Know Your Enemy: Harvard

Harvard now has four Hobey Baker Award winners in its history, which is four more than any other ECAC program can claim and more than any other school outside of Minnesota-Duluth (five) and Minnesota (also four). Never mind that Jimmy Vesey's crowning as college hockey's top player came more than a quarter-century after Harvard's (and the ECAC's) last Hobey winner - the plaudit certainly helps re-establish the Crimson to its position as one of college hockey's more storied programs despite the fact that they've now lost eight consecutive NCAA tournament games.

Harvard
Nickname: Crimson
Location: Cambridge, MA
Founded: 1636
Conference: ECAC (Ivy League)
National Championships: 1 (1989)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2016
Last Frozen Four: 1994
Coach: Ted Donato (13th season)
2015-16 Record: 19-11-4 (12-6-4 ECAC, 3rd place)
Series: Harvard leads, 53-37-7
First Game: December 27, 1951 (Troy, NY)
Last RPI win: February 12, 2016 (Boston, MA)
Last HU win: March 12, 2016 (Boston, MA)

2016-17 games: December 30, 2016 (Boston, MA); January 13, 2017 (Troy, NY)

Key players: D Clay Anderson, sr.; F Luke Esposito, sr.; F Alexander Kerfoot, sr.; F Sean Malone, sr.; F Tyler Moy, sr.; F Devin Tringale, sr.; D Jake Horton, jr.; F Seb Lloyd, jr.; G Merrick Madsen, jr.; D Wiley Sherman, jr.; F Ryan Donato, so.; F Mike Floodstrand, so.; D Jacob Olson, so.; F Lewis Zerter-Gossage, so.; D Adam Fox, fr.; F Colton Kerfoot, fr.; D John Marino, fr.; F Ty Pelton-Byce, fr.

Key losses: F Jimmy Vesey, F Kyle Criscuolo, F Colin Blackwell, D Desmond Bergin, D Brayden Jaw

Previous KYE installments:

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

Let's get this out of the way first - Harvard has plenty of talent returning, but losing a Hobey Baker winner is rarely easy for any but the most entrenched of the national powers - a fraternity that really doesn't include any ECAC program, let alone the Crimson. Harvard's attack wasn't quite as balanced as Quinnipiac's last year, so a program like the Q is likely to be able to absorb losing a huge scoring star like Sam Anas a bit better. Anas and Vesey undoubtedly helped their cohorts succeed a bit more by drawing the opposition's best defensive efforts whenever they were on the ice, but Harvard simply wasn't getting quite as much out of their other lines as the Bobcats were.

But the qualifier is still important. Harvard does have plenty of talent returning, even if the loss of Vesey and his linemate Criscuolo is going to be a bit tough to swallow. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Alexander Kerfoot, who played on that top line as a set-up man, especially with so many options for pairing off. Malone and Donato both return as 10+ goal scorers from last year, and Esposito had a great season playing alongside Malone and Blackwell as their puck distributor. There are still some very good options offensively for the Crimson, the questions really are how Ted Donato puts them together and how effective they can be without Vesey and Criscuolo helping to open things up for the others.

On defense, Madsen is certainly in the discussion for the top returning goaltender in the league alongside SLU's Kyle Hayton. His 1.75 GAA and .936 save percentage is tops among returning netminders in league play, giving Harvard a huge boost heading into a season where they'll need to retool their attack. Anderson, Sherman, and Horton return as key elements along the blue line, and they add a pair of strong freshmen in Fox and Marino to the mix this season. While Harvard's defense wasn't wildly impressive on the national level last season, coming in 17th at 2.38 GAA as a team, this is one area of their game that shouldn't be a problem at all.

Harvard was very clearly one of the top teams in the ECAC last season - they had a year that in recent decades past would have probably made them far and away the best in the league, but last year was good enough for only third in the final league standings. Nevertheless, the Crimson stormed their way through the ECAC playoffs to the championship game for the second straight year, falling short of their second straight league crown after being downed 4-1 by Quinnipiac. Their NCAA rematch with Beanpot rivals Boston College down the road in Worcester ended with the same score. Both games featured Harvard falling behind 3-0, scoring to break the shutout, and then giving up an empty-netter to seal their fate. Harvard hasn't won an NCAA tournament game since 1994, when they defeated UNH 7-1 to advance to the Frozen Four.

The five games between RPI and Harvard last year were a study in three different sets. Harvard played to its advantages against a depleted and illness-ravaged RPI squad in the Shillelagh Tournament title game. Jason Kasdorf put on a defensive masterstroke against the Crimson in the two ECAC contests, making an amazing 43 saves as part of a 75-save goaltender's duel between him and Madsen in one of the best 0-0 draws you will ever see, then practically singlehandedly won the game in Boston by making 49 saves on 50 shots. Perhaps more than most, Harvard won't miss Kasdorf's presence in Troy - his injury and departure from the ECAC Quarterfinals helped the Crimson grease the skids a little and overcome RPI with a 13-4 punishment across the two game set, defeating an injured and ineffective Kasdorf on Friday and Cam Hackett, who had taken the loss in South Bend, on Saturday.

This year's RPI-Harvard matchup figures to play better for whichever team is able to better overcome their greater loss, RPI with Kasdorf or Harvard with Vesey. With both league games coming fairly quickly - within a few weeks of each other just after the Christmas break - there are a lot of variables that could play into things. Injured players, even with somewhat minor injuries, could miss both games. The game in Boston especially will be a "return to action" game for both teams after the December layoff.

So while Harvard may now be missing the engine of its offensive success last season, there's still plenty of reason to expect that they'll be a tough out for anyone this year, including RPI.

Men's Hockey - ECAC Quarterfinals (11/12 Mar)

Throughout his career at RPI, Jason Kasdorf has been the most important player on the team, period. When healthy, and playing well, the Engineers were difficult for even the very best teams in the country to beat. When he was not healthy, RPI was a far less dangerous team. Perhaps the final three games of his college career against Harvard illustrate this perfectly. Healthy on February 12, he backstopped an improbable victory by making 49 saves. After injuring his groin ahead of the ECAC Quarterfinals, he was far less effective on Friday, giving up four goals before coming out of what would become a 5-2 loss, and unable to go on Saturday, the Crimson simply overwhelmed the Engineers, ending their season with an 8-2 drubbing that was difficult to swallow not because of the way it happened, but because of what could have been different.

Game 1
Bourbonnais-Schroeder-Nanne
Liljegren-Bubela-DeVito
Wood-Miller-Ohrvall
Rodriguez-Fulton-Gillespie

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Grant
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

We didn't know really anything about Kasdorf's injury on Friday. He started, fully as expected, and the Engineers fielded the same lineup they had against the Crimson when they pulled off the big upset a few weeks earlier in Boston.

And, early on, things actually looked much better for RPI than they had back on February 12, where they were absolutely manhandled in practically every possible statistic, save one - the score. The first period, by and large, was about as evenly played as you can get. The Engineers actually outshot Harvard 11-10 in the opening 20 minutes and were practically even on faceoffs.

RPI was unlucky not to have picked up the game's first goal on a number of different opportunities in the game's opening 15 minutes or so. The biggest difference maker was Harvard's Merrick Madsen, who brought his "A" game all weekend long as perhaps the best young netminder in the ECAC. He constantly frustrated the Engineers all weekend long, but his strong play early in Game 1 set the tone for what was to come.

The Crimson struck first late in the first period as another Harvard hero-to-be, Sean Malone, scored seconds after an RPI penalty to Mike Prapavessis ended to put the home team ahead 1-0, but even once the first period was over, things appeared to be setting up for a good back-and-forth game.

Harvard quickly disabused everyone of that notion in the middle frame, which looked far more like their dominating performance the last time these sides met in Boston. The Crimson unleashed 22 shots on goal in the second period, scoring three times in the first 15 minutes of the period to grab a commanding 4-0 edge, many on shots that Kasdorf frequently would get to under normal situations.

It did seem that the game was pretty much over when Jake Wood picked up a five-minute major and a game misconduct for kneeing at 13:27 of the second, setting up the fourth goal for Harvard on the power play. Following that goal, Kasdorf was pulled from the net in favor of Cam Hackett, who hadn't played since beating Arizona State in December. It was thought at the time that it was a similar move to what happened against Clarkson in last year's playoffs - where Kasdorf was pulled from a game that had gotten away from the Engineers if only to keep him mentally fresh for the next night's elimination game. It would ultimately be the final moments of ice time for his collegiate career.

Despite the huge hole, RPI did not quit. Later on the major penalty, with about two minutes remaining in the period, Milos Bubela slipped past Harvard's five-forward power play unit and had a breakaway before he was at the center red line, and he beat Madsen to get the Engineers on the board. In the final minute of the period, back at even strength, Madsen had to be keen with his glove to keep RPI out of the goal - an important save that could have clawed the Engineers within two, a more manageable deficit, with 20 minutes left.

That second goal for the Engineers did come early in the third period as Phil Hampton put back a rebound off a shot by Mark Miller to make the score 4-2 after Harvard came out rather flat for the beginning of the period. For a few minutes, it looked like RPI had some of the same fight they had in their previous game to effect a big comeback, but Malone scored his second of the night against the flow of play five minutes after Hampton's goal to re-open a three-goal edge. That was as close as the Engineers would get, but at no time did they look like they were ready to give in.

Game 2
Bourbonnais-Schroeder-Nanne
Liljegren-Bubela-DeVito
Wood-Miller-Ohrvall
Rodriguez-Fulton-Gillespie

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Grant
Moore-Hampton

Hackett

Expectations that Kasdorf would be back in net were not immediately dismissed before Game 2, with Seth Appert even indicating in a pre-game interview that he would be back in net. However, something changed between warmups and the beginning of the game, as the alert came just before the teams took the ice for the start of the game that Hackett would be starting - the first inkling that something was not quite right, although the full explanation (a groin injury) didn't come out until after the game was over.

The first period in Game 2 played out largely the same as it had in Game 1, with RPI again unable to establish the 1-0 lead in the first despite the lion's share of the quality scoring opportunity in the opening 15 minutes, once again squelched by the terrific play of Madsen in net for Harvard. And, once again, it was Harvard scoring first with Jake Horton beating Hackett at 15:02 to give the Crimson the 1-0 edge for the second night in a row.

Things began to get hectic seconds later, as Jake Wood was sent off for a hook and Seb Lloyd followed behind on the subsequent dive, setting up a 4-on-4 situation. About a minute later, Riley Bourbonnais struck for his 15th goal of the year, a rebound off a shot by Lou Nanne to tie things back up at one, although a lengthy review persisted afterwards.

The Engineers attacked off the ensuing faceoff, and just 23 seconds later, a goal by Jesper Ohrvall had RPI ahead 2-1, and it seemed that their hard work and dedication was beginning to pay off just a bit. But that lead held for all of 59 seconds. Just a few moments after Wood and Lloyd returned to the ice, Viktor Dombrovskiy scored his first collegiate goal on a bomb of a shot from the blue line, tying the game back up. Regardless of the sequence, a 2-2 scoreline heading into the first intermission was still a bit of an improvement over the previous night's showing.

Perhaps it was some kind of karmic balance being struck for RPI's win against the Crimson in February - a dominant performance by Harvard, yet all but even (and uneven in RPI's favor) on the scoreboard. The remaining 40 minutes, honestly, were very, very even in most respects except the scoreboard - which was instead dominated soundly by the home team. The Crimson would go on to score six goals against none scored by the Engineers (although an apparent RPI goal in the second period, when it still would have very much mattered for the Engineers, was waved off with no real explanation).

Malone potted his third goal of the weekend a minute and a half into the second period to break the tie, and then Harvard really established their dominance on the scoresheet eight minutes later on a horrifying turnover by Prapavessis in front of his own net while the Engineers were looking to break out of their own end. Just moments after Bourbonnais missed the net on a breakaway shot that beat Madsen (and would have tied the game), the miscue deep in their own end was buried by Harvard's Clay Anderson, turning the game significantly by making it 4-2.

Even as the game, the series, and the season were slipping away, the Engineers notably never showed even the slightest little drop of quit, even though Harvard began racking up the goals in the third period, frequently on odd-man rushes as RPI pushed forward in vain search of a breakthrough chance. Another defensive zone turnover in the opening seconds of the third period ended up on Jimmy Vesey's stick, and the Hobey Baker finalist from last year finally made his presence felt, scoring on a pro shot that slipped through the smallest crack between Hackett and the post to make it 5-2.

An aforementioned push forward allowed Vesey to score a second unassisted goal 13 minutes later, a goal that looked very similar to Bubela's from the previous night as the Harvard senior was broken away before reaching the center red line. The Crimson would add a power play goal three minutes later and an 8th tally a minute after that to put a serious seal on things and send a message to the remainder of the league - they will be a force to be reckoned with in Lake Placid.

That Hackett stayed in the game throughout the onslaught pretty much confirmed that an injury had sidelined Kasdorf. With no hope remaining in the final minute, Seth Appert did at least pull him from the cage to allow senior Sam Goodman to log some official Division I playing time. The third-string netminder for the last three seasons, Goodman played the final 46 seconds and did not face any shots as RPI held the puck in the attacking zone late, still probing the Harvard net in search of a futile but still desired goal - a microcosm of a season for a team that never gave up.

Lake Placid waits another season for a team that, had they been blessed with this level of dedication in some previous years, could have broken its drought already. Ultimately, the story was the injury to Kasdorf combined with a road series against a very, very strong Harvard team that simply could not be denied. The lesson is simple - sometimes, the other team is just better, and RPI ran into a better team. But hope lives on that in the near future, RPI will be that better team.

ECAC Semifinals
#7 Dartmouth vs #1 Quinnipiac
#4 St. Lawrence vs #3 Harvard

RPI at #12 Harvard

ECAC Quarterfinals Game 1 - Bright-Landry Hockey Center (Boston, MA)
3/11/16 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Harvard 5, RPI 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
USCHO
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 18-14-7

RPI at #12 Harvard
ECAC Quarterfinals Game 2 - Bright-Landry Hockey Center (Boston, MA)
3/12/16 - 7:00pm

RESULT:  Harvard 8, RPI 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 18-15-7

A Dream of Spring

How about looking at things this way: it may be a blessing in disguise that the Engineers were at home last weekend instead of this weekend.

Seriously.

Spin it any way you like, the home drought was real and it weighed on everyone's mind - even those who had never experienced it. And unlike in 2013, when RPI had a bye to the quarterfinals at home, the ECAC is deep this year - very deep.

Let's say the Engineers had been the ones to score first against St. Lawrence on Freakout! Eve. RPI finishes with 25 points, St. Lawrence with 23, the Engineers get the bye. They're playing at home this weekend, but it's against probably Clarkson. And the monkey is still there on the back.

Still think that's better than playing Brown and getting over that first hill?

Let's be brutally honest. The quarterfinals were going to be a bear no matter how you sliced it - being at home wasn't going to be some magic potion. So in that light, beating Brown last weekend, as difficult as that proved to be, might have been a bit of a boost heading into the quarterfinals.

Look, Harvard won't be easy. No one has pegged RPI as the favorites to finally hit Lake Placid and that's rightfully the case. The Crimson are very good, they're at home, they're rested, and they unleashed 50 shots the last time they played the Engineers.

But this is a team that is already farther than they were supposed to go when the season started. And they've got a difference maker in net.

Why not push this as far as we can?

It's been said over and over again. Lake Placid's eluded RPI longer than any other team in the league.

Go for broke. And return with your shield, or on it. Good luck, gentlemen. Blow our minds. And let all the children boogie.

(Yup, sticking with the power of Bowie.)

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.

Men's Hockey - Shillelagh Tournament (27/28 Nov)

RPI rode into the Thanksgiving weekend atop an eight-game unbeaten streak the likes of which had not been seen with the Engineers in over 15 years. They managed to extend that streak to nine in the opening round of the Shillelagh Tournament in South Bend, Indiana by taking down Western Michigan 4-1, but could not make it an even 10 the following afternoon, falling 4-0 against ECAC rivals Harvard in a game that may well have been more about setting the table for the league meeting this coming week than it was a push to claim the Shillelagh Trophy.

Western Michigan
Liljegren-Bubela-Bourbonnais
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Wood-Schroeder-Gillespie
Ohrvall-Fulton-Rodriguez

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton

Hackett

With the Engineers beginning to return to full health - or as full as it is going to get with Evan Tironese being lost for the season - the RPI lineup for the entire weekend ended up being the same as the lineup that hit the ice in Troy against New Hampshire. The situation in net remained the same - Jason Kasdorf was available if needed, but continued to rest with Cam Hackett playing well and helping to ensure his fitness for a planned return for ECAC league play when that resumes during the first weekend of December.

RPI controlled play for much of the first period and were rewarded for their efforts with the game's opening goal at 9:03 of the opening frame as Alex Rodriguez scored his second goal in as many outings to put the Engineers ahead 1-0, the lone assist going to Mike Prapavessis, who set up a breakaway for Rodriguez with a great pass out of the defensive end.

The RPI offense cranked things up a notch early in the second period, with two goals in the span of 37 seconds to grab a 3-0 edge for the third time in as many contests. On the power play, Riley Bourbonnais struck for his team-leading eighth goal of the season to make it 2-0, and seconds later Lou Nanne scored his fourth goal of the year with a lead assist by Prapavessis to put the Engineers ahead by three.

Western Michigan would get one back on a major penalty to Jesper Ohrvall, who was shown the door for a checking from behind call midway through the second period, but it wasn't due to their own exploits that they got themselves on the board. An errant pass in the defensive zone by Parker Reno bounced off the skate of Jared Wilson and directly into the back of the net before Hackett could see what had happened, and just like that, WMU freshman Corey Schueneman, last to touch the puck for the Broncos, was credited with his first collegiate goal on the power play.

That "own goal" was ultimately the only one the Broncos would get all night. Hackett made the remaining two-goal margin hold up throughout the third period, stopping 10 shots in the final 20 minutes, while Jake Wood provided an insurance tally with 3:20 left in the game to seal up the victory, RPI's third in a row and ninth consecutive game without a loss. Prapavessis added an assist on the Wood goal to secure the first three-point game of the season for any Engineer skater.

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

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton

Hackett

Harvard defeated the home-standing Fighting Irish of Notre Dame 4-1 in Friday's nightcap, thanks in part to a pair of goals on the power play when both Irish backcheckers were called for penalties in taking down Alexander Kerfoot on the breakaway.

The Crimson power play was striking at a rate of 30% coming into the contest, so it is no small feat that the Engineers, who killed penalties for a total of 13 minutes of game time against Harvard on Saturday, managed to go perfect on the penalty kill. Still, the Crimson certainly proved that they didn't need to be on the man advantage to score goals, netting four of them at even strength against the Engineers, including three in the second period, where RPI usually feels most at home.

RPI missed their best opportunities to take control of things early when two penalties in the opening ten minutes against Harvard freshman Ryan Donato - son of Crimson head coach Ted Donato - went unconverted. All told, the first period was a pretty even affair between the two ECAC squads, but Harvard took a 1-0 lead into the locker room on the back of a goal by Jimmy Vesey, a Hobey Hat Trick finalist a year ago, at 14:44 of the first period.

With 40 minutes to play, it still looked like anyone's game, but the Crimson offense put the pedal down early in the second to outdistance RPI on the scoreboard. Luke Esposito's third of the year at 1:32 put RPI down 2-0, and Kyle Criscuolo's sixth of the year made it 3-0 Harvard about six minutes later, marking the first time since Michigan's empty netter on October 24 that the Engineers trailed by three goals - and the first time since the opening game of the year that they'd trailed by three before an empty-netter.

The younger Donato made it 4-0 with just under four minutes left to play in the second period, and from there on out both teams seemed to focus just a little bit more on not getting hurt and getting ready for round two in Troy a week later. Still, both netminders had very solid third periods, with Hackett stopping 17 shots - on his way to a 41-save performance - while Harvard's Merrick Madsen added to the gaudy numbers he's put up in just a handful of games already this season, earning his third shutout of the year in only his fifth appearance by making 14 saves in the final period on his way to a 31-save effort for the win.

Viktor Liljegren picked up RPI's second major penalty in as many days when he was called for charging with just under 7 minutes left to play, but the RPI penalty kill, as noted, was able to keep Harvard's high powered PP unit from scoring throughout the contest. The loss snapped the aforementioned unbeaten streak at nine games, one shy of standing alone as the longest unbeaten streak for the Engineers since the end of their NCAA-record 38-game unbeaten streak from November 1984 through November 1985. The loss came 30 years and a week from the ending of that record run.

Mike Prapavessis was named to the All-Tournament team in recognition of his three-assist efforts the previous night against Western Michigan.

Next up is the final ECAC weekend of the 2015 calendar year as RPI returns home to square off with Dartmouth and then face their rematch with Harvard. The Big Green have, at times, struggled to both score goals and keep the puck out of the net - perhaps typified by the pair of 7-0 losses they've suffered this season, including one this past Friday at Michigan - which makes Friday's game one that a team that fancies itself a contender for a first-round bye should be able to take care of, especially playing at home. Saturday, we'll see if the Engineers can find a remedy for Harvard  or if perhaps they held a little something back for a game that'll mean more at the end of the season than a non-conference game in Indiana.

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

By winning percentage
1. Quinnipiac (.833)
2. RPI (.833)
3. Harvard (.750)
4. Cornell (.750)
5. St. Lawrence (.700)
6. Yale (.667)
7. Brown (.429)
8. Dartmouth (.333)
9. Colgate (.214)
10. Clarkson (.200)
11. Union (.167)
12. Princeton (.167)

RPI vs. Western Michigan

Non-conference Game - Compton Family Ice Arena (South Bend, IN)
11/27/15 - 4:00pm

RESULT: RPI 4, Western Michigan 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record

RECORD: 8-4-2 (4-0-2 ECAC, 10 pts)

#8 Harvard vs. RPI
Non-conference Game - Compton Family Ice Arena (South Bend, IN)
11/28/15 - 4:00pm

RESULT: Harvard 4, RPI 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI

RECORD: 8-5-2 (4-0-2 ECAC, 10 pts)

Upcoming games
04 Dec - Dartmouth
05 Dec - #8 Harvard
11 Dec - Arizona State
12 Dec - Arizona State
02 Jan - at Miami

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.

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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)

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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: Harvard

Long seated on one of the toastiest coaching seats in the ECAC, Ted Donato finally got the ship righted in Cambridge last season. It wasn't easy - the team did have to fight through a significant amount of adversity during the regular season - but it ended with the Crimson winning their 9th ECAC championship. Still, this is a team that will come into the next season with something still left to prove, and a leading senior who's going to have a chip on his shoulder and a desire to prove it.

Harvard
Nickname: Crimson
Location: Cambridge, MA
Founded: 1636
Conference: ECAC (Ivy League)
National Championships: 1 (1989)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2015
Last Frozen Four: 1994
Coach: Ted Donato (12th season)
2014-15 Record: 21-13-3 (11-8-3 ECAC, 6th place)
Series: Harvard leads, 50-36-6
First Game: December 27, 1951 (Troy, NY)
Last RPI win: February 1, 2013 (Troy, NY)
Last HU win: December 30, 2014 (Boston, MA)

2015-16 games: November 28, 2015 (South Bend, IN - possible); December 5, 2015 (Troy, NY); February 12, 2015 (Boston, MA)

Key players: D Desmond Bergin, sr.; F Colin Blackwell, sr.; F Kyle Criscuolo, sr.; F Brayden Jaw, sr.; F Jimmy Vesey, sr.; D Clay Anderson, jr.; F Luke Esposito, jr.; F Alexander Kerfoot, jr.; F Sean Malone, jr.; F Tyler Moy, jr.; F Devin Tringale, jr.; F Eddie Ellis, so.; F Seb Lloyd, so.; G Merrick Madsen, so.; D Wiley Sherman, so.; F Ryan Donato, fr.; F Mike Floodstrand, fr.; D Jacob Olson, fr.

Key losses: D Patrick McNally, F Brian Hart, D Max Everson, G Steve Michalek

Previous KYE installments:

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

If there was one player on the Crimson last season who was more or less indispensable, that would be McNally. His injury mid-season left Harvard in a pretty bad place, and upon his return to the lineup, it was like flipping a switch, and the Crimson were again a force to be reckoned with.

After easily dispatching Brown in the first round of the ECAC playoffs, Harvard faced off against arch-rivals Yale in a battle royale that ended with a goal from Vesey in the second overtime of Game 3, sending the Crimson to Lake Placid, where they knocked off favorites Quinnipiac and Colgate to claim the championship and sending Harvard to the NCAAs for the first time in nearly a decade. There they fell to eventual Frozen Four participants Omaha, but the seed had certainly been sowed - Harvard were no longer pushovers.

Coming into this season, it had been possible that Harvard wasn't going to be losing anyone at all. McNally, Everson, and Michalek missed the vast majority of their sophomore seasons after getting caught up in the 2012 cheating scandal at the school, their applications for a waiver to compete again this coming year were denied. Hart, meanwhile, leaves Harvard for the NHL with one year of eligibility remaining. Those are four important losses for the Crimson, but there's no denying the strength of what does return, along with the possible strength of what should be one of the most talented incoming freshman classes in the ECAC.

Vesey was a Hobey Baker finalist last season, the only one from the Hobey Hat Trick that will be returning to campus this year after BU's Jack Eichel and North Dakota's Zane McIntyre both signed NHL deals. Vesey, a Nashville draft pick, seemed likely to follow the other two members of the Hobey trifecta out the door, but he quickly made the decision that he would return for his senior season. His 32 goals led the entire nation in that category last season, and his 58 points is by far the most of any returning player in the country.

Criscuolo, Moy, and Kerfoot all return as major point producers as well, each notching over 25 points last season, and added to the mix are Floodstrand and Donato - the latter the coach's son - who should both be solid contributors right out of the gate. There's not a lot to dislike for Harvard on offense.

The question comes more on defense, where the Crimson have a pair of options in net. Madsen saw just 43 minutes of playing time last season, but the Flyers draft pick may have some serious competition in Michael Lackey, the freshman goaltender arriving from being a top choice for the USNTDP U-18 team last year. The losses of McNally and Everson on the blue line are also slightly troublesome, but there remains some solid upperclass leadership in the back with Bergin and Anderson, and expect Olson to provide a boost as well.

Overall, Harvard isn't necessarily a team that's going to be an obvious choice to be tops in the ECAC, but they absolutely have got to be a part of the discussion. They do a lot of things very well, especially when it comes to physical play. Their ability to adequately replace the four key losses from last season will dictate how competitive the Crimson are even more than how much superstar Vesey will bring back to the table.

The last couple of seasons, RPI has had to play Harvard pretty much right out of the ECAC gate, playing both games relatively early in the schedule. This time around, they won't meet up until December unless they get to preview each other on the second night of the Shillelagh Tournament in Indiana (although that game won't likely matter for a great deal unless it's the championship). The way things are lining up, the RPI defense is going to have to come to play against Harvard or it isn't going to matter whether the Crimson defense is up to snuff. Finding ways to contain probably the best player in the country and keep the puck out of the net will be paramount to success no matter what.

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)

-----

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 - at Harvard, Miami (30 Dec, 2/3 Jan)

Having a schedule rife with the nation's top teams is a challenge under the best of circumstances, but when you're having to deal with continuing injuries to some of your most important players - and then having a team issue that ends with the suspension of the team's captains - it's a pretty tough row to hoe. Returning to play after a break of over two weeks, the Engineers briefly took a lead against #4 Harvard in ECAC play, but fell 6-2 after giving up the game's last five scores. Then, with a seriously depleted roster due to the aforementioned suspensions, RPI fought bravely twice against #6 Miami, but couldn't break out of their losing streak, dropping 3-2 and 3-0 games at home. RPI's losing streak is now at eight.

Harvard
McGowan-Bubela-DeVito
Wood-Neal-Bourbonnais
Melanson-Schroeder-Laliberte
Fulton, Gillespie

Leonard-Bradley
Curadi-Reno
Prapavessis-Wilson
Bell

Kasdorf

The big question coming into the unofficial start of the second half of the season revolved around the health of several Engineers. The return of Drew Melanson from a bout with mono, of Travis Fulton and Zach Schroeder from shoulder and ankle injuries respectively, and of Jason Kasdorf from a lower-body injury were certainly big, but they came with a couple of disappointing caveats - Lou Nanne's shoulder was still bothering him, and the injury he appeared to have aggravated against BU apparently wasn't even the same injury that he originally suffered. Mark Miller, who had been playing with bruised ribs, suffered a freak ankle injury in practice, and Viktor Liljegren, previously unhurt, was out with a back injury.

The optimism that sprung with the return especially of Melanson and Kasdorf was dashed pretty quickly. The Engineers have been giving up the first goal of the game with some frequency this year (they've only scored first three times), but on Tuesday night in Boston, it took just 1:21 of game time for RPI to be trailing 1-0 as Luke Esposito scored unassisted after only 81 seconds to open the scoring.

RPI did not back down, and actually turned the game around rather quickly. As part of a fairly dominant first period performance, the Engineers netted a pair of goals from returning players to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Melanson scored his second of the season from Jacob Laliberte and Matt Neal about three minutes after Esposito's goal, and Schroeder hit his second of the year all alone at 11:39. RPI outshot the home team 13-4 in the opening 20 minutes.

However, that was definitely the peak of the evening for the Engineers. They'd caught Harvard flat-footed in the first, and the Crimson rebounded in the second while RPI seemed a bit off from where they'd been to start the game. Harvard's Jimmy Vesey tied the game just 21 seconds into the second, then about three minutes later got a pair of goals nine seconds apart to break the game open at 4-2.

We've seen the Engineers struggle to come back from a bang-bang turn of events like that in the past, but a great deal of their problems came from the fact that the Harvard that played the last 40 minutes better resembled the one that's accrued only one loss all season and has arguably become the best team in the country. Steve Michalek stopped 22 shots in the final two periods, and the Crimson picked up two more goals, including a power play tally, in the third to cruise to the 6-2 victory and pick up another two points in ECAC play.

RPI, meanwhile, dropped their fourth straight league game after starting the ECAC schedule off with a 4-1-0 record.

Miami (Friday)
Liljegren-Bubela-Bourbonnais
Melanson-Schroeder-Wood
Laliberte-DeVito-Fulton
Bokenfohr, Gillespie

Bradley-Hampton
Prapavessis-Bell
Wilson-Reno

Kasdorf

Viktor Liljegren, one of three very important freshman forwards who have been part of giving the offense what life it's had this season, returned to the lineup for RPI's non-conference series with Miami, but the story of the weekend wasn't who was playing, but rather, who wasn't. With Lou Nanne and Mark Miller still nursing injuries, the team's four captains - Curtis Leonard, Luke Curadi, Matt Neal, and Mark McGowan - were pulled out of the lineup as well, leaving the Engineers with just 10 forwards and 7 defensemen available to play - meaning it was literally an "all hands on deck" moment.

4:40 was the moment on Friday when the usual 1-0 scoreline appeared on the board with the Engineers trailing, as Miami's Riley Barber put one home to give the Redhawks the lead. Miami held an 8-6 edge in shots on goal after one period, as there was plenty of good back and forth action.

Chris Bradley scored his second goal of the season on the power play just 22 seconds into the second period, getting a good screen from Riley Bourbonnais in the process, to tie the game up at one, the third time in four games that RPI had responded with the game's second goal after initially falling behind.

10 minutes later, Miami got their lead back, followed by a second tally from Barber, this time on the power play, at 14:36. That put the Redhawks ahead 3-1 heading into the second intermission. RPI's defensive miscues in the middle stanza put them in a hole that ultimately they would not be able to recover from.

Arguably, however, the Engineers did have the better of the play in the third period. Melanson's third goal of the season and second in as many games cut Miami's lead in half with about eight and a half minutes remaining, and RPI certainly had opportunities to complete the comeback, especially late when they were practically gift wrapped a lengthy two-man advantage, but the home team failed to uncork even a single shot on the power play, and a penalty to Jake Wood just as the second penalty expired scotched any chance the Engineers had to complete the comeback.

Miami (Saturday)
Liljegren-Bubela-Bourbonnais
Melanson-Schroeder-Wood
Laliberte-DeVito-Fulton
Bokenfohr, Gillespie

Bradley-Hampton
Prapavessis-Bell
Wilson-Reno

Kasdorf

The following night, it was learned that the Engineer captains had been suspended "indefinitely" for an unknown violation of team rules. That suspension continued into the back end of the Miami weekend, which resulted in RPI, out of necessity, putting the exact same lineup out the next night, dressing one fewer man than allowed.

The relative evenness of Friday night's game was not seen on Saturday, and a lot of that had to do with strong play from Miami netminder Jay Williams, who made 22 saves on 22 shots to shut out the Engineers. Meanwhile, the return from the World Junior Championship of Team USA's Anthony Louis injected a bit more life into the visitors. Louis set up Miami's first goal of the night by feeding Cody Murphy in the slot from behind the RPI net to put the Engineers in that oh so typical 1-0 hole.

RPI held their own during the first period, outshooting Miami 12-9 due in large part to a pair of power plays late in the period, but Williams was equal to the task. With RPI not coming terribly close to scoring, the Redhawks basically shut the door midway through the period with a quick burst of two goals reminiscent of RPI's experience against Harvard - this time, the goals were just seven seconds apart. In the blink of an eye, a one goal game was a three goal game.

Miami's physical play disrupted the Engineers all night long, and one RPI player who seemed to take significant umbrage was Milos Bubela. The junior was tagged for interference 18 seconds after the third Miami goal, and was fortunate not to pick up a major and a game misconduct (or more) for what ended up being a boarding penalty in the third period.

The loss extended the season-long losing streak to eight in a row (three in ECAC play), the team's longest drought since an eight-game losing streak in 2011-12.

RPI has now gone 11 consecutive games without reaching 3 goals scored. They also had 11 straight games of two or fewer goals in 2011-12 (which included the aforementioned eight-game schneid). One more would tie the school record of 12 in a row, set between 1912 and 1916 (when hockey was played rather differently).

It's all ECAC matchups from here on out (excluding the Mayor's Cup, played against league foes Union but not counting in the standings), so the time is now if the season is going to be salvaged. RPI does head into the meat of the league schedule with eight crucial points, but many teams have games in hand over the Engineers. It starts with another tough outing against nationally ranked Quinnipiac, followed by what absolutely must be a must-win game no matter what happens against a Princeton team that has been one of the worst in the nation in pretty much every category.

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

By winning percentage
1. Quinnipiac (.800)
2. Harvard (.778)
3. Clarkson (.714)
4. St. Lawrence (.571)
5. Colgate (.583)
6. Yale (.562)
7. Cornell (.500)
8. RPI (.444)
9. Union (.438)
10. Dartmouth (.438)
11. Brown (.125)
12. Princeton (.100)

RPI at #4 Harvard
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
12/30/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Harvard 6, RPI 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS

RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 6-13-1 (4-5-0, 8pts)

#6 Miami at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/2/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Miami 3, RPI 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS

RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 6-14-1 (4-5-0, 8pts)

#6 Miami at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/3/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Miami 3, RPI 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 6-15-1 (4-5-0, 8pts)

Upcoming games
09 Jan - at #15 Quinnipiac
10 Jan - at Princeton
16 Jan - #17 Colgate
17 Jan - Cornell
24 Jan - vs. Union (Albany, NY)