Men's Hockey - at Bentley/New Hampshire (20/24 Nov)

Another weekend, another couple of wins for an RPI team that is certainly on more than a little bit of a roll - although neither win came easy. On the road against Bentley and at home against New Hampshire on Friday and Tuesday nights respectively, the Engineers jumped out to 3-0 leads twice but ultimately needed to rally in the third period twice as well on their way to 3-2 and 4-3 victories that extended their unbeaten streak to eight in a row - their longest unbeaten streak since the 1998-99 season.

Bentley
Liljegren-Bourbonnais-Wood
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Fulton-Schroeder-Gillespie
Ohrvall, Rodriguez

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton
Grant

Hackett

Alex Rodriguez made his collegiate debut on Friday at one of the smallest rinks in all of college hockey, replacing Lonnie Clary in the lineup. As with the previous weekend, Jason Kasdorf was available as a potential injury backup for Cam Hackett, but he ultimately did not play in either game the Engineers had over the five day period.

RPI's increasingly vaunted "M-N-M" line of Mark Miller, Lou Nanne, and Drew Melanson provided the spark and energy for the Engineers' offense throughout their first visit to Bentley, but specifically powered things during the first period, picking up two big goals to give the visitors the early edge. Nanne scored his third goal of the season with a helper from Melanson at 8:41 to put RPI ahead 1-0, and Miller added to that lead with a tally from Melanson at 17:44 of the period, his fourth goal of the year.

Meanwhile, the RPI penalty kill kept the Falcons held down during the opening 20 minutes, successfully killing off a pair of penalties to preserve the 2-0 lead. Then, midway through the second, Mike Prapavessis struck with his first goal of the season, putting back a rebound off a shot by Zach Schroeder, giving the Engineers a crucial 3-0 edge.

That's roughly the time when the tide began to shift in Bentley's favor. The home side, led by a line of Andrew Gladiuk, Max French, and Kyle Schmidt, pushed back fiercely. Hackett held up for much of the middle period, making a game-high 13 saves, but did let one by during a 4-on-4 counter-attack from the Falcons as Jake Ahlgren's goal got Bentley on the board.

Bentley's top line converted for a tally at 6:44 of the third period to really tighten the game up, but that was as close as the Falcons would get. Another 11 saves by Hackett in the third contributed to a 31-for-33 night for the freshman netminder, and RPI's defense dug deep late to come away with the victory against a very tenacious Bentley squad.

Riley Bourbonnais had a six-game point scoring streak snapped by missing the scoresheet against the Falcons, but he remained in the team lead for goals and points.

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

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton

Hackette

Milos Bubela returned to the lineup for the first time in nearly a month since suffering an injury against Union, allowing RPI to field the usual 12x6 lineup that most teams roll with. Functionally, he replaced Tommy Grant in the lineup, and three of the four forward lines were juggled a bit to accommodate for his return.

Prapavessis got the Engineers off to a quick start with his second goal of the year, second in as many games, and second RPI goal in a row by getting a shot from the point through everyone at 2:54 of the first period, just after intercepting a weak clearance attempt by UNH. The unassisted goal made it 1-0 RPI for the sixth time in the last eight contests.

Early in the second period, Melanson scored his second goal of the year by slamming home a rebound off a shots by both of his linemates, beating UNH netminder Danny Tirone into an open net for the 2-0 edge at 5:49 of the second. Just over three minutes later, shortly after killing off a dangerous UNH power play, Bourbonnais got himself back onto the scoresheet. With the Wildcats playing relatively lax defense and Bourbonnais himself fresh out of the penalty box, he slipped behind the UNH D and took a feed from Jake Wood, pounding it home for his team-leading 7th goal of the season and putting the Engineers ahead 3-0 for the second time in as many contests.

But that edge did not last long - much of it evaporated minutes later due to a poor hit by senior Milos Bubela, who was called for elbowing in the defensive zone. On the delayed call, UNH's Andrew Poturalski went to work. tipping home a shot from the point to put the Wildcats on the board before going back on the power play. Poturalski scored again on the ensuing man advantage less than a minute later, and just like that, the 3-0 lead was only 3-2.

Poturalski completed the natural hat trick just 1:04 into the third period, tying things up with his nation-leading 11th goal of the season, almost single-handedly knotting things back up with three goals in less than 10 minutes of game time. But as we've seen with RPI this season, losing a lead in the third period was not a time for giving up, and the Engineers fought valiantly in the final period, eventually cashing in with just 4:01 remaining in regulation. A good forecheck by Alex Rodriguez, playing in just his second collegiate game, provided a measure for Parker Reno to move up and keep the puck in the attacking zone. A quick feed to Travis Fulton produced a shot that Rodriguez deftly deflected past Tirone to give RPI a 4-3 lead.

From there, UNH looked for opportunities to give themselves that crucial 6-on-5 edge, but the Engineers displayed calm, level-headed defense by maintaining puck possession to an extent that the Wildcats were really never able to pull Tirone from the net, and the game ended with the puck down in the UNH end, where it had been for much of the final two minutes of the game, and the Engineers prevailed, skating off without being on the losing side for the eighth consecutive contest.

The emergence of Rodriguez on the fourth-line tempers slightly the loss of Evan Tironese, who on Monday underwent shoulder surgery and will be lost for the rest of the season. The freshman appeared in only six games this year, and as we have yet to reach the midway point of the season, he should be eligible for a medical redshirt, which will make him a redshirt freshman next year, a silver lining to some bad news for the Engineers.

The eight-game unbeaten streak is now the longest of the Appert era, and the longest overall since a nine-game winning streak in the 1998-99 season. They will look to extend that streak this coming weekend as they travel to Notre Dame for the annual Shillelagh Tournament. On Friday, they take on Ben Barr and the Western Michigan Broncos, a team that has struggled at times to keep the puck out of the net. On Saturday, they face off with a nationally-ranked team no matter who it ends up being, as #18 Notre Dame or #8 Harvard will be the opponent.

In ECAC play while RPI was in non-conference action, much of the league played the games in hand they had over the Engineers (except for Clarkson and St. Lawrence, which still have one game in hand), and RPI remains in first place, albeit now tied with Quinnipiac, who drew with the Golden Knights and Saints for their first blemishes on their record (though still undefeated). RPI returns to ECAC play in two weeks' time against Dartmouth and Harvard at home, closing out the 2015 portion of their league schedule.

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 - 4 pts (1-3-2)
8. Dartmouth - 4 pts (2-4-0)
9. Colgate - 3 pts (1-4-1)
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 (.333)
8. Dartmouth (.333)
9. Colgate (.250)
10. Clarkson (.200)
11. Union (.167)
12. Princeton (.167)

RPI at Bentley

Non-conference Game - John A. Ryan Skating Arena (Watertown, MA)
11/20/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Bentley 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 6-4-2 (4-0-2 ECAC, 10 pts)

New Hampshire at RPI
Non-conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/24/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 4, New Hampshire 3

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record

Albany Times Union

VIDEO
Highlights
Full game
Post-game interviews

RECORD: 7-4-2 (4-0-2 ECAC, 10 pts)

Upcoming games
27 Nov - vs. Western Michigan (South Bend, IN)
28 Nov - at #18 Notre Dame/vs. #8 Harvard (South Bend, IN)
04 Dec - Dartmouth
05 Dec - #8 Harvard
11 Dec - Arizona State

An Odd Weekend

Yes, it's an odd weekend of hockey. Non-conference stuff in the middle of November tends to be that way.

Tonight, it's a one-night stand for the men in the Boston suburbs as they get ready for a payback game with Bentley. Let's be honest. Bentley didn't just beat the Engineers twice in Troy last year. They embarrassed them - although some of that was on RPI for embarrassing themselves in their own building. What better time to head down to give the Falcons a home game than to show off how much has changed in the last year-plus since these teams last met? RPI rides a six-game unbeaten streak heading into this weekend, and as mentioned last week, this is a game that a team that fancies itself a contender in the ECAC needs to win. Bentley's certainly not a pushover, though, so bear that in mind.

On Sunday afternoon, the women head north of the border for the first time to clash with the McGill Martinets. It's an exhibition till, so the results are ultimately irrelevant, but hopefully it's a great experience for the Engineers, an opportunity to try out new ideas and new line combinations in a competitive game before they head back into a four-game homestand, including the last chunk of their ECAC schedule for 2015.

Finally, on Tuesday, it's New Hampshire for the men. Tuesday games are old hat for the Wildcats (they usually play a few of them in Hockey East play), but they're more infrequent for RPI. UNH isn't off to a great start and they're having a hard time keeping the puck out of the net. At home, the Engineers might even be the favorites. So there it is. Another pair of games ripe for the picking for an RPI team that is starting to get a little healthier, too. Can they extend the unbeaten streak to seven and eight?

Know Your Enemy: Bentley

There were a number of significant low points for RPI last season. We detailed them heading into the playoffs. There was the Mayor's Cup fiasco. There was a major power outage on offense during the trip out west. And on the cusp of the Route 7 series, there was an embarrassingly poor performance against Bentley. For the first time, RPI was swept at home in a two-game series by a team from Atlantic Hockey. But as poorly as the Engineers played that weekend, it's hard not to point out that the Falcons played very well. This year, they earn their first ever visit from the Engineers.

Bentley
Nickname: Falcons
Location: Waltham, MA
Founded: 1917
Conference: Atlantic Hockey
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: None
Coach: Ryan Soderquist (14th season)
2014-15 Record: 17-15-5 (14-9-5 AHA, 3rd place)
Series: Tied, 3-3-0
First Game: October 9, 2007 (Troy, NY)
Last RPI win: October 16, 2010 (Troy, NY)
Last Bentley win: October 25, 2014 (Troy, NY)

2015-16 game: November 20, 2015 (Waltham, MA)

Key players: F Derek Bacon, sr.; D Matt Blomquist, sr.; D Billy Eiserman, sr.; F Andrew Gladiuk, sr.; F Michael Reardon, sr.; D Charlie Donners, jr.; F Max French, jr.; G Jayson Argue, so.; D Chris Buchanan, so.; F Andrew McDonald, so.; F Kyle Schmidt, so.; F Drew Callin, fr.; F Jonathan Desbiens, fr.; F Josh Lammon, fr.; D Alexey Solovyev, fr.

Previous KYE installments:

• 2010-11
• 2014-15

The October Engineers last year were a rough bunch. They simply couldn't put the puck in the net against anyone. Bentley took advantage, playing with confidence and poise, coming into the Houston Field House and sweeping a pair of games for two of their three non-conference wins. That may seem kind of rough, but for an Atlantic Hockey team, three wins outside the conference is actually a pretty decent showing. Most teams from AHA are fortunate to get one some years.

The Falcons had a pretty good run in Atlantic Hockey last year. They didn't lose back-to-back games in conference all year until the last two games of the regular season. Those were big losses that kept them from finishing second in the league, forcing them to settle for a tie for 3rd and the #4 seed. That loss of position cost Bentley, as they were drawn into an all out war with Mercyhurst in the quarterfinals in which the Lakers came out victorious in three games.

Bentley returns both of its top two scorers from last season, Gladiuk and French, and they have a seasoned defensive corps in front of their newly established #1 goaltender in Argue (who played neither of the games against RPI last season in what's kind of another blow to the Engineer ego). In his freshman year, Argue put up some decent numbers at .934 and 2.00. This looks like a team that could possibly contend for the Atlantic Hockey title this coming season.

One decided advantage that RPI should have coming into this game is the fact that they'll be coming off a game against a much tougher opponent in Michigan the previous weekend. But then again, the fact that RPI was coming home to play Bentley after two really tough opening weekends in Indiana and Colorado this past season was supposed to be a solid advantage, too. That didn't exactly pan out.

This is, however, the only game of the weekend for the Engineers, and it should probably be an out-and-back affair. Bentley plays in one of the smallest rinks in all of Division I, and pretty much never sell it out outside of the season opener - the Falcons haven't released their schedule yet, but this probably isn't going to be the opener. Therefore, with some concerted effort, RPI alums from the Boston area and anyone willing to hit up Boston on a Friday night could conceivably turn this into a home-away-from-home game for the Engineers. The average non-opening-night crowd at Bentley is around 300. Can we double that? Let's do it.

Anyway, despite what happened last year, being on the road, and despite Bentley seeming to be an even better team in the coming season, this still reads like a game the Engineers should be favored to win. This time, they certainly know that there's not going to be any gimmes when it comes to the Falcons.

Men's Hockey - Bentley (24/25 Oct)

RPI opened their home schedule with what most observers thought would be an opportunity for a battle-tested team to finally break out with some scoring against a not-so-strong defense on familiar ice, facing Bentley in a two-game set. What observers got instead was a complete disaster from the Engineers' perspective - a continued inability to put the puck in the net, coupled with a breakdown of what had previously been considered something of a strong point in the team's defensive capabilities. A weekend that was expected to be a preparation for bigger and better things instead has thrown the entire season into question as Bentley rolled to a 5-2 and 4-0 sweep of an exceptionally lethargic RPI squad.

Friday
Neal-Liljegren-DeVito
Laliberte-Bubela-Schroeder
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
McGowan-Wood-Bourbonnais

Leonard-Prapavessis
Curadi-Wilson
Bradley-Bokenfohr

Kasdorf

A shakeup of lines, plus the return of Milos Bubela, punctuated the Engineers' Friday night lineup as RPI sought to shake what had been a terrible outing on the previous Saturday against Denver.

The necessary offensive spark was clearly missing from the opening puck drop. Although Bentley, as they would do all weekend, committed to blocking shots, they didn't have many to block throughout the first period, and the Engineers managed to get only four shots on net in the entire first 20 minutes.

It was Bentley striking first seven-and-a-half minutes into the second period as Kyle Schmidt beat Jason Kasdorf to give the Falcons the 1-0 lead. It was part of a middle frame in which the Engineers continued to look uninterested in pursuing offense, and in which RPI was again outshot by the visitors. Fortunately, the second would not end without the Engineers finally putting one in the net, as freshman Lou Nanne scored his first collegiate goal on a nice pass from a fellow freshman speedster in Drew Melanson, making the score 1-1 with less than two minutes to play in the second period.

Truly, the defensive collapse for RPI began late in the second period. Although the Falcons put only six shots on net in the game's final 25 minutes, four of those six shots would end up putting points on the board for Bentley. The Falcons regained the lead nine minutes into the third with a goal by Alex Grieve, and then took a two-goal edge on the power play four minutes later with Curtis Leonard off on a slashing call.

RPI didn't show any quit - or at least, the Miller line showed no quit off the ensuing faceoff. Miller earned the primary assist on Nanne's second goal of the game just 13 seconds after Bentley's power play goal, cutting Bentley's lead back down to one.

From there, the RPI offense began to come alive once again, but try as they might, they simply could not find the equalizer. Bentley netminder Gabe Antoni ultimately stopped nine of 10 shots from the Engineers in the third period to preserve the victory, eventually iced by a pair of empty net goals from Max French and Kyle Schmidt to make the final scoreline appear worse than RPI's chances late, though Bentley's overall performance, especially in the first two periods, made the scoreline seem apt.

Saturday
Neal-Liljegren-McGowan
Laliberte-Bubela-Schroeder
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Fulton-Hampton-Bourbonnais

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bradley-Bell
Curadi-Reno

Diebold

The embarrassing defeat on Friday, led to another jumble of lines, with only two lines staying intact, including the Mark Miller line, which had created both of the previous night's goals through Nanne. Scott Diebold, in all likelihood, was destined to start this game regardless of the previous night's result.

Unfortunately, while Friday had been an embarrassment, it paled in comparison to what was in store on Saturday. RPI came out of the gate with a little more intensity than they had on Friday, but it didn't matter much and it quickly trailed off. In the meantime, late in the period, Bentley scored a pair of quick goals off of colossal defensive breakdowns - one on the power play and one shorthanded - to nab a 2-0 lead heading into the second period.

It did not take long to establish during the middle frame that Bentley's two-goal lead was looking fairly iron-clad. The Falcons continued to block shots, which were few and far between for the Engineers anyway. Bentley again struck twice late in the period, and again scored on massive defensive blunders, making it 4-0 by the end of the period, a hole far too deep for a team that had only scored six goals all season to climb out.

As with Friday, the Engineers showed some pep in the third period, but by then Bentley had a good defensive rhythm going and easily stymied pretty much everything RPI had to throw at them, which still wasn't a whole lot. Bentley's second-string netminder, senior Blake Dougherty, needed only 19 saves to earn his first collegiate win and shutout.

The Engineers have now lost five consecutive games, and have scored a grand total of three goals in those five games (0.60 GPG) while allowing 20 (4.00 GAA) the other way. They are 1-for-23 (4.3%) on the power play (with a short-handed goal given up) and 15-for-23 (65.2%) on the penalty kill during this losing streak.

Making matters infinitely worse, not only does the ECAC schedule begin next weekend, the annual home-and-home against Union is what kicks off that schedule. The Dutchmen just ended a 17-game winning streak on Saturday night with a one-goal loss to now #7 St. Cloud State while their backup goaltender played. They're slightly better than Bentley.


Bentley at RPI
Non-conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/24/14 - 9:30pm

RESULT: Bentley 5, RPI 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record

RECORD: 1-4-0

Bentley at RPI
Non-conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/25/14 - 9:00pm

RESULT: Bentley 4, RPI 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record

RECORD: 1-5-0

Upcoming games
31 Oct - #2 Union
1 Nov - at #2 Union
7 Nov - Harvard
8 Nov - Dartmouth
14 Nov - Princeton

Dust or Gold

Yeah, we didn't have anything this week, unfortunately. Gotta struggle for the legal tender sometimes.

But here's the gist of what would have been said anyway - wait a few weeks before you panic on the Engineers.

Minnesota and Denver are two of the best defenses in the country. It's too early to use stats to back this up, because 50% of Minnesota and 100% of Denver stats come from games against RPI, but coming into the season, that was part of the expectation on both teams. They'd do a pretty good job of keeping the puck out of the net.

Add a team that knew coming in that it had to find ways to score goals, and it's a recipe for the way the last three games played out - although to be very fair, the Engineers were awful on Saturday in Denver.

That said, the defense looks very good. Observers of the Minnesota game and the first Denver game saw a lot to like in Jason Kasdorf's play. But the goals have to come. Hopefully, that starts tonight against the first team in the RPI schedule that they should be favored to beat.

The rationale is that when you play difficult teams, it makes other teams feel a little easier by comparison. For years and years, though, we've become used to seeing RPI teams play at the level of their opponent no matter what, rarely a metric for success, especially against weaker teams.

If the RPI offense treats Bentley's defense as though it were Denver's, they'll find their opportunities to score, That can be nothing but helpful moving forward. If they don't... settle in, this one could be a long one.

Speaking of long ones, the RPI women had a lead last week for all of three-and-a-half minutes. It's a start, but it's still 15 games in a row without a win. Two more chances to snap that schneid starting tomorrow at home against UConn in the first full home weekend.

Get yourself to the Field House all weekend long, hockey has come home.

Know Your Enemy: Bentley

With a non-conference schedule as difficult as the one the Engineers have put together for the upcoming season, it's usually important to have at least a few games that are comparatively breathers for the team to get some confidence going forward. In this year's schedule, Bentley probably falls into that category better than any other - they're the only Atlantic Hockey team on the docket for the entire year, after all. But even Bentley presents RPI with at least a decent challenge, as the Falcons produced nationally relevant numbers on offense last season and established themselves as one of the AHA's top teams.

Bentley
Nickname: Falcons
Location: Waltham, MA
Founded: 1917
Conference: Atlantic Hockey
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: None
Coach: Ryan Soderquist (13th season)
2013-14 Record: 19-14-4 (16-7-4 AHA, 2nd place)
Series: RPI leads, 3-1-0
First Game: October 9, 2007 (Troy, NY)
Last RPI win: October 16, 2010 (Troy, NY)
Last Bentley win: October 18, 2008 (Troy, NY)

2014-15 games: October 24-25, 2014 (Troy, NY)

Key players: F Alex Grieve, sr.; F Alex Kubiak, sr.; D Matt Maher, sr.; F Brett Switzer, sr.; D Steve Weinstein, sr.; F Derek Bacon, jr.; D Matt Blomquist, jr.; F Andrew Gladiuk, jr.; D Mike Berry, so.; F Tyler Deresky, so.; D Charlie Donners, so.; F Max French, so.; G Jayson Argue, fr.; F Vincent Russo, fr.; F Matt Sieckhaus, fr.

Previous KYE installment:

• 2010-11

A 3-0 victory for RPI in Troy was the last time these teams faced each other, and both sides are now feature 100% different personnel from that encounter, but it's fair to say that the Engineers, especially at home, should be favored against the Falcons.

Since the last KYE, Bentley has endured three middling seasons before breaking out last year with one of the best years the program has ever seen. They finished second in Atlantic Hockey on the back of a superior offensive attack, but had their potential run through the league tournament to what would have been their first NCAA appearance squelched by the defending league champions, Canisius. The Falcons fell in a three-game series that saw Bentley taking Game 1 in overtime, followed by a 2 OT loss in Game 2 and a blown lead in Game 3.

Sure, Bentley plays some of the weakest teams in the nation during their Atlantic Hockey schedule, and yes, the 2nd place AHA team had a record of just 3-7-0 in non-conference games last season, which somewhat diminishes the luster behind the 3.43 goals per game that the Falcons scored. Nonetheless, a team that knows how to score is a team that knows how to score, and Bentley returns much of the core of that offense in the coming season.

The top five spots in goals per game in the nation last year were held by juniors, and with the early departures of BC's Johnny Gaudreau, RPI's Ryan Haggerty, and Nebraska-Omaha's Josh Archibald, Grieve returns for his senior season with the second-highest goal scoring rate from last season, and Gladiuk is tied for third. Weinstein, meanwhile, led the entire nation among defensemen in points per game, the only blueliner in the country last season who managed more than a point per contest, keyed by 37 assists in as many outings.

Bentley's defense was fair last season, allowing 2.68 goals per game, but that is an area that will see distinct changes coming into 2014. The Falcons' goaltender last year was a senior, and the amount of time his two backups saw last year combines for just over 60 minutes. Those two backups, now a senior and junior, have played a combined 9 games in their career for under 350 total minutes. Whether one of them, or incoming BCHL freshman Argue gets the lion's share of the playing time, Bentley is very raw between the pipes. Two graduating defensemen who played regularly doesn't help that much.

Teams always need to be wary on defense when playing against a team that has shown they are able to put the puck in the net, but Bentley's testable defense provides an opportunity for the Engineers to gain a bit of confidence heading into the ECAC schedule when they meet the Falcons. Even if Bentley is able to repeat their accomplishments from last season, this is still a team that RPI compares better against.

Upcoming Podcast: Chris Lerch

Well, less than a week after saying we were going to settle into having podcasts every week on Wednesdays at 8pm... yeah, about that...

Wednesday at 8 will be the usual time for our broadcasts, but occasionally, things will come up in life (and sometimes, with our guests) that will require a little flexibility. So this week, we'll be broadcasting at 8pm on Thursday, October 21st instead.

Our guest this week is long-time RIT radio man Chris Lerch. For 15 years, Lerch has been broadcasting Tigers hockey on WITR-FM (89.7, Henrietta) and is an RIT alum himself, so he knows his stuff when it comes to talking about the Tigers. With RIT riding a wave of excitement following their Frozen Four appearance and a big night in front of a huge crowd at Blue Cross Arena last weekend, we'll ask him about their outlook and what to expect from the Tigers on Friday. Chris also covers Atlantic Hockey as a whole for USCHO.com, so we'll touch on issues in the conference, including Niagara (our opponent on Saturday) and Robert Morris entering the league and the early season expectations.

As always, we'll run down the highlights and lowlights of the past weekend for the Engineers and take a look around the nation as well.

Last week, we talked to WRPI's Tim Heiman and newly inducted RPI Athletic Hall of Fame member Cindy Acropolis. Check it out below.

Listen to internet radio with Without a Peer on Blog Talk Radio

Men's Hockey - at Northeastern, Bentley (15/16 Oct)

A week after a successful (if not materially successful) trip to Colorado, the RPI season rolled on with the only away/home weekend of the season with another interesting matchup in Boston before heading home for reunion weekend and an early evening game to kick off the Houston Field House schedule. It was a "three point weekend" for the Engineers, as they earned a tie for the second consecutive game against Northeastern, 2-2, before beating Bentley 3-0 on Saturday night.

Northeastern
Helfrich/Polacek/Lee
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag
Cullen/Higgs/O'Grady
Rabbani/Rogic/Burgdoerfer

Bergin/Foss
Koudys/Kennedy
Leboeuf/Bailen

York

The Northeastern Huskies came into the season with fairly high expectations in Hockey East, with the coaches of the league believing they can finish somewhere in the middle of the table as one of the best teams outside of the league's traditional "Big Four" of BC, BU, UNH, and Maine. Given the Engineers' similar aspirations (picked fifth in the ECAC), this promised to be a game of very evenly matched teams, and it played out that way for the most part.

Penalties were an issue for both teams in Colorado, and it was no different in this game, especially in the first period as the Engineers and Huskies both took 5 minor penalties in the first 20 minutes with three power plays each. RPI would score on their third chance on the man advantage, taking their first lead of the season as Bryan Brutlag scored from Tyler Helfrich and Nick Bailen on a two-man advantage that was brilliantly executed. But three minutes later, on a delayed penalty to Greg Burgdoerfer, Northeastern scored after an extended 6x5 opportunity to tie the score, and then went on the power play to boot thanks to the new rule requiring penalties to be assessed even after goals on delayed calls.

Northeastern came out firing in the second period, earning an even strength goal on a blast from the point by 6'7" behemoth Jamie Oleksiak to put the Huskies up 2-1. From there, penalties continued to rule the day. Burgdoerfer took his third penalty of the night less than a minute after the Husky goal, which would pretty much end his night as he didn't see the ice much after that. The chippiness started getting nasty shortly thereafter, as Northeastern's Zak Stone was issued five for a hit from behind and a game misconduct for a hit that left Alex Angers-Goulet prone on the ice for a few minutes. That long power play was mitigated shortly thereafter by a too many men call on RPI (served by Johnny Rogic who, along with Burgdoerfer, became scarce after the first period). A second penalty to NU a minute later eventually gave the Engineers a long 5x3 power play, but unlike their first period opportunity, they were unable to convert.

After a questionable "instigating" call on Brutlag (who apparently was managing to instigate from being flat on the ice, where he was put at the end of the play), the Engineers were the beneficiary of a questionable call on Northeastern, and they capitalized on the ensuing power play as Chase Polacek scored from a pretty extreme angle, almost on the goal line, for his first goal of the year to tie the game at two.

The referees looked as though they wanted to swallow the whistle in the 3rd period, but early on Northeastern's Randy Guzior made a dangerous play, checking Brutlag into the RPI bench from behind, and he earned the 2nd major penalty of the night for Northeastern. But as on the first major, the Engineers squandered the opportunity with penalties of their own, actually giving the Huskies a 4x3 power play after penalties to Marty O'Grady and Jeff Foss. All told, both teams were assessed a total of 13 penalties, although the Huskies ended up with far more in minutes thanks to the two majors. Neither team scored for the duration of the penalties, and after that, the whistles were put away.

The goaltenders put on a show in the third period, with Allen York making a total of 7 saves, while Northeastern's Chris Rawlings made 9 of his own. The Engineers got a late power play on a blatant hooking call, but it was evened up about a minute later with a tripping call against Helfrich. Neither team was able to break the deadlock, though RPI did manage 3 shots in the overtime period. Overall, an evenly played game marred by lots of penalties, but an even tie with neither team really having much to be disappointed with in the result.

Bentley
Lee/Polacek/Helfrich
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag
Rabbani/Higgs/O'Grady
Tinordi and Halpern

Koudys/Kennedy
Bergin/Foss
Leboeuf/Bailen
Dolan

York

The next night, Seth Appert came out with an interesting combination of 7 defensemen (the entirety of the RPI defensive corps) and 11 forwards, leaving Bo Dolan as an extra defenseman and only three centers - Polacek, Malchuk, and Higgs - dressed with Matt Tinordi seeing his first action as an Engineer. Rogic and Burgdoerfer, who did not see action in the second half against Northeastern, were in the stands, as was Patrick Cullen, who had not in three games been the force RPI partisans had hoped he would be.

Once again, it was penalties, penalties, penalties in the first period, especially for RPI. Four penalties gave Bentley two 5x3 chances of a minute or more, but the Engineers stood firm down two men. The Falcons were aggressive both on and off the power play, putting 8 shots on Allen York in the first period. The penalty killing necessitated a focus on defense in the first period, and the Engineers did not score on 7 shots.

A late penalty to Bentley in the first period carried over into the second, and on the fresh ice, it was Chase Polacek scoring his second of the weekend to put RPI on the board on the man advantage. The Engineers' penalties suddenly dried up for the remainder of the game, as they took only one penalty in both the 2nd and 3rd period, but now it was the Falcons' turn to take a slew of penalties. Tyler Helfrich converted on another opportunity midway through the 2nd period to make it 2-0, and after missing a wide-open net on Friday and again earlier in the game on Saturday, C.J. Lee finally got the proverbial monkey off his back, scoring early in the 3rd period for his first collegiate goal to make it 3-0.

Meanwhile, Allen York was lights out. Bentley fed him a steady diet of shots all game long, but the junior netminder was up to the task. 8 more shots in the 2nd period and 7 in the 3rd gave him a 23-save shutout, the third of his career. It was also the 20th victory of his career.

Bentley is a team that has potential to be outstanding within Atlantic Hockey in the near future, but they are young and were definitely a team RPI needed to beat. The Engineers are now 1-1-2 on the season. They executed well against the Falcons, getting a good combination of offense and defense, where they needed more offense in the first three games they played but were very much in those games thanks to their defense.

Next on the docket are RIT and Niagara, two teams both looking for their first wins of the season in a psuedo-travel partner weekend as both teams also face Union in Schenectady. These are also games the Engineers should win if they hope to make splashes in the ECAC this season, developing that finishing touch on offense while maintaining a solid defensive front. The combination, applied within the ECAC, would make them a very dangerous team to play.

Other junk - RPI gained votes in the weekly USCHO.com poll, earning 27, up from 13 last week, tying them with Ferris State for the unofficial #23 in the nation. Ranked ECAC teams this week are #5 Yale (no change, idle), #13 Cornell (down one, idle), and #18 Union (down two, lost to #14 Alaska and beat Alaska-Anchorage). Also ranked are #8 Boston University (up two) and #19 Colorado College (down one). Also receiving votes were Colgate (25), RIT (10), and Quinnipiac (2).

The RPI penalty kill has been incredibly effective, even despite its frequent use. That's obviously not something that they should be relying on as often as they have been, but it's good to know it's there. The Engineers are 27 for 29 on the penalty kill, a 93.1% rate that has them ranked 6th in the nation on the kill. Only Boston College (23/23, 100%) and Notre Dame (21/22, 95.5%) have a better kill percentage with 20 or more penalty kill opportunities, and only Michigan (26/30, 86.7%) has had more opportunities overall.

Of course, the Engineers have had plenty of power play chances too, and their combined 57 special teams chances in just four games is tops in the nation, only Maine and Wisconsin with 53 each also have more than 50.

Allen York has a shutout streak of 90:36 heading into this weekend's games, which goes back to 4:24 of the 2nd period in Boston. His 1.45 GAA is 8th in the nation, his .947 save percentage is 9th, and his 248:32 of time in net is more than any other goaltender thus far this season. He has been nothing short of superb for the Engineers in all four of their games thus far.

The Lee/Polacek/Helfrich combination has been pretty sensational - Polacek does what he does, but Lee and Helfrich are not squandering their opportunities playing with the team's star, as they are helping drive the Engineers' efforts on offense. Although the goals haven't been there for the most part, the Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag combination is also showing signs of life. If they can start producing, that would go a long way toward being the "answer" to the Pirri and D'Amigo departures.

An interesting tidbit from Saturday night's game - former Engineer C.J. Hanafin '05 is now an ECAC linesman, and he worked the Bentley game in that capacity.

Four RPI home games will now be broadcast on Time Warner Cable in the Albany area, with two of them being picked up for broadcast across North America on the NHL Network. This Saturday's game against Niagara and the January 29 game against Yale will be available exclusively on TW3, while the December 11 game against BU and the February 12 game against Cornell will air on NHL Network. The latter two games will now start at 3:30pm to accommodate the NHL Network's schedule. Tim Heiman '10 and Kevin Broad '07 will be on the call for all four games.

RPI at Northeastern
Nonconference Game - Matthews Arena (Boston, MA)
10/15/10 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, Northeastern 2

BOX SCORES

• College Hockey Stats
• USCHO

RECAPS

• RPI
• USCHO
• Troy Record
• Albany Times-Union

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

Reale Deals
1. G Allen York, 26 saves
2. F Chase Polacek, 1 G
3. F Bryan Brutlag, 1 G

Bentley at RPI
Nonconference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/16/10 - 5:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Bentley 0

BOX SCORES

• College Hockey Stats
• USCHO

RECAPS

• RPI
• USCHO
• Troy Record
• Schenectady Gazette
• Albany Times-Union

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

Reale Deals
1. F Tyler Helfrich, 1 G, 2 A
2. G Allen York, SO, 23 saves
3. F Chase Polacek, 1 G, 2 A

Upcoming games
22 Oct - RIT
23 Oct - Niagara
30 Oct - vs. #18 Union (Lake Placid, NY)
05 Nov - at Dartmouth
06 Nov - at Harvard

Homecoming

It's homecoming week at RPI, which means there'll be plenty of alumni in attendance, especially from classes ending in 0 or 5, since they have reunion this weekend. It's a great weekend of hockey on tap in Troy, as the women take on New Hampshire on Friday night while the men face Bentley on Saturday night.

For the men, there's also tonight's matchup at Northeastern. We'll have the chat interface up at 5 tonight, and it'll be Perry Laskaris and Tom Reale with the call on WRPI.

Don't forget that the Bentley game starts at 5pm, not the usual 7pm. If you show up at 7, the game's either going to be over or almost over, and then you're going to utter a string of expletives. No one wants to see that.

Pump it up.

Upcoming Podcast: Cindy Acropolis, Tim Heiman

This is homecoming weekend at the Institute, and the annual induction ceremony for the RPI Athletic Hall of Fame is this Sunday. Among the inductees is Cindy (Acropolis) Toye of the class of 2000, who will become the second member of the Hall of Fame from the women's hockey program. Cindy will join us early in the podcast (tomorrow night at 8pm, as usual!) to discuss her induction and the evolution of women's hockey at RPI.

Long time RPI fans heard a familiar voice on the air last week in Colorado College - recent grad and regular play-by-play man Tim Heiman returned to the radio to call the Engineers' games in the Centennial State. We'll catch up with Tim and talk about the CC series he just saw, along with the upcoming weekend at Northeastern and the home opener against Bentley.

We'll also discuss the women's home series last weekend against Vermont and touch on the tough Friday night matchup with one of the usual powers of Hockey East in New Hampshire. The standard breakdown of last week's big games will also be on tap.

We had a snafu during our podcast last week - a messup here at the secret underwater lair that led us to not be able to hear our guest, Joe Paisley, of the Colorado Springs Gazette even though he was on the air. That snafu has been corrected and we look forward to a relatively error-free broadcast this week (we tried to get Joe for this week, but with CC heading to Alaska he's got a lot on his plate, unfortunately). Catch our podcast live on Wednesday, October 13 at 8pm by clicking "Listen to Without a Peer" in the upper right-hand corner of the site.

Our interview with Seth Appert went swimmingly, however, and the first half-hour of last week's broadcast went without a hitch. You can catch last week's broadcast on demand by pushing play on the player below.

Listen to internet radio with Without a Peer on Blog Talk Radio

Know Your Enemy: Bentley

Part 3 of "Know Your Enemy" discusses a program that's getting to be a familiar face in Troy. Bentley University - promoted from Bentley College in 2008 - will be the first regular-season home game on the 2010-11 RPI schedule for the third time in four years.

Bentley
Nickname: Falcons
Location: Waltham, MA
Founded: 1917
Conference: Atlantic Hockey
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: None
Coach: Ryan Soderquist (9th season)
2009-10 Record: 12-19-4 (10-15-3 AHA, 8th place)
Series: RPI leads, 2-1-0
First Game: October 9, 2007 (Troy, NY)
Last RPI win: November 27, 2009 (Troy, NY)
Last Bentley win: October 18, 2008 (Troy, NY)

2010-11 game: October 16, 2010 (Troy, NY)
Key players: F Erik Peterson, sr.; F Jamie Nudy, jr.; F Joe Campanelli, so.; F Dan Koudys, so.; F Brett Hartung, so.; F Justin Breton, fr.; D Trent Bonnett, jr.; D Ryan Kayfes, jr.; G Kyle Rank, jr.

For a period in the early part of the last decade, it seemed that yearly home matchups with Mercyhurst were becoming the norm for the Engineers when it came to scheduling games with Atlantic Hockey teams. The Lakers made five appearances in Troy in as many seasons early in the 2000s. Sacred Heart then followed on with five appearances in seven seasons between 2004 and last season. Today, Bentley is now in that mold as well, as they will make an appearance for the fourth consecutive season at Houston Field House, this time as the opponents for RPI's homecoming weekend.

Bentley has a relatively short and unimpressive hockey history. They moved their club team to the Division III ECAC in 1978, where they competed until 1985, when the school moved to the ECAC North-South in Division II to bring the program in line with the rest of its athletic programs in Division II.

The Falcons struggled in their first decade in Division II, but by the late 1990s, their record was improving, largely thanks to the diminishing number of D-II programs requiring the team to fill its schedule with D-III opponents. It was the diminishing D-II club that eventually forced Bentley into the D-I ranks, as was the case with most other early MAAC teams. Bentley was not an inaugural member of the conference that would soon become Atlantic Hockey, spending that first season as a D-II independent before acceding to the MAAC in 1999.

Since moving to D-I, Bentley has largely struggled. In 6 of 11 seasons, they failed to reach the 10-win mark. Their two bright spots were in 2006, when the team made a Cinderella run to the Atlantic Hockey championship game before losing to a Holy Cross team that was one of the strongest the league had produced to that point. The other was 2009, when Bentley finished in 4th in Atlantic Hockey with their first (and only) winning season in D-I to date.

As we have seen in their visits to Troy, however, they're not a team that's going to be quickly pushed over. Netminder Kyle Rank recorded his first collegiate win against the Engineers in 2008-09, and then displayed some outstanding skills in last year's RPI Holiday Tournament, standing on his head to make 49 saves before blanking Lake Superior State in a shootout to lead Bentley to third place.

The Falcons also boast a pair of sophomores in Campanelli and Hartung who they'll rely on for goalscoring. Incoming freshman Justin Breton could potentially add to that as well, as he comes in from the EJHL having netted 54 points in 45 games last season. If the name Dan Koudys sounds familiar, there's a good reason for it - the Bentley sophomore is RPI freshman defenseman Patrick Koudys' cousin. He had a solid freshman campaign, posting 6 goals and 14 assists in 33 games. Campanelli, Hartung, Breton, and Koudys will be counted on to replace the scoring lost when forward Marc Menzione and defenseman Bobby Preece graduated, they were the Falcons' first and third leading scorers respectively last season.

Head coach Ryan Soderquist is entering his 9th season behind the bench at Bentley, but he remains one of the youngest head coaches in the nation. Soderquist was a 2000 graduate of Bentley, where he remains the highest scoring player in program history. He took over just three seasons later, meaning he coached some of the same guys he played with. His ninth season will tie his predecessor, Jim McAdam, for the longest tenure in school history.

Given the solid competition the Engineers will be facing in road games ahead of the Bentley homecoming, this should be a game that RPI should be able to win fairly easily, but they must be on guard against a letdown. Two years ago, this same team made the most of a lackluster effort by the Engineers to earn a shocking overtime victory that would be a harbinger of a terrible season to come for the Tute. We've seen the Engineers play down to the level of their opponent quite frequently when they are faced with teams they should be able to take down. This will be their first test to see if they can overcome that - last season, many of those early tests (Army, AIC, and Sacred Heart especially) displayed that the stigma was still there. Bentley, on the back half of the away-home weekend, is going to be a must-win if only because any team that will have high expectations has to be able to win a game like this at home, and should do it decisively.

RPI Tournament (Bentley, Union, Nov 27/28)

The 59th annual RPI Holiday Tournament provided for us the last really good opportunity to work out some kinks before some very important home ECAC games. While the final result was disappointing - and a key player was lost to injury - there's still quite a lot of good to take away from the weekend, which saw the Engineers pick off Bentley 5-2 before dropping an overtime thriller to Union, 5-4.

Bentley
Lee/Polacek/Helfrich
D'Amigo/Pirri/O'Grady
Angers-Goulet/Kerins/Cullen
Vassel/Malchuk/Halpern

Kennedy/Merth
Brutlag/Burgdoerfer
Jensen/Foss

Merriam

The big news ahead of this game was that sophomore Allen York would be out with a sore shoulder, an injury that had been previously unknown. Coach Appert remarked that if it had been an ECAC game, York would have been good to go, but in keeping with the relatively unimportant nature of the weekend, he decided to rest his top goaltender and give Bryce Merriam his third start of the season. Also missing was Mike Bergin, who it was hoped would be back for the Niagara game, but would ultimately miss both games this weekend as he continues to recover from a concussion suffered in the Clarkson game. Some good news was seen up front, however, as Tyler Helfrich and C.J. Lee rejoined the lineup for the first time in several games, giving RPI a solid three scoring lines, especially with the benchings of Alex Angers-Goulet and Patrick Cullen at an end.

RPI got the scoring started in the first period on the power play when Brandon Pirri hit Chase Polacek with a cross-ice pass that Polacek promptly one-timed to the back of the net to put the Engineers up 1-0. It was Polacek's 10th goal of the season, and the goal made it the seventh game in the last eight that Polacek had dented the twine.

With about two minute to go in the first period, RPI made it 2-0 on a nifty goal by junior Joel Malchuk. After a shot from the boards by Scott Halpern, the puck took a big bounce off Bentley netminder Kyle Rank in Malchuk's direction. Malchuk, falling backwards, poked the puck into the net practically from his back for his first goal of the season.

The Engineers dominated offense in the first two periods but wasn't loading up on the goals until late in the second. RPI's third goal came on a coast-to-coast play by Jerry D'Amigo. On a play that looked like D'Amigo was fading to Rank's left side and trying to dish to Marty O'Grady, the puck instead deflected off a Bentley player and into the net, making it 3-0. Just 48 seconds later, the Engineers would score again as Halpern drove to the net and had his shot saved by Rank, but Malchuk was right there on the doorstep to put it home for his second goal of the game, putting RPI up 4-0.

The game was well in hand at that point, though Bentley would get themselves on the scoreboard late in the second, when Bobby Preece scored to make it 4-1 (RPI 2011 recruit Patrick Koudys's cousin, Dan Koudys, had an assist on the goal). Then, early in the third period, with Preece in the penalty box, the Engineers gave up their first shorthanded goal of the season to make it 4-2. RPI bounced back quickly, though, as Alex Angers-Goulet scored his first goal of the season on an "alley oop" pass from Paul Kerins at the blue line. Angers-Goulet basically redirected the long pass into the net to give RPI a 5-2 lead. That would be the final score - the third consecutive time the Engineers have won by that score in a Friday game. RPI had a good game on the margins as well, as they took only two penalties in the entire game, the second of which was cut short by a Bentley penalty. Four of the five goals scored were at even strength, another good sign.

Union
Helfrich/Polacek/Rabbani
D'Amigo/Pirri/O'Grady
Cullen/Kerins/Angers-Goulet
Vassel/Malchuk/Halpern

Kennedy/Merth
Brutlag/Burgdoerfer
Jensen/Foss

York

Allen York's shoulder was feeling better the next day, so he was inserted back into the lineup for the championship game. However, C.J. Lee was back out of the lineup, this time with a wrist injury as he took a slash from the Bentley goaltender on Friday. Mike Bergin was still missing from the lineup.

There was a great amount of hope as the game started that this would finally be the year that the Engineers would earn the gold in their own tournament. Union had played a lackluster 0-0 tie against Lake Superior State the previous day, advancing only on a 1-0 shootout win. They were also missing all of their top four scorers, each serving a team suspension for a violation of team rules. With York back in net, it seemed like the stars were arranging for the Engineers.

The first period might have been one of the most atrocious - Appert would later call it "immature" - periods RPI has played all year. Despite dominating play early on, the Engineers were unable to be the first to beat Union goaltender Keith Kincaid on the weekend.

The discipline issue was what became the initial problem, and the penalty kill problem reared its ugly head again. Practically back to back penalties for hooking were assessed to Malchuk and Polacek, giving the Dutchmen an extended 5-on-3 chance, and as has been the norm practically, the opposition capitalized, as Mike Schreiber scored to put Union up 1-0. Just 15 seconds after the ensuing faceoff, Bryan Brutlag was sent off for unsportsmanlike conduct after a foolish headbutt, giving Union another 5-on-3, and this one was also capitalized on. 3 seconds after Polacek was released from the box to officially make it 5-on-4, Jeremy Welsh made it 2-0 Union - with the Engineers still effectively dealing with a 5-on-3 situation.

After failing to score on a power play chance just after going down 2-0, the Engineers would fall even farther behind as Kyle Bodie scored his first of the year with 5 minutes left in the 3rd as Union went up 3-0. Everything was going the Dutchmen's way. Even worse, freshman phenom Jerry D'Amigo left the game late in the period and did not return.

The second period was much more even throughout, but Union maintained their 3-goal edge throughout most of the period. The slow climb back began late in the 2nd period as RPI got a power play chance with about three minutes left in the period. Sophomore Josh Rabbani got his second goal of the season after pulling the puck out of a scrum on the boards and making a nice move before rifling it from the right-side faceoff dot to get RPI on the board, 3-1. Just before the 2nd intermission, Union was called for too many men, giving the Engineers a power play opportunity with fresh ice in the third.

The comeback continued on that power play, as Brandon Pirri took a shot from the left-side faceoff dot during the first minute of the third that evaded Kinkaid, making it 3-2 and putting RPI right back into the game. Both teams would get another power play opportunity during the first half of the third, but Union remained up by one.

With about four minutes left in the game, Paul Kerins was shown the door for boarding on what may have been a borderline call, except that the player had his back turned to Kerins before the hit, so the referee pretty much had to make the call. As it was, the penalty alone made completing the comeback much more difficult, but just four seconds later, Jason Walters scored to put Union up 4-2. With only four minutes left to play, it seemed pretty grim for the Engineers.

But Kerins would gain instant redemption. Just 45 seconds later, after a sweeping wrap-around attempt by Angers-Goulet, Kerins would pick up a rebound and throw it into the net to make it 4-3. That was just the beginning of his atonement.

With York pulled for the extra attacker, Union's Stephane Boileau would get called for an obvious tripping call to give RPI a late power play. Appert elected to leave York out of the net for the last 30 seconds of the game, calling timeout to set up the play. The Engineers swarmed, looking for the tying goal, and it was Paul Kerins who would ultimately score on a pass from Polacek as time expired in the third. Technically, the goal came at 19:59.9 of the third period, as RPI tied the game at the last possible moment to force overtime.

Things continued to seem bright in the overtime period. Union's Mike Wakita was called for contact to the head elbowing, giving the Engineers a rare overtime power play, but they were unable to generate the winning goal. Just a few seconds after the power play expired, Union's Jason Walters would score a nifty goal, his second of the game, on a rising shot that evaded York to give Union the 5-4 victory and their first RPI Tournament championship.

The overtime goal was quite a buzzkill, but the game still displayed more about the Engineers that we are continuing to see in them. They fell behind 3-0 but refused to quit, even when facing a 2-goal deficit with four minutes to play, even with the final seconds ticking off the clock, they continued to focus on the task at hand. Last year, this game would have easily been over after the first period, especially with an injury to a key element.

Clearly, the penalty kill has got to improve. Union was 3-for-6 on the man advantage, with two of them being assisted by bonehead penalties from upperclassmen to create 5-on-3 chances. Saturday games are also becoming a major point of contention, as RPI has not played a convincing game on Saturday night to date, though the "sixth period" issue took a vacation this weekend, as RPI played with all desperate attention in the third period against Union. It was more of a "fourth period" problem this go round.

Easily the biggest lasting negative from the Union game was the injury to Jerry D'Amigo. He has been diagnosed with an MCL sprain, an injury that will keep him out of the lineup for three crucial ECAC home games and the trip to BU.

This week, focus turns to what are more than likely going to be three of the most difficult home matchups remaining on the schedule - Cornell on Friday, Colgate on Saturday, and followed quickly by a return from the Dutchmen next Wednesday. Six big league points will be on the line in the span of six days, and none of the games figure to be easy, especially with D'Amigo missing from the lineup. A speedy return to game fitness for Mike Bergin and C.J. Lee would help out greatly, especially against Cornell. At this point, neither are confirmed to be in the lineup, but they have not yet been ruled out the way D'Amigo has.

Other junk - Surprising given the fact that the Engineers are 1-3-0 in their last four (all without Bergin, hint hint), the Engineers still managed to pull in 3 votes in this week's USCHO.com poll, which means there are 3 voters who think RPI's the 20th best team in the nation, or one who thinks they're #19 and one who think they're #20. Ranked ECAC teams are #4 Quinnipiac (up five with seven 1st place votes after beating Princeton and UMass), #7 Cornell (no change after beating Colgate and tying BU), and #10 Yale (up one after manhandling Sacred Heart and Holy Cross). Colgate (fell out from #20 after losing to Cornell, 20 votes), Union (tied Lake Superior State and beat RPI, 19 votes), and Princeton (lost to Quinnipiac, 1 vote) also received votes.

At this point, there's definitely some separation developing in the ECAC. It appears that there are a couple of tiers - the top tier, with Quinnipiac, Cornell, Colgate, RPI, Union, and Yale, and a lower tier with Princeton, Harvard, Clarkson, Dartmouth, and Brown. St. Lawrence is sitting in the middle; they could go either way.

Quinnipiac is ridiculous right now. They are 7-0-0 in the ECAC and 12-1-0 overall, the best record in the nation. They came into the season with major question marks in net, but there are no questions anymore. Their offense has been superb, and we sit here on the last day of NOVEMBER and the Bobcats are likely to, for all intents and purposes, lock up a home ice playoff spot before the New Year. At this point, they could go .500 the rest of the season and more than likely still have a first-round bye. That's how dominating they have been.

Chase Polacek now has a nine game point-scoring streak going back to the first Union game (8 goals, 8 assists). His 20 total points have him tied for 6th in the nation in that category. His 10 goals place him 7th nationally, 5 power play goals at 6th, and 10 assists is tied for 24th in the nation.

All-Tournament Team
G Keith Kincaid, Union
D Simon Gysbers, Lake Superior State
D Mike Schreiber, Union
F Paul Kerins, RPI
F Kelly Zajac, Union
F Chase Polacek, RPI
MVP Jason Walters, F, Union

Injuries
F Jerry D'Amigo (MCL sprain) - will miss next four games
F C.J. Lee (wrist) - has missed four of the last five
D Mike Bergin (concussion) - has missed four straight games
G Allen York (sore shoulder) - missed one game, played last game

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

By Winning Pct. (points/possible)
1. Quinnipiac 1.000 (14/14)
T-2 RPI and Union .750 (6/8)
4. Cornell .714 (10/14)
5. Colgate .643 (9/14)
6. Yale .600 (6/10)
7. St. Lawrence .500 (6/12)
8. Princeton .357 (5/14)
9. Harvard .286 (4/14)
10. Clarkson .250 (3/12)
11. Dartmouth .143 (2/14)
12. Brown .100 (1/10)


Bentley at RPI
RPI Holiday Tournament First Round - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/27/09 - 7:00 pm
RESULT: RPI 5, Bentley 2
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats: http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/mbenren1.n27
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20091127&vis=bentley&home=rpi&gender=m
RECAPS
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2009/11/27/MHOCK_1127094208.aspx?path=hockey
Troy Record: http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2009/11/28/sports/doc4b10c58fe6d38237660139.txt
Albany Times-Union: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=871144&category=SPORTS
Schenectady Gazette: http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2009/nov/27/rpi-bentley-postgame-report/
VIDEO
Post-game Press Conference: http://www.youtube.com/user/RPIathletics#p/u/1/RP7bQOWUMRw
Full replay, streaming: http://www.rpitv.org/productions/2009/11/27/RPI-Men-s-Hockey-vs-Bentley-59th-Annual-RPI-Holiday-Tournament
RECORD: 8-5-1 (3-1-0 ECAC, 6 pts)

Reale Deals
1. F Joel Malchuk, 2 G, 2 shots
2. D Bryan Brutlag 2 A, 2 shots, +1
3. F Jerry D'Amigo, 1 G, 1 A, 4 shots


Union at RPI
RPI Holiday Tournament Championship - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/28/09 - 7:00 pm
RESULT: Union 5, RPI 4 (OT)
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats: http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/mrenuni1.n28
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20091128&vis=uc&home=rpi&gender=m
RECAPS
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2009/11/28/MHOCK_1128094510.aspx
Troy Record: http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2009/11/28/sports/doc4b11fe98f1801394713539.txt
Albany Times-Union: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=871422&category=SPORTS
Schenectady Gazette: http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2009/nov/29/union-rpi-postgame-report/
WNYT-TV (Albany): http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S1279632.shtml?cat=300
VIDEO
Post game Press Conference: http://www.youtube.com/user/RPIathletics#p/u/0/B-Ze5GBvr4E
Full replay, streaming: http://www.rpitv.org/productions/2009/11/28/RPI-Men-s-Hockey-vs-Union-59th-Annual-RPI-Holiday-Tournament-Championship-Game
RECORD: 8-6-1 (3-1-0 ECAC, 6 pts)

Reale Deals
1. F Paul Kerins, 2 G, 1 A, 5 shots
2. F Josh Rabbani, 1 G, 1 A, 3 shots
3. F Brandon Pirri, 1 G, 6 shots

Upcoming Games
04 Dec - #7 Cornell
05 Dec - Colgate
09 Dec - Union
11 Dec - at Boston University
29 Dec - vs. Michigan (Detroit, MI)
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MEN’S HOCKEY

Rensselaer went 1-1-0 last week, topping Bentley (5-2) in the semifinal round of the 59th Annual Rensselaer Holiday Tournament, before falling to Union (5-4) in overtime in the Championship Game on Saturday. Senior Paul Kerins (Weston, ON) had a five-point tournament, posting two goals and three assists, while making the All-Tournament Team.

RPI (8-6-1; 3-1-0 ECAC Hockey) is back to league play this weekend, when it hosts seventh-ranked Cornell on Friday (7pm) and Colgate on Saturday (4pm). Live stats for both games will be available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/rpi/mhockey/index.htm and can also be seen live on a pay-per-view basis with B2 Networks at http://www.b2livetv.com/. The games will also be broadcast courtesy of WRPI radio on 91.5 FM or log on to www.wrpi.org and click on sports. Friday’s game will be Whiteout! at the Houston Field House, while Saturday’s contest will be Teddy Bear Toss Night as well as Skate with the Engineers after the game.

Tournament of Turkeys

Let's go get 'em, Red. Time for the first tournament title since the Governor's Cup in 2007, and the first RPI Tourney title since... 2001 (yeah, it's been that long).



Sounds like it's all hands on deck this weekend, with the possible exception of Mike Bergin. Bentley is improved from last year when they doled out an embarrassing overtime loss at the Field House - but the Engineers are improved too.