Know Your Enemy: Clarkson

Quick - name the teams that never finished in the top four in the ECAC during the Obama administration. OK, you got Brown, that wasn't hard. You probably said Princeton, which is incorrect (2009). If you're not an RPI fan, you might have said RPI (2013, suckers!). And you probably missed Clarkson because... well, because they're Clarkson and that's abnormal. Really abnormal. They came close last year, missing out by just two points - but it's been eight straight seasons now, twice as long as their previous record for finishing outside the league's top four. That has the serious potential to change this coming season, and not because there's going to be a new occupant in the Oval Office.

Clarkson
Nickname: Golden Knights
Location: Potsdam, NY
Founded: 1896
Conference: ECAC
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: 2008
Last Frozen Four: 1991
Coach: Casey Jones (6th season)
2015-16 Record: 20-15-3 (10-9-3 ECAC, 5th place)
Series: Clarkson leads, 88-50-11
First Game: January 24, 1925 (Troy, NY)
Last RPI win: March 8, 2015 (Potsdam, NY)
Last CU win: February 6, 2016 (Troy, NY)

2016-17 games: November 11, 2016 (Troy, NY); January 7, 2017 (Lake Placid, NY); January 28, 2017 (Potsdam, NY)

Key players: F Jordan Boucher, sr.; F Perry D'Arrisso, sr.; D James de Haas, sr.; F A.J. Fossen, sr.; F Troy Josephs, sr.; G Steve Perry, sr.; D Terrance Amorosa, jr.; F Ben Dalpe, jr.; F Brett Gervais, jr.; F Nic Pierog, jr.; D Kelly Summers, jr.; F Sam Vigneault, jr.; D Aaron Thow, so.; F Devin Brosseau, fr.; F Sheldon Rempal, fr.; D Jordan Schneider, fr.; F Nico Sturm, fr.

Key losses: F Jeff Di Nallo, G Greg Lewis, D Paul Geiger, D Kevin Tansey, F Pat Megannety, F Christian Powers

Previous KYE installments:

• 2010-11
• 2011-12
• 2012-13
• 2013-14
• 2014-15
• 2015-16

It's not that Clarkson isn't losing anyone significant from last season - a number of those key losses should be names that even casual ECAC fans should probably recognize. It's more a recognition that the Golden Knights return a solid roster of team players that put together a strong resume last year.

Vigneault led the team last year with 12 goals and 26 points, while Boucher (23 points) and Fossen (18) round out the top three scorers from last season, all returning. They are among 10 skaters returning that notched 10 or more points on the season last year, representative of a decent amount of balance to the Clarkson attack. The blue line boasts three NHL draftees (de Haas, Amorosa, and Summers), all of whom bring size and offensive capacity to the table.

And to all this, add an outstanding freshman class straight out of Don Lucia's nightmares. Seven of nine freshmen will be 21 when the season starts - and the other two will be 20. But they're not just older and more experienced, they've also produced some solid results this past season. Sturm was a top-line center for the USHL champions at Tri-City in addition to having played on Germany's World Junior team, and Schneider comes from a solid bloodline, a son of 20-year NHL veteran Mathieu Schneider who brings additional size and offensive strength to the table. But among the frosh, Rempal and Brosseau should be especially interesting to watch.

Linemates at Nanaimo in the goal-happy BCHL, they've been a package deal practically from the start as they committed to Clarkson on the same day in October 2013. Rempal finished second in the BCHL in scoring last season, and Brosseau was right there with him in fourth, with Brosseau typically feeding Rempal the puck for the finish. Both have really blossomed over the last couple of seasons, to the point that Rempal may be one of the best incoming freshmen in the entire ECAC with Brosseau not far behind. That they arrive with three seasons of chemistry already should give them a leg up in adapting to college play - perhaps practically giving Clarkson another quality scoring line overnight.

The one thing that's probably keeping Clarkson from looking like they're ready to stomp a complete mudhole in the ECAC is the lack of a proven lockdown goaltender. While Princeton over the last three seasons has proven that simply having a strong netminder and nothing else isn't quite a recipe for success, we've seen on several occasions over the last decade - including at RPI - that a big-time goalie can transform a team that's wanting in a few places into one of the better teams in the league, and it's practically a requirement for being at the very top.

Lewis last season more than fit the definition of "acceptable goaltending." His numbers (2.04, .925) didn't rank him amongst the top of the league, but they were enough to keep a strong team in front of him competitive, and that's all Clarkson really needed. Perry saw plenty of action in net last year (as in his first two years), but Lewis was the first-choice goalie, a guy who certainly displayed vast improvement from his freshman and sophomore years, the kind of development you like to see in your goaltenders.

Perry, or incoming freshman Jake Kielly, will need to improve on where Lewis was last season if Clarkson is going to be more reminiscent of the program that was perpetually dominant in the ECAC from the 1960s through the 1990s. Kielly played with Sturm last season and backstopped Tri-City's playoff run to the USHL title, so it wouldn't be unexpected if he gets some solid play right off the bat.

As far as RPI-Clarkson is concerned, the Golden Knights have taken 3 points from the Engineers in each of the last three seasons, a fact that is probably obscured slightly by the fact that RPI has won a playoff series in Potsdam twice in the last five seasons, something which hadn't even happened once before that. But make no mistake - Clarkson is likely to be one of the better teams in the ECAC this coming season, and it's going to make for three very tough wars to be fought in about two months' time. They may not be overwhelming at anything, but they're probably going to be pretty decent at most elements of their game.

Men's Hockey - St. Lawrence/Clarkson (5/6 Feb)

It's tough to pick out a more overly gut-wrenching weekend in recent Engineers' history than this past weekend. Not just at home, but Freakout! weekend against long-time rivals. No goals given up in the 1st or 2nd period both nights - no points in the ECAC standings, leading to a three-position drop in the ECAC standings and an eight-spot fall in the Pairwise. Two games that seemed like they could possibly be in the grasp slipped away in the third period, as RPI gave up the game's first goal against St. Lawrence on Friday in the 3rd period on the way to a 3-0 loss and gave up a 2-0 lead in the 3rd in the Freakout! against Clarkson to fall 4-2.

St. Lawrence
Melanson-Schroeder-Nanne
Miller-Bubela-Wood
Ohrvall-DeVito-Liljegren
Bourbonnais-Fulton-Gillespie

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Grant
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

Riley Bourbonnais returned to the lineup for the first time since a knee injury sidelined him several weeks ago, a needed boost for a team that has at times struggled mightily to score without him. Regardless, the Friday night game between RPI and St. Lawrence was widely predicted to be a low scoring affair, and through 40 minutes that prediction proved perfectly accurate.

Neither team was able to put one past Kyle Hayton or Jason Kasdorf in the first two periods, with the netminders combining to blot out 47 shots in first and second frames. The only action on the score sheet in that first 40 minutes were three penalties called in the second period, the only penalties that would be called throughout the contest as the ECAC's penalty drought continued throughout the weekend.

The scoreless duel continued well into the third period as visions of last year's Game 1 of the ECAC quarterfinals began to emerge, a goaltending battle between the same two netminders that was not broken until the final minute of regulation.

St. Lawrence, however, would put an end to that comparison with just over five minutes remaining in regulation, with Tommy Thompson finally breaking the deadlock off a one-timer from a perfectly placed pass through the slot by Mike Marnell.

The Engineers had far more time to even things up than they had in last year's playoffs, but St. Lawrence scored a second goal in transition about two and a half minutes later to seal things up as Thompson again potted a one-timer from nearly the same place on the ice, this time taking a feed from Christian Horn who was gliding behind the RPI net, a brilliantly timed play that made it 2-0 in favor of the visitors. The Saints would add an empty netter less than a minute later to produce the final scoreline.

RPI simply could not solve Hayton, whose rebound control was superb all night long. An extreme few of his 34 saves were second efforts. Kasdorf followed on with 31 saves in a noble but losing effort for the Engineers.

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

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Grant
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

In desperate need of a bounce-back performance in the Freakout! against Clarkson, the Engineers lost the services of Drew Melanson after he took a puck to the shin blocking a shot in the final moments of the Friday night game - a serious Catch-22 situation. On one hand, you don't want players to quit playing full bore no matter what the situation is in the game. On the other, it was an injury that literally came in the dying moments with a 3-0 scoreline. Regardless, it saw the return of Riley Bourbonnais to the top line in Melanson's stead.

RPI has been very good this season when scoring the game's first goal, and after more than 7 full periods worth of offensive futility, they finally got themselves back on the scoresheet with the game's first goal on Saturday. A shot from just in front of the blue line by Chris Bradley 14 minutes into the first period was saved by Greg Lewis, but the rebound popped right to Milos Bubela just to Lewis' right, and he slammed it into the open cage to give RPI the 1-0 advantage.

The Engineers carried that advantage into the second period, where Bubela scored again on a very similar play to make it 2-0 RPI. This time it was Kenny Gillespie taking the initial shot, coming on from the boards to Lewis' left, and once more Bubela was waiting on the doorstep as the trailer to pick up the rebound and put it in for his 7th goal of the season.

RPI's play wasn't overly stellar throughout the middle period, but their defense was strong. They did a superb job keeping the Golden Knights from getting any real quality scoring opportunities throughout the first 40 minutes, and while Jason Kasdorf had to make 16 saves in the middle frame, he was rarely tested to any great degree.

The letdown came in the third period, and it started early. With RPI clearly missing a step in their game and Clarkson hungry for a goal that would cut their deficit in half, the opening eight minutes of the 3rd period made things very clear that the trailing team were the aggressors, and that aggressive play eventually paid off as Ben Dalpe ended RPI's shutout bid with 11:41 left in regulation, getting Clarkson on the board.

The goal given up did little, if anything, to roust the Engineers from their rough play, and less than two minutes later, a general defensive breakdown led to the tying goal as the Golden Knights effectively used forechecking and good passing to help Kelly Summers pot his 2nd goal of the year on a one-timer.

Less than a minute later, an elbowing call against Riley Bourbonnais put Clarkson on the power play, and they delivered a death blow with Terrance Amorosa scoring on a blast from the point to complete the comeback, the third goal in just over four minutes.

Kasdorf was pulled for the extra skater relatively early - with just over two minutes left in regulation - but RPI never really got anything going with the sixth attacker, and Clarkson scored on a bizarre clearance that turned 45 degrees after it entered the zone and just beat out a streaking Phil Hampton to enter the net and give Clarkson the 4-2 victory, a deflating loss for the Engineers before their biggest home crowd of the season.

The three-game losing streak could not have come at a worse time, as the stretch run is now fully engaged, and four of the Engineers' final six games are on the road, including this coming weekend against Harvard and Dartmouth, two teams moving in the opposite direction of RPI. Now just one point removed from 8th place just two games after what had been an opportunity to move into 2nd and 5 points ahead of 4th, the Engineers are in desperate need of a turnaround against even more difficult circumstances.

Current ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 28 pts (12-0-4)
2. Yale - 21 pts (9-4-3)
3. Harvard - 21 pts (9-4-3)
4. Dartmouth - 18 pts (9-7-0)
5. St. Lawrence - 18 pts (8-6-2)
6. RPI - 18 pts (6-4-6)
7. Clarkson - 17 pts (7-6-3)
8. Cornell - 17 pts (7-6-3)
9. Union - 11 pts (3-8-5)
10. Colgate - 10 pts (4-11-2)
11. Princeton - 8 pts (3-11-2)
12. Brown - 7 pts (2-12-3)

St. Lawrence at #14 RPI

ECAC Game - Houston Field House
2/5/16 - 7:00pm

RESULT: St. Lawrence 3, RPI 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

VIDEO
Highlights - RPI TV
Full game - RPI TV

RECORD: 14-9-6 (6-3-6 ECAC, 18 pts)

Clarkson at #14 RPI
ECAC Game - Ingalls Rink (New Haven, CT)
2/6/16 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Clarkson 4, RPI 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Albany Times Union

VIDEO
Full game - RPI TV
Post game - RPI Athletics

RECORD: 14-10-6 (6-4-6 ECAC, 18 pts)

Upcoming games
12 Feb - at #9 Harvard
13 Feb - at Dartmouth
19 Feb - #1 Quinnipiac
20 Feb - Princeton (Senior Night)
26 Feb - at Colgate

Women's Hockey - at Clarkson & St. Lawrence (5/6 Feb)

In the effort to hold on to the eighth playoff spot, points are obviously important, and RPI managed to steal one on Saturday in a 1-1 tie against St. Lawrence. Lovisa Selander made 48 saves in the game.

It was a better result than Friday night, which saw the Engineers give up three goals each period to Clarkson en route to a 9-1 loss.

Clarkson

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

Hansen/Godin
Behounek/Banks
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander/Bombay/Till

Alexa Gruschow scored for RPI in the first period, but the Engineers couldn't hold Clarkson from scoring at will in a 9-1 loss Friday night in Potsdam. Lauren Lefler notched two goals and a assist while Genevieve Bannon and Renata Fast both went 1-2-3 for the Golden Knights.

Fast and Bannon got the Golden Knights off to a 2-0 lead early in the first period. Cassidy Vinkle found Fast with a blind backhand pass for the first tally, then Bannon beat Selander five-hole less than two minutes later to make it 2-0.

Gruschow's goal came at 7:21 when Shayna Tomlinson made a slick backhand pass of her own to hit Gruschow on the doorstep to beat Shea Tiley and cut RPI's deficit to one.

The Clarkson lead was back to two by 8:47 of the first when Lefler scored her first of the night. That marked the end of the night for Selander, who was pulled in favor of Kira Bombay after surrendering three goals on four shots to start the game.

Clarkson went on to score three more goals in each of the second and third periods, starting off with a power play goal in each. Loren Gabel and Jessica Gillham scored 23 seconds apart early in the second to make a 3-1 lead into a 5-1 lead, and Shannon MacAulay tacked on one more later in the middle frame with a smooth backhander from just outside the blue paint to beat Bombay.

Erin Ambrose picked up another power play goal at 8:14 of the third, firing a rocket through traffic from the point. Lefler's second of the game came at 15:25 as she found a loose puck behind Bombay in the crease and poked it home, and Kelly Mariani closed out the scoring just 39 seconds later to give the game its final 9-1 score. Sara Till came into the game after the ninth goal, playing the final 3:56 and stopping the one save she faced.

The loss was RPI's most lopsided since being shutout 10-0 at Clarkson on November 5, 2011.

St. Lawrence

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

Hansen/Godin
Behounek/Banks
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

After being relieved of her duties early Friday night, Lovisa Selander bounced back with a spectacular effort on Saturday, making 48 saves to help RPI hold on for a 1-1 tie against St. Lawrence in Canton. It was a long time to hold on, too, as Laura Horwood's tally for the Engineers came just 26 seconds into the game.

Horwood's goal came on the game's opening shift as she crashed the net and received a feed from Shayna Tomlinson behind the net. The junior was able to capitalize on SLU's Grace Harrison losing track of the puck to put it in the back of the net before the netminder could figure out where it had gone.

RPI killed two consecutive penalties early in the second to maintain the lead, but after the teams traded additional penalties, the Engineers found themselves in a 4-on-3 shorthanded situation where the Saints were able to capitalize. Hannah Miller earned that goal with a blast from the faceoff dot which threaded through traffic and past Selander to tie the game at one.

The Engineers and Saints traded penalties in the third, and as the clock wound down on regulation, RPI went on the power play with just 11 seconds left on the clock. That power play would carry over into overtime, but the Engineers couldn't score on their three overtime shots.

Of Selander's 48 saves, 23 came in the second period alone, with 14 more in the third.

With the one-point weekend, the Engineers remain in eighth place, three points behind sixth-place SLU, two points behind seventh-place Yale, three points ahead of Cornell and four in front of Dartmouth with four games to play.

RPI's final home games of the season come next weekend against Harvard (7pm Friday) and Dartmouth (4pm Saturday). An RPI win over Dartmouth next weekend would ensure the Big Green could not overtake the Engineers in the standings, at worst leaving it to tiebreakers to decide a potential tie. But more importantly the Engineers likely need to take two points next weekend to keep ahead of Cornell, which has winnable games against Brown, Yale, and Dartmouth left on the schedule, while RPI closes with a tough road trip to Princeton and Quinnipiac.

-----

RPI at Clarkson
ECAC Hockey Game - Cheel Arena (Potsdam, NY)
2/5/16 - 7pm
Clarkson 9, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5214
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wclkren1.f05

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2016/2/5/WICE_0205164405.aspx
Clarkson: http://clarksonathletics.com/news/2016/2/5/WHOCK_0205162633.aspx
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfOE0OtmE-A

RECORD: 9-14-4 (7-8-2 ECAC)

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RPI vs. St. Lawrence
ECAC Hockey Game - Appleton Arena (Canton, NY)
2/6/16 - 4pm
RPI 1, SLU 1 (OT)

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5205
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wrenstl1.f06

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2016/2/6/WICE_0206160518.aspx
St. Lawrence: http://www.saintsathletics.com/news/2016/2/6/WHOCKEY_0206161426.aspx
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qib5xohFNg

RECORD: 9-14-5 (7-8-3 ECAC)

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ECAC Standings (all teams have 18GP)

1. Quinnipiac - 29 pts (13-2-3)
2. Clarkson - 26 pts (11-3-4)
3. Princeton - 25 pts (12-5-1)
4. Colgate - 23 pts (9-4-5)
5. Harvard - 22 pts (10-6-2)
6. St. Lawrence - 20 pts (8-6-4)
7. Yale - 19 pts (9-8-1)
8. RPI - 17 pts (7-8-3)
9. Cornell - 14 pts (5-9-4)
10. Dartmouth - 13 pts (5-10-3)
11. Brown - 5 pts (1-14-3)
12. Union - 3 pts (0-15-3)

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Upcoming Schedule

Feb. 12 - Harvard (7pm)
Feb. 13 - Dartmouth (Senior Day) (4pm)
Feb. 19 - at Princeton (7pm)
Feb. 20 - at Quinnipiac (4pm)

Making It Mean

It's Freakout! weekend again. We hardly need to elaborate.

But for the men, there's an important point that needs to be made. After this weekend, the next three games are Harvard on the road, Dartmouth on the road, Quinnipiac at home (as in #1 Quinnipiac). That's a tough slog for anyone. And here's RPI. 1 point out of 2nd (Harvard), 1 point ahead of 4th (Yale). Points are going to be hard to come by in the next three games after this weekend - not that they're impossible or anything, just that they're not going to be quite as forthcoming as they should be at home on Freakout! weekend against a St. Lawrence team that's winless in 6 of their last 7 on the road and a Clarkson team that was 2-6 in the eight games before their current 5-game unbeaten streak (four of which were at home, three of those against Brown, Colgate and a free-falling Cornell).

No points are easy. It's just... RPI could probably use a bit of a cushion, and now, if they're going to be a serious player for a bye.

The women have a war on their hands for a playoff spot, and if they don't have one by season's end, they'll have to stare at being swept on the season by Yale as the culprit. And the North Country is never a picnic. But they've nabbed a win over Clarkson this season and St. Lawrence is but a point ahead in the standings. We've seen results from longer odds before.

February's always a time to be a mean team to play against. Let's get mean.

By the way... Tom is currently (as of this afternoon) doing an Ask Me Anything on the college hockey Reddit. Drop by and ask him, er, anything. 

Men's Hockey - at Clarkson/St. Lawrence (6/7 Nov)

Adversity has arrived in Troy, and one week into said adversity, the Engineers are holding up pretty well. Losing two of their top centermen in the Halloween night game against Union, heading on a long road trip, losing their netminder during Friday's game, blowing a two-goal lead, picking up penalty after penalty on Saturday, and allowing late goals in both the first and second periods, one would be forgiven for expecting that the outcome for RPI was pretty bad. Instead, the Engineers returned home from the North Country with three big points, holding on after an injury to Jason Kasdorf on Saturday for a distasteful but acceptable 2-2 draw with Clarkson, followed by a gutsy, come-from-behind and never-say-die effort in Canton that resulted in a 4-3 overtime win.

Clarkson
Liljegren-Bourbonnais-Wood
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Fulton-Schroeder-Gillespie
Ohrvall, Clary

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton
Grant

Kasdorf

Evan Tironese and Milos Bubela both sustained injuries against Union on Black Saturday that would keep them out for the weekend road-trip to the North Country. Combined with the injuries to Jimmy DeVito and Alex Rodriguez that have kept the junior from making his season debut and the freshman from making his collegiate debut, and the Engineers have 11 healthy forwards. All of them dressed against Clarkson. While Meirs Moore has played forward this season when pressed into it, Seth Appert chose to keep him on the blue line and dress seven defensemen instead.

RPI struck first for the fourth time in five games as Travis Fulton scored his second goal of the season at 7:12 of the first period, the lone assist going to Moore as the Engineers took a 1-0 lead against the Golden Knights. On the other side of the ice in the first period, Kasdorf made 13 saves on as many shots to preserve the lead into the first intermission.

Early in the second period, Riley Bourbonnais fed Jake Wood to create a breakaway opportunity that the resurgent junior pairing cashed in with to put the Engineers ahead 2-0, Wood's third goal of the year five minutes into the period. But that cushion did not last long as Clarkson's Brett Gervais put one past Kasdorf three and a half minutes later to cut the RPI lead in half at 2-1.

The momentum gradually shifted in Clarkson's direction, and the RPI penalty kill had a big moment at the start of the third period by killing off a penalty to Bourbonnais that had been assessed at 20:00 of the second period. The Golden Knights kept up the pressure, and the turning point came at 7:05 of the third - not on a goal, and not even on a penalty, although one was called on the play.

Near the end of an RPI power play, Clarkson's Jeff DiNallo attempted a counter-attack. Holding the puck, DiNallo went straight in on net and plowed into Kasdorf full force. DiNallo would come out of the game immediately, although he would return. A minute later, after trying to play through, Kasdorf too would come out of the game. No penalty was called on DiNallo for goaltender interference or charging the goaltender, but a penalty was assessed to Bourbonnais instead for slashing.

RPI, now being backed by freshman Cam Hackett making his collegiate debut in relief, killed the ensuing penalty and a questionable matching minor call moments later, but the Clarkson momentum continued to build. Hackett made the first eight saves he was called upon to make in the period, but the ninth shot eluded him, a blast from the point by Clarkson's Terrance Amorosa that he was just out of position to nab with 1:56 left in the third period. That tied the game at two.

Hackett and the Engineers managed to escape from Cheel with a solid point after holding up during the overtime period, but there was certainly a feeling of a bad tie despite the circumstances, as RPI did briefly hold a two-goal edge and the tying goal was widely seen as one that Kasdorf (or any other goaltender who wasn't coming into the game cold) likely would have been able to stop. The allowed goal was hardly a knock on Hackett, however, who looked very good despite the pressure point at which he made his debut.

After the game was over, DiNallo was issued a one-game suspension - to be served against Union the following night - for running Kasdorf.

St. Lawrence
Liljegren-Bourbonnais-Wood
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Fulton-Schroeder-Gillespie
Ohrvall, Clary

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton
Grant

Hackett

Kasdorf would go on to be listed on the next night's lineup chart with the hope that he could at least skate during warmups and see if he was ready to go, but that skate did not end up taking place and from the very start, it was Hackett ready to make his first collegiate start, with Sam Goodman as the backup for the evening.

While Friday's game featured relatively few penalties being called, Saturday night's officials began getting involved very quickly and frequently. For the second time in four games, Jake Wood was called for a penalty in the opening 30 seconds of the game, this time taking a boarding call 20 seconds in. St. Lawrence would ultimately pick up three power plays, and the Engineers two, during the game's first 16 minutes, leading to a relatively total lack of momentum build in the first 20 minutes.

St. Lawrence would, however, open the game's scoring in the waning seconds of the period as Jacob Pritchard scored with 7.5 seconds remaining on the clock to give SLU the 1-0 edge heading into the locker room. But the late goal didn't keep RPI in a funk as was so often the case last season. After killing yet another penalty early in the period, the Engineers struck twice in the span of 1:03 to turn the tables. 13 minutes into the period, Jared Wilson's second goal of the season tied the game, and shortly thereafter, Drew Melanson finally snapped a very long scoreless drought - 12 games - by scoring on a rebound to make it 2-1 Engineers.

Once again, a late goal threatened to derail RPI - St. Lawrence's Michael Ederer tied the score with 1:02 left in the period, and it got worse as SLU took the lead about six minutes into the third period on a goal by Drew Smolcynski. But as in the second period, the late goal and the trailing score did not put RPI away as in the recent past. With just under seven minutes left in regulation, Riley Bourbonnais struck for the Engineers, knotting the game back up at three.

Meanwhile, Hackett especially coming up especially big for the Engineers throughout the second and third periods. In the final 40 minutes alone, Hackett made 29 saves on 31 shots, finishing the night with a solid 37 saves, more than doing his part to not only keep RPI alive, but well in the game.

Both teams had individual power play opportunities late in the third period following the Bourbonnais goal, but neither were able to convert. For the second night running, the Engineers were off to overtime, this time as the team tying the game rather than the team losing the lead. A second draw surely would have led to a relatively successful conclusion to a very trying weekend, but just a minute into the extra time, the local boy stepped up again for RPI.

Mark Miller, a native of nearby Massena who has frequently had some outstanding moments in the North Country, added another memorable one by shoveling home a shot by Drew Melanson, giving RPI a 4-3 victory and, against all expectation coming into the weekend and given what happened over the course of the weekend, three ECAC points in two road games.

Kasdorf's availability (along with that of Bubela and Tironese) isn't known for sure for the upcoming home weekend against Yale and Brown. One report by the Troy Record suggests that he's unlikely to play against Yale, but a report from Canton had it that Kasdorf could have played against St. Lawrence if it had been a playoff game. Both could be accurate.

At any rate, Yale represents the biggest challenge to the Engineers in terms of a power team since they welcomed Boston College to the Field House. The Bulldogs have opened the season with solid offensive numbers and have yet to allow three goals in a game. But RPI is at least playing closer to their potential than their more frequently expected floor, and they're starting to turn a couple of heads. Another strong ECAC weekend, especially on Friday, and expectations change.

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

By winning percentage
1. Quinnipiac (1.000)
2. Harvard (.875)
3. RPI (.875)
4. Yale (.750)
5. St. Lawrence (.500)
6. Cornell (.500)
7. Colgate (.500)
8. Clarkson (.250)
9. Union (.250)
10. Dartmouth (.250)
11. Princeton (.000)
12. Brown (.000)

RPI at #17 Clarkson

ECAC Game - Cheel Arena (Potsdam, NY)
11/6/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, Clarkson 2 (OT)

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Watertown Daily Times

RECORD: 3-4-1 (2-0-1 ECAC, 5 pts)

RPI at #15 St. Lawrence
ECAC Game - Appleton Arena (Canton, NY)
11/7/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 4, St. Lawrence 3 (OT)

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS

RPI
USCHO
Troy Record
Watertown Daily Times
North Country Now

RECORD:4-4-1 (3-0-1 ECAC, 7 pts)

Upcoming games
13 Nov - #10 Yale
14 Nov - Brown
20 Nov - at Bentley
24 Nov - New Hampshire
27 Nov - vs. Western Michigan (South Bend, IN)

Women's Hockey - St. Lawrence & Clarkson (6/7 Nov)

After taking three points from Cornell and Colgate, RPI returned home to face their biggest challenge of the early season as St. Lawrence and fourth-ranked Clarkson came to town.

After falling short in a 2-0 loss to the Saints on Friday, the Engineers clawed out a 2-1 win over Clarkson on Saturday behind a spectacular effort from freshman netminder Lovisa Selander.

St. Lawrence

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

Hansen/Godin
Behounek/Banks
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

The weekend opened on a tough note as RPI struggled against St. Lawrence, getting shut out 2-0 by the visiting Saints. Selander finished with 31 saves but it was not enough for an Engineer squad that couldn't get one past Saints goalie Sonjia Shelly.

The first period flew by without scoring or penalties, and it wasn't until after the midpoint of the second period that SLU tallied the game's first goal. Taking advantage of a turnover at the RPI blue line, Kailee Heidersbach fed the puck to Kennedy Marchment at the top of the RPI crease, then Marchment gave it right back to Heidersbach across the crease for an easy tap-in past Selander.

Brooke Webster added a second goal for the Saints early in the third period, poking home a loose puck after a shot from Amanda Boulier made it past Selander to settle in the crease. The RPI defense tried to swipe it clear of the crease but couldn't get to it before the charging Webster had it in the back of the net.

The Engineers finished the game having been outshot 33-16 by a SLU squad that, despite a mixed bag of results early on due to playing a tough early schedule, looks poised to be one of the league's better teams.

Clarkson

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

Behounek/Banks
Hansen/Godin
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

While Saturday's game threatened to be an even tougher matchup for the Engineers than Friday's, with fourth-ranked Clarkson visiting Houston Field House, RPI took advantage of a great outing from Lovisa Selander coupled with some opportune penalty calls to pull a big upset and hand the Golden Knights their first loss of the season, 13 games in.

It was Clarkson scoring first, with Cayley Mercer giving the Golden Knights a 1-0 edge in a first period which saw the visitors outshoot RPI 15-3. Mercer's goal was a quick redirect in front of the net which came just moments after the Engineers broke up a 3-on-2 opportunity.

Lindsey Hylwa drew the Engineers even midway through the middle frame, putting just enough of a tip on a Mari Mankey shot coming on the rush to sneak it past Shea Tiley.

Mankey would then go on to tally the go-ahead goal on the Engineers' seventh power play chance of the game, at 12:49 of the third. Jenn Godin set up the goal with a slapshot from the point which Tiley stopped, but the puck dropped at the top of the crease and Mankey was able to slide it underneath the Clarkson goalie before she could get a glove on it.

The Engineers then held on as Clarkson fought hard to tie the game back up, with Selander making several big stops and finishing the game with an excellent 45 saves, making her 76 for 79 on the weekend.

RPI now travels to Dartmouth and Harvard before taking a couple weeks off from conference play for an exhibition at McGill and home set against New Hampshire.

-----

RPI vs. St. Lawrence
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/6/15 - 7pm
SLU 2, RPI 0

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5186
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wrenstl1.n06

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2015/11/6/WICE_1106153848.aspx?path=whock
SLU: http://www.saintsathletics.com/news/2015/11/6/WHOCKEY_1106152655.aspx?path=whockey
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/998-womens-hockey-vs-st-lawrence

RECORD: 3-5-1 (1-1-1 ECAC)

-----

RPI vs. #4 Clarkson
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/7/15 - 4pm
RPI 2, Clarkson 1

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5187
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wclkren1.n07

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2015/11/7/WICE_1107152112.aspx?path=whock
Clarkson: http://clarksonathletics.com/news/2015/11/7/WHOCK_1107154740.aspx?path=whock
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P1axL7eDJ0
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/1000-womens-hockey-vs-clarkson

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

-----

Upcoming Schedule

Nov. 13 - at Dartmouth (7pm)
Nov. 14 - at Harvard (4pm)
Nov. 22 - at McGill (2pm)
Nov. 27 - New Hampshire (7pm)
Nov. 28 - New Hampshire (4pm)

Small Sample Sizes

Hey, look! The women are in 2nd place in the ECAC! Tied for second, technically, with Harvard and Dartmouth, but they've got a game in hand over both teams, so... yeah!

And wow! Just like last year, the men are in 1st place! Tied for first, technically, with Harvard (freakin' Harvard), but hey, better than the alternative!

OK, so it's really not that impressive just yet for either team. But the road has to start somewhere, and it's started very well for both squads - unbeaten last weekend. That's the first time that's happened since December 7-8. 2012, when the men won at Yale and tied at Brown while the women swept those teams at home.

There's only way to stay on the perch - keep it up. The women have a difficult task in front of them at home against the North Country. The better bet is tonight against St. Lawrence, but the Saints don't seem to be that big of a slouch. Sure, they're 4-6-1, but four of those losses were to Clarkson and Boston College. No shame there. And then tomorrow is Clarkson... and Clarkson's a wrecking ball so far this year (no, that's not the pumpup).

The men get to return to the North Country for the fourth time in calendar year 2015 to take on nationally ranked Clarkson tonight and nationally ranked St. Lawrence tomorrow. This weekend marks the ECAC debuts for both teams and is never easy for the Engineers, but they could well be without leading scorer Evan Tironese, who took a hit that was a five-minute boarding call in most leagues but apparently a legal hit in the ECAC against Union last Saturday, and also without Milos Bubela, who is frequently a dangerous scoring threat.

In honor of this weekend's games against the North Country, here's a reach back to the past for an ode to alien landings, which wouldn't be the strangest thing to ever happen up there.


PROGRAMMING NOTE: In case you missed it on Twitter, WRPI won't be in the North Country this weekend. It was pretty much the perfect storm in terms of announcers being unavailable, and one that hopefully won't happen again, but it's pretty much the risk you run when you have a broadcast that's basically unpaid (we get reimbursed for travel expenses and that's it) and entirely produced by working professionals. However, the good news is that the women's hockey game tonight and hopefully tomorrow afternoon as well will be broadcast. Huzzah!

Know Your Enemy: Clarkson

Stop us if you've heard this one before - Clarkson starts the season off pretty much red hot, doing fairly well either in non-conference games, ECAC matchups, or both, and everyone's saying that the Knights are back. Then February rolls around and things just aren't looking that good anymore. Last year for Clarkson, it was early league success that had people buzzing about the Knights. But a dreadful February doomed them to an absolute freefall through the league table to just barely hang on for a home playoff series, and it was one they lost, yet another common recent occurrence.

Clarkson
Nickname: Golden Knights
Location: Potsdam, NY
Founded: 1896
Conference: ECAC
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: 2008
Last Frozen Four: 1991
Coach: Casey Jones (5th season)
2014-15 Record: 12-20-5 (8-11-3 ECAC, 8th place)
Series: Clarkson leads, 87-50-10
First Game: January 24, 1925 (Troy, NY)
Last RPI win: March 8, 2015 (Potsdam, NY)
Last CU win: March 7, 2015 (Potsdam, NY)

2015-16 games: November 7, 2015 (Potsdam, NY); February 6, 2016 (Troy, NY)

Key players: F Jeff DiNallo, sr,; D Paul Geiger, sr.; G Greg Lewis, sr.; F Pat Megannety, sr.; D Kevin Tansey, sr.; D James de Haas, jr.; F A.J. Fossen, jr.; F Troy Josephs, jr.; G Steve Perry, jr.; D Terrance Amorosa, so.; F Brett Gervais, so.; F Nic Pierog, so.; D Kelly Summers, so.; F Sam Vigneault, so.; F Marly Quince, fr.;  D Aaron Thow, fr.

Key losses: F Joe Zarbo, D James Howden

Previous KYE installments:

• 2010-11
• 2011-12
• 2012-13
• 2013-14
• 2014-15

There's a major caveat to Clarkson's trials and tribulations: they were a young team last year. Like, really young. Zarbo and Howden were literally the only seniors on the squad last season, and only four juniors appeared in most of the games on the schedule. While losing Zarbo means losing far and away the team's top goal scorer (12, twice any other player on the team), there was a six-way tie for second place with six goals each, and all six of those players - DiNallo, de Haas, Vigneault, Megannety, Summers, and Jordan Boucher, who will be returning this year.

To some extent, Clarkson was able to mimic their nemeses from down the road in Canton when it came to distributing the burden of goal-scoring - not quite as well as the Saints, but certainly better on a holistic level than the Engineers when you examine the season in its entirety. The most glaring weakness was in net - Perry and Lewis platooned for the most part, achieving GAA turnouts of 2.10 and 2.19 respectively, which isn't bad, but they also had save percentages of .907 and .911 respectively, which would indicate more that the blueliners in front of them did a pretty decent job of limiting the number of shots, but that they weren't exactly lighting it up once the puck got through to them.

The Knights definitely ended up being a team that wasn't overly awful, but that needed some distinct improvement on both sides of the puck in order to be successful, and that's what they're going to need this coming year. The pressure is going to be on DiNallo and Megannety especially to step up a bit and provide power on offense, and the Knights are simply going to have to get better goaltending overall from their two very capable netminders - who, when they're on, are very good - in order to earn success in 2016.

Perry has had some success against RPI - he's shut out the Engineers twice, including in Game 2 of last year's first round playoff series - while Lewis has had some very noticeable struggles. That's not to say that Perry is impervious to RPI, given that in Game 3 last season he was torched for 3 goals on 10 shots before being yanked for Lewis, who stopped all 10 shots he faced in that game. So it can be a bit of a crap shoot no matter which goalie the Engineers face off against this coming season. The key for RPI against Clarkson recently has frequently been to jump on the Golden Knights as quickly as possible, and get them in a hole that seems too deep to climb out of. That, especially if RPI gets the defense they are expecting this season, can certainly put them in a superior position in this matchup.

Men's Hockey - ECAC First Round (6-8 Mar)

One bad weekend in the ECAC tournament can turn what had been an outstanding season into a bitter one. The opposite, with some frequency, is also true. RPI may not yet be at the level where they can declare their season fully resurrected, but over the span of 180 minutes of game play in Potsdam, things at least feel a little bit better on the whole. The Engineers got out of the gate with a Game 1 victory over Clarkson, endured a throttling in Game 2, but bounced back well with three first period goals to provide victory in Game 3, allowing them to advance to the ECAC Quarterfinals for the first time since 2013.

Game 1
Liljegren-Schroeder-Bubela
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Neal-McGowan-Laliberte

Wood-Bourbonnais-DeVito

Leonard-Bradley
Curadi-Bell
Prapavessis-Wilson

Kasdorf

Fresh off the team's first victory in over a month, the lines and defensive pairings stayed the same not just for Game 1, but ultimately for the entire weekend. The major question was in net, where Jason Kasdorf had struggled for large sections of the late season and where Scott Diebold had backstopped that senior night victory over St. Lawrence. Ultimately, Seth Appert chose to roll with Kasdorf, who when "on" provides a significant spark for the Engineers.

Kasdorf would have to be strong early on for RPI in Game 1, and he delivered with a strong performance that would run through the night. The RPI junior stopped all 12 Clarkson shots he faced in the first period to keep the game scoreless into the second.

Clarkson netted the game's first tally of the night 4:30 into the second period off the stick of Pat Megannety, but the Engineers wouldn't stay down for long. Zach Schroeder connected with Milos Bubela on a nifty 2-on-1 pass to score RPI's first goal of the night a little under five minutes later. The second period again required sharp skill from Kasdorf, and he responded with another 12 saves that kept the Engineers in the game.

With the score still knotted at one at the start of the third period a heads up play by Bradley Bell to poke the puck before it exited the Clarkson zone allowed Mark Miller, playing not far from his hometown of Massena, to carry the Engineers to the lead as he grabbed the puck and burst back toward the net against the flow of the Clarkson forwards exiting the zone. He found a seam and put it home to give the Engineers their first lead of the night.

Once more, it fell to Jason Kasdorf to help shoulder the lead. With Clarkson pushing to find the tying goal, he proved equal to the task once more with a third consecutive 12-save period. He got a little more breathing room with 3:10 left in regulation, as Bubela scored his second goal of the night unassisted to put RPI up 3-1. It would prove to be a very important tally.

The Golden Knights pulled netminder Greg Lewis from the cage as soon as they won the ensuing faceoff, and got a power play off a faceoff in the RPI end as Miller was called for delay of game with 2:30 left on the clock. Kasdorf valiantly fought off the 6-on-4 attack together with his penalty killers, and the Engineers managed to kill off the penalty without allowing a power play goal. Clarkson would manage to pull back within one on a goal by Brett Gervais, but it came with only 11 seconds left in the third period. RPI won the center ice faceoff, securing Game 1 victory.

Kasdorf ended with 36 saves on 38 shots in a valiant performance that certainly backstopped RPI's second consecutive Game 1 victory, and got outstanding offense from the top two lines to power the win.

Game 2
Liljegren-Schroeder-Bubela
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Neal-McGowan-Laliberte

Wood-Bourbonnais-DeVito

Leonard-Bradley
Curadi-Bell
Prapavessis-Wilson

Kasdorf

It's never easy to win two games in a row against the same opponent, a problem that faced Clarkson as it pertained to the series as a whole but also impacted RPI significantly on Saturday night as they sought to complete their first series sweep since 2009.

The Golden Knights got out of the gate quickly with a goal that would become a running theme throughout the evening - a goal in the first two minutes of play. The first one came just 1:35 in as Jeff DiNallo gave Clarkson the 1-0 lead for the second time in as many nights, taking advantage of a horrible RPI line change to create an odd-man rush opportunity. That would prove to be the lone blemish on either team's ledger for the first 20 minutes, as Jason Kasdorf continued his busy weekend in net for RPI, stopping 13 of 14 shots in the first period to keep the Engineers alive.

Joe Zarbo scored 1:17 into the second period to put Clarkson ahead 2-0, and the Golden Knights took a commanding 3-0 edge three minutes later on a goal by Troy Josephs. While RPI hadn't played generally poorly to that point, it was shortly after going down by three that the wheels began to come off. Jake Wood was assessed a major and a game misconduct for kneeing, a penalty that, like in the Clarkson/RPI game a week prior, was mitigated by a retaliation penalty from the Golden Knights. That lessened the amount of major power play time to three minutes, and that was killed off by the Engineers.

Sam Vigneault scored for Clarkson 26 seconds into the third to make the score 4-0. Although he hadn't really been to blame for any of the goals given up on the night, Jason Kasdorf came out in favor of Scott Diebold, more to keep him physically and mentally fresh for Sunday night than to try and stem the tide. Diebold would have a quiet night, facing only four shots for the remainder of the period, one a shot by Zarbo that found the back of the net to give Clarkson a 5-0 lead with 6 minutes left.

The third period, more or less, was a matter of survival for both teams as play got more and more chippy. Both were able to make it out without any serious injuries, ejections, or suspensions following the point where the game was out of reach. Wood, despite some dicey behavior after his penalty, was not further sanctioned by the league. Clarkson did have one serious injury from earlier in the game, however, as defenseman Kelly Summers was injured in an awkward collision with Jared Wilson. He came out and did not return, and was unavailable for Game 3.

Game 3
Liljegren-Schroeder-Bubela
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Neal-McGowan-Laliberte

Wood-Bourbonnais-DeVito

Leonard-Bradley
Curadi-Bell
Prapavessis-Wilson

Kasdorf

With both teams now in a do or die situation, the first goal loomed crucial on Sunday night. It was the Engineers who picked it up for the first time in the series.

Mark Miller's second goal of the weekend came 7:45 into the contest to put RPI ahead 1-0 for the first time in four games, but the real backbreaker may have come just 20 seconds later, as Zach Schroeder and Milos Bubela switched things up a little bit from their Game 1 link-up, with Bubela feeding Schroeder this time to give the Engineers a very sudden 2-0 edge.

After surviving back to back penalties to Miller and Bell, RPI took a 3-0 lead with about three minutes left in the first as Jimmy DeVito finally notched his first goal of the season - the second of his collegiate career - on a terrific pass from behind the Clarkson net by Riley Bourbonnais. For the second time in four games over two weekends, the Engineers had three goals in the first period and chased netminder Steve Perry from the cage.

As is the norm, it fell to Jason Kasdorf to make that lead hold, and he would manage to do that for the remainder of the game. He stopped all 18 shots that he saw in the first two periods, then knuckled down as Clarkson pulled the netminder for the extra attacker with seven minutes to play, down by three. The Golden Knights managed to maintain control of the puck for most of that final seven minutes, RPI rarely getting a chance on the open net on the other end. Kasdorf, meanwhile, continued to play some of his best hockey of the season, ultimately making 15 saves in the final 20 minutes.

The Golden Knights would not be shut out in Game 3, as Joe Zarbo hit his third goal of the weekend with three minutes left to bring Clarkson back within two, but that was as close as Clarkson would come, in part because Zarbo himself was called for tripping with just under two minutes left in the game (and subsequently issued a misconduct for dissent as well), bringing things back to five on five play as Clarkson removed the goaltender again once the puck was out of their zone. That advantage was not enough to get another one past Kasdorf, and for the second time in four years, the Engineers won a playoff series in Potsdam.

RPI/Clarkson was the only series that went the distance, as Dartmouth and Harvard picked up home sweeps over Princeton and Brown respectively, while Union shocked Cornell in Ithaca with a two-game demolition of the Big Red.

It's another trip to the North Country for the Engineers, their third of the season, as they now move to face St. Lawrence, the team they defeated in their final home game of the year. SLU presents a more daunting challenge, the final roadblock to RPI potentially ending the longest semifinal drought in the league.

Quarterfinal matchups
#10 Union at #1 Quinnipiac
#9 RPI at #2 St. Lawrence
#6 Harvard at #3 Yale
#5 Dartmouth at #4 Colgate

RPI at Clarkson
ECAC First Round, Game 1 - Cheel Arena (Potsdam, NY)
3/6/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Clarkson 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Watertown Daily Times

RECORD: 11-23-3 (8-12-2, 18pts)

RPI at Clarkson
ECAC First Round, Game 2 - Cheel Arena (Potsdam, NY)
3/7/15 - 7:30pm

RESULT: Clarkson 5, RPI 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Watertown Daily Times

RECORD: 11-24-3 (8-12-2, 18pts)

RPI at Clarkson
ECAC First Round, Game 3 - Cheel Arena (Potsdam, NY)
3/8/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Clarkson 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Watertown Daily Times

RECORD: 12-24-3 (8-12-2, 18pts)

Upcoming games
13 Mar - at St. Lawrence
14 Mar - at St. Lawrence
15 Mar - at St. Lawrence (if necessary)
20 Mar - ECAC Semifinals (Lake Placid, NY - if qualified)
21 Mar - ECAC Championship (Lake Placid, NY - if qualified)

There Can Only Be One

This is it.

One game. Winner goes to St. Lawrence (hint: they want it to be us). Loser has to stay in either Troy or Potsdam for all eternity.

Finish Him!

What's more dangerous: an healthy animal or a wounded one?

You know the answer. Tonight's game is going to be significantly more difficult.

It was junior achievement night in Potsdam last night as Jason Kasdorf's 36 saves and Milos Bubela's two goals powered the Engineers to a 3-2 victory. It's the seventh season in a row that the Engineers have recorded at least one win in the ECAC tournament. Let's make it two tonight, shall we?

Game 3s are always action packed, edge-of-your-seat thrill rides. After this season, this team doesn't need an action packed, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride right now. Probably not ever.

So let's finish this off tonight. Get this taken care of and let's get home. After all, if the teams who won last night win their series, it's a trip to St. Lawrence (basically the same trip as this one, just a little farther) next weekend. If they top that one off? Lake Placid (basically the same trip as this one, just a little shorter). So if it's going to be repeated trips north, why not make this one as short as possible?

Clarkson is wounded. Don't let them back into it.

A New Season

Four years ago, we reprinted and paraphrased a letter written by St. Cloud State alum Mike Doyle, who was watching an SCSU team picked to be among the best in the WCHA falter and finish near the bottom. His words were inspiring, and while they're unfortunately no longer online, here's another reprint and another paraphrase to fit this current situation that the Engineers find themselves in.

There is still time to salvage the season. It won’t be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. This would be a wonderful turnaround, but you have play up to your potential and battle every minute of every game.

During the Colgate and Cornell home weekend in January, you proved, when motivated, that you could be an elite team. I know the bounces haven’t been on your side recently. But, this is all the more reason to man-up and prove to the rest of college hockey that you aren't an oversight.

Each season is unique and you will never get another chance to play with this team. The locker room relationships are unlike any that you will ever make again. Don’t take them for granted.

For the seniors, this is your last hurrah. You may be looking forward to getting out and playing pro hockey. However, playing college hockey is like staying at a five-star hotel, while skating in the minors is like rooming at the Motel 6.

In college you are treated like a king: all the sticks you need, skate-sharpening wherever you lose an edge, first-class travel arrangements and spacious locker rooms in beautiful, sold-out arenas. Houston Field House may be old, but your locker room is better than 90 percent of the arenas you will ever see in the minors.

For the underclassmen, realize that four years fly by. Don't let this one end before you're ready for it to be over.

Confidence is a fickle jester taunting the psyche of a hockey team. A bounce or two can change the entire outlook of a season. When the self-confidence snowball gets rolling in the wrong direction, it feels like it’s impossible to stop. Confidence is something people outside the locker room don’t see nor understand.

Some of the RPI faithful are bemoaning your effort. Message boards are lighting you up like the Griswold house on “Christmas Vacation.”

You cannot let this lack of faith bury your confidence. You can only play for the guys in the locker room wearing the Cherry and White.

This is the playoffs. That means there's 12 teams, right now, who are two losses away from their season being over. Whether you're on the road or at home, playing in the first round or with a bye to the quarterfinals, this is the reality. You bring it or you're done. You want it more, and you can succeed.

This is the playoffs. All the woulda, coulda, shoulda stops now. At this very moment, the Bobcats, Saints, Bulldogs, Raiders, Big Green, Crimson, Big Red, Golden Knights, Engineers, Dutchmen, Bears, and Tigers have the same record. 0-0. Some teams have earned the right to have certain benefits along the road to Lake Placid. These benefits are no guarantors of success, and teams without those benefits are not condemned.

You have to walk before you can run. You have to crawl before you can walk.

This is the playoffs.

Men's Hockey - Clarkson & St. Lawrence (27/28 Feb)

The Engineers needed a strong weekend and a little bit of help in order to secure home ice for the first round. They came within a goal on Friday of getting everything they needed, but they'll still be on the road despite a solid final weekend. A 3-3 tie on Friday against Clarkson guaranteed that RPI would be on the road in this coming weekend, but a strong effort against one of the best teams in the league on Saturday, St. Lawrence, produced a 4-3 victory to push the Engineers toward the post season having been unbeaten in three of their final four contests.

Clarkson
Liljegren-Schroeder-Bubela
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Neal-McGowan-Laliberte

Wood-Bourbonnais-DeVito

Leonard-Bradley
Curadi-Bell
Prapavessis-Wilson

Kasdorf

Matt Neal returned to the lineup after missing the previous weekend's games in Central New York - he replaced Kenny Gillespie and slotted into an all-senior line.

The first period was action packed and full of scoring - five goals scored between the two teams in the first 20 minutes (that's one every four minutes for you math majors). The average almost got started right on, as Viktor Liljegren scored at 4:07 of the first period to put RPI in front 1-0. But just over a minute later, the Engineers put themselves in a tough spot as a Jake Wood hooking call was followed just four seconds later by a high-sticking call against Curtis Leonard, giving Clarkson a long five-on-three opportunity. The Engineers killed most of it well, but the Golden Knights broke through for a tying goal 21 seconds from the end of Wood's penalty.

A hooking call against Riley Bourbonnais about four minutes later created a goal for Clarkson that was essentially a power play goal, coming seven seconds after the penalty expired and while the puck remained in the RPI end. That put the Golden Knights up 2-1, but it was destined to be a short-lived lead for the visitors.

Just under a minute later, Drew Melanson tied the game up with his seventh goal of the year, and four minutes after that Mark McGowan netted number six on the year to make it 3-2 RPI.

Clarkson pulled their netminder, Steve Perry, to start the second period, as Perry had allowed three goals on just 10 shots in the opening period. The second, however, would prove to be the Jason Kasdorf show, as the junior goaltender made 14 saves to maintain RPI's lead. The Engineers mustered just two shots in the middle frame, which featured no goals despite the first period goal bonanza.

A potenital tipping point came 2:22 into the third, as Jimmy DeVito was assessed a five-minute major for a reckless knee-to-knee hit against Clarkson's James de Haas. The penalty was slightly mitigated by a retaliation penalty assessed to Kevin Tansey, who immediately went after DeVito, but nonetheless, Clarkson would enjoy three full minutes of major penalty power play time once Tansey's penalty was over. The RPI penalty bent, but did not break, keeping the Engineer lead at 3-2.

With under seven minutes left to play, Clarkson pulled themselves back even with the Engineers, as James Howden scored on a shot that Kasdorf was slightly screened on by one of his own defenders, just barely missing snagging the shot with his glove.

The tying goal helped build momentum for the visitors, who dominated the remainder of the period and much of the ensuing overtime. By the end of the game, the Engineers managed only 8 shots on Lewis, two fewer than they managed in the first period alone. Behind Jason Kasdorf's play, RPI did manage to hold on for the tie, but that was enough to ensure that they would be on the road in the playoffs.

St. Lawrence
Liljegren-Schroeder-Bubela
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Neal-McGowan-Laliberte

Wood-Bourbonnais-DeVito

Leonard-Bradley
Curadi-Bell
Prapavessis-Wilson

Diebold

For senior night, Scott Diebold got the start in net - the only real change to the RPI lineup from the previous night. All of the graduating seniors were in the starting lineup.

A Jake Wood penalty led to the first goal for the opposition for the second straight night on Saturday as St. Lawrence scored an odd goal that coincided with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on one of its own players in the final minute of the period. It was the Saints' third power play opportunity of the opening 20 minutes.

RPI responded in the second with their second three-goal period of the weekend. After an entire season of barely missed nets and hitting several pipes, Mike Prapavessis finally came through with his first collegiate goal two and a half minutes into the second period, tying the score. SLU regained the lead 2:31 later on a laser of a shot by defenseman Eric Sweetman. From there on out, however, it was the Drew Melanson show.

The RPI freshman tied things up midway through the period. After catching a home-run pass from Bradley Bell, Melanson gained the zone on the breakaway and faked out St. Lawrence netminder Kyle Hayton scored for his 8th goal of the season. The assist for Bell was the freshman's first collegiate point, ensuring that every Engineer skater now has recorded at least one point on the season. Then, two minutes later on the power play, Melanson put home a rebound off a shot by Prapavessis, putting the Engineers ahead 3-2.

It was looking like a serious case of deja vu - a 3-2 RPI lead heading into the third period, and some seriously strong play by the opposition in search of the tying goal. Diebold stood strong in net during the second period, stopping 15 of 16 shots in the middle frame, and he continued heroic play during the third period as well, but was beaten on another laser shot from the point by Sweetman with just over nine minutes left in regulation.

From that point, RPI fans could be forgiven for groaning and basically saying "here we go again." It was the third time in four games that the Engineers had surrendered a lead in the third period. But the script was not about to play out in the same way it had been playing out. About three minutes later, as RPI fought to regain the lead, Mark McGowan was pulled down after getting behind the defense on his way toward the net, and he was awarded a penalty shot. McGowan calmly moved to his left and outwaited Hayton, scoring the go-ahead goal with six and a half minutes left in regulation.

Scott Diebold equally was not about to be denied on senior night. He stood proud and tall in net for the remainder of the game, remaining cool under pressure late as St. Lawrence pulled Hayton for the extra attacker. His play helped the 4-3 lead stand up, ending RPI's winless streak at nine (which equaled their nine-game losing streak from earlier in the year) and picking up a win that guaranteed the Engineers 9th place and a trip to Potsdam to take on Clarkson.

With the Golden Knights falling to Union that same night, the Engineers could have been the ones hosting Clarkson if only they'd been able to hold that Friday lead. The good news is that Clarkson has only picked up a single win and a single tie in their last nine games. The bad news is, both of those were against RPI. Still, the last playoff series the Engineers won in 2012 was won in Potsdam, and there are signs of life in both the offense and the defense. Anything is possible, even in a season as long as this one has really been for the Engineers.

Final ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 35 points (16-3-3)
2. St. Lawrence - 29 points (14-7-1)
3. Yale - 28 points (12-6-4)
4. Colgate - 26 points (11-7-4)
5. Dartmouth - 26 points (12-8-2)
6. Harvard - 25 points (11-8-3)
7. Cornell - 22 points (9-9-4)
8. Clarkson - 19 points (8-11-3)
9. RPI - 18 points (8-12-2)
10. Union - 17 points (8-13-1)
11. Brown - 13 points (5-14-3)
12. Princeton - 6 points (2-18-2)

First Round matchups
#12 Princeton at #5 Dartmouth
#11 Brown at #6 Harvard
#10 Union at #7 Cornell
#9 RPI at #8 Clarkson

Clarkson at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/27/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Clarkson 3 (OT)

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 9-23-3 (7-12-2, 16pts)

#19 St. Lawrence at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/28/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 4, St. Lawrence 3

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 10-23-3 (8-12-2, 18pts)

Upcoming games
06 Mar - at Clarkson
07 Mar - at Clarkson
08 Mar - at Clarkson (if necessary)
13 Mar - ECAC Quarterfinals (at higher seed, if qualified)
14 Mar - ECAC Quarterfinals (at higher seed, if qualified)

This Is It

Let's be perfectly honest. There's been a lot to be embarrassed about this year.

* RPI was 35 seconds away from being shutout in three consecutive games against Minnesota and Denver. (This seems a lot less embarrassing after Union came within about 17:30 of being shutout in four straight, but still.)

* The Engineers got swept at home by Bentley by a combined score of 9-2.

* Swept by Brown by a combined score of 10-5.

* Shut out six different times.

* Three separate losing streaks of five or more on the season.

* 12 straight games of scoring fewer than three goals.

* Two different winless streaks of eight or longer, including the current one.

* 0-23-0 in games giving up 3 or more goals.

* Losing by five in a rivalry game in which they led at the second intermission.

And even after all of this, there's still hope. There's still a chance. Home ice is a possibility.

But everything that's happened in the last month has to be wiped clean. This has to be the start of a new season right here and now.

Two wins this weekend and a little bit of luck, and everything you see above can start to be wiped away.

It's home ice advantage week. Take control of your own destiny, Red.

Men's Hockey - at St. Lawrence & Clarkson (6/7 Feb)

The struggle continues for the Engineers, as a poor showing in the North Country produced the team's third losing streak of four games or more on the season. The Friday game at St. Lawrence seems to have been the better of the two outings, as a strong second period positioned RPI with a striking-distance shot at one of the best teams in the league, but spot mistakes killed in a 3-1 loss. The next night, the Engineers struck first but coughed up the lead after just nine seconds on the way to a 5-2 loss at Clarkson.

St. Lawrence
Liljegren-DeVito-McGowan
Neal-Miller-Laliberte
Nanne-Bubela-Schroeder

Melanson-Bourbonnais-Gillespie

Leonard-Prapavessis
Curadi-Bradley
Wilson-Reno

Kasdorf

With Jake Wood still out on suspension, the Engineers got some good news in the return of Mark Miller for the first time in over a month. Despite having the strong-early trio of Miller, Lou Nanne, and Drew Melanson all in the same lineup for the first time in nearly three months, they were featured on three separate lines.

The home team struck twice in the first period to get the edge they would need to pick up the victory, although the Engineers would do their part later to make things close. Goals by Alexander Dahl and Christian Horn at 5:54 and 11:17 of the first gave SLU a 2-0 lead, with the second goal being a direct result of a turnover in the RPI end.

Matt Neal scored his 5th goal of the season early in the second to make it 2-1 and add some intrigue to a game that up to that point had been dominated by the Saints. The Engineers turned the game around in that second period and had arguably their best 20 minutes of hockey since the Mayor's Cup, but they were unable to get any closer during the period despite a 13-5 shot edge as SLU's Kyle Hayton preserved the lead well.

The RPI penalty kill managed to go 5-for-5 on the evening, but St. Lawrence's power play looked very strong all night. On at least four of the five power play opportunities, the Saints were fairly unlucky not to score, missing open nets and hitting iron instead of finding the cage.

A goal by Mike Marnell at 10:47 of the third period basically ended any real hopes that the Engineers had of catching up to St. Lawrence, although the tide of the game had started turning well before that one returned SLU's lead to two. RPI played most of the last two minutes of the game with the extra attacker, but could not improve on Neal's tally, falling for the second consecutive league game and firmly dropping the Engineers into 9th place in the league standings.

Clarkson
Liljegren-Schroeder-McGowan
Melanson-Bourbonnais-Miller
Fulton-DeVito-Gillespie
Neal-Bubela-Laliberte

Leonard-Prapavessis
Curadi-Bradley
Wilson-Bokenfohr

Kasdorf

Despite his eligibility to return to the lineup, Jake Wood sat out a third-consecutive game, almost certainly because he wasn't on the trip to begin with given RPI's injury status with both Mark Miller and Travis Fulton questionable for the weekend's games. However, Fulton returned to the lineup on Saturday night as part of a line jumble that saw Lou Nanne removed from the lineup completely for reasons unknown.

Quick goals for Clarkson were the theme of the evening, with the timing on each of the Golden Knights' first four goals producing a serious blow for the visitors' morale.

The Engineers did manage to strike first against Clarkson, going ahead 1-0 on a goal by Jacob Laliberte at 8:21 of the first period, but it didn't take long for things to deteriorate. Four seconds later, Matt Neal was called for hooking on the ensuing center-ice faceoff. Then, on the next faceoff in the RPI end, Clarkson won the draw and converted for a tying goal only nine seconds after the Engineers had taken the lead.

Another quick goal early in the second period basically took the wind completely out of RPI's sails, as the Golden Knights went ahead 2-1 just 25 seconds into the middle frame. Five minutes later, a Jimmy DeVito penalty ended after only five seconds - exactly the way the Neal penalty ended, on a power play goal off a faceoff win for Clarkson in the RPI end, making it 3-1 Clarkson.

Mark McGowan got one back for his fourth goal of the season with 4:30 remaining in the second period to give RPI some hope, but just over two minutes later Clarkson got another one to regain their two goal lead, then picked up a fifth goal - and fourth of the second period - just under two minutes after that. McGowan then whipped the puck out of the net and up out of the rink, earning himself a misconduct penalty at the same time Jason Kasdorf was finishing his night up early.

There was no scoring in the third period, but the game was certainly a fait accompli by that time.

RPI has in the past used Freakout! weekend to turn around difficult seasons. If they can't do that this year, it's all over. The last time the Engineers were at home, they played well enough to run with any team in the league. They start off with one of the teams they should still be able to beat - except that they didn't last time out.

Current ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 27 points (13-2-1)
2. St. Lawrence - 24 points (12-4-0)
3. Yale - 18 points (8-6-2)
4. Harvard - 18 points (8-6-2)
5. Clarkson - 18 points (8-6-2)
6. Dartmouth - 18 points (8-6-2)
7. Cornell - 17 points (8-7-1)
8. Colgate - 17 points (7-6-3)
9. RPI - 14 points (7-9-0)
10. Union - 13 points (6-9-1)
11. Brown - 5 points (2-13-1)
12. Princeton - 3 points (1-14-1)

RPI at St. Lawrence
ECAC Game - Appleton Arena (Canton, NY)
2/6/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: St. Lawrence 3, RPI 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS

RPI
USCHO
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
Watertown Daily Times

RECORD: 9-19-1 (7-8-0, 14pts)

RPI at Clarkson
ECAC Game - Cheel Arena (Potsdam, NY)
2/7/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Clarkson 5, RPI 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
Watertown Daily Times

RECORD: 9-20-1 (7-9-0, 14pts)

Upcoming games
13 Feb - Brown
14 Feb - #15 Yale (Big Red Freakout!)
20 Feb - at Cornell
21 Feb - at Colgate
27 Feb - Clarkson

Women's Hockey - Clarkson & St. Lawrence (6/7 Feb)

RPI may have played two of their best games of the season against Clarkson and St. Lawrence, but it wasn't enough in either game as they dropped a pair of 2-1 decisions at the Field House.

With the two losses, coupled with a Yale win over Dartmouth, RPI falls nine points shy of 8th place with just eight points up for grabs. They will miss the playoffs for the second year in a row and third time in four seasons.

Clarkson

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

Kimmerle/Godin
Schilter/Banks
Middlebrook/Behounek

O'Brien

Despite Alexa Gruschow scoring a shorthanded goal early in a 5-minute major penalty, the penalty ended up costing the Engineers as Clarkson's power play goal gave them a 2-1 win over RPI on Friday night.

The goals came late in the second and early in the third, after Taylor Mahoney was sent off with a major and game misconduct for contact to the head. Only about 20 seconds into the Clarkson power play, Gruschow poked a puck free on the Clarkson blue line to spring herself on a breakaway which she put past Shea Tiley.

That goal tied the game 1-1, as earier in the period Cayley Mercer had capitalized on a failed clearing attempt by the Engineers to get her own mini breakaway on O'Brien which gave the Golden Knights an early lead.

With Mahoney's penalty still being served early in the third period, Clarkson picked up the go-ahead goal with a shot through traffic from the slot that O'Brien didn't appear to get a good look at.

RPI put up 28 shots, including 10 in the third period where they had a 5-on-3 power play opportunity, but couldn't solve Tiley again after Gruschow's tally.

St. Lawrence

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

Kimmerle/Godin
Schilter/Banks
Middlebrook/Behounek

O'Brien

Another fairly good performance from RPI, another 2-1 loss to show for it as the Engineers were defeated by St. Lawrence on Saturday afternoon, ending the Engineers' slim hopes of a playoff bid.

Again it was a power play tally that stood up as the game winner, as Kayla Raniwsky's goal early in the third put the Saints up 2-0.

Taylor Mahoney cut that lead in half at 10:52 of the third, taking a nice feed from Marisa Raspa in the corner and rifling a shot into the top corner to beat Carmen MacDonald for the only time on the afternoon.

SLU opened the scoring at 10:18 of the first with a weak wrister by Brooke Webster that trickled through O'Brien and into the net.

RPI finished with 25 shots, and O'Brien with 33 saves (56 on the weekend) in a strong performance.

While there are 4 games left on the schedule, the Engineers are officially eliminated from playoff contention and will just be playing for position in the bottom four over the final two weekends of the season.

-----

RPI vs. Clarkson
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/6/15 - 7:00pm
Clarkson 2, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wclkren1.f06
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4451

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2015/2/6/WICE_0206151834.aspx
Clarkson: http://www.clarksonathletics.com/news/2015/2/6/WHOCK_0206152221.aspx
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9-qC6l8CiA
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/897-womens-hockey-vs-clarkson-

RECORD: 5-29-4 (3-13-1 ECAC)

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RPI vs. St. Lawrence
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/7/15 - 3:00pm
St. Lawrence 2, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wrenstl1.f07
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4452

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2015/2/7/WICE_0207153710.aspx
St. Lawrence: http://www.saintsathletics.com/news/2015/2/7/WHOCKEY_0207155904.aspx
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w43SJVEm04U
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/898-womens-hockey-vs-st-lawrence-

RECORD: 5-21-4 (3-14-1 ECAC)

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Upcoming Schedule

Feb. 13 - at Yale (7pm)
Feb. 14 - at Brown (4pm)
Feb. 20 - Cornell (7pm)
Feb. 21 - Colgate

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ECAC Standings

1. Harvard - 29 pts. (14-3-1) (.806)
2t. Quinnipiac - 28 pts. (13-3-2) (.778)
2t. Clarkson - 28 pts. (13-3-2) (.778)
4. Cornell - 26 pts. (12-4-2) (.722)
5. St. Lawrence - 25 pts. (11-4-3) (.694)
6. Princeton - 23 pts. (11-6-1) (.639)
7t. Dartmouth - 16 pts. (7-9-2) (.444)
7t. Yale - 16 pts. (8-10-0) (.444)
9. Colgate - 9 pts. (4-13-1) (.250)
10. RPI - 7 pts. (3-14-1) (.194)
11. Union - 5 pts (1-14-3) (.139)
12. Brown - 4 pts. (2-16-0) (.111)