Total COp: 7.000-6.250 Rensselaer
Quinnipiac: 0.500-0.000 Rensselaer
Princeton: 1.000-0.500 Dartmouth
Colgate: 1.000-0.500 Dartmouth
Cornell: 1.000 each

Cornell (H2H win) - The win keeps this one a 3-0 comparison victory for the Engineers, but with Cornell so close in the PWR (18th, just below Rensselaer) and both RPI and COp being so close, it's probably worth rooting against Cornell where possible.

The rub, as discussed above, is in their game with Dartmouth, and the potential impact of that game on the Cornell-Dartmouth comparison. The Big Red lose this comparison right now on COp/H2H. A Cornell victory would cancel out the H2H and return this to a straight RPI comparison, thereby flipping it back. Bearing in mind that we also want Dartmouth to lose games (Public Enemy #1, remember?), that makes this one a toughie to call.

Looking at the COp breakdown below, a Cornell win would boost the Big Red's COp against the Engineers by 0.500, something the Engineers could only hope to match by sweeping Quinnipiac and Princeton for +0.250 each. And even then, Cornell can also gain 0.500 by beating Harvard on Friday.

Now looking above at Dartmouth's COp breakdown, we see that the Big Green are utterly unable to improve their COp standing against the Engineers on their own. A weekend sweep still leaves them at 6.250. They would depend on losses by Rensselaer to improve the comparison. Even the Engineers being swept still leaves Rensselaer leading in COp 6.500 to 6.250 (although RPI would probably flip it to the Big Green anyway).

It seems like there's a lot less danger in taking Dartmouth to beat Cornell, overall. Yes, Cornell would almost certainly drop out of the top 20 in RPI, but for future positioning it's a safer bet, especially if the Engineers pick up a win or a tie against Quinnipiac at home on Friday first. Otherwise, this game becomes a complete minefield that's pretty much impossible to avoid getting blown up.

Total COp: 5.000-4.750 Rensselaer
Quinnipiac: 0.500-0.250 Rensselaer
Princeton: 1.000-0.500 Cornell
Harvard: 0.500-0.000 Rensselaer
Dartmouth: 0.000 each

Clarkson (H2H loss) - Both teams last week gained the same amount in COp (0.250), so we're basically just where we were last weekend with the Golden Knights comparison. Again, the Engineers must keep winning in both RPI and COp to claim this one, and they are right now. Extra reason to root against Clarkson, besides PWR and ECAC positioning and the obvious (being Clarkson).

Total COp: 8.750-8.250 Rensselaer
Quinnipiac: 0.500-0.250 Rensselaer
Princeton: 0.500 each
Brown: 1.000-0.750 Clarkson
Yale: 0.500 each

Miami (H2H split) - Going to talk about the RedHawks here in part because they're making a late season run and becoming relevant in the Pairwise. For the purposes of straight up Pairwise, Miami might as well be treated like a team the Engineers didn't play this year, because the series was split and the two H2H results cancel each other out. But the win Rensselaer has over Miami is a road win, and so the potential QWB bonus is heightened a bit and could come into play - even while the RedHawks start to reach the point where they're a potential rival for NCAA positioning.

It's a difficult balance - but ultimately, a Rensselaer sweep and a Miami sweep would likely still move the RedHawks ahead of the Engineers in the PWR on RPI. So it's tough to flat out root for Miami this weekend against Western Michigan (who also happens to be a past opponent). A split might work well for both sides of the ledger, but a WMU sweep would be preferable to a Miami sweep, despite the potential for improving Rensselaer's QWB.

As we get into this weekend's cheering section, it's probably worth pointing out that there's not a lot of room for growth this week. With Minnesota not playing this week and UMass-Lowell only playing one game (that they're likely to win), there's not a lot of solid potential for damaging their RPI. The only comparisons that could reasonably be flipped this week (while not seeing others below flipped against) are St. Lawrence and Penn State. That would move the Engineers ahead of both and probably the Gophers as well, but any further would be difficult. Haven't seen a scenario where the Engineers move any higher than 14th after the coming weekend.

By the way, interesting little nugget - if we get exactly what we're looking for from the cheering section this week, Quinnipiac would fall all the way to 5th in the PWR. That'd be a shakeup (and unlikely).

Just to stress once again: nothing helps the Engineers more than winning their own games against all comers, from #1 PWR Quinnipiac to #55 Princeton this weekend. We're deep enough into the season that it's basically impossible to lose and still rise in the Pairwise. But where they end up in the PWR in relation to their own results is heavily influenced on what goes on elsewhere.

The key for the cheering section:
1. Wherever there is direct COp assistance
2. For the ECAC out-of-conference
3. For improved quality win bonuses (QWB)
4. Against teams ahead of or just behind Rensselaer in the RPI or PWR
5. For non-conference opponents

Engineers Cheering Section
Friday
Brown over Clarkson - 1/4
Harvard over Cornell - 1/3/4
Union over Princeton - 3
Yale over St. Lawrence - 3/4
Colgate over Dartmouth - 1/4
UMass over UMass-Lowell - 4

Weekend series
Colorado College over Denver - 4
Ohio State over Penn State - 4
Western Michigan over Miami - 4/5
Boston College over Vermont - 3/5
Michigan over Ferris State - 5
New Hampshire over Boston University - 5
North Dakota over Minnesota Duluth - 4
Bemidji State over Michigan Tech - 4
Air Force over Robert Morris - 4
Alaska-Anchorage over Lake Superior State - 5
Alaska over Bowling Green - 5
UConn over Northeastern - 3

Saturday
Brown over St. Lawrence - 4
Yale over Clarkson - 3/4
Harvard over Colgate - 3 (the reverse is probably just fine, preferable for the ECAC race)
Dartmouth over Cornell - 1/4
Union over Quinnipiac - 3

Important COp/H2H games for currently relevant comparisons
Saturday, February 20: Cornell at Dartmouth
Friday, February 26: UMass-Lowell at Boston College
Saturday, February 27: Boston College at UMass-Lowell

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Men's Hockey - at Harvard/Dartmouth (12/13 Feb)

In the home-stretch, RPI is proving to still be a team that's pretty much all over the place when it comes to results. In a game this past Friday that basically everyone expected them to lose - and one they probably should have lost if the shots on goal were any indication whatsoever - they pulled out a 2-1 upset over the Harvard Crimson that looked like a season resurrection. The next night, however, the Engineers slogged through a difficult outing against Dartmouth, holding the lead for well over half the game but once again giving up that lead in the third period on their way to a 2-1 loss.

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

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Grant
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

Drew Melanson remained out with an injury sustained in the St. Lawrence game, and the Engineers fielded roughly the same lineup they did against Clarkson on Freakout! night, the major exception being Jimmy DeVito's move to the second line, putting Kenny Gillespie on the grind line with Travis Fulton at center.

The first period played out as a microcosm of what the entire game would prove to be - faceoffs completely dominated by Harvard, as well as possession in the attacking zone and shots on goal. That's usually a pretty strong recipe for defeat, and it looked as though defeat was certainly in the cards when the Crimson notched the game's first goal after a relentless attack in the first nine minutes was paid off with Brayden Jaw's first of the year on a blast from the point to make it 1-0.

But Harvard's lead did not last long. Completely against the flow of play, the Engineers got that goal back just 2:19 later when a forechecking Mark Miller kept the puck on the Harvard half of the ice and shuttled it to Phil Hampton who took it deep into the Crimson end before whipping it on net. Merrick Madsen made the initial save, but the rebound went into the slot, where a crashing Jake Wood buried it for his eighth goal of the season to tie things up.

Harvard continued to pour it on throughout the remainder of the first period, but the Engineers managed to escape with the 1-1 goal in large part thanks to some quality goaltending by Jason Kasdorf, who made 18 saves on 19 shots in the opening 20 minutes.

The barrage continued into the second period, but the Engineers began looking very comfortable playing in their own end. The lopsided shot totals continued, but the Crimson did not appear in imminent danger of scoring besides their possession control. Meanwhile, the Engineers again got themselves a goal against the flow of play to take a most unexpected lead.

Jared Wilson blasted a shot from the point in nearly the same place as Jaw in the first period, and Madsen again made the initial save, which was directed toward Alex Rodriguez. The puck appeared to get stuck in Rodriguez's jersey, but while the players in front slowed their play in anticipation of the whistle, the puck came free to Kenny Gillespie, who instantly blasted it to the back of the net for a 2-1 RPI lead on Gillespie's fourth goal of the season.

From there, it was a white-knuckle ride to the end. Harvard superstar Jimmy Vesey, who hit three posts against the Engineers in Troy, ended with an eye-popping 13 shots on goal, but Kasdorf managed to steer every single one of them aside during the course of the game. By the time all was said and done, the home team put 50 shots on goal, and Kasdorf preserved the win by saving 49 of them in what could only be called controlled chaos in the RPI zone for the final 35 minutes of the game. While it appeared Harvard could score at any time, it didn't necessarily seem that they would thanks to a strong team defensive effort keyed by Kasdorf.

In a game that seemed by most metrics to be one that should have been dominated by Harvard, RPI managed to come away with a victory in a result that seemed at the time to be one that could well propel the Engineers back toward the top four.

Dartmouth
Bourbonnais-Schroeder-Nanne
Liljegren-Bubela-DeVito
Wood-Miller-Ohrvall
Gillespie-Fulton-Rodriguez

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Grant
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

Rolling with the same lineup as they used on Friday night, the Engineers took advantage of some very lax play by Dartmouth in the defensive end to establish the early lead, but that lead was ultimately not one they could extend to the end of the game.

Poor play by the Big Green combined with a sudden resurgence of success in the faceoff circle for the Engineers early on in Hanover, leading to a very dominating opening 10 minutes for RPI that included the game's first goal. Travis Fulton took the puck unmolested behind the Dartmouth net, stopping after coming around to the goaltender's left. Still unchallenged, he simply looked up and found Mike Prapavessis waiting on the other side of the crease. Fulton passed across, and Prapavessis one-timed it to the back of the net to make it 1-0 RPI.

The Engineers were unfortunate not to get more goals in the opening 10 to 15 minutes, not just because of the way the rest of the game played out, but because they probably earned a couple of more tallies. They dominated the attacking zone in ways reminiscent of Harvard the previous night, but whether it was narrow misses, passes that just didn't connect, or rebounds that were just barely steered away, RPI was unable to get anything more during their first period dominance.

The ice tilted back in Jason Kasdorf's direction in the second period, but the RPI defense held up well even as the offensive attack all but completely died out. The senior netminder made 9 saves against only 2 the other way for James Kruger as RPI took their 1-0 lead into the final period but obviously needing a bit of a turnaround in order to reach the final whistle with that lead.

Early on in the third, it became very clear that if that turnaround did not eventually happen, Dartmouth would find the tying goal at some point, a drastic difference from the RPI defense's stand in the third period on Friday. The Big Green continually knocked on the door in the opening minutes, even putting one in off a shot that Kasdorf dropped, but the Engineers were saved by an early whistle on the play.

Following that waved-off goal, RPI gained some golden chances to extend their lead on a succession of unforced errors by Dartmouth, but they could not take advantage after several icings by the Big Green.

A tripping call against Milos Bubela in the defensive zone with just under 10 minutes left in regulation finally left the door open wide enough for Dartmouth to get through. The Big Green's poor power play was powered by their momentum, and they used the extra man to finally put one through on a slapshot from the point by Ryan Bullock with plenty of time for Dartmouth to continue their charge and find the go-ahead.

RPI was, in all honesty, lucky to get themselves into overtime with an opportunity to steal out of Hanover with at least one point that they probably hadn't earned over the course of the final 45 minutes of regulation - but the luck ran out with just over a minute left in the extra period when Troy Crema scored on a put-back into an open net to give Dartmouth the 2-1 victory for RPI's first overtime loss of the season.

The Engineers have now lost four of their last five games down the stretch, a trend they need to reverse in a big hurry if they're going to have a positive end to their season. They have a difficult task on Friday against the #1 team in the nation in Quinnipiac, but the Bobcats are no longer unbeaten in ECAC play after falling on Friday to St. Lawrence, and the Engineers did come within seconds of achieving that feat themselves last month in Hamden. With a Princeton team that hasn't won a game since early December coming on Saturday as the final home game of the season, a home sweep may be the only way back into the top four discussion.

Current ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 30 pts (13-1-4)
2. Yale - 25 pts (11-4-3)
3. Harvard - 23 pts (10-5-3)
4. St. Lawrence - 22 pts (10-6-2)
5. Dartmouth - 20 pts (10-8-0)
6. RPI - 20 pts (7-5-6)
7. Clarkson - 19 pts (8-7-3)
8. Cornell - 18 pts (7-7-4)
9. Union - 13 pts (4-9-5)
10. Colgate - 10 pts (4-12-2)
11. Princeton - 8 pts (3-13-2)
12. Brown - 8 pts (2-12-4)

#18 RPI at #9 Harvard
ECAC Game - Bright-Landry Hockey Center (Boston, MA)
2/12/16 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, Harvard 1

RECORD: 15-10-6 (7-4-6 ECAC, 20 pts)

#18 RPI at Dartmouth
ECAC Game - Thompson Arena (Hanover, NH)
2/13/16 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Dartmouth 2, RPI 1 (OT)


RECORD: 15-11-6 (7-5-6 ECAC, 20 pts)

Upcoming games
19 Feb - #1 Quinnipiac
20 Feb - Princeton (Senior Night)
26 Feb - at Colgate
27 Feb - at #16 Cornell
04 Mar - ECAC First Round Game 1

Monday, February 15, 2016

Women's Hockey - Harvard & Dartmouth (12/13 Feb)

The Engineers did a great job in their final home series of the season, skating to a 1-1 tie with Harvard Friday night before beating Dartmouth 2-1 on Saturday.

Despite taking three points on the weekend, however, RPI was unable to lock down a playoff spot as both Cornell and Yale finished the weekend still within striking distance of the Engineers.

Harvard

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

Hansen/Godin
Behounek/Banks
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

RPI was outshot 43-26 by Harvard, but Lovisa Selander held the Crimson to a single goal while Shayna Tomlinson scored for the Engineers in a 1-1 tie on Friday.

Tomlinson's goal came 5:04 into the second period after both Alexa Gruschow and Laura Horwood had shots turned aside. Tomlinson found the loose puck in the crease and whacked it past Emerance Maschmeyer to give the Engineers the lead.

Grace Zarzecki drew the Crimson even about ten minutes later, capitalizing on a turnover in the RPI defensive zone to put a shot past Selander before the netminder could get set for the shot.

Selander and Maschmeyer locked things down after the tying goal, combining for a total of 67 saves - though 42 of those were by Selander in an outstanding effort.

The Engineers managed to kill two penalties in the third, including one which lasted well into overtime, and Selander turned away four Crimson shots in bonus time to earn a point for the 1-1 tie.

Dartmouth

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

Godin/Banks
Hansen/Behounek
Kimmerle/Renn

Till/Selander

After tying Harvard Friday night, the Engineers pulled clear of Dartmouth in the battle for a playoff spot by beating the Big Green 2-1 on Saturday afternoon. Brandi Banks and Taylor Schwalbe scored for the Engineers, and Selander made 28 saves after entering the game at the first whistle to replace Sara Till who started in net for Senior Day.

Dartmouth jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 5:48 of the opening period, a goal by Alyssa Baker that was initially waved off for being kicked in, but ruled a good goal after being reviewed.

Banks got the Engineers on the board with just 13 seconds left in the middle frame, holding on to the puck on a 3-on-1 and firing it past Robyn Chemago to knot things at one. The goal came after a close call a little earlier in the second where a Dartmouth 2-on-0 resulted in a shot wide of the RPI net.

Schwalbe scored the game-winner at 14:36 of the third, poking the puck away from Tess Bracken in the neutral zone to spring herself on a breakaway which she fired home to put RPI ahead 2-1.

Selander had to make a few big saves at Dartmouth pushed for the equalizer, including a dangerous flurry in the game's final seconds.

RPI's win over Dartmouth put them five points ahead of the Big Green - out of reach with just two games left. The Engineers sit tied with SLU for sixth, with Yale and Cornell trailing by one and two points respectively going into the season's final weekend.

Three points next weekend (a tall order on the road against Princeton and Quinnipiac) would lock down a playoff spot for the Engineers regardless of other results, however things are likely to be a little less cut and dry than that as Cornell has a decent shot against both Dartmouth and Harvard. A loss for the Big Red in either game would guarantee the Engineers a playoff spot.

-----

RPI vs. Harvard
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/12/16 - 7pm
RPI 1, Harvard 1 (OT)

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5206
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wharren1.f12

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2016/2/12/WICE_0212162449.aspx
Harvard: http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/wice/2015-16/releases/20160212wvszdf
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HEa77ChKmU
Complete Game Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G9zNaxaFo4

RECORD: 9-14-6 (7-8-4 ECAC)

-----

RPI vs. Dartmouth
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/13/16 - 4pm
RPI 2, Dartmouth 1

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5207
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wdarren1.f13

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2016/2/13/WICE_0213160447.aspx
Dartmouth: http://www.dartmouthsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210711571&DB_OEM_ID=11600
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A73ee6l4Tac
Complete Game Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHZ7ZQ-N7hg

RECORD: 10-14-6 (8-8-4 ECAC)

-----

ECAC Standings (all teams have 20GP)

1. Quinnipiac - 32 pts (14-2-4)
2. Clarkson - 29 pts (12-3-5)
3t. Colgate - 27 pts (11-4-5)
3t. Princeton - 27 pts (13-6-1)
5. Harvard - 25 pts (11-6-3)
6t. RPI - 20 pts (8-8-4)
6t. St. Lawrence - 20 pts (8-8-4)
8. Yale - 19 pts (9-10-1)
9. Cornell - 18 pts (7-9-4)
10. Dartmouth - 15 pts (6-11-3)
11. Brown - 5 pts (1-16-3)
12. Union - 3 pts (0-17-3)

-----

Upcoming Schedule

Feb. 19 - at Princeton (7pm)
Feb. 20 - at Quinnipiac (4pm)

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Men's Reset (Two Weeks Out)

Quinnipiac (13-1-4) has clinched a first round bye and will finish between 1st and 4th. They can lock up the #1 overall seed on Friday with a win and a Yale loss.

Yale (11-4-3) has clinched a home ice playoff series and will finish between 1st and 8th. They can clinch a first round bye on Friday with a win, a Dartmouth loss/tie and an RPI loss.

Harvard (10-5-3) and St. Lawrence (10-6-2) have clinched a home ice playoff series and will finish between 1st and 8th. They cannot clinch a first round bye on Friday.

Dartmouth (10-8-0) can clinch a home ice playoff series on Friday with a win, a tie and a Union loss/tie, or simply a Union loss. They will finish between 2nd and 9th.

RPI (7-5-6) can clinch a home ice playoff series on Friday with a win, a tie, or a Union loss. They will finish between 2nd and 9th.

Clarkson (8-7-3) can clinch a home ice playoff series on Friday with a win and a Union loss/tie, or a tie and a Union loss. They will finish between 2nd and 9th.

Cornell (7-7-4) can clinch a home ice playoff series on Friday with a win and a Union loss. They will finish between 2nd and 9th.

Union (4-9-5) will play in a first round playoff series. They would be guaranteed to be on the road in the first round after Friday's games with a loss, a Cornell win, and a Clarkson win/tie. They will finish between 6th and 12th.

Colgate (4-12-2), Princeton (3-13-2) and Brown (2-12-4) will be on the road in the first round. All will finish between 9th and 12th. Colgate could tie Cornell for 8th, but they would lose the tiebreaker.

Current ties in the standings are broken as follows:
5th: Dartmouth wins the first tiebreaker over RPI (4-0).
11th: Princeton wins the first tiebreaker over Brown (2-0).

Tiebreakers

Quinnipiac
Harvard - Won, 4-0.
Yale - Ahead, 2-0.

Yale
Dartmouth - Won, 4-0.
Cornell, Harvard - Won, 3-1.
SLU - Ahead, 2-0.
RPI - Tied, 2-2, would likely lead on ECAC wins.
Clarkson - Tied 1-1, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Harvard
Dartmouth - Won, 4-0.
Cornell, SLU - Ahead, 2-0.

St. Lawrence
Quinnipiac - Won, 3-1.
RPI - Tied, 2-2, leads on ECAC wins.
Cornell - Tied, 2-2, would likely lead on ECAC wins.
Clarkson - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Dartmouth
RPI - Won, 4-0.
Clarkson, Cornell, SLU - Ahead, 2-0.

RPI
Union - Won, 4-0.
Harvard - Won, 3-1.
Cornell - Ahead, 2-0.

Clarkson
RPI - Won, 3-1.
Union - Tied, 2-2, would likely lead on ECAC wins.
Cornell, SLU - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.
Harvard - Ahead, 2-0.
Yale - Tied, 1-1, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Cornell
Colgate - Won, 4-0.
Clarkson - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.
Union - Tied, 1-1, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Union
Dartmouth - Won, 4-0.

Colgate
Princeton - Won, 4-0.
Union - Ahead, 2-0.

Princeton
Brown - Ahead, 2-0.
Union - Tied, 1-1, would likely lead on ECAC wins.

Brown
Colgate, Union - Won, 3-1.

Irrelevant
Quinnipiac
All but Yale, Harvard, and St. Lawrence

Yale, Harvard, and SLU
Union, Colgate, Princeton, Brown

Dartmouth, RPI, and Clarkson
Colgate, Princeton, Brown

Cornell
Brown and Princeton

Women's Reset (One Week Out)

Quinnipiac (14-2-4) has clinched a home ice playoff series and will finish either 1st or 2nd. They can clinch the #1 seed with a win or tie against Union on Friday.

Clarkson (12-3-5) clinched home ice on Saturday by virtue of their tie with Quinnipiac. They can lock up at least the #2 seed with a win over Brown on Friday.

Princeton (13-6-1) has clinched a playoff berth. They can clinch home ice with a win against RPI, a tie and a Harvard tie, or simply a Harvard loss on Friday.

Colgate (11-4-5) has clinched a playoff berth. They can clinch home ice with a win or tie against Harvard on Friday.

Harvard (11-6-3) has clinched a playoff berth and can finish no lower than their current position, 5th. They cannot earn home ice until Saturday, but they would be eliminated from contention for home ice if they lose on Friday.

St. Lawrence (8-8-4) and RPI (8-8-4) could both clinch playoff berths on Friday with a win, a tie and a Cornell loss/tie, or simply a Cornell loss. They can finish no higher than 6th, the position for which they are currently tied.

Yale (9-10-1) can clinch a playoff berth on Friday with a win and a Cornell loss.

Cornell (7-9-4) cannot earn a playoff berth until Saturday, but they would be eliminated from the playoffs with a loss and a Yale win.

Dartmouth (6-11-3) has been eliminated from playoff contention. They could tie Yale for 8th, but would lose the tiebreaker with the Bulldogs and could not finish 8th in a three-way tie with Cornell and Yale.

Brown (1-16-3) and Union (0-17-3) will finish in 11th or 12th.

Current ties in the standings are broken as follows:
3rd: Princeton wins the first tiebreaker with Colgate (4-0).
6th: St. Lawrence wins the first tiebreaker with RPI (3-1).

Quinnipiac
Clarkson - Won, 3-1.

Clarkson
Princeton - Won, 4-0.
Harvard - Won, 3-1.
Colgate - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Princeton
Colgate - Won, 4-0.
Harvard - Tied, 2-2, would likely lead on ECAC wins.

Colgate
Clarkson - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Harvard
Colgate - Ahead, 2-0.

St. Lawrence
RPI - Won, 3-1.
Cornell - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

RPI
Cornell - Won, 4-0.

Yale
RPI - Won, 4-0.
Dartmouth - Won, 3-1.
SLU - Ahead, 2-0.

Cornell
Yale - Won, 4-0.
Dartmouth - Ahead, 2-0.
SLU - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Dartmouth
No tiebreakers won.

Brown
Union - Won, 3-1.

Union
No tiebreakers won.

Multiple tiebreakers
CLK-COL-PRN: Clarkson, Princeton, Colgate
CLK-HRV-PRN: Clarkson, Princeton/Harvard (likely in that order for 3rd/4th but not guaranteed)
CLK-COL-HRV: Clarkson, Harvard, Colgate (would require Harvard win over Colgate for relevance)
COL-HRV-PRN: Undetermined due to Colgate/Harvard game Friday. Could tie on 29, 28, or 27 points. Irrelevant with Colgate win over Harvard.
CLK-COL-HRV-PRN: Clarkson, Princeton/Harvard, Colgate
COR-RPI-SLU: St. Lawrence, RPI, Cornell
COR-RPI-YAL: Undetermined, would fully go to the 2nd tiebreaker. Very different results depending on tie at 22, 21, or 20 pts.
COR-SLU-YAL: Cornell, St. Lawrence, Yale if SLU/Yale tie - Cornell, Yale, St. Lawrence if Yale beats SLU - tiebreak irrelevant if SLU beats Yale)
RPI-SLU-YAL: Yale, St. Lawrence, RPI
COR-RPI-SLU-YAL: Cornell, St. Lawrence, Yale, RPI if SLU/Yale tie - Cornell, Yale, St. Lawrence, RPI if Yale beats SLU
COR-DRT-YAL: Cornell, Yale, Dartmouth

Irrelevant
Quinnipiac
All but Clarkson

Clarkson
All but Colgate, Princeton, and Harvard

Princeton, Colgate, and Harvard
All but Clarkson and each other

SLU, Yale, RPI, and Cornell
Dartmouth, Brown, and Union

Dartmouth
Brown and Union

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Men's Reset (Five Games Out)

Quinnipiac (12-1-4) has clinched a home ice playoff series. They can clinch a first-round bye on Saturday with a win and losses/ties by RPI and St. Lawrence, OR a tie and losses by RPI/SLU and a Clarkson loss/tie.

Yale (10-4-3) can clinch a home ice playoff series with a win, tie, or Union loss on Saturday.

Harvard (9-5-3) can clinch a home ice playoff series with a win over Union on Saturday.

St. Lawrence (9-6-2) and RPI (7-4-6) can both clinch a home ice playoff series with a win and a Union loss/tie, OR a tie and a Union loss on Saturday.

Clarkson, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Union cannot clinch or be eliminated from anything on Saturday. The Dutchmen are guaranteed to be sitting in 9th place at the start of next weekend - five points behind 8th, three ahead of 10th.

Colgate (4-12-2) will be playing in a first round matchup. Idle tonight, the Raiders would be guaranteed to be on the road in the first round if Dartmouth beats or ties RPI on Saturday.

Princeton (3-12-2) and Brown (2-12-4) will be on the road in the first round.

Current ties in the standings are broken as follows:
4th: St. Lawrence wins the second tiebreaker over RPI (9-7).
7th: Dartmouth wins the first tiebreaker over Cornell (2-0).
11th: Princeton wins the first tiebreaker over Brown (2-0).

Tiebreakers

Quinnipiac
Dartmouth, Harvard - Won, 4-0.
Cornell - Won, 3-1.
Yale - Ahead, 2-0.
RPI - Tied, 1-1, would likely lead on ECAC wins.
Clarkson - Tied 1-1, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Yale
Dartmouth - Won, 4-0.
Harvard - Won, 3-1.
SLU - Ahead, 2-0.
RPI, Union - Tied, 2-2, would likely lead on ECAC wins.
Clarkson, Cornell - Tied 1-1, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Harvard
Dartmouth - Won, 4-0.
Cornell, SLU - Ahead, 2-0.
Union - Tied, 1-1, would likely lead on ECAC wins.

St. Lawrence
Quinnipiac, Union - Won, 3-1.
RPI - Tied, 2-2, leads on ECAC wins.
Cornell - Tied, 2-2, would likely lead on ECAC wins.
Clarkson - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

RPI
Union - Won, 4-0.
Harvard - Won, 3-1.
Cornell - Ahead, 2-0.

Clarkson
RPI - Won, 3-1.
Union - Tied, 2-2, would likely lead on ECAC wins.
Cornell, SLU - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.
Harvard - Ahead, 2-0.
Quinnipiac, Yale - Tied, 1-1, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Dartmouth
Princeton - Won, 4-0.
Clarkson, Colgate, Cornell, RPI, SLU - Ahead, 2-0.

Cornell
Colgate, Princeton - Won, 4-0.
Clarkson - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.
Union, Yale - Tied, 1-1, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Union
Dartmouth - Won, 4-0.

Colgate
Princeton - Won, 4-0.
Union - Ahead, 2-0.

Princeton
Brown - Ahead, 2-0.
Union - Tied, 1-1, would likely lead on ECAC wins.

Brown
Colgate, Union - Won, 3-1.

Irrelevant
Quinnipiac
Union, Colgate, Princeton, and Brown

Yale, Harvard, RPI, SLU, and Clarkson
Colgate, Princeton, Brown

Cornell and Dartmouth
Brown

Women's Reset (Three Games Out)

Quinnipiac (14-2-3) has clinched a home ice playoff series. They can clinch the #1 seed with a win over Clarkson on Saturday.

Clarkson (12-3-4) can clinch home ice with a win or tie against Quinnipiac on Saturday, or a Harvard loss/tie.

Princeton (12-6-1) and Colgate (10-4-5) have clinched playoff berths, but cannot clinch home ice on Saturday.

Harvard (10-6-3) clinched a playoff berth on Friday but cannot clinch home ice on Saturday.

St. Lawrence (8-7-4) can clinch a playoff berth on Saturday with a win OR a tie and a Cornell loss.

Yale (9-9-1) can clinch a playoff berth on Saturday with a win against Cornell.

RPI (7-8-4) can clinch a playoff berth on Saturday with a win and a Cornell loss.

Cornell (6-9-4) and Dartmouth (6-10-3) are still alive for a playoff berth. Neither can clinch on Saturday but either could be eliminated. The Big Green specifically would be eliminated if they lose to RPI.

Brown (1-15-3) and Union (0-16-3) will finish in 11th or 12th.

Current ties in the standings are broken as follows:
3rd: Princeton wins the first tiebreaker over Colgate (4-0).

Quinnipiac
Princeton - Won, 3-1.
Clarkson - Ahead, 2-0.

Clarkson
Princeton - Won, 4-0.
Harvard - Won, 3-1.
Colgate - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Princeton
Colgate, Yale - Won, 4-0.
Harvard - Tied, 2-2, would likely lead on ECAC wins.

Colgate
Yale - Won, 4-0.
Quinnipiac, SLU - Won, 3-1.
Clarkson - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Harvard
Yale - Won, 4-0.
RPI - Won, 3-1.
Colgate - Ahead, 2-0.
SLU - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

St. Lawrence
Dartmouth, RPI - Won, 3-1.
Princeton - Ahead, 2-0.
Cornell, Harvard - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Yale
RPI - Won, 4-0.
Dartmouth - Won, 3-1.
SLU - Ahead, 2-0.

RPI
Cornell - Won, 4-0.

Cornell
Dartmouth, Yale - Ahead, 2-0.
SLU - Tied, 2-2, unknown ECAC wins difference.

Dartmouth
RPI - Ahead, 2-0.

Brown
Union - Won, 3-1.

Union
No tiebreakers won.

Irrelevant
Quinnipiac
All but Clarkson, Princeton, and Colgate

Clarkson
SLU, Yale, RPI, Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, and Union

Princeton and Colgate
RPI, Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, and Union

Harvard
Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, and Union

SLU, Yale, RPI, Cornell, and Dartmouth
Brown and Union

Friday, February 12, 2016

Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat

You have to play to your strengths, and you have to mitigate your weaknesses. For the men, that's standing strong on defense and getting enough offense to get by. They have done neither for the last two weeks and it's threatening to derail what had been an outstanding application this season.

Now mired in the mess that always is the middle of the ECAC in February, they're tied for 4th but sitting in 6th, a point away from 8th while sitting three points behind the tie for 2nd. At this point, 4th might be the best case scenario, especially considering the caliber of teams remaining. But that fight has got to begin this weekend on the road at a Harvard team licking its Beanpot wounds and a Dartmouth team that's looks erratic but actually has a pretty stark ECAC reality - they're 0-6-0 against the three teams ahead of them in the league standings (Quinnipiac, Yale, and Harvard) and 9-1-0 against everyone else (who loses to Union? Honestly?). They've been winning the games they're supposed to win. Considering they've already beaten RPI, and on the road, Saturday's game counts there too.

Opportunity knocks for the women tonight. Three points ahead of Cornell and firmly holding the tiebreaker with the Big Red, they are essentially four points up and they've got a big matchup tonight at home against Harvard. I know what you're thinking - Harvard's a national power. Well, this year... look, it's not so cut and dried. They only beat the Engineers 2-1 at home back in November, and more to the point - they TIED BROWN. At home. Last weekend. That's not a team that's firing on all cylinders, and the Engineers get them at home tonight. With every point precious, now's the time to strike. Dartmouth awaits on Saturday and their season has been in a complete spiral for two and a half months. Their win over Brown last Saturday was their first W in that entire time span.

More Megadeth? Sure, why not. Two in three weeks, but that was old Megadeth, and this is new Megadeth. And I've tied it in nicely this week, too.