Know Your Enemy: Dartmouth

2016 has been a bizarre year for Dartmouth hockey. The Big Green were a goal and about 15 minutes away from a perfect record in January (a 1-0 loss to Vermont and a home loss to Quinnipiac in which Dartmouth held a 5-2 lead in the 3rd period being the only blemishes). Then they were kind of all over the place in February to sputter into a 7th place finish. Then the playoffs got even more weird - relying on two overtime wins to beat Colgate at home in three games in the first round (trailing in all three games), which gave the appearance of limping into unbeaten-in-16-of-18 Yale. Nope, the Big Green swept two close games to punch their ticket to Lake Placid. That's why they play the games, kids.

Dartmouth
Nickname: Big Green
Location: Hanover, NH
Founded: 1769
Conference: ECAC (Ivy League)
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: 1980
Last Frozen Four: 1980
Coach: Bob Gaudet (20th season)
2015-16 Record: 18-16-1 (11-11-0 ECAC, 7th place)
Series: RPI leads, 46-37-5
First Game: January 17, 1908 (Albany, NY)
Last RPI win: November 8, 2014 (Troy, NY)
Last DC win: February 13, 2016 (Hanover, NH)

2016-17 games: January 14, 2017 (Troy, NY); February 10, 2017 (Hanover, NH)

Key players: F Troy Crema, sr.; D Josh Hartley, sr.; F Grant Opperman, sr.; F Carl Hesler, jr.; F Corey Kalk, jr.; F Kevin Neiley, jr.; D River Rymsha, jr.; D Tim Shoup, jr.; F John Ernsting, so.; F Alex Jasiek, so.; F Kevan Kilistoff, so.; D Connor Yau, so.; D Ben DiMaio, fr.; F Shane Sellar, fr.; F Daniel Warpecha, fr.

Key losses: F Jack Barre, G Charles Grant, F Brad Schierhorn, F Nick Bligh, F Brett Patterson, G James Kruger, D Geoff Ferguson, D Ryan Bullock, F Tim O'Brien

Previous KYE installments:

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

The Big Green were almost perfectly average last year on both offense and defense. Within the ECAC, they had a pretty solid offense (2.73 GPG) but a defense that could lag at times (3.14 GAA). That kind of made them the anti-RPI in some ways (the Engineers were 4th in the league in defense and 9th in offense, Dartmouth was the exact opposite). With two senior netminders and two defensemen graduating as part of what was a senior-laden team last season, that certainly calls the defensive element of Dartmouth's game into question for the coming season.

Dartmouth has long had a fairly... fluid situation in net. You have to go all the way back to Nick Boucher, who graduated in 2003, to find a Big Green netminder who spent four years as the clear starter. Since then, we've seen goaltenders have solid seasons as freshmen or sophomores, only to take a backup role down the line, and vice versa. It's been true with a number of goaltender tandems that were in the same class or close together classwise, and it was the case with Grant and Kruger as well.

In 2013, Grant split time with junior Cab Morris. In 2014, Grant was more or less the top guy - then in 2015, it was Kruger getting the lion's share, without any reported injury to Grant. Kruger's 1.98 GAA in 2015 wasn't enough to let him keep the starting job in 2016, however, as Grant returned to the top last year - which you might not be aware of if you're an RPI fan, as the Engineers never saw Grant after his sophomore year. In fact, Grant only played against RPI three times - on three consecutive nights, during Dartmouth's playoff upset in 2014. In 50 ECAC league games during his career, Grant played exactly zero against the Engineers.

Anyway, expect a three-man playing time battle between junior Devin Buffalo and freshmen Dean Shatzer and Adrian Clark. Buffalo looked great in picking up his first collegiate victory at RPI last season, but then he got rocked in his next two outings against Union and UNH and never saw the ice again. He's appeared in only five games for his Dartmouth career, so simply being the elder statesman doesn't really make the job his. The favorite might be the 6'3" Clark, who according to recruiting guru Chris Heisenberg is the only NCAA recruit coming from the almost universally ignored by colleges Maritime Hockey League this season, and he replaces another MHL alum in Kruger.

RPI and Dartmouth don't play until January, so expect them to have a pretty solid handle on their goaltending situation by then. Fortunately, the Big Green does at least have three upperclassmen on the blueline to help smooth the transition, especially with guys like Hartley and Shoup, who have done yeoman's work on defense during their Dartmouth careers without a great deal of fanfare.

On offense, the Big Green lose a number of solid contributors in guys like Barre, Patterson, Bligh, and Schierhorn. They do return some leaders in Hesler and Kalk, who both reached double digits in goals, along with Crema and Opperman who were also among the team lead in points. The rest of the attack had a good amount of balance to it last season - 14 players with 10 or more points, but only three (Barre, Hesler, and Patterson) reached 20. So there were a number of players who could ably contribute on offense, but many times they weren't doing it with frequency.

This is a team that will probably have some growing pains this season. It's hard not to when you graduate 10 seniors and then bring in 11 freshmen. If the Big Green can replace their senior goaltending tandem with a guy who'll display top-end ability, they'll be able to turn some heads. If not, it could be a real struggle this season in Hanover while the new arrivals mature in the college game. It's hard to put a finger on the Dartmouth-RPI series just yet since both squads will have plenty of time to develop their question marks before they meet in January, and the recent games between the two sides have been... odd to say the least (for instance, RPI led nearly the entire game in Hanover but were utterly dominated otherwise). But if we're going off recent trends, expect Dartmouth to get good production from someone unexpected - that seems to be the most consistent norm in this series lately.

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

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

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

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Grant
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Grant
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#18 RPI at #9 Harvard

ECAC Game - Bright-Landry Hockey Center (Boston, MA)
2/12/16 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, Harvard 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Harvard Crimson

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

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

RESULT: Dartmouth 2, RPI 1 (OT)

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record

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

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

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

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

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

Harvard

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

Hansen/Godin
Behounek/Banks
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

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

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

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

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

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

Dartmouth

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

Godin/Banks
Hansen/Behounek
Kimmerle/Renn

Till/Selander

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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ECAC Standings (all teams have 20GP)

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

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Upcoming Schedule

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

Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton
Grant

Hackett

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dartmouth at RPI

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

RESULT: Dartmouth 2, RPI 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

VIDEO
Full game
Highlights
Post-game interviews

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

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

RESULT: RPI 0, Harvard 0 (OT)

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

VIDEO
Full game
Highlights
Post-game interviews

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

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

Break the Ceiling

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

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

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

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

Women's Hockey - at Dartmouth & Harvard (13/14 Nov)

Coming off a big upset over #4 Clarkson, RPI faced another tough challenge on the road against Dartmouth and #9 Harvard. The trip was not kind to the Engineers, as they were shutout 4-0 by Dartmouth on Friday before dropping a 2-1 decision to Harvard in a hard-fought game Saturday afternoon.

Dartmouth

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

Behounek/Banks
Hansen/Godin
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

Four different players scored for Dartmouth Friday night as the Big Green shutout RPI 4-0 and outshot the Engineers 39-21. Lovisa Selander made 30 saves for RPI, while Kira Bombay made five more in relief in the game's final minutes.

Lindsey Allen got Dartmouth on the board with a power play tally late in the first, perfectly tipping a point shot from Eleni Tebano past Selander into the top corner of the net.

Kennedy Ottenbreit doubled the lead to 2-0 with Dartmouth's first shorthanded goal of the season in the second period, just 13 seconds into the penalty kill. Ottenbreit broke out 2-on-1 and went wide, electing to keep the puck and fire a shot past Selander.

The Big Green tacked on two more goals in the third period, with Ailish Forfar putting home a rebound off a shot by Allen at 5:19, and Brooke Ahbe redirecting Ottenbreit's pass at the goal mouth to make it 4-0 at 13:53.

Kira Bombay came into the game after the fourth goal for a few mintues in the RPI net, stopping five shots in 6:07 of relief.

Harvard

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

Kimmerle/Godin
Hansen/Banks
Behounek/Renn

Selander

After a less than stellar result on Friday, RPI battled Harvard on Saturday with a much better effort but again came up short as Harvard scored the go-ahead goal late in the third to defeat the Engineers 2-1. RPI outshot Harvard 33-27 on the afternoon, but could only solve Emerance Maschmeyer once.

That goal came near the midpoint of the second period, when Taylor Schwalbe poked home a rebound in traffic to put the Engineers up 1-0.

The lead was short-lived as Jessica Harvey tied the game less than two minutes later, redirecting a Briana Mastel shot past Selander.

The teams went into the third period tied at one, but Miye D'Oench put the Crimson on top at 12:51 of the third period after being given a little too much space to work at the top of the crease and picking up a feed from Haley Mullins which she snuck past Selander to make it 2-1.

Selander made a number of big stops in the RPI net, finishing with 25 saves, but in the end was outdueled by Maschmeyer's 32, including a whopping 20 saves in the second period to help stave off an RPI onslaught.

The Engineers have just one game next weekend, a Sunday matinee exhibition against McGill in Montreal, then will return home for a non-conference pair against New Hampshire the weekend after Thanksgiving before one more weekend of league play closes out the 2015 portion of the season.

-----

RPI at Dartmouth
ECAC Hockey Game - Thompson Arena (Hanover, NH)
11/13/15 - 7pm
Dartmouth 4, RPI 0

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5188
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wdarren1.n13

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2015/11/13/WICE_1113154642.aspx?path=whock
Dartmouth: http://www.dartmouthsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210496494&DB_OEM_ID=11600
Video Highlights: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/dartmouth/video/dartmouth-highlights-dartmouth-womens-hockey-vs-rpi,-nov-13,-2015

RECORD: 4-6-1 (2-2-1 ECAC)

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RPI vs. #9 Harvard
ECAC Hockey Game - Bright-Landry Hockey Center
11/14/15 - 4pm
Harvard 2, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5189
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wharren1.n14

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2015/11/14/WICE_1114151301.aspx?path=whock
Harvard: http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/wice/2015-16/releases/20151114rqvi2h
Video Highlights: http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/wice/2015-16/videos/20151114-f3u6mg8u

RECORD: 4-7-1 (2-3-1 ECAC)

-----

Upcoming Schedule

Nov. 22 - at McGill (2pm)
Nov. 27 - New Hampshire (7pm)
Nov. 28 - New Hampshire (4pm)
Dec. 4 - Yale (3pm)
Dec. 5 - Brown (3pm)

Prove It Again

Well, another week has passed, and the Engineers are still tied for first place in the ECAC on the men's side. Huzzah. Now comes the real test on whether they can stay.

Yale is 1-0-1 on the young ECAC season - the RPI has two games in hand over them, but they won both of those games. But the Engineers aren't part of the real discussion just yet. That's because Yale is still unbeaten overall as well (3-0-1) and have looked very good while doing it. The one blemish against the Bulldogs is a tie against Harvard, another team that has looked very, very good (and is in fact tied with RPI for first place). You see the issue by now. Yale and Harvard tying each other, that's no knock on either of them. The Engineers, meanwhile, still need a signature win to join the conversation.

The opportunity presents itself tonight as the #10 Bulldogs come to Troy. When it comes to upsets in the Appert era, Yale has provided more than their share, although the Bulldogs have certainly had RPI's number of late. Yale swept by a combined 9-3 score last year, and 8-2 a year before that. In 2012-13, though, it was 10-2 RPI. The Bulldogs frequently seem to avoid having to face off against Jason Kasdorf - over the last two seasons, only the most recent game came against the Engineers' top netminder. They're likely to avoid him again tonight, although Cam Hackett showed off some skill over the weekend in the North Country. This shouldn't be as easy as it's been in the last couple of seasons.

Tonight's game is a tough one, but Saturday's against Brown has to be one where RPI takes points - probably both - if they want to be taken seriously. Last year, they were swept by the Bears for the first time in almost 20 years. That's a stain that needs to be washed away if they are to prove they're a better team than they were last season. Brown is 0-3 to start the season and they've given up 19 goals in three games - by comparison, RPI has given up 25 in 9. Get it done.

The women face an even more daunting challenge this weekend as they travel to face probably the most difficult back-to-back pairing in the ECAC this season, Dartmouth and Harvard. Their upset win over Clarkson on Saturday last weekend made the loss to St. Lawrence tough to swallow, but it did prove that good goaltending can keep any team in any game long enough to do some damage, and that's exactly what the Engineers got from ECAC Goalie of the Week Lovisa Selander. If she can build on her outstanding weekend, good things are in store going forward for this team. It may not be this weekend, but it'll be soon.

Dropping the beat for this weekend's pumpup.

Know Your Enemy: Dartmouth

For RPI, it's finally reaching Lake Placid again. For Dartmouth, it's ending the longest active NCAA tournament drought. The long awaited goal, so often dangled like a raw meat bone in front of a starving dog, so close, and yet sometimes seeming so far away. It happened again to the Big Green last year, coming so close to that yearned for bid, but just barely missing out at the end. Due to Michigan Tech's appearance for the first time since 1981 this past season, Dartmouth's drought is now longer than any other team's by a full decade - Bowling Green hasn't been in the NCAAs since 1990, and the Falcons were the first team out last year.

Dartmouth
Nickname: Big Green
Location: Hanover, NH
Founded: 1769
Conference: ECAC (Ivy League)
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: 1980
Last Frozen Four: 1980
Coach: Bob Gaudet (19th season)
2014-15 Record: 17-12-4 (12-8-2 ECAC, 4th place)
Series: RPI leads, 46-35-5
First Game: January 17, 1908 (Albany, NY)
Last RPI win: November 8, 2014 (Troy, NY)
Last DC win: January 30, 2015 (Hanover, NH)

2015-16 games: December 4, 2015 (Troy, NY); February 13, 2016 (Hanover, NH)

Key players: F Jack Barre, sr.; D Ryan Bullock, sr.; D Geoff Ferguson, sr.; G James Kruger, sr.; F Brett Patterson, sr.; F Brad Schierhorn, sr.; F Grant Opperman, jr.; F Carl Hesler, so.; F Corey Kalk, so.; D Tim Shoup, so.; F John Ernsting, fr.; F Alex Jasiek, fr.; F Kevan Kilistoff, fr.; D Connor Yau, fr.

Key losses: F Eric Neiley, F Tyler Sikura, F Eric Robinson, F Brandon McNally, D Rick Pinkston, D Andy Simpson, F Jesse Beamish, F Charlie Mosey

Previous KYE installments:

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

From Dartmouth's perspective, the worst thing about last season was really pinpointing exactly where they went wrong, especially down the stretch. From January 23 through the end of the first round of the ECAC playoffs, the Big Green put together a record of 11-2-1 - and then their season ended at Colgate, swept but in two very hard fought games in which neither team ever had a serious edge on the other. The only thing one could really point to was their inability to beat Colgate (0-3-1) - a better record probably would have been enough to boost them into the place they needed to be in the PairWise Rankings to earn that elusive at-large bid - and of course, if it had happened in the playoffs, could have boosted them toward the automatic bid.

And if there was to be a season to break that unlucky streak, it does seem like last year would have been the one in which to do it. Overloaded with upperclassmen, Dartmouth was set up well both offensively and defensively, with an excellent combination of talent and experience that ended up making them one of the best teams in the conference. In the end, their resume just wasn't enough to overcome the strong league seasons of Quinnipiac, St. Lawrence, and Colgate especially (although they did manage a season split with the Bobcats, who they played very well).

Unfortunately, the Big Green were left with no hardware despite their outstanding campaign, and now they face life without several key cogs in the offensive machine, especially Neiley, Sikura, McNally, and Robinson - the latter of which they were fortunate to have for last season after a medical redshirt essentially moved his senior season down a year. They were all in the top six scorers from last season.

Schierhorn (10 goals, 12 assists) returns for his senior season as the team's leading scorer, enjoying a breakout junior campaign after being the playoff hero in Troy two seasons ago. Opperman (19 points), Patterson (14) and Barre (10) are the only returning forwards to hit double digits in points last season. That means there's plenty of room to be made up by underclassmen and freshmen, but they have some serious boots to fill, especially in Sikura and Neiley.

Defensively, Dartmouth should continue to be very sound. After a couple of seasons in a backup role, Kruger really came into his own last year and certainly seized the top job in the Big Green crease. A solid follow-up season to his 1.98, .926 showing would be good enough by itself, but they also return four regular defensemen from last season's squad as well.

A good defense, as we've been mentioning, is usually enough to boost you up a bit, so let's not expect the Big Green to turn into a bunch of pushovers overnight. They may not have the offensive bite that they had last season, but there's plenty there to make one believe that Dartmouth is going to more likely be on the top half of the ECAC table this season than on the bottom.

Men's Hockey - at Dartmouth (30 Jan)

The Engineers are certainly at a tipping point of the season - the point where every team reaches the same number of games and then it's a rush to the finish. That point is now, with every team sitting on 14 games played with 8 to go over the next four weeks. That tipping point intersected with a terrible outing in the Mayor's Cup against Union, and with one game on the weekend, they needed to make a statement against Dartmouth. That statement was not a strong one, as RPI fell 3-1 on the road against the Big Green.

Dartmouth
Neal-Schroeder-Laliberte
Nanne-DeVito-McGowan
Melanson-Bourbonnais-Gillespie
Liljegren, Bokenfohr

Leonard-Prapavessis
Curadi-Bradley
Wilson-Reno

Kasdorf

Milos Bubela was out of the lineup for what was deemed a "coach's decision," there remains no timetable on the returns of Travis Fulton and Mark Miller, and Jake Wood served the first of his two game suspension on Friday, leaving the Engineers with just 10 forwards available for service. All played, and Craig Bokenfohr was moved up to play forward as well. Parker Reno took his place on the blue line, and oddly we didn't see Bradley Bell or Phil Hampton come in to fill the one remaining empty bench spot.

The Engineers came out with a good burst of energy, but were unable to score early in the game and their jump fizzled eventually, especially after giving up the first goal of the game for the first time in five outings. With Bokenfohr off on a tripping call, Dartmouth scored the game's first goal on the power play after Curtis Leonard accidentally kicked the puck into his own net after a shot by Eric Neiley rang off the post.

Just about a minute and a half later, the Big Green struck again, this time at even strength on a redirection of a shot from the point through a screen. Just like that, RPI was down 2-0 and the fight looked pretty grim. Dartmouth controlled the remaining six minutes of the period.

For the second straight game, the Melanson-Bourbonnais-Gillespie line was one of the few offensive bright spots for the Engineers, and they came through in the second period to make a game of things. Riley Bourbonnais poked home a shot by Jared Wilson during a scrum in front of the net to half the Dartmouth lead 11:32 in to the second.

The Engineers only got two power plays in the game, but neither were particularly spectacular. The first came at the very end of the second period, giving RPI a lengthy minor power play with fresh ice to start the third, but it went absolutely nowhere - in fact, it was counter-productive, as Dartmouth scored a shorthanded goal to go up 3-1. On the second power play opportunity just a few minutes after the first had expired, Dartmouth got a shorthanded breakaway, stopped only when Zach Schroeder hauled down Jack Barre. That resulted in a penalty shot that Barre put wide.

Further attempts to come back by the Engineers were stymied by late penalties to Neal and Laliberte. RPI managed to keep the Big Green from scoring on the empty net they had for most of the last three minutes of the game, but they didn't come close to scoring themselves with the extra attacker. The loss dropped the Engineers to .500 on the ECAC season and into a position that threatened to have them down in the bottom four of the league. After Saturday's games concluded, they sat in a tie for 8th with Dartmouth, a tie they currently win on league wins (7 to 6).

The good news is that RPI is only 2 points out of 4th, since they're existing in the always muddled middle of the league. They control their own destiny up to 5th. The difference between finishing 6th and 7th is lining up to be pretty wide, since the 9th and 10th ranked teams are likely to be ones with some degree of punch to them.

The stretch run commences on Friday, and it starts with the annual trip to the North Country with yet another snowstorm potentially bearing down on the region, which is always fun. The North Country teams comprise exactly half of the Engineers' remaining games, and Clarkson/St. Lawrence are certainly doing pretty well right now. Back in a funk after winning three in a row and looking like they could take on the world, RPI is in strong need of another turnaround weekend.

Current ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 23 points (11-2-1)
2. St. Lawrence - 20 points (10-4-0)
3. Harvard - 18 points (8-4-2)
4. Clarkson - 16 points (7-5-2)
5. Yale - 16 points (7-5-2)
6. Cornell - 15 points (7-6-1)
7. Colgate - 15 points (6-5-3)
8. RPI - 14 points (7-7-0)
9. Dartmouth - 14 points (6-6-2)
10. Union - 11 points (5-8-1)
11. Princeton - 3 points (1-12-1)
12. Brown - 3 points (1-12-1)

RPI at Dartmouth
ECAC Game - Thompson Arena (Hanover, NH)
1/30/15 - 7:05pm

RESULT: Dartmouth 3, RPI 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 9-18-1 (7-7-0, 14pts)

Upcoming games
06 Feb - at St. Lawrence
07 Feb - at Clarkson
13 Feb - Brown
14 Feb - #15 Yale (Big Red Freakout!)
20 Feb - at Cornell

Step to the Line

Every weekend is a big weekend when it comes to the ECAC. All of the points are crucial. The later in the season it gets, the more precious points become.

But sometimes, you reach a crossroads from which you know there's no going back if you fail, and the Engineers, men and women, face that kind of a crossroads this weekend, and especially tonight.

For the men, it's a one night stand in Hanover. One game, and the microscopes are out. Plenty of folks were declaring RPI "back" after sweeping Colgate and Cornell at home in impressive fashion. When you've got only one game in a weekend, things become more magnified, and the egg the Engineers laid against Union in the Mayor's Cup was disturbing enough to make us all wonder - who's the real RPI?

It's a one game microscope, and it's on the road tonight. To some extent, there's a slight added advantage for the Engineers in that they don't play Saturday - they can lay it all on the line tonight, Dartmouth has to still have gas in the tank for Union tomorrow. But the margin for error is slipping. No more non-conference games. No more mistakes you can brush off a little bit easier.

The women needed four points last weekend against Union. They got three. The difference between three and four is thin until you consider that they've only got seven for the season and are five points behind the Yale Bulldogs. That's what makes this afternoon's contest against Colgate crucial. The Raiders are one of only three teams behind RPI in the standings. If that gap is going to be closed, points against those teams are essential. That #8 seed seems pretty far away, but it's going to get a whole lot farther if victory isn't in store tonight. Cornell tomorrow represents bonus points if they can be had. Colgate today is do or die.

"The Line" is the story of Darius Washington, Jr., who as a freshman at Memphis in 2005 was given three foul shots with no time remaining on the clock in the conference championship game against Louisville with his team down by two - meaning that he could tie the game with two out of three, and win it by making all three. He made only the first one.

Been waiting for a good excuse to use this song for a pumpup, this seems to be the week for it. There are plenty of lines in sport from which one stands to await glory. The basketball player takes the foul line at a crucial moment. The football player approaches the line of scrimmage on 4th down. The jockey of a Triple Crown contender guides his mount into the starting gate at Belmont. A hockey team lines up on the blue line for the national anthems.

Both the men and the women step to the line tonight, a season hinging.

Women's Hockey - Dartmouth & Harvard (9/10 Jan)

With non-conference matchups out of the way, RPI returned to league play but their ECAC foes were not kind to them. Dartmouth and Harvard defeated the Engineers by 3-0 and 4-1 margins respectively at Houston Field House, bringing RPI's record to a dismal 4-15-3, and 2-8-0 in ECAC play.

Dartmouth

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

Banks/Schilter
Kimmerle/Godin
Middlebrook/Behounek

O'Brien

Special teams cost the Engineers dearly as they went 0-for-4 on the power play but surrendered two goals to Dartmouth on the penalty kill en route to a 3-0 shutout loss Friday night.

Kelly O'Brien made 15 saves on 18 shots, but the Engineers' offense failed to threaten even with four consecutive power plays in the late second and early third periods. Kennedy Ottenbreit picked up a hat trick, scoring all three goals for the Big Green.

Dartmouth made the most of their chances, scoring early in each of two chances on the man advantage. The first came 20 seconds into their first power play and 17 seconds before the end of the first, when Kennedy Ottenbreit got the Big Green on the board with a 1-0 lead.

After killing two penalties in the middle of the second, RPI failed to convert on their four chances, and when Dartmouth was finally given another power play in the third, they converted it just 17 seconds in - with Ottenbreit again picking it up.

Ottenbreit completed the hat trick at 17:39 of the third with the RPI net empty in favor of an extra attacker. Despite pulling O'Brien again for some more 6-on-5 time, the Engineers couldn't score and were shut out for the fifth time this season and second time in three games - including back-to-back ECAC matchups.

Harvard

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

Banks/Schilter
Kimmerle/Godin
Middlebrook/Behounek

O'Brien

If a win over Dartmouth wasn't in the cards for the Engineers, one against Harvard was that much less likely, and RPI rather unsurprisingly fell 4-1 to the #6-ranked Crimson on Saturday afternoon.

Taylor Mahoney scored with the net empty and 38 seconds on the clock to avoid the shutout, but the Engineers couldn't muster any other goals against a Crimson defense that has been stingy of late. RPI pushed harder as the game wore on, which wasn't hard after being outshot 16-1 and outscored 3-0 in the first period.

Lexie Laing was responsible for the first two of those goals, coming exactly 10 minutes apart at 5:37 and 15:37 of the first period. The tallies were even nearly identical in execution, with Laing drifting in close to the net unmarked by the RPI defense for an easy tap-in off a feed from Mary Parker both times.

Sarah Edney made it a 3-0 lead in the final seconds of the first, taking advantage of a disorganized frenzy in front of Kelly O'Brien to fire a shot from the point through traffic and into the back of the net.

The 3-0 lead held up through the second period, in which the Engineers were outshot 12-5, and most of the third, where RPI finally started to mount a little pressure. However with the net empty in favor of the extra attacker, Parker fired the puck from outside the RPI zone into the open net.

Burke pulled O'Brien again leading to Mahoney's extra attacker goal, but at the end of the afternoon the Engineers were swept on the weekend. The only saving grace came from the fact that Yale (4 points ahead of the Engineers) and Colgate/Union/Brown (2 points behind the Engineers) were also swept, keeping the bottom 5 spots unchanged from last week and leaving RPI a glimmer of hope in their fight to make the playoffs.

RPI hits the road next weekend and things won't be any easier for them as they hit the North Country for league matchups against St. Lawrence (7pm Friday) and Clarkson (4pm Saturday).

-----

RPI vs. Dartmouth
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/9/15 - 7:00pm
Dartmouth 3, RPI 0

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wdarren1.j09
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4443

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2015/1/9/WICE_0109154846.aspx
Dartmouth: http://www.dartmouthsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209842991
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SmWLfKDdvY
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/889-womens-hockey-vs-dartmouth

RECORD: 4-14-3 (2-7-0 ECAC)

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RPI vs. Harvard
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/10/15 - 4:00pm
Harvard 4, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wharren1.j10
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4444

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2015/1/10/WICE_0110155922.aspx
Harvard: http://gocrimson.com/sports/wice/2014-15/releases/20150110311vzs
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGzsNphc2YY
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/890-womens-hockey-vs-harvard

RECORD: 4-15-3 (2-8-0 ECAC)

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Upcoming Schedule

Jan. 16 - at St. Lawrence (7pm)
Jan. 17 - at Clarkson (4pm)
Jan. 23 - at Union (7pm)
Jan. 24 - Union (4pm)

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ECAC Standings

1. Quinnipiac - 24 pts. (11-1-2) (.857)
2. Harvard - 19 pts. (9-1-1) (.864)
3t. Clarkson - 16 pts. (7-2-2) (.727)
3t. Princeton - 16 pts. (8-6-0) (.571)
5. St. Lawrence - 14 pts. (6-3-2) (.636)
6. Cornell - 12 pts. (5-2-2) (.667)
7. Dartmouth - 11 pts. (5-5-1) (.500)
8. Yale - 8 pts. (4-6-0) (.400)
9. RPI - 4 pts. (2-8-0) (.200)
10t. Colgate - 2 pts. (1-8-0) (.111)
10t. Brown - 2 pts (1-9-0) (.100)
10t. Union - 2 pts. (1-9-0) (.100)

Firewall

It's go time.

Both the men and the women faced their final non-conference opponents in the past week (the men do still have the Mayor's Cup game against Union, but... come on), so now it's time to get down to the meat and potatoes of the schedule - the final two months of the season where destinies are truly determined.

The women are at home this weekend, taking on #6 Harvard tonight and Dartmouth tomorrow. Harvard may be a bit of a tough haul, but Dartmouth is sitting there just ahead of RPI in that final playoff position (although they could pass Yale after playing Union tonight). If the Engineers are going to overcome their rough start to the season and make the playoffs, points at home against teams like Dartmouth are a must.

The men seem to be in a tailspin, but there are two key elements to that tailspin that seem to be winding up - the injuries and suspensions that have ravaged the roster appear to be concluding, as the suspensions to the captains are done and a report this morning suggests that Lou Nanne and Mark Miller, the only Engineers yet to return from their injuries, could come back this weekend. The other is that RPI's remarkably tough recent schedule - the last four games coming against teams presently in the top five nationally.

RPI has another tough one tonight at Quinnipiac, but the last time out against the Bobcats, the game was fairly even. Tomorrow afternoon's game against Princeton, however, has to be considered a must-win considering the Tigers' record. Princeton gives up a ton of shots, which is just what a team struggling to score goals needs, but their defense has been improved in the last month or so.

It's time for the full race to the finish in the ECAC.

Men's Hockey - Harvard/Dartmouth (7/8 Nov)

RPI's roller-coaster season and offensive fright-fest continued over the weekend by rolling all of the major trends of up-and-down play and struggles in scoring into 120 minutes of a single ECAC travel-partner pairing at home. The Engineers came back down from their sweep of Union by falling to a strong-looking Harvard squad 4-0, coming back the next night to top Dartmouth 2-1 in a game they trailed most of the way and won practically at the death.

Harvard
Fulton-Neal-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-Schroeder-DeVito
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bell-Wilson
Curadi-Bokenfohr

Kasdorf

After the sweep of Union, minimal lineup changes were in order - Chris Bradley ultimately sat out the entire weekend (the circumstances make it seem likely to have been an injury, but that's not confirmed), and Bradley Bell took his place against the Crimson.

The Engineers provided Harvard with their first shutout of the season last year, and they managed it again this season, managing a meager 14 shots on goal in the entire game against the Crimson. Harvard likely blocked even more shots than RPI got through to netminder Steve Michalek, but ultimately the Crimson senior only needed to be sharp in a very limited number of chances for the Engineers.

Meanwhile, Harvard juniors Jimmy Vesey and Brian Hart stepped up big time to power the Harvard victory. Vesey scored a pair of goals on the power play, the first coming late in the first period to give the Crimson a 1-0 lead, and the second coming 14 minutes into the second period to put Harvard up 3-0. Both goals were scored with ruthless efficiency on the power play, a far cry from the desperately poor man advantage that the Crimson put up in Troy a couple of years back. Vesey proved dangerous the entire game, creating opportunities seemingly out of nowhere, and generating excellent chances practically every time he was left alone.

Hart's goal was particularly strong. After a failed back pass by the Engineers went the length of the ice into the RPI zone, Hart pounced on it and set up behind the RPI net. With Kasdorf looking to seal up the right side of the net, Craig Bokenfohr tried to handle the left, and Hart managed to fake both out with a solid deke move, then simply wrapped the puck around the left side of the net and dumped it in on the backhand to make the score 2-0.

Harvard picked up an even strength goal a minute into the third period to seal the 4-0 win. RPI rarely looked likely to break onto the scoresheet, managing just five shots in the last 20 minutes even after Harvard's offensive output had eased. Jason Kasdorf was really only beaten on Hart's goal and had a fairly decent outing despite the four-goal night for the opposition, stopping 23 of 27 shots and honestly doing his usual job of keeping the scoreline from being worse with some key stops against a Harvard team that had all the answers it needed on offense.

Dartmouth
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Fulton-Neal-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-Schroeder-Wood

Leonard-Prapavessis
Hampton-Bokenfohr
Wilson-Reno

Kasdorf

Luke Curadi was probably the biggest and most unexpected scratch on Saturday night, his status is unknown. The Engineers also removed Jimmy DeVito and Bradley Bell, replacing the trio with Parker Reno, Jake Wood, and Phil Hampton. Otherwise, the Engineers' offensive lines were almost completely untouched despite the previous night's power outage, as all four lines have shown some good signs of synergy even though they haven't always produced on a given night.

The Saturday game against the Big Green seemingly played out almost exactly the way the previous Saturday's game at Union did. Just as in Schenectady, the Engineers fell behind 1-0 after 14 minutes, this time allowing a power play goal to Dartmouth's Jesse Beamish.

From there, the 1-0 lead for Dartmouth held up for much of the remainder of the game, throughout the rest of the first period and the entire second period. And, as at Union, the Engineers got themselves off of a scoring drought in the third, although it would come far earlier this time. Milos Bubela finally got his first goal of the season with assists to Viktor Liljegren and Craig Bokenfohr 4:43 into the third to tie the game at one.

At Union, the Engineers needed overtime to pick up the late win, but this time around, with the game tied for much more of the final period, they got the job done in regulation instead. With just 18.2 seconds remaining before overtime, Zach Schroeder managed to get himself onto the scoring sheet with his first of the year, cashing in on a rebound generated by a golden opportunity from Lou Nanne for his biggest single tally in quite some time, powering a 2-1 victory for the Engineers right at the death.

The goal salvaged a weekend split for an RPI team that didn't look like a team that swept the defending national champions a week prior, and couldn't manage to score a goal in the weekend's first five periods, a drought of 104:43 which certainly isn't close to the longest goal drought of the season for a team that has struggled to score goals and hasn't always had the most iron-clad defense at times. Despite it all, the Engineers remain in first place all by themselves in the ECAC with six points, although all other teams save Union have games in hand on RPI. By winning percentage, RPI trails 2-0-0 SLU and Quinnipiac, but they remain in a good position going forward. No doubt most of the league would trade places with them on the table in a heartbeat.

RPI's key early season ECAC schedule continues next weekend as they wrap up their longest homestand of the season by hosting Princeton and Quinnipiac. By the end of the next weekend, they'll be six games into the ECAC schedule, five of which will have been at home. The remainder of the Engineers' league games afterwards will consist of 10 road games and 6 home games, a deep split that underscores the need for points this upcoming weekend as RPI seeks to remain in first place early on.

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

Harvard at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/7/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Harvard 4, RPI 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 3-6-0 (2-1-0, 4pts)

Dartmouth at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/8/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, Dartmouth 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 4-6-0 (3-1-0, 6pts)

Upcoming games
14 Nov - Princeton
15 Nov - #20 Quinnipiac
18 Nov - at UConn
25 Nov - at New Hampshire
28 Nov - at Michigan

Proving Ground

There's been some improvement from both the men and the women in recent weeks.

The women got themselves off of that painful winless streak that ended last season and continued into this season with a win against UConn two weeks ago. After settling for a draw in the second game of the weekend, the Engineers were sent straight into the lion's den, traveling to Harvard and Dartmouth. That's a tough haul even for the Clarksons and Quinnipiacs of the world, to say nothing of a team just getting its feet back underneath them. It's not a point of shame that the Engineers couldn't conjure up their first ECAC points.

The men were at rock bottom - or at least, we all hoped it was rock bottom. After being completely destroyed by Bentley of all teams, the defending national champions beckoned. It was the lowest of lows sent directly to the highest of highs.

Now it's time for both teams to prove that recent successes were no fluke. They're right where they want to be - at home. The women will have to settle for a non-conference series with St. Cloud State, but for the men, it's an opportunity for four more ECAC points (against Harvard and Dartmouth), and a chance to solidify the first place position the schedule and their play have given them. Every point is precious by the time February arrives - so the more you can grab in November, the easier things can be late.

So how about it? Who's hot, and who's not?

Women's Hockey - at Harvard & Dartmouth (31 Oct/1 Nov)

After a decent showing against UConn, RPI headed into ECAC play with a road trip to Harvard and Dartmouth. The Engineers didn't fare very well on the trip, falling 4-1 and 5-2 in the two games and being outshot 77-34 in aggregate on the weekend.

Harvard

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

Kimmerle/Schilter
Behounek/Banks
Middlebrook

Piper

A late goal in the second period was all the offense RPI could muster on Friday, and Harvard scored four times to defeat the Engineers 4-1.

After most of the first period had elapsed without any scoring, Harvard's Miye D'Oench capitalized on an RPI turnover to break out 2-on-1, driving hard to the net and putting the puck past Brianna Piper for a 1-0 lead.

After RPI failed to capitalize on back-to-back power plays early in the second, Harvard took advantage of their own power play opportunity to make it a 2-0 lead, with Lexie Laing cutting into the slot and taking advantage of an open lane to pick up the tally.

Marisa Raspa cut the Crimson lead to 2-1 with 16 seconds left in the middle frame, driving hard to the net and redirecting a feed from Taylor Mahoney past Brianna Laing.

The third period held little for the Engineers, who tallied just three shots in the final frame. Harvard scored twice more in the period, with Mary Parker rushing down ice and blowing past the defense to make it 3-1, and D'Oench adding an empty netter with 1:08 left to put the game on ice and give the Crimson the 4-1 victory.

Dartmouth

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

Kimmerle/Schilter
Behounek/Banks
Middlebrook

O'Brien

RPI was outshot 20-3 in the first period, and 47-21 in the game as Dartmouth skated to a 5-2 victory over the Engineers at Thompson Arena. Mariana Walsh scored both of the RPI goals.

Laura Stacey opened the scoring for the Big Green with a breakaway goal 6:14 into the first period, with a quick deke and backhanded shot that got past Kelly O'Brien to make it 1-0.

Katy Ratty converted a 2-on-1 rush to double Dartmouth's lead at 11:31 of the first.

Walsh notched her first of the afternoon at 7:32 of the second, shortly after a Dartmouth penalty expired. While the goal was recorded as unassisted, it appeared to have been scored off the rebound of  a shot by Amanda Kimmerle.

Dartmouth regained their two-goal lead a few minutes later, when Catherine Berghuis redirected a point shot on the power play past O'Brien for a 3-1 lead.

Walsh again cut Dartmouth's lead to one goal at 14:50 of the second, capitalizing on a long stretch of RPI puck control in the Big Green zone to fire a shot through traffic and past Robyn Chemago.

Dartmouth tacked on two more goals in the third period. Sam Zeiss put the Big Green ahead 4-2 at 6:31, then Stacey added an insurance goal with her second of the game at 17:04 - a shorthanded tally that for some reason was not counted as an empty netter despite O'Brien being on the bench in order to keep the teams skating 5-on-5.

After a rough start to league play, RPI will have another pair of non-conference matchups next weekend as St. Cloud State visits the Field House on Friday and Saturday. Both games will feature 3pm start times and are currently scheduled to be carried by WRPI.

-----

RPI at Harvard
Non-Conference Game - Bright-Landry Hockey Center (Boston, MA)
10/31/14 - 7:00pm
Harvard 4, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wharren1.o31

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2014/10/31/WICE_1031144943.aspx?path=whock
Harvard: http://gocrimson.com/sports/wice/2014-15/releases/20141031sbkelh
Video Highlights: http://ecachockey.com/women/video/2014-15/20143110_Harvard_WH

RECORD: 1-5-2 (0-1-0 ECAC)

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RPI at Dartmouth
Non-Conference Game - Thompson Arena (Hanover, NH)
11/1/14 - 4:00pm
Dartmouth 5, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wdarren1.n01
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4431

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2014/11/1/WICE_1101141907.aspx?path=whock
Dartmouth: http://www.dartmouthsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209744763
Video Highlights: http://ecachockey.com/women/video/2014-15/20141101_Dartmouth_WH

RECORD: 1-6-2 (0-2-0 ECAC)

-----
Upcoming Schedule

Nov. 7 - St. Cloud State (3pm)
Nov. 8 - St. Cloud State (3pm)
Nov. 14 - at Quinnipiac (7pm)
Nov. 15 - at Princeton (4pm)

The Men in Black

Not sure what happened to last week's pumpup. Given the way the weekend went for the men, perhaps it's better to keep that one in the chamber anyway.

This isn't likely to be a fun weekend for RPI on the scoreboard. The women are at Harvard and Dartmouth, to start off their ECAC schedule, while the men have the opportunity to seize first place in the ECAC with a win tonight at home against Union.

Yes, that last part was tongue-in-cheek. The Route 7 Rivalry has provided some memorable games even at wide disparities (going both ways) over the last decade plus, but that disparity hasn't been this wide in a long time. We've said it twice before and it's worth repeating - if RPI doesn't pull themselves out of the tailspin they've been in the last two weeks, tonight and tomorrow will be ugly with a capital U. See what I did there?

But it's when things look darkest that improvement begins. If there's a reversal, perhaps one day we'll look back on this weekend as the moment things turned. We're not holding our breath. But everything that has a beginning has an end. Union's had a good run. It's been a long run. It may not be over. But it will end, given enough time. Perhaps that time is now.

Here's a reminder from a fitting source - the Man in Black.

Know Your Enemy: Dartmouth

The heartache continued last year in Hanover, and it was another repetitive chapter in a book that seems like it will never get to the happily ever after. Dartmouth was, however, able to add another repetitive chapter in RPI's own book of woe by coming alive at the right time, late in the season, and laying the groundwork for what could finally be the breakout season, especially with a team that will be chock full of seniors that doesn't look altogether dissimilar from Quinnipiac a couple of years ago.

Dartmouth
Nickname: Big Green
Location: Hanover, NH
Founded: 1769
Conference: ECAC (Ivy League)
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: 1980
Last Frozen Four: 1980
Coach: Bob Gaudet (18th season)
2012-13 Record: 10-20-4 (7-13-2 ECAC, 10th place)
Series: RPI leads, 45-34-5
First Game: January 17, 1908 (Albany, NY)
Last RPI win: March 7, 2014 (Troy, NY)
Last DC win: March 9, 2014 (Troy, NY)

2014-15 games: November 8, 2014 (Troy, NY); January 30, 2015 (Hanover, NH)

Key players: F Jesse Beamish, sr.; F Brandon McNally, sr.; F Charlie Mosey, sr.; F Eric Neiley, sr.; D Rick Pinkston, sr.; F Eric Robinson, sr.; F Tyler Sikura, sr.; D Andy Simpson, sr.; F Nick Bligh, jr.; D Geoff Ferguson, jr.; G Charles Grant, jr.; F Tim O'Brien, jr.; F Brad Schierhorn, jr.; D Josh Hartley, so.; D Brandon Kirk, so.; F Grant Opperman, so.; F Carl Hesler, fr.; D River Rymsha, fr.

Key losses: D Taylor Boldt

Previous KYE installments:

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

There's always that one team that finishes in the bottom four of the conference that no one wants to face in the first round. This year, it was pretty obvious as the calendar wound down that the Big Green were going to be that team. An absolutely putrid campaign suddenly turned torrid in February, as a 3-15-3 team that lost its first eight games of the season (giving up five or more goals five times in those eight games) suddenly went on a run. In the home stretch of the ECAC year, Dartmouth went 5-2-1 with a vastly improved offensive and defensive outlook.

RPI drew the short straw at the end of the last day (thanks to the final result of the Harvard-Cornell game, when all was said and done), and Dartmouth found a way to advance to the ECAC Quarterfinals. Despite being outscored 10-9 in the three game set, the Big Green's gutsy one-goal victories in Games 2 and 3 with their backs against the wall (and with both game winners coming in the 3rd period) helped to turn what had been a trying season into one with some serious optimism at the end, not unlike RPI's 2008-09 campaign, of which Dartmouth had flipped the playoff script.

Now, with an experienced squad bearing eight seniors, the impetus is on Dartmouth to prove that the team that came out to play in February last season was the real McCoy, not the one that had positively limped through the schedule prior to that point. Much of the credit for that went to Grant, who became one of the hottest goaltenders in the nation down the stretch, but the Big Green offense also became a bit more potent during the final month of the regular season.

For the season as a whole, the Dartmouth defense was among the worst in the nation last year, but even if it doesn't operate at the high level it achieved late last year, don't expect that to be something that's going to repeat. The same really does go for the Big Green's low numbers on offense, on the power play, and on the penalty kill, as all were far better in the final weeks of the season. A rising tide lifts all ships, apparently. It also kind of highlights just how bad the team was before February.

The comparison to Quinnipiac, specifically, the 2012-13 Bobcats, comes in the high volume of seniors and juniors on this coming year's team, guys that have been through the campaigns in the past and are experienced enough to know the ins and outs of a college hockey season's grind. Like that team, there's not a lot that makes any one portion of Dartmouth's game outstanding, but when combined - and again, this hinges on the Big Green playing as they did at the end of the year - it makes for a formidable foe. The return of Robinson on offense from injury last season should be a boost, and solid seasons from McNally and Sikura along with top level play from Grant would make this a difficult team to do battle with.

If RPI has a benefit in the game in Troy, it's that Dartmouth's not going to have had enough game experience to have established whether they're playing like last February or last December by the time they get to town (they'll also have been coming off a game at Union, which doesn't figure to be easy). But as with any early ECAC game against an Ivy League opponent, they're also likely to be in better shape healthwise, as the Engineers will already be a month deep in their schedule. The game in Hanover should be a better indicator of the strengths of these teams, coming right at the start of crunch time.

Men's Hockey - ECAC First Round vs. Dartmouth (7/8/9 Mar)

All season long, one of the biggest issues with the Engineers has been a lack of killer instinct. Throughout the year, that lack of ability to finish games turned wins into ties and losses with some frequency. Last weekend, that trend returned in full force, showing itself over the course of RPI's first round home playoff series against Dartmouth in two ways that ended the Engineers' season. First, after a solid 4-1 victory in Game 1, that lack of killer instinct allowed the Big Green to get back into the series with a 3-2 win in Game 2, then appeared in the 3rd period of Game 3 as RPI blew a 4-2 lead with 20 minutes remaining to lose 5-4.

Game 1

Higgs-Zalewski-Haggerty

Neal-Bubela-Laliberte

McGowan-Miller-Schroeder

Fulton-Rogic-Tinordi

Leboeuf-Leonard

Bradley-Dolan

Curadi-Bokenfohr

Diebold

Mike Zalewski and Travis Fulton made their returns to the RPI lineup in time for the playoffs, replacing Jake Wood and Jimmy DeVito. None of the Engineers' five freshmen would ultimately see any ice time during the series against Dartmouth, and the RPI lineup did not change in any of the games.

RPI jumped on Dartmouth early in the first period of game one, collecting a pair of goals by Ryan Haggerty to go up 2-0 ten minutes into the game. Haggerty's first goal came moments after the Engineers' first power play of the game got underway, and the second one came on a backhanded shot off an intercepted pass in the Dartmouth zone.

The RPI penalty kill then got active, killing off a holding call to Guy Lebeouf before being pressed into hard service late in the period as back to back penalties to Mike Zalewski and Mark McGowan put RPI on a long 5x3 kill that straddled the first and second periods. They got through both penalties unscathed, and then just over a minute after returning to full strength went up 3-0 as Jacob Laliberte scored on a rebound in front of the net.

A Bo Dolan penalty six minute later got Dartmouth on the board as a shot from the point came weakly into the slot due to a broken stick, but the off-powered motion forced the defense into a bad position, and the loose puck was scooped up and put in the back of the net to make it 3-1.

Zach Schroeder picked up an insurance goal - his second of the season - 66 seconds into the third to make it 4-1, and as time ticked away Dartmouth appeared willing to head to Game 2 down one game to none. Scott Diebold made 29 saves on 30 shots to pick up the victory for the Engineers.

Game 2

Higgs-Zalewski-Haggerty

Neal-Bubela-Laliberte

McGowan-Miller-Schroeder

Fulton-Rogic-Tinordi

Leboeuf-Leonard

Bradley-Dolan

Curadi-Bokenfohr

Diebold

Dartmouth came out of the gate a different team that had limped to a three-goal loss the previous night, setting the pace early. A goal by Eric Neiley was waved off due to goaltender interference, but Neiley would start the scoring off nonetheless on the power play seven minutes in to make it 1-0 Dartmouth. That RPI was not down by more than that after one period was a testament to the solid play of Scott Diebold, who made 18 saves on 19 shots in the first 20 minutes to keep RPI in the game.

Jacob Laliberte scored his second goal in as many nights 8:43 into the second period to even the score at one, and for a brief moment it looked as though momentum may have swung into the Engineers' favor. Just over a minute later, however, that momentum was blunted by poor play in the defensive zone as Dartmouth's Jesse Beamish got to a loose puck in the RPI zone and put it home to put the Big Green up 2-1.

The Engineers did not waste time tying the score again, however, as a power play opportunity produced a goal by Ryan Haggerty, his 27th of the season, only two minutes later to make it 2-2 as RPI outplayed Dartmouth in the latter half of the second period, and despite a very shoddy first period, looked to be in position to move on with a solid showing in the third period.

The third, however, more closely resembled the first period than the end of the second. Dartmouth came out firing, and Diebold did everything he could to keep RPI in the game until Neiley hit the twine for the third time on the evening, but only counting for the second time, putting Dartmouth up 3-2 with 6:14 left in the game.

The Engineers did get some extended opportunities at the end of the game to hit the tying goal for the third time, as Neiley took a cross-checking call in the Dartmouth end with 1:19 left while Diebold was out of the net. That set RPI up with a 6-on-4 advantage through the end of the game, but they were unable to put one past Charles Grant, and the deadlocked series went on to a Game 3 on Sunday night.

Game 3

Higgs-Zalewski-Haggerty

Neal-Bubela-Laliberte

McGowan-Miller-Schroeder

Fulton-Rogic-Tinordi

Leboeuf-Leonard

Bradley-Dolan

Curadi-Bokenfohr

Diebold

It was a familiar face getting the Engineers off on the right foot on Sunday as Ryan Haggerty scored his fourth goal of the weekend to put RPI up 1-0 just 3:39 into the deciding Game 3, setting the tone right. Things started looking very good for the Engineers as a Dartmouth penalty two minutes later put RPI, who had scored on the power play in each of the first two games, on the man advantage. However, the Engineers' feast-or-famine strategy of having five forwards out on the power play would come back to haunt them. 

When Haggerty was unable to control a pass at the blue line, it was immediately pounced on by Dartmouth's Tim O'Brien, who went the length with it on the breakaway. Scott Diebold made the initial save, but the rebound went right to O'Brien who was moving to Diebold's left, and he put home that rebound for a shorthanded goal that made the score 1-1.

Mike Zalewski would score 10 minutes later to make it 2-1, but the circumstances that led to O'Brien's goal still seemed to overshadow the Engineers' lead. 

RPI maintained that one-goal edge for most of the 2nd period. They were unable to extend the lead on a 5x3 opportunity midway through the period even despite calling timeout before the 30 second opportunity - in fact, they did not even record a single shot on the two-man advantage.

The worries over the failure to score seemed to evaporate about five minutes later, as Chris Bradley scored his 3rd goal of the season in a bit of a role reversal goal. Mark McGowan took the shot from the point, and Bradley redirected the shot into the net to put RPI up 3-1.

A Dartmouth goal with 1:55 left in the 2nd period threatened to sap RPI's momentum heading into the deciding 20 minutes, but McGowan would respond less than a minute later by jamming home a puck that was stuck in a scrum in front of the Dartmouth net to make it 4-2 RPI.

Taking a two-goal lead into the final period is usually a superior place to be, but Dartmouth responded as one would expect a team to respond with their backs against the wall, and much as with the first period of Game 2, RPI put forward a passive response to that desperation. A goal by Eric Neiley, his third of the weekend, cut the Engineers' lead in half just 2:10 into the period.

Still, the Dartmouth onslaught came, and still, RPI looked uninterested in meeting the task. About seven minutes after Neiley's goal, Brandon McNally tied the game, and still the Big Green were the aggressors. Both teams got power play opportunities with the score tied, but the game remained deadlocked with with just under 3 minutes to play once the RPI power play expired, the second of the two.

Brad Schierhorn stepped up about 40 seconds after the Big Green finished killing their penalty, rocketing home a perfect pass to complete the Dartmouth comeback, putting the visitors ahead for the first time on the evening with 2:14 left on the game clock.

Suddenly, it looked like the Engineers were interested in playing offense, but the frenzied attempts late with the goaltender pulled were too little, too late. Despite outscoring Dartmouth 10-9, the Engineers lost twice and had their playoff experience end after just three games for the second consecutive season.

Other junk - RPI's last home playoff series victory came in 2004 over Princeton. They have lost five such series since (2006, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014).

Ryan Haggerty, on Wednesday, signed an NHL contract with the New York Rangers, foregoing his senior season.

Brock Higgs is a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, given to a senior in each sport with committment to "community, classroom, character and competition." The online vote counts for 1/3 of the final vote tally, and you can vote once per day. To support Brock, click here.

Dartmouth at RPI

ECAC First Round, Game 1 - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)

3/7/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 4, Dartmouth 1

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats

USCHO

RECAPS

RPI

Troy Record

Albany Times Union

RECORD: 15-14-6 (8-9-5 ECAC, 21 pts)

Dartmouth at RPI

ECAC First Round, Game 2 - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)

3/8/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Dartmouth 3, RPI 2

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats

USCHO

RECAPS

RPI

Troy Record

Albany Times Union

RECORD: 15-15-6 (8-9-5 ECAC, 21 pts)

Dartmouth at RPI

ECAC First Round, Game 3 - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)

3/9/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Dartmouth 5, RPI 4

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats

USCHO

RECAPS

RPI

Troy Record

Albany Times Union

RECORD: 15-16-6 (8-9-5 ECAC, 21 pts)