On the cusp of playoff hockey, I'd like to take some time to recognize a player who's up for a national award. I'd support an Engineer up for a major award anyway, but this one is deserving of some extra attention.
Brock Higgs is a competitor, and a heck of a hockey player. He has rarely been out of the lineup for the Engineers when he's been healthy, and even more, he's certainly played a number of games while banged up, especially last season. That's the mettle of a true warrior of the game right there. We've all seen the stories of professional players, especially in the playoffs, getting stitched up after suffering an injury, missing maybe a shift or two, and then getting right back out there on the ice. That's the kind of competitor Brock Higgs has proven himself to be.
But then again, some injuries you don't just bounce right back from. Some you are lucky to bounce back from at all.
I'll never forget December 30, 2010, and neither will Brock or anyone in his family. In the 2nd period of a game in Huntsville, Ala. against the UAH Chargers, Brock was nearby as Chase Polacek was tripped up near center ice by Keenan Desmet. Polacek was upended, and his skates went high into the air, catching Higgs along the neck. It was nobody's fault. But if hockey is a game of inches, so too can life be a game of inches. Polacek's skate just missed hitting Brock's carotid artery and his jugular vein, either of which could have ended his life had they been punctured.
As it was, Brock was still bleeding pretty badly. He was fortunate that there were UAH fans in the house, season ticket holders, who were medical professionals who knew right away what had happened, and rushed to help out. He was fortunate that a teammate, Alex Angers-Goulet, was a pre-med student who could also recognize the severity of the situation, and even went back with him to the locker room to help keep him calm (as an aside, Alex is in med school today and his brother, Matt, is going into the orthopedic surgery field in Quebec).
I was there that night, calling the game on WRPI. When the game was over, Perry Laskaris and I rushed Seth Appert over to Huntsville Hospital so he could find out more of what had happened to the young freshman who had only just put on the RPI sweater for the first time a couple of months earlier.
I've had the distinct honor of meeting both of Brock's parents, and if you were listening to the RPI-Yale game last weekend, you may have heard my interview with Harold, Brock's father. He recounted that horrible night, but also talked about what has happened since that night as well. His parents never missed a game after that - they'd been to most of them before it, but not all - and we've all seen Brock's comeback on the ice as well. Impressively, he only missed a few weeks worth of games before hitting the ice once again.
No one would have blamed him if he'd have hung up the skates after something like that. But that would completely ignore the passion that burns inside of any competitor. Brock Higgs is more than just a good hockey player. He's an inspiration to anyone who's ever been in a position where they wanted to just quit, even if they had a good reason for it.
On top of his exploits on the ice, Higgs has been a dedicated student, a regular on the dean's list and his summer have been spent in Troy, working not only on his strength but on his mind as well, and he's on pace to graduate this semester with a master's degree.
Brock is more than just a student, and more than just an athlete, he's become part of the community. He helps kids learn the game with the Troy-Albany Youth Hockey Association, and he's been a counselor at the RPI Hockey Camp. He's lent his sweat to Habitat for Humanity, the Newman Foundation, the United Way, and the Relay for Life. He was part of an RPI squad that embraced Ben Mayo and made him as much a part of the team as any who skated in the Cherry and White.
And there's little question that he's been a leader on the ice - that's why he wears a letter on the front of his sweater. This season, he's got his scoring touch back that eluded him through an injury-plagued season last year for the Engineers.
When Brock was announced as a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, a national honor saluting players who exhibit outstanding achievements in the classroom, in the community, and in competition while showing a tremendous amount of character, I was hardly surprised.
I'm certain that the other candidates for this award have compelling stories as well, and are certainly deserving of their candidacies. But I'm just as certain that Brock is the man for the award this season.
It takes about five seconds. Head on over to the Senior CLASS Award website and vote for Brock. You can vote once per day. He's in the lead by a significant margin, but let's see what we can do to boost him even higher. The fan vote online counts for 1/3 of the total vote. At about 33.4% of the vote at the time of this posting, that equates to about 1/9 of the total vote definitely going for Brock. That's a great start heading into the other 2/3 of the voting, which is done by coaches.
Brock Higgs is in the midst of the best season of his career at RPI. Let's do our part to bring it to a great conclusion with a richly deserved honor.
Showing posts with label brock higgs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brock higgs. Show all posts
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Monday, December 9, 2013
Men's Hockey - Quinnipiac and Princeton (6/7 Dec)
We've frequently mentioned the key for earning a first-round bye in the ECAC is to average 3 points in a home weekend and 2 points in a road weekend (with points against the travel partner pretty much extra), and the Engineers, as rough as the go has been in recent weeks, are still on that track - perfectly, in fact. RPI picked up another three points at home this past weekend, missing opportunities on Friday to complete a sweep against a Quinnipiac team that looked as though it was struggling but skating away with a 3-3 tie ahead of a 5-2 win over Princeton.
Quinnipiac
Neal-Higgs-Haggerty
Laliberte-Zalewski-Bubela
Tinordi-McGowan-Bourbonnais
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Leboeuf-Leonard
Princeton
Neal-Higgs-Haggerty
Laliberte-Zalewski-Bubela
Tinordi-McGowan-Bourbonnais
Fulton-Rogic-Schroeder
Leboeuf-Leonard
No changes were made to the RPI lineup heading into the Saturday game with a weak and very beat-up Princeton team which had been blanked by Union the previous night. The Tigers entered the game with a six-game unbeaten streak in Troy, but dressing 10 forwards and 7 defensemen, they never appeared ready to extend that streak.
Once again, it was RPI jumping out to a quick 2-0 edge, and this time it was in an even quicker fashion than on Friday. Chris Bradley notched his second goal of the season at 3:03 of the first period, and only 23 seconds later, Brock Higgs potted his 10th of the year (with an assist to Bradley). Princeton cut the lead in half with about six minutes left in the first period, but less than two minutes later, on the power play, it was Ryan Haggerty scoring for the 18th time in just 15 games to put the Engineers ahead 3-1. RPI managed three goals on just six shots in the first, not a positive number of shots but an economical use of them at least.
3:43 into the second period, Matt Neal scored on a 5-on-3 power play to make it 4-1 as he continued to work the loose puck behind the goaltender, who thought he was controlling it. The puck squirted just behind the netminder, and Neal simply popped it into the net. Princeton earned the goal back shorthanded on the ensuing 5-on-4, but despite outshooting the Engineers 11-8 in the second period, RPI never looked ready to give up their lead.
With just over seven minutes left in the second, Higgs scored his second goal of the night in highlight-reel fashion, stealing the puck in the neutral zone and single-handedly outmaneuvering two different defenders while cutting to the net, sliding the puck home through the five-hole to make it 5-2.
The Engineers controlled the puck for much of the third period, though they were content to mostly hold the puck in the Princeton zone as they cruised to victory. They managed 10 shots in the final 20 minutes and on a couple of occasions came close to increasing their lead, but the lack of action in the period was just fine for a team holding a three-goal lead over a demoralized and hurting team.
Other junk - With the three-point weekend, the Engineers re-enter the USCHO poll this week after falling out during their bye week, once more ranked #18 in the nation, just where they had been after the Mercyhurst games. Other ranked ECAC teams include #7 Quinnipiac (tied RPI and lost to Union, down two), #8 Clarkson (swept SLU, up two), #10 Union (swept Princeton/Quinnipiac, up one), #11 Yale (lost to Dartmouth and tied Harvard, down three), and #14 Cornell (tied Colgate, up one). Colgate (6) and St. Lawrence (3) also received votes. Other ranked teams on the RPI schedule are #2 Minnesota (down one with 14 first place votes), #4 Ferris State (up two with 3 first place votes), #6 Boston College (up three), and #20 Denver (previously unranked). New Hampshire (45) and Mercyhurst (8) also received votes.
Ryan Haggerty's 1.60 points per game is tied for 3rd in the nation with Mercyhurst junior Matthew Zay, behind SLU's Greg Carey (1.94) and BC's Johnny Gaudreau (1.75).
Haggerty now sits at 18 goals for the season, five more than the tie for 2nd nationally as Gaudreau, SLU's Matt Carey, and Quinnipiac's Sam Anas each have 13. He is the only player in the nation averaging a goal per game or more at 1.20. Haggerty also leads the nation in power play goals with 8, and is tied for first in game-winning goals with 4.
Meanwhile, Brock Higgs is tied for 9th in the nation in goals (with 7 other players) with 11.
Overall, the RPI offense is now 7th in the nation, scoring 3.75 goals per game with 60 in 16 contests.
Craig Bokenfohr is the only skater on the RPI roster that has yet to record a point this year, he has appeared in only one game. Bokenfohr, Bo Dolan, Zach Schroeder, Travis Fulton, and Riley Bourbonnais are the only skaters that have yet to score a goal.
As we mentioned last week, the Engineers have earned a result in every game in which Haggerty has scored a goal, and lost every game in which he has not, and that continued this weekend.
Next weekend, the Engineers wrap-up their calendar year 2013 schedule with the battle of the assistants, as former Denver assistant Seth Appert leads RPI against former RPI assistant Jim Montgomery and Denver. A bonus matchup on Sunday features the Engineers in an exhibition game against the US Under-18 team, which counts new NHL player Jerry D'Amigo and Ryan Haggerty as alums.
ECAC Standings
1. Union - 14 points (7-1-0)
2. Quinnipiac - 14 points (6-2-2)
3. Clarkson - 12 points (6-2-0)
4. Colgate - 11 points (5-3-1)
5. Cornell - 10 points (4-3-2)
6. Yale - 9 points (3-2-3)
7. RPI - 9 points (3-3-3)
8. Brown - 7 points (3-4-1)
9. St. Lawrence - 6 points (2-4-2)
10. Harvard - 6 points (2-6-2)
11. Dartmouth - 4 points (2-7-0)
12. Princeton - 4 points (2-8-0)
#5 Quinnipiac at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
12/6/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Quinnipiac 3
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
Upcoming games
13 Dec - #20 Denver
14 Dec - #20 Denver
15 Dec - US Under-18 Team (exhibition)
03 Jan - vs. #4 Ferris State (Minneapolis, MN)
04 Jan - vs. #2 Minnesota OR Colgate (Minneapolis, MN)
Neal-Higgs-Haggerty
Laliberte-Zalewski-Bubela
Tinordi-McGowan-Bourbonnais
Fulton-Rogic-Schroeder
Leboeuf-Leonard
Bradley-Dolan
Curadi-Reno
Curadi-Reno
Diebold
The Engineers basically fielded all of its healthy forwards on Friday night with several players banged up. Jake Wood was technically suspended due to a third game misconduct picked up against Mercyhurst two weeks prior, but after knee surgery he will be out until mid-January.
RPI has frequently gotten off to a quick start this season, and it was another quick start against the Bobcats that saw the Engineers ahead 2-0 six and a half minutes into the contest, both goals coming off the stick of the nation's leading scorer. Ryan Haggerty potted the game's first goal at 3:16 to make it 1-0, then was credited with the goal after Quinnipiac accidentally swept the puck into its own net off of Haggerty's skate exactly 3:25 later. RPI led in shots 10-4 after the first period, doing a good job of keeping a sluggish Quinnipiac on their toes.
The Bobcats got themselves back into things in the second as their national-best defense began frustrating the Engineers' attempts to put rubber on net. The lead was cut in half thanks to a blast from the blue line 2:12 into the period, and with about two minutes left in the second, the Bobcats drew level with a nifty goal from Sam Anas, one of the top scoring freshmen in the nation.
It was starting to look like a similar story for the Engineers - build an early lead, and then gradually lose it in the late periods. Chris Bradley and Jacob Laliberte conspired to flip the script a little 62 seconds into the third period, as a shot by Bradley from the point was redirected in front by Laliberte into the back of the cage to give RPI the lead once more at 3-2.
Unfortunately, poor discipline by the Engineers unraveled the second lead. A terribly unnecessary interference penalty drawn by Bo Dolan midway through the period produced a power play for the Bobcats that they would convert with some serious net crashing, knotting things back up at 3-3. From there, Scott Diebold was certainly called on to make some big saves, earning 23 saves in the last 40 minutes on 26 shots to keep RPI in the game.
The end result was in some respects a solid point for RPI, considering Quinnipiac's then-position as the #5 team in the nation, but the Engineers blew two leads and the Bobcats were clearly a step slower than their usual pace, which left the lost point a little disappointing for the home team.
The Engineers basically fielded all of its healthy forwards on Friday night with several players banged up. Jake Wood was technically suspended due to a third game misconduct picked up against Mercyhurst two weeks prior, but after knee surgery he will be out until mid-January.
RPI has frequently gotten off to a quick start this season, and it was another quick start against the Bobcats that saw the Engineers ahead 2-0 six and a half minutes into the contest, both goals coming off the stick of the nation's leading scorer. Ryan Haggerty potted the game's first goal at 3:16 to make it 1-0, then was credited with the goal after Quinnipiac accidentally swept the puck into its own net off of Haggerty's skate exactly 3:25 later. RPI led in shots 10-4 after the first period, doing a good job of keeping a sluggish Quinnipiac on their toes.
The Bobcats got themselves back into things in the second as their national-best defense began frustrating the Engineers' attempts to put rubber on net. The lead was cut in half thanks to a blast from the blue line 2:12 into the period, and with about two minutes left in the second, the Bobcats drew level with a nifty goal from Sam Anas, one of the top scoring freshmen in the nation.
It was starting to look like a similar story for the Engineers - build an early lead, and then gradually lose it in the late periods. Chris Bradley and Jacob Laliberte conspired to flip the script a little 62 seconds into the third period, as a shot by Bradley from the point was redirected in front by Laliberte into the back of the cage to give RPI the lead once more at 3-2.
Unfortunately, poor discipline by the Engineers unraveled the second lead. A terribly unnecessary interference penalty drawn by Bo Dolan midway through the period produced a power play for the Bobcats that they would convert with some serious net crashing, knotting things back up at 3-3. From there, Scott Diebold was certainly called on to make some big saves, earning 23 saves in the last 40 minutes on 26 shots to keep RPI in the game.
The end result was in some respects a solid point for RPI, considering Quinnipiac's then-position as the #5 team in the nation, but the Engineers blew two leads and the Bobcats were clearly a step slower than their usual pace, which left the lost point a little disappointing for the home team.
Princeton
Neal-Higgs-Haggerty
Laliberte-Zalewski-Bubela
Tinordi-McGowan-Bourbonnais
Fulton-Rogic-Schroeder
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Curadi-Reno
Diebold
No changes were made to the RPI lineup heading into the Saturday game with a weak and very beat-up Princeton team which had been blanked by Union the previous night. The Tigers entered the game with a six-game unbeaten streak in Troy, but dressing 10 forwards and 7 defensemen, they never appeared ready to extend that streak.
Once again, it was RPI jumping out to a quick 2-0 edge, and this time it was in an even quicker fashion than on Friday. Chris Bradley notched his second goal of the season at 3:03 of the first period, and only 23 seconds later, Brock Higgs potted his 10th of the year (with an assist to Bradley). Princeton cut the lead in half with about six minutes left in the first period, but less than two minutes later, on the power play, it was Ryan Haggerty scoring for the 18th time in just 15 games to put the Engineers ahead 3-1. RPI managed three goals on just six shots in the first, not a positive number of shots but an economical use of them at least.
3:43 into the second period, Matt Neal scored on a 5-on-3 power play to make it 4-1 as he continued to work the loose puck behind the goaltender, who thought he was controlling it. The puck squirted just behind the netminder, and Neal simply popped it into the net. Princeton earned the goal back shorthanded on the ensuing 5-on-4, but despite outshooting the Engineers 11-8 in the second period, RPI never looked ready to give up their lead.
With just over seven minutes left in the second, Higgs scored his second goal of the night in highlight-reel fashion, stealing the puck in the neutral zone and single-handedly outmaneuvering two different defenders while cutting to the net, sliding the puck home through the five-hole to make it 5-2.
The Engineers controlled the puck for much of the third period, though they were content to mostly hold the puck in the Princeton zone as they cruised to victory. They managed 10 shots in the final 20 minutes and on a couple of occasions came close to increasing their lead, but the lack of action in the period was just fine for a team holding a three-goal lead over a demoralized and hurting team.
Ryan Haggerty's 1.60 points per game is tied for 3rd in the nation with Mercyhurst junior Matthew Zay, behind SLU's Greg Carey (1.94) and BC's Johnny Gaudreau (1.75).
Haggerty now sits at 18 goals for the season, five more than the tie for 2nd nationally as Gaudreau, SLU's Matt Carey, and Quinnipiac's Sam Anas each have 13. He is the only player in the nation averaging a goal per game or more at 1.20. Haggerty also leads the nation in power play goals with 8, and is tied for first in game-winning goals with 4.
Meanwhile, Brock Higgs is tied for 9th in the nation in goals (with 7 other players) with 11.
Overall, the RPI offense is now 7th in the nation, scoring 3.75 goals per game with 60 in 16 contests.
Craig Bokenfohr is the only skater on the RPI roster that has yet to record a point this year, he has appeared in only one game. Bokenfohr, Bo Dolan, Zach Schroeder, Travis Fulton, and Riley Bourbonnais are the only skaters that have yet to score a goal.
As we mentioned last week, the Engineers have earned a result in every game in which Haggerty has scored a goal, and lost every game in which he has not, and that continued this weekend.
Next weekend, the Engineers wrap-up their calendar year 2013 schedule with the battle of the assistants, as former Denver assistant Seth Appert leads RPI against former RPI assistant Jim Montgomery and Denver. A bonus matchup on Sunday features the Engineers in an exhibition game against the US Under-18 team, which counts new NHL player Jerry D'Amigo and Ryan Haggerty as alums.
ECAC Standings
1. Union - 14 points (7-1-0)
2. Quinnipiac - 14 points (6-2-2)
3. Clarkson - 12 points (6-2-0)
4. Colgate - 11 points (5-3-1)
5. Cornell - 10 points (4-3-2)
6. Yale - 9 points (3-2-3)
7. RPI - 9 points (3-3-3)
8. Brown - 7 points (3-4-1)
9. St. Lawrence - 6 points (2-4-2)
10. Harvard - 6 points (2-6-2)
11. Dartmouth - 4 points (2-7-0)
12. Princeton - 4 points (2-8-0)
#5 Quinnipiac at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
12/6/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Quinnipiac 3
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECORD: 7-5-3 (2-3-3 ECAC, 7 pts)
Princeton at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
12/7/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 5, Princeton 2
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
12/7/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 5, Princeton 2
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECORD: 8-5-3 (3-3-3 ECAC, 9 pts)
Upcoming games
13 Dec - #20 Denver
14 Dec - #20 Denver
15 Dec - US Under-18 Team (exhibition)
03 Jan - vs. #4 Ferris State (Minneapolis, MN)
04 Jan - vs. #2 Minnesota OR Colgate (Minneapolis, MN)
Thursday, December 5, 2013
The Haggerty Effect
Ryan Haggerty is currently scoring at a clip of 1.15 goals per game. That's tops in the nation, and that's good for RPI. Why?
RPI when Ryan Haggerty scores a goal: 7-0-2
RPI when Ryan Haggerty doesn't score: 0-5-0
Kinda stark, isn't it? The latter figure includes the first game at Mercyhurst, where Haggerty was a healthy scratch due to a death in the family and a cancelled flight to Erie.
Now, that's not to say that the team relies wholly on Haggerty for its offense. It's worth pointing out that Brock Higgs has been humming right along on the goal scoring as well, currently tied for 16th in the country at 0.64 goals per game. With 9 goals on the year, he's already tied his career high (attained during his freshman season), and is only slightly below the pace Chase Polacek set in 2009-10, a 26-goal season that is the most for an Engineer in the current millennium.
That's important - after all, hockey's a team sport and Ryan Haggerty is but one man. The Engineers have only five skaters on their roster who haven't scored a goal in the first 14 games of the year. They're getting goals from all over. But the numbers when the goal leader doesn't get involved are very black and white.
It won't last in such an extreme, of course. Eventually this year, the Engineers will lose a game in which Haggerty scores. They'll eventually pull out a result without him.
Let's be plain. Haggerty's rate is going to be hard to maintain for the remainder of the season. A quick whirl on College Hockey Stats tells us that no player who appeared in at least 75% of his team's contests has managed to finish the season scoring a full goal per game or more in the last 10 years - the closest was Minnesota's Ryan Potulny in 2005-06, when he registered 38 goals in 41 games, a 0.93 goals per game average.
But if, somehow, he can maintain the current rate of 1.15 per game (down from earlier in the year already), and appear in every game from here on out, he'd finish the regular season and the first two games of the playoffs (the only ones guaranteed to any ECAC team) with a total of either 40 or 41 goals, depending on what you want to do with the remainder, and there'd still be as many as seven potential games left in the chamber after that.
That would put Haggerty in some pretty rare air as far as the school record for goals in a season is concerned.
1. Frank Chiarelli - 55 (1951-52)
2. John Carter - 43 (1984-85)
3. Bob Brinkworth - 41 (1961-62)
4. Paul Midghall - 40 (1957-58)
5. Ray Belasky - 37 (1958-59)
Now, it's worth mentioning that the game is very different than it was in the 1950s and 1960s, when four of those marks were set. Those guys played in a lot fewer games and were part of much higher scoring contests back then. Chiarelli's record, of course, is part of a national mark which will never be broken in terms of goals per game, averaging a hat trick per game (and he had 9 that year) at 3.06.
Even if he drops back to Polacek's 2010 pace for the rest of the year, we're still talking 30 goals on the campaign for the first time since Brad Tapper in 1999-2000. In the last 10 seasons, here's the total number of 30 goal scorers:
2003-04: 1 (Junior Lessard, UMD - Hobey Baker winner)
2004-05: 1 (Brett Sterling, CC - Hobey Hat Trick)
2005-06: 3 (Chris Collins, BC in HHT)
2006-07: 3 (Ryan Duncan, UND was Hobey Baker winner)
2007-08: 4 (All three of the HHT, including Kevin Porter, Michigan, who won)
2008-09: 1 (Jacques Lamoureux, Air Force - Hobey finalist)
2009-10: 1 (Cam Atkinson, BC - HHT)
2010-11: 2 (both in HHT)
2011-12: 2 (Austin Smith, Colgate in HHT)
2012-13: 0 (Greg Carey, SLU came closest with 28)
18 30-goal scorers in the last decade, all but two of them were in the final 10 for the Hobey Baker Award, 11 of them made the Hobey Hat Trick, and three won the award.
It's a little early to be discussing Hobey favorites, but... it's hard to say that the goal-fest hasn't at least positioned Ryan Haggerty well early on to be part of the discussion down the road.
Just 14 games in - and it's only 13 games technically for Haggerty - we're already scoping out this list for the top 10 goal-scoring seasons for Engineers in the last 10 years.
26 - Chase Polacek (2009-10)
21 - Chase Polacek (2010-11)
16 - Kirk MacDonald (2004-05)
16 - Oren Eizenman (2005-06)
15 - Ryan Haggerty (2013-14)
15 - Paul Kerins (2009-10)
14 - Kevin Croxton (2005-06)
14 - Tyler Helfrich (2010-11)
13 - Jonathan Ornelas (2005-06)
12 - Kirk MacDonald (2006-07)
Perhaps that's even the best chart for exactly what we're looking at in Troy right now.
RPI when Ryan Haggerty scores a goal: 7-0-2
RPI when Ryan Haggerty doesn't score: 0-5-0
Kinda stark, isn't it? The latter figure includes the first game at Mercyhurst, where Haggerty was a healthy scratch due to a death in the family and a cancelled flight to Erie.
Now, that's not to say that the team relies wholly on Haggerty for its offense. It's worth pointing out that Brock Higgs has been humming right along on the goal scoring as well, currently tied for 16th in the country at 0.64 goals per game. With 9 goals on the year, he's already tied his career high (attained during his freshman season), and is only slightly below the pace Chase Polacek set in 2009-10, a 26-goal season that is the most for an Engineer in the current millennium.
That's important - after all, hockey's a team sport and Ryan Haggerty is but one man. The Engineers have only five skaters on their roster who haven't scored a goal in the first 14 games of the year. They're getting goals from all over. But the numbers when the goal leader doesn't get involved are very black and white.
It won't last in such an extreme, of course. Eventually this year, the Engineers will lose a game in which Haggerty scores. They'll eventually pull out a result without him.
Let's be plain. Haggerty's rate is going to be hard to maintain for the remainder of the season. A quick whirl on College Hockey Stats tells us that no player who appeared in at least 75% of his team's contests has managed to finish the season scoring a full goal per game or more in the last 10 years - the closest was Minnesota's Ryan Potulny in 2005-06, when he registered 38 goals in 41 games, a 0.93 goals per game average.
But if, somehow, he can maintain the current rate of 1.15 per game (down from earlier in the year already), and appear in every game from here on out, he'd finish the regular season and the first two games of the playoffs (the only ones guaranteed to any ECAC team) with a total of either 40 or 41 goals, depending on what you want to do with the remainder, and there'd still be as many as seven potential games left in the chamber after that.
That would put Haggerty in some pretty rare air as far as the school record for goals in a season is concerned.
1. Frank Chiarelli - 55 (1951-52)
2. John Carter - 43 (1984-85)
3. Bob Brinkworth - 41 (1961-62)
4. Paul Midghall - 40 (1957-58)
5. Ray Belasky - 37 (1958-59)
Now, it's worth mentioning that the game is very different than it was in the 1950s and 1960s, when four of those marks were set. Those guys played in a lot fewer games and were part of much higher scoring contests back then. Chiarelli's record, of course, is part of a national mark which will never be broken in terms of goals per game, averaging a hat trick per game (and he had 9 that year) at 3.06.
Even if he drops back to Polacek's 2010 pace for the rest of the year, we're still talking 30 goals on the campaign for the first time since Brad Tapper in 1999-2000. In the last 10 seasons, here's the total number of 30 goal scorers:
2003-04: 1 (Junior Lessard, UMD - Hobey Baker winner)
2004-05: 1 (Brett Sterling, CC - Hobey Hat Trick)
2005-06: 3 (Chris Collins, BC in HHT)
2006-07: 3 (Ryan Duncan, UND was Hobey Baker winner)
2007-08: 4 (All three of the HHT, including Kevin Porter, Michigan, who won)
2008-09: 1 (Jacques Lamoureux, Air Force - Hobey finalist)
2009-10: 1 (Cam Atkinson, BC - HHT)
2010-11: 2 (both in HHT)
2011-12: 2 (Austin Smith, Colgate in HHT)
2012-13: 0 (Greg Carey, SLU came closest with 28)
18 30-goal scorers in the last decade, all but two of them were in the final 10 for the Hobey Baker Award, 11 of them made the Hobey Hat Trick, and three won the award.
It's a little early to be discussing Hobey favorites, but... it's hard to say that the goal-fest hasn't at least positioned Ryan Haggerty well early on to be part of the discussion down the road.
Just 14 games in - and it's only 13 games technically for Haggerty - we're already scoping out this list for the top 10 goal-scoring seasons for Engineers in the last 10 years.
26 - Chase Polacek (2009-10)
21 - Chase Polacek (2010-11)
16 - Kirk MacDonald (2004-05)
16 - Oren Eizenman (2005-06)
15 - Ryan Haggerty (2013-14)
15 - Paul Kerins (2009-10)
14 - Kevin Croxton (2005-06)
14 - Tyler Helfrich (2010-11)
13 - Jonathan Ornelas (2005-06)
12 - Kirk MacDonald (2006-07)
Perhaps that's even the best chart for exactly what we're looking at in Troy right now.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Men's Hockey - Cornell and Colgate (8/9 Nov)
With the first full league home weekend on deck, the Engineers basically got done what they needed to get done by picking up three points to keep pace in the league table, but they got there in bizarre fashion against the Central New York travel pairing. Jumping out to a 3-1 lead against Cornell before giving back a point in the final minutes of regulation and settling for a 3-3 tie on Friday, the Engineers then had to kill not one, not two, but three major penalties in the first two periods on Saturday against Colgate but still won comfortably, 6-2.
Cornell
Tinordi-Higgs-Rogic
Zalewski-Neal-Haggerty
Laliberte-McGowan-Schroeder
Bourbonnais-Miller-DeVito
Leonard-Bradley
Diebold
RPI's main plan of attack has been to get out of the gate quickly, but that was not in the cards against the Big Red. The Engineers were shut out in the first period for only the second time all season, failing to find the back of the net on 7 shots in the first 20 minutes. Instead, it was Cornell opening the scoring eight minutes into the contest on a screened shot from the blueline that made it 1-0 heading into the 1st intermission.
As the waning seconds ticked away in the first period, the Engineers had six men on the ice for at least 15 to 20 seconds before the referees noticed and blew the whistle, giving Cornell 1:54 of power play time to start the second period. However, despite the fresh ice, it was the Engineers who would get the goal during the penalty, as Guy Leboeuf rocketed a shot from the blueline 1:11 into the second to tie the score.
Gradually during the second period, the Engineers began taking the momentum, and on a roughing call with just over five minutes left in the period, they took the lead on Ryan Haggerty's 11th goal of the season, making it 2-1.
Matt Neal scored an insurance goal eight minutes into the third period to make it 3-1, and as time ticked down, it looked like the Engineers had things well in hand, especially after Johnny Rogic was checked from behind into the boards with about seven-and-a-half minutes left to play. The Big Red, fortunate not to be called for a major penalty on the play, killed the penalty and began looking for a goal to cut the RPI lead.
They would not get it until pulling their goaltender with just over 90 seconds left in regulation, as another blueline blast that was screened got past Diebold, making it 3-2. The killer for RPI, however, was that Haggerty was called for a foolish charging penalty just after the goal was scored, immediately putting Cornell on the power play. With the goaltender pulled and an effective two-man advantage on the ice, the Big Red scored the equalizer with 30 seconds left in regulation, and just like that, the Engineer lead had evaporated.
RPI got the lion's share of the opportunities in the extra session, but could not salvage the win despite 5 shots on goal in overtime. It was a tie that most certainly felt like a loss, given how close the Engineers were to finishing up an otherwise solid game with a two-goal edge.
Colgate
Tinordi-Higgs-Rogic
Zalewski-Neal-Haggerty
Laliberte-McGowan-Schroeder
Wood-Miller-DeVito
Curadi-Reno
Leboeuf-Hampton
The only changes to the lineup from the previous night were Jake Wood coming in to replace Riley Bourbonnais, and Phil Hampton coming into the lineup for the second time on the season in place of Bo Dolan.
Brock Higgs broke the Engineers out in their more usual style with a quick goal, scoring seven minutes into the game on a wraparound to give RPI the early 1-0 lead on his 7th goal of the year. But shortly thereafter, a five-minute boarding call on Luke Curadi put the Engineers on a long penalty kill. His offense did not result in a game misconduct, which would prove crucial for RPI down the road.
It was the Engineers who got the offense out of the long power play, but it came in a strange play. Shortly after a two-on-one shorthanded opportunity was broken up in the Colgate zone, the Engineers sent the puck back down to their own zone to kill more time. Guy Leboeuf scooped up the puck behind his own blueline and powered it down in a clearance attempt as RPI went to change lines. However, the puck bounced a couple of times on its way down the ice, and after being misplayed by the Colgate goalkeeper, found the back of the net instead of the end boards, a bizarre goal giving RPI a 2-0 lead.
After killing the Curadi penalty and taking a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, things looked pretty good for the home team. It got even better with Mark McGowan's first goal of the year just 1:46 into the second period to make it 3-0, but from there things started getting even more bizarre. A kneeing call against Mark Miller five minutes later went down as another major penalty, this time bringing with it a game misconduct as well, forcing the RPI penalty kill back on another long effort. This time, Colgate broke through a little over three minutes into the major, cutting the RPI lead to 3-1. That was as far as they would get by the time Miller's penalty expired, but they would soon have another big opportunity with the man advantage.
Less than a minute after the Miller major ended, Zach Schroeder was called for boarding next to the Colgate bench and wouldn't you know it, his penalty was a major as well, and it too carried a game misconduct. By the time the second period was over, the Engineers had spent 15 of the game's 40 minutes killing off major penalties, with no intervening Colgate penalties to lighten the burden. However, the goal on the Miller penalty was the only one Colgate would manage on the three.
Ryan Haggerty atoned for his penalty on Friday with a goal 4:21 into the third period that gave RPI its three-goal edge back, and Jacob Laliberte scored his 2nd of the year just over a minute later to make it 5-1 RPI, and despite the strange nature of the penalties in the first two periods, the Engineers were cruising. Haggerty would later add a second goal on the power play to give him 3 for the weekend and 13 for the year. Colgate got a consolation tally just over a minute after Haggerty's second goal, and the junior winger just missed a couple of opportunities late to complete his second hat trick of the season as RPI rolled to a 6-2 victory.
Other junk - For the third week running, the Engineers are the #10 team in the country. This week, they accrued a total of 535 votes as one of six ranked teams from the ECAC, which is more than any other conference in the nation. The other five are #6 Quinnipiac (beat Brown and tied Yale, down 1 with 2 first place votes), #9 Yale (beat Princeton and tied Quinnipiac, no change), #11 Clarkson (swept Dartmouth/Harvard, up five), #17 St. Lawrence (swept Harvard/Dartmouth, previously unranked), and #19 Cornell (tied RPI and lost to Union, down four). Union (24 votes), Brown (2), and Harvard (2) all received votes as well. Others on the RPI schedule this season ranked this week are #1 Minnesota (no change, but only 38 first place votes after all 50 last week), #7 Boston College (up one), and #14 Ferris State (up five). Boston University (39) and New Hampshire (1) also received votes.
Ryan Haggerty's 13 goals are still tops in the nation, his closest competition right now comes from Robert Morris' Cody Wydo and Northern Michigan's Stephan Vigier who each have 10. His 1.3 goals per game is also tops in the nation. He is tied with Vigier on the national lead in power play goals with 6.
Brock Higgs is tied for 15th in the nation in goals per game at 0.70. He's also one of 20 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.
Guy Leboeuf is one of six players in the nation that has netted two shorthanded goals so far this year, and the only defenseman.
Scott Diebold's 1.78 GAA is good enough for 8th in the nation, down from 5th last weekend. At .933 his save percentage is now only 12th.
With 4.10 goals per game, the RPI offense is currently 4th best in the nation, trailing Boston College (5.00), Minnesota (4.38), and Northeastern (4.33). The defense is tied for 10th best in the country (2.20). RPI and Providence are the only schools in the Top 10 in both offense and defense.
The penalty-fest on Saturday pushed the Engineers from 58th in the nation in penalties per game to 46th.
The Route 7 Rivalry is renewed this coming weekend, with the first half on Friday in Schenectady and the second on Saturday in Troy. Both teams are sitting on 6 points just a point out of first in a log-jam at the top of the ECAC, so this weekend certainly sets the tone going forward for chasing the league lead.
ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 7 points (3-0-1)
2. Union - 6 points (3-1-0, +8 GD)
3. Clarkson - 6 points (3-1-0, 0 GD)
4. Yale - 6 points (2-0-2, +6 GD)
5. St. Lawrence - 6 points (2-0-2, +5 GD)
6. RPI - 6 points (2-1-2, +4 GD)
7. Colgate - 4 points (2-2-0)
8. Brown - 3 points (1-2-1, -1 GD)
9. Cornell - 3 points (1-2-1, -4 GD)
10. Harvard - 3 points (1-3-1)
11. Princeton - 0 points (0-4-0, -10 GD)
12. Dartmouth - 0 points (0-4-0, -15 GD)
#15 Cornell at #10 RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/8/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Cornell 3
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
Upcoming games
15 Nov - at Union
16 Nov - Union
22 Nov - at Mercyhurst
23 Nov - at Mercyhurst
06 Dec - #6 Quinnipiac
Tinordi-Higgs-Rogic
Zalewski-Neal-Haggerty
Laliberte-McGowan-Schroeder
Bourbonnais-Miller-DeVito
Leonard-Bradley
Leboeuf-Dolan
Curadi-Reno
Curadi-Reno
Diebold
RPI's main plan of attack has been to get out of the gate quickly, but that was not in the cards against the Big Red. The Engineers were shut out in the first period for only the second time all season, failing to find the back of the net on 7 shots in the first 20 minutes. Instead, it was Cornell opening the scoring eight minutes into the contest on a screened shot from the blueline that made it 1-0 heading into the 1st intermission.
As the waning seconds ticked away in the first period, the Engineers had six men on the ice for at least 15 to 20 seconds before the referees noticed and blew the whistle, giving Cornell 1:54 of power play time to start the second period. However, despite the fresh ice, it was the Engineers who would get the goal during the penalty, as Guy Leboeuf rocketed a shot from the blueline 1:11 into the second to tie the score.
Gradually during the second period, the Engineers began taking the momentum, and on a roughing call with just over five minutes left in the period, they took the lead on Ryan Haggerty's 11th goal of the season, making it 2-1.
Matt Neal scored an insurance goal eight minutes into the third period to make it 3-1, and as time ticked down, it looked like the Engineers had things well in hand, especially after Johnny Rogic was checked from behind into the boards with about seven-and-a-half minutes left to play. The Big Red, fortunate not to be called for a major penalty on the play, killed the penalty and began looking for a goal to cut the RPI lead.
They would not get it until pulling their goaltender with just over 90 seconds left in regulation, as another blueline blast that was screened got past Diebold, making it 3-2. The killer for RPI, however, was that Haggerty was called for a foolish charging penalty just after the goal was scored, immediately putting Cornell on the power play. With the goaltender pulled and an effective two-man advantage on the ice, the Big Red scored the equalizer with 30 seconds left in regulation, and just like that, the Engineer lead had evaporated.
RPI got the lion's share of the opportunities in the extra session, but could not salvage the win despite 5 shots on goal in overtime. It was a tie that most certainly felt like a loss, given how close the Engineers were to finishing up an otherwise solid game with a two-goal edge.
Colgate
Tinordi-Higgs-Rogic
Zalewski-Neal-Haggerty
Laliberte-McGowan-Schroeder
Wood-Miller-DeVito
Curadi-Reno
Leboeuf-Hampton
Leonard-Bradley
Diebold
The only changes to the lineup from the previous night were Jake Wood coming in to replace Riley Bourbonnais, and Phil Hampton coming into the lineup for the second time on the season in place of Bo Dolan.
Brock Higgs broke the Engineers out in their more usual style with a quick goal, scoring seven minutes into the game on a wraparound to give RPI the early 1-0 lead on his 7th goal of the year. But shortly thereafter, a five-minute boarding call on Luke Curadi put the Engineers on a long penalty kill. His offense did not result in a game misconduct, which would prove crucial for RPI down the road.
It was the Engineers who got the offense out of the long power play, but it came in a strange play. Shortly after a two-on-one shorthanded opportunity was broken up in the Colgate zone, the Engineers sent the puck back down to their own zone to kill more time. Guy Leboeuf scooped up the puck behind his own blueline and powered it down in a clearance attempt as RPI went to change lines. However, the puck bounced a couple of times on its way down the ice, and after being misplayed by the Colgate goalkeeper, found the back of the net instead of the end boards, a bizarre goal giving RPI a 2-0 lead.
After killing the Curadi penalty and taking a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, things looked pretty good for the home team. It got even better with Mark McGowan's first goal of the year just 1:46 into the second period to make it 3-0, but from there things started getting even more bizarre. A kneeing call against Mark Miller five minutes later went down as another major penalty, this time bringing with it a game misconduct as well, forcing the RPI penalty kill back on another long effort. This time, Colgate broke through a little over three minutes into the major, cutting the RPI lead to 3-1. That was as far as they would get by the time Miller's penalty expired, but they would soon have another big opportunity with the man advantage.
Less than a minute after the Miller major ended, Zach Schroeder was called for boarding next to the Colgate bench and wouldn't you know it, his penalty was a major as well, and it too carried a game misconduct. By the time the second period was over, the Engineers had spent 15 of the game's 40 minutes killing off major penalties, with no intervening Colgate penalties to lighten the burden. However, the goal on the Miller penalty was the only one Colgate would manage on the three.
Ryan Haggerty atoned for his penalty on Friday with a goal 4:21 into the third period that gave RPI its three-goal edge back, and Jacob Laliberte scored his 2nd of the year just over a minute later to make it 5-1 RPI, and despite the strange nature of the penalties in the first two periods, the Engineers were cruising. Haggerty would later add a second goal on the power play to give him 3 for the weekend and 13 for the year. Colgate got a consolation tally just over a minute after Haggerty's second goal, and the junior winger just missed a couple of opportunities late to complete his second hat trick of the season as RPI rolled to a 6-2 victory.
Ryan Haggerty's 13 goals are still tops in the nation, his closest competition right now comes from Robert Morris' Cody Wydo and Northern Michigan's Stephan Vigier who each have 10. His 1.3 goals per game is also tops in the nation. He is tied with Vigier on the national lead in power play goals with 6.
Brock Higgs is tied for 15th in the nation in goals per game at 0.70. He's also one of 20 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.
Guy Leboeuf is one of six players in the nation that has netted two shorthanded goals so far this year, and the only defenseman.
Scott Diebold's 1.78 GAA is good enough for 8th in the nation, down from 5th last weekend. At .933 his save percentage is now only 12th.
With 4.10 goals per game, the RPI offense is currently 4th best in the nation, trailing Boston College (5.00), Minnesota (4.38), and Northeastern (4.33). The defense is tied for 10th best in the country (2.20). RPI and Providence are the only schools in the Top 10 in both offense and defense.
The penalty-fest on Saturday pushed the Engineers from 58th in the nation in penalties per game to 46th.
The Route 7 Rivalry is renewed this coming weekend, with the first half on Friday in Schenectady and the second on Saturday in Troy. Both teams are sitting on 6 points just a point out of first in a log-jam at the top of the ECAC, so this weekend certainly sets the tone going forward for chasing the league lead.
ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 7 points (3-0-1)
2. Union - 6 points (3-1-0, +8 GD)
3. Clarkson - 6 points (3-1-0, 0 GD)
4. Yale - 6 points (2-0-2, +6 GD)
5. St. Lawrence - 6 points (2-0-2, +5 GD)
6. RPI - 6 points (2-1-2, +4 GD)
7. Colgate - 4 points (2-2-0)
8. Brown - 3 points (1-2-1, -1 GD)
9. Cornell - 3 points (1-2-1, -4 GD)
10. Harvard - 3 points (1-3-1)
11. Princeton - 0 points (0-4-0, -10 GD)
12. Dartmouth - 0 points (0-4-0, -15 GD)
#15 Cornell at #10 RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/8/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Cornell 3
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECORD: 5-2-2 (1-1-2 ECAC, 4 pts)
Colgate at #10 RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/9/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 6, Colgate 2
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/9/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 6, Colgate 2
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECORD: 6-2-2 (2-1-2 ECAC, 6 pts)
Upcoming games
15 Nov - at Union
16 Nov - Union
22 Nov - at Mercyhurst
23 Nov - at Mercyhurst
06 Dec - #6 Quinnipiac
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Men's Hockey - Harvard, at Harvard/Dartmouth (29 Oct, 1/2 Nov)
The Engineers played a rare (very rare) 3-games-in-5-days schedule to open the ECAC season and complete their entire season series with the Harvard Crimson, and the results were fairly mixed. A difficult home tie on Tuesday was followed by a tough loss at Harvard on Friday and a big road win over a struggling Dartmouth team on Saturday. That starts the Engineers off with a .500 record in league play through 3 games, a position they're going to need to improve on going forward.
Harvard - Tuesday
Tinordi-Higgs-Rogic
Laliberte-McGowan-Haggerty
Zalewski-Neal-Bubela
Wood-Miller-Schroeder
Diebold
There were no changes in the RPI lineup from the previous Saturday's victory over New Hampshire - the lines and the players were exactly the same. As it turned out, much of the gameflow from the UNH game ended up being exactly the same, too.
It got underway with an early goal by Johnny Rogic - not quite as early as his first minute tally against the Wildcats, but plenty quickly nonetheless at 4:33 of the first period, giving RPI a 1-0 lead on their very first shot of the game. Ryan Haggerty added another goal, his 9th of the season, about two and a half minutes later on RPI's second shot of the game during the first power play opportunity for either team to make it 2-0. The score was actually a bit of a reversal in fortunes, as Harvard controlled the opening faceoff and then pinned the Engineers in their own zone for a good chunk of the game's opening moments.
Brock Higgs netted his 3rd goal of the campaign at 15:30, and it looked as though the Engineers were ready to start putting the hammer down with a commanding 3-0 lead, given that the Crimson did not appear likely to break through against Scott Diebold any time soon.
The Crimson did eventually make that breakthrough seven minutes into the second period as the tide of the game slowly turned very much in Harvard's favor during the course of the middle frame. RPI was still putting pucks on net in the 2nd, forcing Steve Michalek to make 11 saves in the period, but gradually the Crimson started winning more puck battles and owning the puck more frequently. Despite the trailing off in intensity, the Engineers still had a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
The final 20 minutes of regulation was almost a complete collapse for the Engineers as they finished blowing the three-goal lead they'd earned in the first 15 minutes. Harvard scored three minutes into the third to cut the remaining RPI lead in half, then proceeded to completely dominate play for the remaining 17 minutes, earning the tying goal at 10:48 and on many occasions coming close to taking the lead.
RPI, fortunate to survive the third without completing their collapse, seemed to wake up in the overtime period, nearly gaining back the league point they'd coughed up in the third period but ultimately failing to record even a single shot on goal in the extra five minutes. In all honesty, Harvard probably deserved the win more than RPI, but given the 3-0 edge the Engineers held, the tie was probably more difficult to swallow for the home team than for the Crimson.
Harvard - Friday
Tinordi-Higgs-Rogic
Laliberte-Schroeder-Haggerty
Zalewski-Neal-Bubela
Wood-McGowan-DeVito
Diebold
Despite the lethargic play for most of the Tuesday game, only one substitution was made in the lineup as Jimmy DeVito came in to replace Mark Miller, who sat out a game for the first time in his collegiate career. Zach Schroeder was moved up to center the second line, while Mark McGowan took Miller's place centering the fourth line.
As has become the norm, the Engineers started Friday's game off quickly, unleashing a number of shots toward Harvard netminder Raphael Girard, but unlike most of their previous games, there was no breakthrough in the first 20 minutes. After failing to score on two power play opportunities in the first five minutes of the game, RPI started to back off considerably, especially once forced to kill a 1:49 5-on-3 opportunity for Harvard. They escaped the long kill unscathed, and there was no score after one period.
Harvard got all the offense they would need off the opening faceoff in the second period, scoring just 19 seconds into the middle stanza to take a 1-0 lead. From there on, they needed just 15 saves from Girard for the final 40 minutes of play to secure two points and a 3-1 series win over the Engineers in just four days time. RPI did not seem to be close to even threatening to score in the final two periods. Harvard would pick up an empty net goal with just over a minute left in the game to secure the victory.
Scott Diebold actually had a very good game and could hardly be blamed for the loss - he stopped 30 of 31 shots as a hard-luck loser, actually improving both his GAA and his save percentage despite losing. Oddly, there were no penalties called in the second or third periods after the teams had combined for five during the first 15 minutes of the first period.
Dartmouth
Tinordi-Higgs-Rogic
Zalewski-Neal-Haggerty
Laliberte-McGowan-Schroeder
Bourbonnais-Miller-DeVito
Leonard-Bradley
Diebold
Mark Miller's return dovetailed with Milos Bubela following his lead from the previous night and sitting out for the first time in his collegiate career. Riley Bourbonnais made his college debut as well, replacing Jake Wood in the lineup.
Desperately in need of some points to salvage what was becoming a lost week, the Engineers weathered an early storm by killing off a penalty to Bo Dolan that came 4 minutes into the affair, then about a minute later went up 1-0 on Ryan Haggerty's national leading 10th goal of the season. That was followed just 13 seconds later by Brock Higgs' 4th goal of the year to make it 2-0 RPI. The senior would pick up a second goal on RPI's first power play of the evening at 16:23 to give the Engineers a 3-0 first period lead for the third time in five games. Notably, Haggerty picked up his first assist of the season on Higgs' second goal.
The onslaught continued in the second period, as Matt Neal scored his 2nd of the year just 1:32 in to make it 4-0, and Higgs completed the hat trick later in the period for his 6th goal of the season, like his second one on the power play, giving RPI a 5-0 lead through two periods.
In previous games, the Engineers had maintained cruise control with big leads in the 3rd period, but they continued pouring it on. Jacob Laliberte lit the lamp for the first time this year at 5:26 to make it 6-0. Dartmouth got one back on the power play following a hitting from behind call to Curadi with just over five minutes left to play to scuttle Scott Diebold's shutout efforts, but Curadi made up for it by scoring his first collegiate goal on a blast from the blue line on RPI's subsequent power play chance just over two minutes later to make the final score 7-1.
Diebold was brilliant again, stopping 31 of 32 shots on the evening for a road weekend total of 61 for 63 on saves.
Other junk - Given the up-and-down nature of the weekend, it's not too shocking to see that RPI has not moved at all in the USCHO poll this week, staying at #10 for the second consecutive week. Other ranked ECAC teams this week are #5 Quinnipiac (swept at Colgate/Cornell, up two), #9 Yale (tied SLU and beat Clarkson, up two), #15 Cornell (beat Princeton and lost to Quinnipiac, down one), and #16 Clarkson (beat Brown and lost to Yale, up one). St. Lawrence (34 votes), Union (30), Harvard (22), and Brown (8) also received votes. Other teams on the Engineers' schedule that are ranked include #1 Minnesota (all 50 first place votes, no change), #8 Boston College (no change), #17 Boston University (up one), and #19 Ferris State (previously unranked). New Hampshire (13) also received votes.
Ryan Haggerty's 10 goals is the most in the nation, his closest trailer is Miami's Riley Barber with 8. His 1.25 goals per game leads the nation, and he's one of five players in the country scoring a goal per game or higher.
Haggerty is also tied (with seven other players) for the national lead in power play goals with 4. Brock Higgs is tied with 16 players nationally who are right behind with 3.
Scott Diebold's 1.58 GAA is fifth in the nation, while his .946 save percentage has him tied for fourth.
RPI is tied with Union for the 6th highest scoring offense in the nation (4.00 GPG), and with Denver and UMass-Lowell for the 9th strongest team defense (2.12 GAA). The 1.88 GPG average scoring margin is fourth in the country, behind Minnesota, Providence, and Quinnipiac.
The Engineers' discipline has been superb on a national level - only UConn takes fewer penalty minutes per game.
Next up for RPI is the home weekend against Central New York - Cornell and Colgate. Home points are always a must, but they're even more important now with most of the league having a game in hand over the Engineers, as well as the 1 point showing for the season against Harvard.
ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 4 points (2-0-0, +8 GD)
2. Union - 4 points (2-0-0, +7 GD)
3. Yale - 3 points (1-0-1)
4. RPI - 3 points (1-1-1, +4 GD)
5. Harvard - 3 points (1-1-1, 0 GD)
6. St. Lawrence - 2 points (1-1-0, 0 GD)
7. Cornell - 2 points (1-1-0, -1 GD)
8. Clarkson - 2 points (1-1-0, -2 GD)
9. Colgate - 2 points (1-1-0, -3 GD)
10. Brown - 1 point (0-1-1, -1 GD)
11. Princeton - 0 points (0-2-0, -4 GD)
12. Dartmouth - 0 points (0-2-0, -11 GD)
Harvard at #10 RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/29/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Harvard 3
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
Upcoming games
08 Nov - #15 Cornell
09 Nov - Colgate
15 Nov - Union
16 Nov - at Union
22 Nov - at Mercyhurst
Harvard - Tuesday
Tinordi-Higgs-Rogic
Laliberte-McGowan-Haggerty
Zalewski-Neal-Bubela
Wood-Miller-Schroeder
Leboeuf-Dolan
Leonard-Bradley
Curadi-Reno
Leonard-Bradley
Curadi-Reno
Diebold
There were no changes in the RPI lineup from the previous Saturday's victory over New Hampshire - the lines and the players were exactly the same. As it turned out, much of the gameflow from the UNH game ended up being exactly the same, too.
It got underway with an early goal by Johnny Rogic - not quite as early as his first minute tally against the Wildcats, but plenty quickly nonetheless at 4:33 of the first period, giving RPI a 1-0 lead on their very first shot of the game. Ryan Haggerty added another goal, his 9th of the season, about two and a half minutes later on RPI's second shot of the game during the first power play opportunity for either team to make it 2-0. The score was actually a bit of a reversal in fortunes, as Harvard controlled the opening faceoff and then pinned the Engineers in their own zone for a good chunk of the game's opening moments.
Brock Higgs netted his 3rd goal of the campaign at 15:30, and it looked as though the Engineers were ready to start putting the hammer down with a commanding 3-0 lead, given that the Crimson did not appear likely to break through against Scott Diebold any time soon.
The Crimson did eventually make that breakthrough seven minutes into the second period as the tide of the game slowly turned very much in Harvard's favor during the course of the middle frame. RPI was still putting pucks on net in the 2nd, forcing Steve Michalek to make 11 saves in the period, but gradually the Crimson started winning more puck battles and owning the puck more frequently. Despite the trailing off in intensity, the Engineers still had a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
The final 20 minutes of regulation was almost a complete collapse for the Engineers as they finished blowing the three-goal lead they'd earned in the first 15 minutes. Harvard scored three minutes into the third to cut the remaining RPI lead in half, then proceeded to completely dominate play for the remaining 17 minutes, earning the tying goal at 10:48 and on many occasions coming close to taking the lead.
RPI, fortunate to survive the third without completing their collapse, seemed to wake up in the overtime period, nearly gaining back the league point they'd coughed up in the third period but ultimately failing to record even a single shot on goal in the extra five minutes. In all honesty, Harvard probably deserved the win more than RPI, but given the 3-0 edge the Engineers held, the tie was probably more difficult to swallow for the home team than for the Crimson.
Harvard - Friday
Tinordi-Higgs-Rogic
Laliberte-Schroeder-Haggerty
Zalewski-Neal-Bubela
Wood-McGowan-DeVito
Leboeuf-Dolan
Leonard-Bradley
Curadi-Reno
Leonard-Bradley
Curadi-Reno
Diebold
Despite the lethargic play for most of the Tuesday game, only one substitution was made in the lineup as Jimmy DeVito came in to replace Mark Miller, who sat out a game for the first time in his collegiate career. Zach Schroeder was moved up to center the second line, while Mark McGowan took Miller's place centering the fourth line.
As has become the norm, the Engineers started Friday's game off quickly, unleashing a number of shots toward Harvard netminder Raphael Girard, but unlike most of their previous games, there was no breakthrough in the first 20 minutes. After failing to score on two power play opportunities in the first five minutes of the game, RPI started to back off considerably, especially once forced to kill a 1:49 5-on-3 opportunity for Harvard. They escaped the long kill unscathed, and there was no score after one period.
Harvard got all the offense they would need off the opening faceoff in the second period, scoring just 19 seconds into the middle stanza to take a 1-0 lead. From there on, they needed just 15 saves from Girard for the final 40 minutes of play to secure two points and a 3-1 series win over the Engineers in just four days time. RPI did not seem to be close to even threatening to score in the final two periods. Harvard would pick up an empty net goal with just over a minute left in the game to secure the victory.
Scott Diebold actually had a very good game and could hardly be blamed for the loss - he stopped 30 of 31 shots as a hard-luck loser, actually improving both his GAA and his save percentage despite losing. Oddly, there were no penalties called in the second or third periods after the teams had combined for five during the first 15 minutes of the first period.
Dartmouth
Tinordi-Higgs-Rogic
Zalewski-Neal-Haggerty
Laliberte-McGowan-Schroeder
Bourbonnais-Miller-DeVito
Leonard-Bradley
Leboeuf-Dolan
Curadi-Reno
Curadi-Reno
Diebold
Mark Miller's return dovetailed with Milos Bubela following his lead from the previous night and sitting out for the first time in his collegiate career. Riley Bourbonnais made his college debut as well, replacing Jake Wood in the lineup.
Desperately in need of some points to salvage what was becoming a lost week, the Engineers weathered an early storm by killing off a penalty to Bo Dolan that came 4 minutes into the affair, then about a minute later went up 1-0 on Ryan Haggerty's national leading 10th goal of the season. That was followed just 13 seconds later by Brock Higgs' 4th goal of the year to make it 2-0 RPI. The senior would pick up a second goal on RPI's first power play of the evening at 16:23 to give the Engineers a 3-0 first period lead for the third time in five games. Notably, Haggerty picked up his first assist of the season on Higgs' second goal.
The onslaught continued in the second period, as Matt Neal scored his 2nd of the year just 1:32 in to make it 4-0, and Higgs completed the hat trick later in the period for his 6th goal of the season, like his second one on the power play, giving RPI a 5-0 lead through two periods.
In previous games, the Engineers had maintained cruise control with big leads in the 3rd period, but they continued pouring it on. Jacob Laliberte lit the lamp for the first time this year at 5:26 to make it 6-0. Dartmouth got one back on the power play following a hitting from behind call to Curadi with just over five minutes left to play to scuttle Scott Diebold's shutout efforts, but Curadi made up for it by scoring his first collegiate goal on a blast from the blue line on RPI's subsequent power play chance just over two minutes later to make the final score 7-1.
Diebold was brilliant again, stopping 31 of 32 shots on the evening for a road weekend total of 61 for 63 on saves.
Ryan Haggerty's 10 goals is the most in the nation, his closest trailer is Miami's Riley Barber with 8. His 1.25 goals per game leads the nation, and he's one of five players in the country scoring a goal per game or higher.
Haggerty is also tied (with seven other players) for the national lead in power play goals with 4. Brock Higgs is tied with 16 players nationally who are right behind with 3.
Scott Diebold's 1.58 GAA is fifth in the nation, while his .946 save percentage has him tied for fourth.
RPI is tied with Union for the 6th highest scoring offense in the nation (4.00 GPG), and with Denver and UMass-Lowell for the 9th strongest team defense (2.12 GAA). The 1.88 GPG average scoring margin is fourth in the country, behind Minnesota, Providence, and Quinnipiac.
The Engineers' discipline has been superb on a national level - only UConn takes fewer penalty minutes per game.
Next up for RPI is the home weekend against Central New York - Cornell and Colgate. Home points are always a must, but they're even more important now with most of the league having a game in hand over the Engineers, as well as the 1 point showing for the season against Harvard.
ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 4 points (2-0-0, +8 GD)
2. Union - 4 points (2-0-0, +7 GD)
3. Yale - 3 points (1-0-1)
4. RPI - 3 points (1-1-1, +4 GD)
5. Harvard - 3 points (1-1-1, 0 GD)
6. St. Lawrence - 2 points (1-1-0, 0 GD)
7. Cornell - 2 points (1-1-0, -1 GD)
8. Clarkson - 2 points (1-1-0, -2 GD)
9. Colgate - 2 points (1-1-0, -3 GD)
10. Brown - 1 point (0-1-1, -1 GD)
11. Princeton - 0 points (0-2-0, -4 GD)
12. Dartmouth - 0 points (0-2-0, -11 GD)
Harvard at #10 RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/29/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Harvard 3
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECORD: 4-1-1 (0-0-1 ECAC, 1 pt)
#10 RPI at Harvard
ECAC Game - Bright Hockey Center (Boston, MA)
11/1/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: Harvard 2, RPI 0
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
ECAC Game - Bright Hockey Center (Boston, MA)
11/1/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: Harvard 2, RPI 0
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
RECORD: 4-2-1 (0-1-1 ECAC, 1 pt)
#10 RPI at Dartmouth
ECAC Game - Thompson Arena (Hanover, NH)
11/2/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 7, Dartmouth 1
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
ECAC Game - Thompson Arena (Hanover, NH)
11/2/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 7, Dartmouth 1
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
RECORD: 5-2-1 (1-1-1 ECAC, 3 pts)
Upcoming games
08 Nov - #15 Cornell
09 Nov - Colgate
15 Nov - Union
16 Nov - at Union
22 Nov - at Mercyhurst
Monday, January 23, 2012
Men's Hockey - at Brown & Yale (20/21 Jan)
Last week, we commented on what a difference four days could make in a team's psyche as they went from a victory to a difficult loss against Union. Well, six days can apparently be a positive aspect, too. The Engineers put in 120 solid minutes of play on the road this past weekend and posted arguably their best two-game result of the season thus far, shutting out Brown for the second time this season with a 3-0 victory over Brown and earning a gritty 2-1 victory over Yale.
Brown
Lee/Higgs/Schroeder
Cullen/McGowan/Haggerty
Laliberte/O'Grady/Tinordi
Rogic/Malchuk/Burgdoerfer
Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen
Leboeuf/Bailen
Koudys/Dolan
Merriam
Alex Angers-Goulet missed a second consecutive week with an injury he picked up against Harvard, and Matt Neal's bumpy health year continued with a stomach bug that kept him at home all weekend.
Things looked rough for the Engineers early on as they picked up a pair of early penalties that put them on the penalty kill for basically four of the game's first five minutes. C.J. Lee picked up an interference penalty just 14 seconds into the game, followed by a high-sticking call against Greg Burgdoerfer, but the RPI penalty kill successfully snuffed out both Brown advantages. All told, the first period was fairly even, but produced no scoring.
Brown's second period began much the same way RPI's first period began - with a pair of early penalties. The major difference was in the subsequent execution of the ensuing power plays, both of which the Engineers scored on to take control of the contest. Nick Bailen scored his fifth goal of the season 59 seconds into the first power play chance at 1:39 to put RPI on the board, then Marty O'Grady notched his second goal of the year a little less than three minutes later to make it 2-0.
Things threatened to get much worse for Brown as they picked up yet another penalty just 19 seconds after O'Grady's goal, but head coach Brendan Whittet called timeout to rally the troops, and the Bears successfully killed off that power play.
Meanwhile, with the two-goal lead, Bryce Merriam became the star of the game. The junior goaltender stopped 14 shots in the first period and 16 in the third, making a total of 36 saves in all to earn his second career shutout, which also happened to be his second shutout of the season and second shutout of Brown. Merriam stopped all 58 shots that the Bears put on him this season.
Zach Schroeder added an empty netter with 1:30 left in the game to seal the victory, his fourth goal of the year.
Alex Angers-Goulet missed a second consecutive week with an injury he picked up against Harvard, and Matt Neal's bumpy health year continued with a stomach bug that kept him at home all weekend.
Things looked rough for the Engineers early on as they picked up a pair of early penalties that put them on the penalty kill for basically four of the game's first five minutes. C.J. Lee picked up an interference penalty just 14 seconds into the game, followed by a high-sticking call against Greg Burgdoerfer, but the RPI penalty kill successfully snuffed out both Brown advantages. All told, the first period was fairly even, but produced no scoring.
Brown's second period began much the same way RPI's first period began - with a pair of early penalties. The major difference was in the subsequent execution of the ensuing power plays, both of which the Engineers scored on to take control of the contest. Nick Bailen scored his fifth goal of the season 59 seconds into the first power play chance at 1:39 to put RPI on the board, then Marty O'Grady notched his second goal of the year a little less than three minutes later to make it 2-0.
Things threatened to get much worse for Brown as they picked up yet another penalty just 19 seconds after O'Grady's goal, but head coach Brendan Whittet called timeout to rally the troops, and the Bears successfully killed off that power play.
Meanwhile, with the two-goal lead, Bryce Merriam became the star of the game. The junior goaltender stopped 14 shots in the first period and 16 in the third, making a total of 36 saves in all to earn his second career shutout, which also happened to be his second shutout of the season and second shutout of Brown. Merriam stopped all 58 shots that the Bears put on him this season.
Zach Schroeder added an empty netter with 1:30 left in the game to seal the victory, his fourth goal of the year.
Yale
Lee/Higgs/Schroeder
Cullen/McGowan/Haggerty
Laliberte/O'Grady/Tinordi
Rogic/Malchuk/Burgdoerfer
Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen
Leboeuf/Bailen
Koudys/Dolan
Merriam
You go with what works sometimes in hockey... the lineup was exactly the same on Saturday as it was on Friday, and it paid off in spades for the Engineers.
After a first period in which the teams largely felt each other out, the second period included a barrage of shots from Yale thanks to some very solid puck possession by the Bulldogs. Merriam faced 19 shots in the second period alone, but turned away each and every one of them to maintain the 0-0 score through 40 minutes of play. Yale was able to maintain a 27-11 shooting advantage after two periods.
The main event of the second period involved a serious scrum in front of Merriam after Yale's Clinton Bourbonais ran into him. RPI got a power play out of it, but lost Mike Bergin for 10 minutes after he was assessed a misconduct for leaving the bench during the tussle.
That misconduct proved dangerous for the Engineers early in the third period as Pat Koudys was assessed a tripping penalty, putting the available complement of defensemen for the penalty kill down to four, but the penalty kill and Merriam stood tall once again, as the PK went a perfect 8-for-8 on the weekend.
Despite the wide disparity in shots, RPI was the first onto the scoreboard as Marty O'Grady finally broke the ice 5:45 into the third with his second goal of the weekend. Just over three minutes later, he did it again by stealing the puck right out from under Yale goaltender Jeff Malcolm's blocker, putting it into the empty net after Malcolm had thought it was covered, putting RPI up 2-0 on O'Grady's fourth goal of the season and third of the weekend.
Yale pulled Malcolm from the goal with just over two minutes left to play, and with the extra attacker the Bulldogs took complete control of the RPI zone, unleashing an absolute frenzy of shots that had Merriam scrambling to and fro, making save after save. He would finish with 18 saves in the third period for a total of 45 in the game, but he lost his shutout bid on a very weak shot that Yale's Kevin Limbert appeared to miss. Setting into position for the wrister, the puck instead trickled slowly between his legs and into the back of the net, making it 2-1 with 1:42 left in the game. The goal ended a shutout streak of 121:15 for Merriam.
The Bulldogs continued to push for the equalizer, but a tired RPI defense, led again by Merriam, stood up to the challenge and managed to escape with a 2-1 victory, the Engineers' first four-point weekend since hosting Brown and Yale (in that order) on January 28 and 29 of last year - last Freakout! weekend.
The immediate schedule does look promising for RPI if this past weekend's games are more than just a fluke. They have pulled within 2 points of getting themselves out of the cellar, and lo and behold, it's 11th place St. Lawrence, nursing a six-game winless streak in league play, coming to Houston Field House on Friday. After Clarkson on Saturday, it's then Freakout! weekend once again, which kicks off with a very difficult challenge in Cornell, but then features a Colgate team winless since the start of 2012 in the main event. Have we reached a turning point? We'll see.
You go with what works sometimes in hockey... the lineup was exactly the same on Saturday as it was on Friday, and it paid off in spades for the Engineers.
After a first period in which the teams largely felt each other out, the second period included a barrage of shots from Yale thanks to some very solid puck possession by the Bulldogs. Merriam faced 19 shots in the second period alone, but turned away each and every one of them to maintain the 0-0 score through 40 minutes of play. Yale was able to maintain a 27-11 shooting advantage after two periods.
The main event of the second period involved a serious scrum in front of Merriam after Yale's Clinton Bourbonais ran into him. RPI got a power play out of it, but lost Mike Bergin for 10 minutes after he was assessed a misconduct for leaving the bench during the tussle.
That misconduct proved dangerous for the Engineers early in the third period as Pat Koudys was assessed a tripping penalty, putting the available complement of defensemen for the penalty kill down to four, but the penalty kill and Merriam stood tall once again, as the PK went a perfect 8-for-8 on the weekend.
Despite the wide disparity in shots, RPI was the first onto the scoreboard as Marty O'Grady finally broke the ice 5:45 into the third with his second goal of the weekend. Just over three minutes later, he did it again by stealing the puck right out from under Yale goaltender Jeff Malcolm's blocker, putting it into the empty net after Malcolm had thought it was covered, putting RPI up 2-0 on O'Grady's fourth goal of the season and third of the weekend.
Yale pulled Malcolm from the goal with just over two minutes left to play, and with the extra attacker the Bulldogs took complete control of the RPI zone, unleashing an absolute frenzy of shots that had Merriam scrambling to and fro, making save after save. He would finish with 18 saves in the third period for a total of 45 in the game, but he lost his shutout bid on a very weak shot that Yale's Kevin Limbert appeared to miss. Setting into position for the wrister, the puck instead trickled slowly between his legs and into the back of the net, making it 2-1 with 1:42 left in the game. The goal ended a shutout streak of 121:15 for Merriam.
The Bulldogs continued to push for the equalizer, but a tired RPI defense, led again by Merriam, stood up to the challenge and managed to escape with a 2-1 victory, the Engineers' first four-point weekend since hosting Brown and Yale (in that order) on January 28 and 29 of last year - last Freakout! weekend.
The immediate schedule does look promising for RPI if this past weekend's games are more than just a fluke. They have pulled within 2 points of getting themselves out of the cellar, and lo and behold, it's 11th place St. Lawrence, nursing a six-game winless streak in league play, coming to Houston Field House on Friday. After Clarkson on Saturday, it's then Freakout! weekend once again, which kicks off with a very difficult challenge in Cornell, but then features a Colgate team winless since the start of 2012 in the main event. Have we reached a turning point? We'll see.
Other junk - Ranked teams on the RPI schedule this week are #4 Notre Dame (up three), #9 Cornell (no change), #10 Ferris State (up three), #11 UMass-Lowell (up three), #12 Colorado College (down one) and #14 Union (down two). Also receiving votes were Colgate (ex-#18, 43 votes), Quinnipiac (24), Harvard (8) and RIT (7).
ECAC Standings (by win% in parentheses)
1 (1). Cornell - 19 pts (8-1-3)
2 (2). Union - 17 pts (7-3-3)
2 (2). Union - 17 pts (7-3-3)
3 (7). Quinnipiac - 14 pts (5-5-4)
4 (3). Colgate - 13 pts (6-5-1)
5 (4). Clarkson - 13 pts (5-4-3)
5 (4). Clarkson - 13 pts (5-4-3)
6 (6). Brown - 12 pts (5-5-2)
7 (8). Harvard - 12 pts (3-4-6)
8 (10). Princeton - 12 pts (5-8-2)
8 (10). Princeton - 12 pts (5-8-2)
9 (5). Dartmouth - 11 pts (5-5-1)
10 (9). Yale - 11 pts (5-6-1)
10 (9). Yale - 11 pts (5-6-1)
11 (11). St. Lawrence - 9 pts (4-7-1)
12 (12). RPI - 7 pts (3-8-1)
RPI at Brown
ECAC Game - Meehan Auditorium (Providence, RI)
1/20/12- 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Brown 0
BOX SCORES
ECAC Game - Meehan Auditorium (Providence, RI)
1/20/12- 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Brown 0
BOX SCORES
RECAPS
RECORD: 5-17-1 (2-8-1 ECAC, 5 pts)
RPI at Yale
ECAC Game - Ingalls Rink (New Haven, CT)
1/21/12 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 2, Yale 1
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
ECAC Game - Ingalls Rink (New Haven, CT)
1/21/12 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 2, Yale 1
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECAPS
RECORD: 6-17-1 (3-8-1 ECAC, 7 pts)
Upcoming games
27 Jan - St. Lawrence
28 Jan - Clarkson
03 Feb - #9 Cornell
04 Feb - Colgate
10 Feb - at Harvard
04 Feb - Colgate
10 Feb - at Harvard
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Hero #1: Brock Higgs
Two goals, finally putting a puck in the net on a 5-on-3 for the Engineers and then stopping Colgate cold in their tracks with a timely goal just 39 seconds after the Raiders had pulled within one.
So... who wants to be the hero tonight?
Monday, January 24, 2011
Men's Hockey - Harvard and Dartmouth (21/22 Jan)
Finally, the Engineers have a weekend sweep in the ECAC after six tries, but it didn't come down the way most people expected it would. The Engineers had to battle to get a 3-2 win over Harvard, but then dominated against #18 Dartmouth in what was probably the team's most complete game of the season to earn a 5-1 victory over the Big Green.
Harvard
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag
Cullen/Higgs/Rabbani
O'Grady/Polacek/Helfrich
Tinordi/Rogic/Smith
Bergin/Foss
Koudys/Dolan
Bailen/Kennedy
York
C.J. Lee's suspension and Scott Halpern's continuing ankle injury were the only major issues in crafting a lineup on Friday, as Marty O'Grady and Bryan Brutlag returned to the lineup - both missing only one game in the end after O'Grady volunteered to play relatively hurt against Colgate in place of Brutlag, who had no lingering effects of being knocked out against Cornell. Brock Higgs also made his valiant return to the lineup after being out for nearly a month with that scary throat cut.
Given what was to come, the first 10 minutes were pretty uninteresting. No goals, no penalties, not an awful lot of shots coming from either direction. The first notable event of the game came 13 minutes into the contest, when Patrick Cullen picked up the deflection from a weak pass by Josh Rabbani for his third goal of the season, giving RPI a 1-0 lead on a goal that Harvard's Kyle Richter is probably still kicking himself over.
Speaking of goals to kick yourself over, Allen York proceeded to give up an even worse one with less than 20 seconds left in the first period. Going behind the net to grab a loose puck, he misplayed it to the left side of his cage, where it was scooped up by Harvard's Michael Del Mauro, who promptly stuck it in the empty net to make it 1-1 going into the 1st intermission.
The beginning of the second period, however, became a showcase for the best player in Troy. Two minutes into the period during a 4-on-4, Brock Higgs stole the puck right in the middle of the Harvard zone while forechecking. Higgs promptly fed it to Polacek, who rifled it into the net in an impromptu 2-on-1 following a Harvard breakout attempt, making it 2-1 RPI. A minute and a half later, it basically happened again in a very similar fashion. The RPI forecheck managed to keep Harvard from clearing the zone, and this time it was Nick Bailen getting the steal after an excellent check by Alex Angers-Goulet. Bailen made a cross-ice pass to Polacek, who then used a screen by Angers-Goulet to score his second goal in 1:37 of game time, his 13th of the season, to put RPI up 3-2.
To that point in the game, there had been just three penalties called - one on RPI in the 1st, and matching minors early in the 2nd that created the 4-on-4 situation. But the remainder of the game would be marred by the penalties that were called - seven on RPI, and only one on Harvard (for too many men). The Engineers managed to get by on the two calls during the second period, but a number of questionable calls in the third period finally proved to be too much to handle. Shortly after killing an interference call against Joel Malchuk that was made just 10 seconds into the third, RPI found themselves in a tight spot with Angers-Goulet and Polacek, arguably the two best penalty killers on the team, called for penalties 9 seconds apart. The ensuing 5-on-3 was almost killed off, but there's only so much you can do when you've got three guys out there that have been killing penalties for most of the period. Pier-Oliver Michaud scored his first goal of the year with less than 15 seconds left on the 5-on-3 to bring Harvard within one.
The Harvard penalty for too many men gave RPI its only power play chance of the game, which they did not convert. True to form, Bryan Hicks gave Harvard a pair of opportunities to tie the game on the power play late, including one late enough for Ted Donato to pull Richter from the net to create a 6-on-4. The Engineers survived the late onslaught, and Allen York made 17 saves in the 3rd period alone to help preserve the win for RPI. The Engineers had only 3 shots of their own in the final 20 minutes.
Dartmouth
Angers-Goulet/O'Grady/Brutlag
Cullen/Higgs/Rabbani
Lee/Polacek/Helfrich
Burgdoerfer/Rogic/Malchuk
Bergin/Foss
Koudys/Dolan
Leboeuf/Bailen
York
The only real lineup differences for Saturday were C.J. Lee's reinsertion following the end of his suspension, Greg Burgdoerfer playing in place of Matt Tinordi, and John Kennedy, who suffered an ankle injury late in the Harvard game - his timetable for return is unknown. It could be this Friday, or he could be out for a while.
Immediately after the Harvard game, the players told the media that they knew they'd need to play better against Dartmouth, who jumped on Union for three goals in 10:10 on Friday night to issue the Dutchmen their first home loss of the season. That's essentially what happened for RPI, even right out of the gate. Just 2:20 into the 1st, the Engineers got themselves on the board first for the third straight game as Johnny Rogic zoomed up the left wing, taking a quick shot before going behind the net that was scooped up and put in the net by Joel Malchuk, scoring his fourth of the year to put RPI up 1-0.
Excellent puck control in the first period led to an 11-8 edge in shots for the Engineers after one period, and that generally carried over into the second period despite continued penalty issues that saw the Big Green getting four power play chances by the time the game was 28 minutes old. The RPI penalty kill held up throughout, allowing the Engineers the opportunity to go up two on their next power play chance.
A cross-ice feed through the slot from Nick Bailen to Chase Polacek was one-timed in just below the faceoff dot for another impressive goal from the senior assistant captain about a minute into RPI's third man advantage of the night, putting the Engineers up 2-0.
About four minutes later, it was Dartmouth's turn to start getting in penalty trouble, as the Engineers gained a 5-on-3 for over a minute that was eventually - after much patience - converted by Brock Higgs, scoring his first goal since his return to the ice with a one-timer on the doorstep from a pass by Polacek to give RPI a commanding 3-0 lead. That lead would increase just over two minutes later when Rabbani fed Angers-Goulet while the latter was crashing the net to make it 4-0 after two. James Mello, who had been a rock in net for Dartmouth, was pulled during the second intermission in favor of Jody O'Neill, who the Engineers had beaten in Hanover in November.
Dartmouth got one back early in the third period off an odd end-board bounce that left Allen York out of position, but it was the only goal they would get on the night. RPI got their 4-goal lead back midway through the third when Joel Malchuk, rushing out of the penalty box after a kill, reached the puck to get icing waved off and then poked it around O'Neill, who had wandered behind the net to go after it. O'Neill raced back to the crease, but couldn't position himself in time for Marty O'Grady's one-timer in the slot from Malchuk's pass.
Of the three goals York gave up on the weekend, the first was his fault but pretty fluky, the second was after a long 5-on-3, and the third was just a bad bounce in a game RPI had well in hand. Defensively, the Engineers did pretty well, and they broke out of their offensive shell with eight goals in two games. That'll help gain weekend sweeps more often than not.
The big homestand continues this weekend with another pair of huge games. Brown, an odd team with some very big wins (BU and Yale come to mind) and some head-scratching losses (they're still under .500 and got owned at home by RPI) comes into town in what is an important game for the Engineers to win for a number of reasons. That's followed by what could become one of the freakiest Freakouts in the history of Freakout, as the Engineers welcome the #1 team in this great nation of ours, the Yale Bulldogs. They have held that title ever since their 4-2 home victory over RPI in early December.
The Engineers are 10-1-0 at home this season, with the lone loss coming in overtime. It could be pretty wild - and another weekend sweep would position RPI perfectly for the last month of the season, not to mention open some eyes given the caliber of teams coming to Troy this week.
Remember, this year's senior class has lost their first three Freakouts, and no class has ever graduated without winning at least one. There are some talented names in this year's senior class, but they face a tough challenge. All of this is conspiring to make for what should be the biggest game of the year on the biggest stage of the year.
Other junk - Just a week after dropping four positions in the USCHO.com poll, the Engineers return to #10 in the nation by rising four spots with their weekend sweep. #1 Yale (swept Clarkson and St. Lawrence) earned 46 first place votes, their most to date. Other ranked ECAC teams are #13 Union (down one, lost to Dartmouth and beat Harvard), #18 Dartmouth (no change), and #19 Princeton (up one, idle). Also ranked this week are #16 Boston University (down one) and #20 Colorado College (re-entering the poll). Other teams earning votes this week were Niagara (16), RIT (4), and Clarkson (2).
Chase Polacek is now at 146 points for his career after his 3 goal, 1 assist weekend, moving him Ray Belasky '60 (142), Kevin Croxton '06 (143), Garry Kearns '58 (144), and Alain St. Hilaire '99 (145) to take sole possession of 22nd all time. Next on the ladder is Jim Josephson '62 in 21st with 148 career points. There's a bit of a gap to the Top 20, however, as Barry Martinelli '76 currently occupies 20th with 155 points.
Saturday's Freakout game will be televised live on Time Warner Cable Channel 3. Normally, we'd tell you to go to the game if you get TW3, but the Freakout is going to be sold out, so watching on TV is a viable alternative if you can't get a ticket.
ECAC Standings
1. Yale - 11-1-0 (22 pts)
2. Union - 8-3-1 (17 pts)
3. Dartmouth - 7-4-1 (15 pts)
4. Princeton - 7-4-1 (15 pts)
5. RPI - 7-5-0 (14 pts)
6. Clarkson - 6-4-1 (13 pts)
7. Cornell - 6-5-1 (13 pts)
8. Quinnipiac - 5-6-2 (12 pts)
9. Brown - 5-6-1 (11 pts)
10. St. Lawrence - 3-8-0 (6 pts)
11. Harvard - 2-11-0 (4 pts)
12. Colgate - 0-10-2 (2 pts)
Adjusted Standings
1. Yale (.917)
2. Union (.708)
3. Dartmouth (.625)
4. Princeton (.625)
5. Clarkson (.591)
6. RPI (.583)
6. Cornell (.542)
8. Quinnipiac (.462)
9. Brown (.458)
10. St. Lawrence (.273)
11. Harvard (.154)
12. Colgate (.083)
Harvard at #14 RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/21/11 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Harvard 2
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
VIDEO
RPI TV (whole game)
YouTube (goals, no audio)
YouTube (post-game press conference)
RECORD: 14-6-3 (6-5-0 ECAC, 12 pts)
Reale Deals
1. F Chase Polacek, 2 G
2. G Allen York, 36 saves
3. F Brock Higgs, 2 A
#18 Dartmouth at #14 RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/22/11 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 5, Dartmouth 1
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
VIDEO
RPI TV (whole game)
YouTube (goals, no audio)
YouTube (post-game press conference)
RECORD: 15-6-3 (7-5-0 ECAC, 14 pts)
Reale Deals
1. F Joel Malchuk, 1 G, 1 A
2. F Chase Polacek, 1 G, 1 A
3. D Nick Bailen, 2 A
Upcoming games
28 Jan - Brown
29 Jan - #1 Yale (Big Red Freakout!)
04 Feb - at Quinnipiac
05 Feb - at #19 Princeton
11 Feb - Colgate
Harvard
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag
Cullen/Higgs/Rabbani
O'Grady/Polacek/Helfrich
Tinordi/Rogic/Smith
Bergin/Foss
Koudys/Dolan
Bailen/Kennedy
York
C.J. Lee's suspension and Scott Halpern's continuing ankle injury were the only major issues in crafting a lineup on Friday, as Marty O'Grady and Bryan Brutlag returned to the lineup - both missing only one game in the end after O'Grady volunteered to play relatively hurt against Colgate in place of Brutlag, who had no lingering effects of being knocked out against Cornell. Brock Higgs also made his valiant return to the lineup after being out for nearly a month with that scary throat cut.
Given what was to come, the first 10 minutes were pretty uninteresting. No goals, no penalties, not an awful lot of shots coming from either direction. The first notable event of the game came 13 minutes into the contest, when Patrick Cullen picked up the deflection from a weak pass by Josh Rabbani for his third goal of the season, giving RPI a 1-0 lead on a goal that Harvard's Kyle Richter is probably still kicking himself over.
Speaking of goals to kick yourself over, Allen York proceeded to give up an even worse one with less than 20 seconds left in the first period. Going behind the net to grab a loose puck, he misplayed it to the left side of his cage, where it was scooped up by Harvard's Michael Del Mauro, who promptly stuck it in the empty net to make it 1-1 going into the 1st intermission.
The beginning of the second period, however, became a showcase for the best player in Troy. Two minutes into the period during a 4-on-4, Brock Higgs stole the puck right in the middle of the Harvard zone while forechecking. Higgs promptly fed it to Polacek, who rifled it into the net in an impromptu 2-on-1 following a Harvard breakout attempt, making it 2-1 RPI. A minute and a half later, it basically happened again in a very similar fashion. The RPI forecheck managed to keep Harvard from clearing the zone, and this time it was Nick Bailen getting the steal after an excellent check by Alex Angers-Goulet. Bailen made a cross-ice pass to Polacek, who then used a screen by Angers-Goulet to score his second goal in 1:37 of game time, his 13th of the season, to put RPI up 3-2.
To that point in the game, there had been just three penalties called - one on RPI in the 1st, and matching minors early in the 2nd that created the 4-on-4 situation. But the remainder of the game would be marred by the penalties that were called - seven on RPI, and only one on Harvard (for too many men). The Engineers managed to get by on the two calls during the second period, but a number of questionable calls in the third period finally proved to be too much to handle. Shortly after killing an interference call against Joel Malchuk that was made just 10 seconds into the third, RPI found themselves in a tight spot with Angers-Goulet and Polacek, arguably the two best penalty killers on the team, called for penalties 9 seconds apart. The ensuing 5-on-3 was almost killed off, but there's only so much you can do when you've got three guys out there that have been killing penalties for most of the period. Pier-Oliver Michaud scored his first goal of the year with less than 15 seconds left on the 5-on-3 to bring Harvard within one.
The Harvard penalty for too many men gave RPI its only power play chance of the game, which they did not convert. True to form, Bryan Hicks gave Harvard a pair of opportunities to tie the game on the power play late, including one late enough for Ted Donato to pull Richter from the net to create a 6-on-4. The Engineers survived the late onslaught, and Allen York made 17 saves in the 3rd period alone to help preserve the win for RPI. The Engineers had only 3 shots of their own in the final 20 minutes.
Dartmouth
Angers-Goulet/O'Grady/Brutlag
Cullen/Higgs/Rabbani
Lee/Polacek/Helfrich
Burgdoerfer/Rogic/Malchuk
Bergin/Foss
Koudys/Dolan
Leboeuf/Bailen
York
The only real lineup differences for Saturday were C.J. Lee's reinsertion following the end of his suspension, Greg Burgdoerfer playing in place of Matt Tinordi, and John Kennedy, who suffered an ankle injury late in the Harvard game - his timetable for return is unknown. It could be this Friday, or he could be out for a while.
Immediately after the Harvard game, the players told the media that they knew they'd need to play better against Dartmouth, who jumped on Union for three goals in 10:10 on Friday night to issue the Dutchmen their first home loss of the season. That's essentially what happened for RPI, even right out of the gate. Just 2:20 into the 1st, the Engineers got themselves on the board first for the third straight game as Johnny Rogic zoomed up the left wing, taking a quick shot before going behind the net that was scooped up and put in the net by Joel Malchuk, scoring his fourth of the year to put RPI up 1-0.
Excellent puck control in the first period led to an 11-8 edge in shots for the Engineers after one period, and that generally carried over into the second period despite continued penalty issues that saw the Big Green getting four power play chances by the time the game was 28 minutes old. The RPI penalty kill held up throughout, allowing the Engineers the opportunity to go up two on their next power play chance.
A cross-ice feed through the slot from Nick Bailen to Chase Polacek was one-timed in just below the faceoff dot for another impressive goal from the senior assistant captain about a minute into RPI's third man advantage of the night, putting the Engineers up 2-0.
About four minutes later, it was Dartmouth's turn to start getting in penalty trouble, as the Engineers gained a 5-on-3 for over a minute that was eventually - after much patience - converted by Brock Higgs, scoring his first goal since his return to the ice with a one-timer on the doorstep from a pass by Polacek to give RPI a commanding 3-0 lead. That lead would increase just over two minutes later when Rabbani fed Angers-Goulet while the latter was crashing the net to make it 4-0 after two. James Mello, who had been a rock in net for Dartmouth, was pulled during the second intermission in favor of Jody O'Neill, who the Engineers had beaten in Hanover in November.
Dartmouth got one back early in the third period off an odd end-board bounce that left Allen York out of position, but it was the only goal they would get on the night. RPI got their 4-goal lead back midway through the third when Joel Malchuk, rushing out of the penalty box after a kill, reached the puck to get icing waved off and then poked it around O'Neill, who had wandered behind the net to go after it. O'Neill raced back to the crease, but couldn't position himself in time for Marty O'Grady's one-timer in the slot from Malchuk's pass.
Of the three goals York gave up on the weekend, the first was his fault but pretty fluky, the second was after a long 5-on-3, and the third was just a bad bounce in a game RPI had well in hand. Defensively, the Engineers did pretty well, and they broke out of their offensive shell with eight goals in two games. That'll help gain weekend sweeps more often than not.
The big homestand continues this weekend with another pair of huge games. Brown, an odd team with some very big wins (BU and Yale come to mind) and some head-scratching losses (they're still under .500 and got owned at home by RPI) comes into town in what is an important game for the Engineers to win for a number of reasons. That's followed by what could become one of the freakiest Freakouts in the history of Freakout, as the Engineers welcome the #1 team in this great nation of ours, the Yale Bulldogs. They have held that title ever since their 4-2 home victory over RPI in early December.
The Engineers are 10-1-0 at home this season, with the lone loss coming in overtime. It could be pretty wild - and another weekend sweep would position RPI perfectly for the last month of the season, not to mention open some eyes given the caliber of teams coming to Troy this week.
Remember, this year's senior class has lost their first three Freakouts, and no class has ever graduated without winning at least one. There are some talented names in this year's senior class, but they face a tough challenge. All of this is conspiring to make for what should be the biggest game of the year on the biggest stage of the year.
Other junk - Just a week after dropping four positions in the USCHO.com poll, the Engineers return to #10 in the nation by rising four spots with their weekend sweep. #1 Yale (swept Clarkson and St. Lawrence) earned 46 first place votes, their most to date. Other ranked ECAC teams are #13 Union (down one, lost to Dartmouth and beat Harvard), #18 Dartmouth (no change), and #19 Princeton (up one, idle). Also ranked this week are #16 Boston University (down one) and #20 Colorado College (re-entering the poll). Other teams earning votes this week were Niagara (16), RIT (4), and Clarkson (2).
Chase Polacek is now at 146 points for his career after his 3 goal, 1 assist weekend, moving him Ray Belasky '60 (142), Kevin Croxton '06 (143), Garry Kearns '58 (144), and Alain St. Hilaire '99 (145) to take sole possession of 22nd all time. Next on the ladder is Jim Josephson '62 in 21st with 148 career points. There's a bit of a gap to the Top 20, however, as Barry Martinelli '76 currently occupies 20th with 155 points.
Saturday's Freakout game will be televised live on Time Warner Cable Channel 3. Normally, we'd tell you to go to the game if you get TW3, but the Freakout is going to be sold out, so watching on TV is a viable alternative if you can't get a ticket.
ECAC Standings
1. Yale - 11-1-0 (22 pts)
2. Union - 8-3-1 (17 pts)
3. Dartmouth - 7-4-1 (15 pts)
4. Princeton - 7-4-1 (15 pts)
5. RPI - 7-5-0 (14 pts)
6. Clarkson - 6-4-1 (13 pts)
7. Cornell - 6-5-1 (13 pts)
8. Quinnipiac - 5-6-2 (12 pts)
9. Brown - 5-6-1 (11 pts)
10. St. Lawrence - 3-8-0 (6 pts)
11. Harvard - 2-11-0 (4 pts)
12. Colgate - 0-10-2 (2 pts)
Adjusted Standings
1. Yale (.917)
2. Union (.708)
3. Dartmouth (.625)
4. Princeton (.625)
5. Clarkson (.591)
6. RPI (.583)
6. Cornell (.542)
8. Quinnipiac (.462)
9. Brown (.458)
10. St. Lawrence (.273)
11. Harvard (.154)
12. Colgate (.083)
Harvard at #14 RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/21/11 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Harvard 2
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
VIDEO
RPI TV (whole game)
YouTube (goals, no audio)
YouTube (post-game press conference)
RECORD: 14-6-3 (6-5-0 ECAC, 12 pts)
Reale Deals
1. F Chase Polacek, 2 G
2. G Allen York, 36 saves
3. F Brock Higgs, 2 A
#18 Dartmouth at #14 RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/22/11 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 5, Dartmouth 1
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
VIDEO
RPI TV (whole game)
YouTube (goals, no audio)
YouTube (post-game press conference)
RECORD: 15-6-3 (7-5-0 ECAC, 14 pts)
Reale Deals
1. F Joel Malchuk, 1 G, 1 A
2. F Chase Polacek, 1 G, 1 A
3. D Nick Bailen, 2 A
Upcoming games
28 Jan - Brown
29 Jan - #1 Yale (Big Red Freakout!)
04 Feb - at Quinnipiac
05 Feb - at #19 Princeton
11 Feb - Colgate
Monday, October 25, 2010
Men's Hockey - RIT and Niagara (22/23 Oct)
We mentioned last week that the first full home weekend of the season was a "must-win" for the Engineers if they were going to have a shot at presenting themselves as being legitimate contenders in the ECAC. Mission accomplished. RPI played a sound, physical game in taking down RIT 4-1 on Friday before jumping out against Niagara and refusing to fold despite playing a poor third, getting the game winner in overtime, 4-3.
RIT
Lee/Polacek/Helfrich
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag
Rabbani/Higgs/O'Grady
Tinordi/Rogic/Halpern
Bergin/Foss
Kennedy/Dolan
Leboeuf/Bailen
York
RIT is still trying to figure out what they're doing in net - for the RPI game, they decided to go with senior Jan Ropponen, a Finn who has seen minimal action between the pipes in his previous three seasons in Rochester.
RPI came out flying against the Tigers, who played in the Frozen Four last season. From the opening puck drop, the Engineers played aggressively, especially when it came to the forecheck and the physical aspects of the game, with John Kennedy and Matt Tinordi especially dishing out the big hits all over the ice.
Brock Higgs got the scoring started on the power play about 13 minutes into the game, notching the first goal of his college career to put RPI up 1-0. That lead would be short-lived, however. With Jeff Foss in the box for interference, RIT's Cameron Burt fooled Allen York into moving to defend a pass near the net, when actually, Burt had sort of just let the puck continue toward the net off the back of his stick without much of a shot. The puck slipped through York's pads and in to make it 1-1.
The Engineers kept the pressure up in the second period, continuing to work hard physically and on the forecheck. When Tyler Helfrich was called on a questionable tripping call to negate an RPI power play, the hard work paid off on the ensuing 4-on-4. Higgs scored his second of the night four minutes into the 2nd period, giving the Engineers a 2-1 lead. Later in the period, Helfrich would earn his 3rd of the season to give RPI a two-goal cushion. Ropponen faced a blitz of shots in the second period from the aggressive Engineers, making 16 saves on 18 shots.
Seth Appert was less impressed with RPI's play in the third period, but the Engineers still managed to find success. Bryan Brutlag made it 4-1 early in the period for his 2nd goal of the year, but it was one of only 4 shots on the period as RPI started to coast. The defense held up, killing a pair of penalties in the third to finish the night 5-for-6 on the kill, but the team didn't seem overly interested in keeping the pedal down. It didn't much matter, as Allen York stood tall, stopping 9 shots in the period to drop his GAA even farther as RPI won, 4-1.
Niagara
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag
Lee/Polacek/Helfrich
Rabbani/Higgs/O'Grady
Tinordi/Rogic/Halpern
Bergin/Foss
Kennedy/Dolan
Koudys/Bailen
York
A night after getting throttled by Union, Niagara came out and decided to take shots at Allen York early and often. The Engineers didn't play especially well in the first period, in sharp contrast to the previous night's opening frame. Where York made 24 saves all night against RIT, he was forced to make 16 saves in the first period alone to keep the Purple Eagles off the board.
Despite the slow start, RPI still managed the first goal. 12 minutes into the game, the Engineers crashed the net, and Alex Angers-Goulet scored his first of the season, banging away at the puck until it went in to put RPI up 1-0. Josh Rabbani joined the scoring near the end of the period, scoring his first of the year putting back a rebound into an open net to give the Engineers a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission, despite a generally poor period otherwise.
The RPI power play had three opportunities to break the game open in the second period, but Niagara's Carsen Chubak took his turn to stand on his head, making 17 saves in the period to keep it a 2-0 game.
A roughing penalty to Angers-Goulet gave Niagara the power play early in the 3rd period, and the Purps converted for a goal just a few seconds after Goulet left the box, cutting the RPI lead in half. The goal sparked the Engineers in the immediate aftermath, and Chase Polacek scored about two minutes later to bring the lead back to two at 3-1. In previous years, we'd seen two goal leads evaporate quickly after giving up goals in the 3rd period, and after Polacek's goal, it appeared that had been mitigated to some degree.
But then, discipline became a problem for the Engineers, and the penalty kill, which hadn't been as sharp as usual all night long, started to break down. Foss was in the box when Marc Zanette scored to make it 3-2, and then Rabbani took a penalty shortly after the ensuing faceoff, eventually leading to a Marc Zanette goal that came just two minutes after his brother's, tying the game at three.
In other years, that might have been about it for the Engineers - they would have completely packed it in and either settled for a tie or lost the game late or in overtime. When Matt Tinordi took yet another penalty shortly after the Purps tied the game, it appeared they were doomed for a bad result. But the penalty kill finally came through again, and the Engineers came out aggressive for the overtime. Captain John Kennedy took an opportunistic shot from the top of the faceoff circle that came free to Marty O'Grady in front. O'Grady dished it off to Brock Higgs, who was wide open on the left side of the net, and Higgs shoveled it in for his third goal of the weekend to give RPI a 4-3 overtime victory - their third win in a row to extend their overall unbeaten streak to five games.
Veteran teams find ways to win games when they don't have their best stuff, and they did that on Saturday. At various times this weekend, RPI played with a suffocating forecheck, with brutal force physically, with impressive finishing touch, and with tough defense emanating from both the goal and the blueline. If they find a way to put all of that together regularly, the sky is the limit.
Other junk - On the heels of the 2nd longest active unbeaten streak in the nation, the Engineers are now nationally ranked. Barely. RPI received 57 votes in this week's USCHO.com poll, tying them with Minnesota for 20th in the nation. The Engineers become the 4th team in the ECAC to be nationally ranked, also ranked are #5 Yale (no change, idle), #14 Cornell (down one, won a pair of exhibition games), and #16 Union (up two, beat Niagara and RIT). Also ranked are #6 Boston University (up two, 2 first place votes), and #19 Colorado College (no change). Also receiving votes were Quinnipiac (10) and Northeastern (3).
Patrick Cullen and Greg Burgdoerfer have not played in three consecutive games, and they could be facing extended periods of time in the stands if the lines, as presently constituted, continue to click as well as they have. The fourth line of Tinordi/Rogic/Halpern were impressive as a checking line all night on Friday, especially Tinordi and Halpern. The Polacek line has been impressive all year, and the Malchuk line is seeing good results as well. The revelation this week was with the Higgs line, especially Higgs himself, although Rabbani and O'Grady had outstanding offensive showings this weekend as well. C.J. Lee was the only top-three line forward without a point this weekend, but he was dangerous as well.
The RIT goal ended 22 consecutive penalty kills for the Engineers, but the PK unit is still among the best in the nation. They have converted 37 of 42 penalty kill opportunities (RPI is tops in the nation in penalty kill chances). The difficult third period against Niagara pushed the Engineers below 90%, but they are still 9th in the nation on the penalty kill.
Allen York has keyed a big defensive front. The Engineers currently have the 2nd best defense in the nation, trailing only Boston College, having given up only 10 goals in six games, a rate of 1.67 GAA. York has a personal GAA of 1.62 (with the difference coming in times when he was off for a sixth skater), 5th in the nation. His 370:38 between the pipes remains tops in the nation. He has 166 saves on 176 shots, for a save percentage of .943, which is 4th best in the nation.
The next test for RPI is big - local rivals Union on the big sheet in Lake Placid. Both teams have played two games on Olympic sized ice this year (RPI in Colorado, Union in Alaska), and both teams boast one of the best goaltenders in the nation, and likely the top two goaltenders in the league. Union has displayed that its offense has the potential to be potent, as they have beaten up on a slew of marginal teams. This matchup will come down to York vs. Kinkaid, and may the best team win.
RIT at RPI
Nonconference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/22/10 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 4, RIT 1
BOX SCORES
RECAPS
VIDEO
RECORD: 2-1-2 (0-0-0 ECAC)
Reale Deals
1. F Brock Higgs, 2 G
2. G Allen York, 24 saves
3. F Marty O'Grady, 2 A
Niagara at RPI
Nonconference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/23/10 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 4, Niagara 3 (OT)
BOX SCORES
RECAPS
VIDEO
RECORD: 3-1-2 (0-0-0 ECAC)
Reale Deals
1. F Brock Higgs, 1 G, 1 A
2. D John Kennedy, 2 A
3. F Chase Polacek, 1 G
Upcoming games
30 Oct - vs. #16 Union (Lake Placid, NY)
05 Nov - at Dartmouth
06 Nov - at Harvard
12 Nov - at #16 Union
13 Nov - #16 Union (Black Saturday)
RIT
Lee/Polacek/Helfrich
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag
Rabbani/Higgs/O'Grady
Tinordi/Rogic/Halpern
Bergin/Foss
Kennedy/Dolan
Leboeuf/Bailen
York
RIT is still trying to figure out what they're doing in net - for the RPI game, they decided to go with senior Jan Ropponen, a Finn who has seen minimal action between the pipes in his previous three seasons in Rochester.
RPI came out flying against the Tigers, who played in the Frozen Four last season. From the opening puck drop, the Engineers played aggressively, especially when it came to the forecheck and the physical aspects of the game, with John Kennedy and Matt Tinordi especially dishing out the big hits all over the ice.
Brock Higgs got the scoring started on the power play about 13 minutes into the game, notching the first goal of his college career to put RPI up 1-0. That lead would be short-lived, however. With Jeff Foss in the box for interference, RIT's Cameron Burt fooled Allen York into moving to defend a pass near the net, when actually, Burt had sort of just let the puck continue toward the net off the back of his stick without much of a shot. The puck slipped through York's pads and in to make it 1-1.
The Engineers kept the pressure up in the second period, continuing to work hard physically and on the forecheck. When Tyler Helfrich was called on a questionable tripping call to negate an RPI power play, the hard work paid off on the ensuing 4-on-4. Higgs scored his second of the night four minutes into the 2nd period, giving the Engineers a 2-1 lead. Later in the period, Helfrich would earn his 3rd of the season to give RPI a two-goal cushion. Ropponen faced a blitz of shots in the second period from the aggressive Engineers, making 16 saves on 18 shots.
Seth Appert was less impressed with RPI's play in the third period, but the Engineers still managed to find success. Bryan Brutlag made it 4-1 early in the period for his 2nd goal of the year, but it was one of only 4 shots on the period as RPI started to coast. The defense held up, killing a pair of penalties in the third to finish the night 5-for-6 on the kill, but the team didn't seem overly interested in keeping the pedal down. It didn't much matter, as Allen York stood tall, stopping 9 shots in the period to drop his GAA even farther as RPI won, 4-1.
Niagara
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag
Lee/Polacek/Helfrich
Rabbani/Higgs/O'Grady
Tinordi/Rogic/Halpern
Bergin/Foss
Kennedy/Dolan
Koudys/Bailen
York
A night after getting throttled by Union, Niagara came out and decided to take shots at Allen York early and often. The Engineers didn't play especially well in the first period, in sharp contrast to the previous night's opening frame. Where York made 24 saves all night against RIT, he was forced to make 16 saves in the first period alone to keep the Purple Eagles off the board.
Despite the slow start, RPI still managed the first goal. 12 minutes into the game, the Engineers crashed the net, and Alex Angers-Goulet scored his first of the season, banging away at the puck until it went in to put RPI up 1-0. Josh Rabbani joined the scoring near the end of the period, scoring his first of the year putting back a rebound into an open net to give the Engineers a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission, despite a generally poor period otherwise.
The RPI power play had three opportunities to break the game open in the second period, but Niagara's Carsen Chubak took his turn to stand on his head, making 17 saves in the period to keep it a 2-0 game.
A roughing penalty to Angers-Goulet gave Niagara the power play early in the 3rd period, and the Purps converted for a goal just a few seconds after Goulet left the box, cutting the RPI lead in half. The goal sparked the Engineers in the immediate aftermath, and Chase Polacek scored about two minutes later to bring the lead back to two at 3-1. In previous years, we'd seen two goal leads evaporate quickly after giving up goals in the 3rd period, and after Polacek's goal, it appeared that had been mitigated to some degree.
But then, discipline became a problem for the Engineers, and the penalty kill, which hadn't been as sharp as usual all night long, started to break down. Foss was in the box when Marc Zanette scored to make it 3-2, and then Rabbani took a penalty shortly after the ensuing faceoff, eventually leading to a Marc Zanette goal that came just two minutes after his brother's, tying the game at three.
In other years, that might have been about it for the Engineers - they would have completely packed it in and either settled for a tie or lost the game late or in overtime. When Matt Tinordi took yet another penalty shortly after the Purps tied the game, it appeared they were doomed for a bad result. But the penalty kill finally came through again, and the Engineers came out aggressive for the overtime. Captain John Kennedy took an opportunistic shot from the top of the faceoff circle that came free to Marty O'Grady in front. O'Grady dished it off to Brock Higgs, who was wide open on the left side of the net, and Higgs shoveled it in for his third goal of the weekend to give RPI a 4-3 overtime victory - their third win in a row to extend their overall unbeaten streak to five games.
Veteran teams find ways to win games when they don't have their best stuff, and they did that on Saturday. At various times this weekend, RPI played with a suffocating forecheck, with brutal force physically, with impressive finishing touch, and with tough defense emanating from both the goal and the blueline. If they find a way to put all of that together regularly, the sky is the limit.
Other junk - On the heels of the 2nd longest active unbeaten streak in the nation, the Engineers are now nationally ranked. Barely. RPI received 57 votes in this week's USCHO.com poll, tying them with Minnesota for 20th in the nation. The Engineers become the 4th team in the ECAC to be nationally ranked, also ranked are #5 Yale (no change, idle), #14 Cornell (down one, won a pair of exhibition games), and #16 Union (up two, beat Niagara and RIT). Also ranked are #6 Boston University (up two, 2 first place votes), and #19 Colorado College (no change). Also receiving votes were Quinnipiac (10) and Northeastern (3).
Patrick Cullen and Greg Burgdoerfer have not played in three consecutive games, and they could be facing extended periods of time in the stands if the lines, as presently constituted, continue to click as well as they have. The fourth line of Tinordi/Rogic/Halpern were impressive as a checking line all night on Friday, especially Tinordi and Halpern. The Polacek line has been impressive all year, and the Malchuk line is seeing good results as well. The revelation this week was with the Higgs line, especially Higgs himself, although Rabbani and O'Grady had outstanding offensive showings this weekend as well. C.J. Lee was the only top-three line forward without a point this weekend, but he was dangerous as well.
The RIT goal ended 22 consecutive penalty kills for the Engineers, but the PK unit is still among the best in the nation. They have converted 37 of 42 penalty kill opportunities (RPI is tops in the nation in penalty kill chances). The difficult third period against Niagara pushed the Engineers below 90%, but they are still 9th in the nation on the penalty kill.
Allen York has keyed a big defensive front. The Engineers currently have the 2nd best defense in the nation, trailing only Boston College, having given up only 10 goals in six games, a rate of 1.67 GAA. York has a personal GAA of 1.62 (with the difference coming in times when he was off for a sixth skater), 5th in the nation. His 370:38 between the pipes remains tops in the nation. He has 166 saves on 176 shots, for a save percentage of .943, which is 4th best in the nation.
The next test for RPI is big - local rivals Union on the big sheet in Lake Placid. Both teams have played two games on Olympic sized ice this year (RPI in Colorado, Union in Alaska), and both teams boast one of the best goaltenders in the nation, and likely the top two goaltenders in the league. Union has displayed that its offense has the potential to be potent, as they have beaten up on a slew of marginal teams. This matchup will come down to York vs. Kinkaid, and may the best team win.
RIT at RPI
Nonconference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/22/10 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 4, RIT 1
BOX SCORES
RECAPS
VIDEO
RECORD: 2-1-2 (0-0-0 ECAC)
Reale Deals
1. F Brock Higgs, 2 G
2. G Allen York, 24 saves
3. F Marty O'Grady, 2 A
Niagara at RPI
Nonconference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/23/10 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 4, Niagara 3 (OT)
BOX SCORES
RECAPS
VIDEO
RECORD: 3-1-2 (0-0-0 ECAC)
Reale Deals
1. F Brock Higgs, 1 G, 1 A
2. D John Kennedy, 2 A
3. F Chase Polacek, 1 G
Upcoming games
30 Oct - vs. #16 Union (Lake Placid, NY)
05 Nov - at Dartmouth
06 Nov - at Harvard
12 Nov - at #16 Union
13 Nov - #16 Union (Black Saturday)
Saturday, October 23, 2010
It's a Win-Win
What's that you say? You haven't seen any stupid photoshops yet and you're getting worried?
Well, have no fear.
Taylor Horton scored a clutch overtime goal for the Engineers in overtime, scoring the ladies' first win of the season in dramatic fashion with a 3-2 upset victory at Providence. Meanwhile, Brock Higgs really punched the accelerator for the Engineers, scoring the first goal of the game (and the first of his career) in the first period, then scoring the game winning goal in the second period to lead the men to a 4-1 victory over RIT. On top of that, his folks won the 50/50 raffle. Some guys have all the luck.
Well, have no fear.
Taylor Horton scored a clutch overtime goal for the Engineers in overtime, scoring the ladies' first win of the season in dramatic fashion with a 3-2 upset victory at Providence. Meanwhile, Brock Higgs really punched the accelerator for the Engineers, scoring the first goal of the game (and the first of his career) in the first period, then scoring the game winning goal in the second period to lead the men to a 4-1 victory over RIT. On top of that, his folks won the 50/50 raffle. Some guys have all the luck.
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