Early Returns

So, what do we now know about RPI Hockey in mid-October? It's not always easy to extrapolate from just a weekend or two of results, but there's little question that if the men could keep things going the way they did against Ferris State, it would be a pretty outstanding year.

Consider the following:

• Jacob Laliberte's first freshman goal: December 2
• His first sophomore goal: October 12
• His third freshman goal: February 11
• His third sophomore goal: October 13
• Game in which RPI scored its fifth goal of the season in 2011-12: Fifth
• Game in which RPI scored its fifth goal of the season this year: Second
• Goals scored by sophomores against Ferris State this weekend: 5 out of 5
• Points by sophomores against Ferris State this weekend: 9 out of 14

What does it all mean? It all speaks to the heart of the offense for this team, which is actually exactly where it was last year - with the Class of 2015. It's no coincidence that last year's five freshman forwards practically always played when they were healthy - and none of the five managed to make it through the entire season without illness or injury sidelining them (all missed at least four games).

The quintet - Laliberte, Ryan Haggerty, Zach Schroeder, Mark McGowan, and Matt Neal - notched a combined 23 goals last season, which led the four classes (sophomore forwards scored 10 goals among three, juniors scored 14 among three, seniors 16 among five).

Are they going to be the end all, be all this season? No, almost certainly not - we should expect to see solid contributions from C.J. Lee, Marty O'Grady (when he comes back), Brock Higgs, and Matt Tinordi based on what we saw last year. Nick Bailen has proven to be a scoring threat from afar over the last two seasons, and there's no reason we won't see a lot of Milos Bubela and Mike Zalewski this season, a couple of freshmen with the bonafides to be contributors. (Aside, of course, from the injury potential, knock on wood.)

Whenever you have freshmen as the core of your scoring output, you're bound to have a struggle to score goals, especially early in the season, and that was exactly the case last year. Although there are exceptions - Brandon Pirri and Jerry D'Amigo come to mind - freshmen typically have a need to acclimate themselves to college hockey before they can perform at a high level. Pirri and D'Amigo, it should be noted, also benefited from the presence of a Hobey Baker finalist on the team.

As well, the marginal utility that the program got out of those two players in terms of on-ice production is actually pretty low - D'Amigo already ranks behind classmates Lee and O'Grady on the all-time points list, and Pirri will likely fall behind Lee this season. It took the two seniors three years to accomplish what those players did in one, but that merely has spread out their usefulness.

So on the basic assumption that RPI is unlikely to see players on the level of Pirri and D'Amigo with any striking regularity, most freshmen that arrive in Troy are going to have seasons like Laliberte did last year, when after much anticipation and expectation, he scored "just" five goals. Does his three goal weekend mean we're going to see more of what was anticipated and expected last year? Perhaps. But he's not likely to be the only one improving. There's no getting around the fact that RPI's frosh five from last year are getting more experienced and getting better - which could be very good news going forward.

Women's Hockey - UConn (5/6 Oct)

With no exhibition on the schedule this year, RPI opened up the season at home with a pair of non-conference games against UConn. In similar fashion to last year's openers against the same opponent, the Engineers walked away with a tie and a win, yielding a 4-1 lead to settle for a 4-4 tie on Friday before rebounding to win Saturday by a 5-3 margin.

Friday

Smelker/Gruschow/Svoboda
Mahoney/Wash/Horton
Sanders/Cox/Mari Mankey
Padmore/Missy Mankey

Daniels/Banks
Godin/Marzario
Middlebrook/Schilter

Piper

Fans got their first glimpse of this season's incarnation of the Engineers Friday evening, and the home squad got things moving early, notching two goals in the latter half of the first period to jump out to a 2-0 lead.

Freshman Alexa Gruschow opened things up with her first career goal at 13:51, putting home a rebound off a Jordan Smelker shot taken as the latter was falling to the ice. Mari Mankey scored the second goal in what would become an all-freshman affair, another case of being in the right place at the right time for a rebound.

Things looked to be solidly in RPI's favor to start the second as a UConn penalty was quickly converted into a 3-0 lead on Gruschow's second of the game, but the Huskies cut the defecit to 3-1 at 11:27 of the middle frame after appearing to bump Piper in the crease.

Lauren Wash restored RPI's three-goal lead at 14:41, but an odd goal cut the lead back to two as a puck tipped off Pipers stick and slowly looped over her head to drop over the line and in the net.

UConn cut the Engineers' lead to one at 13:19 of the third period, and with the extra attacker out in the final minute drew a checking call which allowed them to play 6-on-4 with time winding down.  It took just 17 seconds on the man advantage for the Huskies to tie things up on a scrum in front of Piper, with Rachel Farrel putting home her own rebound to knot things at four. A 5-0 shot advantage in the extra frame did nothing for RPI, as the Engineers were unable to pick up the game winner and settled for the 4-4 tie despite an overall 43-25 advantage in shots for the game.

Saturday

Smelker/Gruschow/Svoboda
Sanders/Mahoney/Horton
Padmore/Wash/Mari Mankey
Letuligasenoa/Walsh/Missy Mankey

Daniels/Banks
Godin/Marzario
Middlebrook/Schilter

O'Brien

With Friday night's goals all scored by freshmen, it would be no surprise on Saturday to see the Engineers' goals come from upperclassmen, including two from Ali Svoboda and one from Jordan Smelker, who combined on their line with freshman Alexa Gruschow for three goals and four assists en route to a 5-3 victory in Saturday's encore game against UConn.

Once again RPI scored first, this time just 3:20 into the game as Missy Mankey picked up a rebound just outside the crease and was greeted with a sprawling goaltender and a clear shot for the 1-0 lead.

Taylor Mahoney would double the Engineers' lead eleven minutes later, taking a feed from Toni Sanders behind the net an snapping it past UConn goalie Sarah Moses to double RPI's lead.

UConn would fight back to tie the game at two, with Kiana Nauheim firing a bomb from the point past Kelly O'Brien and Sarah MacDonnell notching the equalizer just three minutes into the second period on a feed from Stephanie Raithby from behind the Engineer net.

Svoboda would pick up the game's next two goals, giving RPI the lead as she put home a rebound from the doorstep and notching the eventual game winner with a wrist shot that beat Moses top shelf.

Smelker built the Engineers' lead to three at 4:06 of the third period with a spectacular effort that included fighting off a UConn defenseman before taking a blind backhand shot from one knee which snuck past Moses to make it 5-2.

UConn drew back to within two on a Michela Cava shorthanded breakaway goal, but that would be the end of the rally for the Huskies who fell 5-3 and were outshot 32-19 on the afternoon.

Early observations from the weekend - some much needed scoring was provided by the freshmen on Friday, led by Gruschow who on more than one occasion completely outhustled and outmanuevered her counterparts on the UConn squad.  Coupled with Smelker and Svoboda, the Engineers' current top line appears to be shaping up as a lethal threat, combining for twelve points on the weekend.

We saw another dose of goaltender rotation on the weekend, with Piper and O'Brien each getting a start, but did not see freshman Sara Till in action.

The RPI defense was suspect at times, with a few missed passes and miscues resulting in several scoring opportunities for the Huskies. With each of the three defensive pairings including a newcomer to the team, it's likely the pairings are still getting used to playing with one another and things will tighten up in the coming games.

RPI returns to the ice next weekend as they head to Boston for a set against BU and Northeastern. Game time will be 7pm on Friday at BU and 3pm on Saturday at Northeastern.

-----

RPI vs. Connecticut
Non-Conference Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/5/12 - 7pm
RPI 4, UConn 4

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/10/05/connecticut-vs-rensselaer/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wconren1.o05

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2012/10/5/WICE_1005121637.aspx
UConn: http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100512aaa.html
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--dbqXOFv2k

RECORD: 0-0-1

-----

RPI vs. Connecticut
Non-Conference Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/6/12 - 3pm
RPI 5, UConn 3

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/10/06/connecticut-vs-rensselaer/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wconren1.o06

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2012/10/6/WICE_1006120119.aspx
UConn: http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100612aab.html
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FGahNf8xM0

RECORD: 1-0-1

-----

Upcoming Games

Oct. 12 - at BU (7pm)
Oct. 13 - at Northeastern (3pm)
Oct. 20 - Union (4pm)
Oct. 26 - at St. Lawrence (4pm)
Oct. 27 - at Clarkson (3:30pm)

Women's Hockey - 2012-13 Season Preview

Once again, we've hit that time of year when many hockey fans switch from "There's so much offseason left!" to "Wait, the season's here already?" With the women's hockey team set to take the ice Friday night against UConn, let's do a quick rundown of this year's incoming class and the upcoming schedule. We'll summarize the league schedule in the coming weeks.

The Engineers add three forwards, three defensemen, and a goalie to the roster for 2012-13, replacing a talented senior class which included Sierra Vadner, Amanda Castignetti, Laura Guillemette, Alicia Miksic, Alisa Harrison, and Jill Vandegrift. The freshmen (and one transfer student) will be counted on to contribute early and often in order to help the upperclassmen build from last year's disappointing 9-21-4 record and make it back to the playoffs after last year's miss.

On the blue line, Delaney Middlebrook (who transferred in from the now-defunct Niagara University team) will join the team as a sophomore. A 2-year captain at her high school in Minnesota, Middlebrook was a high scoring defenseman who may help to add some points from the blue line. She will be joined by freshmen Brandi Banks and Jenn Godin, both of whom were named MVP of their respective teams prior to their arrival at RPI.

Up front, Alexa Gruschow and Lauren Wash join Mari Mankey (sister of junior forward Missy Mankey) in the freshman class. Gruschow played for the Washington Pride in the JWHL in addition to her high school's boys hockey team. She racked up 108 points in 62 games in 2011-12, with even more penalty minutes (110). Wash was a two-time captain and assistant captain for the New Jersey Rockets of the MAWHA, and led the league in game winning goals. Mankey was also a two-time captain and a top student at Hopkins HS in Minnetonka, MN.

After a trial-by-fire season in goal which saw freshmen Brianna Piper and Kelly O'Brien split time in net, the now-sophomore tandem will be joined by newcomer Sara Till from Rice Memorial HS in Burlington, who captained her team three years in ice hockey as well as a year in field hockey and was named team MVP of both teams as well as lacrosse. After last year's split time, and with Till thrown into the mix, it's anyone's guess as to how the goaltending duties will be divided as the season gets underway.

With no exhibition on the schedule this year, the Engineers will jump right into action this coming weekend with a home series against UConn before hitting the road to take on BU (who fell to Cornell in triple overtime of the NCAA Quarterfinals last season) and Northeastern. The last meeting between the Engineers and Huskies was a 5-1 thrashing by the home team in Boston.

The Engineers will host Union in a non-conference affair before opening up the ECAC schedule in the final week of October at SLU and Clarkson. A road trip to Burlington for a Halloween special against UVM will be followed up by a home series against Princeton and Quinnipiac, before a pair at home against Robert Morris and another on the road at Syracuse will round out the non-conference schedule.

From there, the bulk of the ECAC schedule remains, with a home pair against Providence on 1/11 and 1/12 providing the only other break in the conference action for the remainder of the season.

We'll take a look at the preseason polls in the coming weeks along with a preview of the ECAC schedule and recaps of the season's first games. Keep an eye out on Twitter at @without_a_peer for live tweets of home games once again this season, with score updates (and scattered live tweets) from road games as the season gets underway.

Youth Movement

It has been a rough year on both sides, there's no question. But there's reason for optimism - both the men's and women's teams have young talent that is taking the lead on a lot of things.

At the beginning of the second half of the season, there were two good options for the men - either play your best players and hope for the best result from them, or get your younger players more experience with an eye toward the future.

Ultimately, those options were realistically the same thing. That has seen some upperclassmen fighting for ice time. There's no reason not to expect that, when healthy, we will see all five freshman forwards in the lineup on the men's side.

The freshman are making a significant impact on the women's team as well, with Eleeza Cox, Ali Svoboda, and Taylor Mahoney each making solid contributions already.

Six of the top ten scorers for the men are freshmen and sophomores (and four are freshmen).  Six of the seven freshman skaters have put the puck in the net this season at least once.  Freshmen lead both teams in goals scored (Ryan Haggerty with five and Cox with eight).

Those sophomores and freshmen will be juniors and sophomores next year, and both teams have some pretty solid recruits ready to come in as freshmen next season, too. More on them soon.

In the meantime, it's game day for the women as they head off to play at Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend.  Neither team, of course, can be considered low-hanging fruit, but neither seem invincible either. Might be a good weekend to gain some ground if the team plays as well as they did last weekend in a solid win over Colgate (which was followed by a "hang in there and don't get killed" outing against Cornell, easily the class of the league).

Here's a pumpup for the women this weekend. Been looking for a good excuse to go with Muse, this feels like the weekend.



We'll have another tomorrow for the men as they spend today making sure their immunizations are up to date for the yearly trip to Schenectady.

And once again, apologies for the recent lack of content. Podcasts will be returning as soon as our new computer arrives.