Men's Hockey - Colgate & Cornell (16/17 Jan)

It's pretty impressive how much perceptions can change in college hockey in a very short period of time. Some of it can be described as overreaction swinging from one direction to the other, but make no mistake - one good weekend can certainly make a season's outlook an awful lot brighter. Two weeks ago, RPI was mired in a long losing streak and being roundly written off. This past weekend, the Engineers are suddenly being toasted again after a dominating pair of games at home, upsetting nationally-ranked Colgate 4-1 on Friday night and then shutting out Cornell 3-0 on Saturday. There's still a long way to go, but suddenly a long season looks considerably more interesting.

Colgate
Liljegren-DeVito-McGowan
Neal-Bubela-Laliberte
Melanson-Schroeder-Nanne
Wood-Bourbonnais-Gillespie

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bradley-Bokenfohr
Curadi-Wilson

Kasdorf

Returning home for the first league games in Troy since mid-November, the Engineers were just about back to full strength. Still missing from the previous outing due to injury were Travis Fulton and Mark Miller, it's still unknown when either will be back in the lineup.

The Engineers jumped on Colgate early on Friday night, picking up a goal by Mark McGowan on a redirect of a shot by Luke Curadi to take a 1-0 lead just 2:08 into the contest. It was the senior's 3rd goal of the season. Colgate would get it back late in the first on a one-timed shot by Kevin Lough after a faceoff in the Engineers' zone to tie things back up heading into the first intermission.

The first two periods were practically devoid of offensive chances for either team. Colgate held a 12-8 edge in shots 40 minutes into the game, meaning that the teams were averaging only a single shot every 2 minutes.

RPI busted things open in the third period, with the senior forwards leading the way. Matt Neal's second goal of the season - and second in as many games - came 56 seconds into the third to put the Engineers back in front and a tally by Jacob Laliberte about two and a half minutes later made it 3-1 in favor of the home team.

That was all the Engineers would need to pick up their second consecutive ECAC win. RPI dominated the third period, keeping the puck down in the Colgate end for most of the final 20 minutes and outshooting the Raiders 15-6. Neal would pick up a second goal on an empty netter with 29 seconds remaining to clinch the victory. Jason Kasdorf stopped 17 of 18 shots to pick up the victory in net.

Cornell
Liljegren-DeVito-McGowan
Neal-Bubela-Laliberte
Wood-Schroeder-Nanne
Melanson-Bourbonnais-Gillespie

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bradley-Bokenfohr
Curadi-Wilson

Kasdorf

No changes were made to the lineup heading into the Cornell game with the exception of a switch between the third and fourth lines, as Jake Wood was moved up to play on the third line as the left wing with Drew Melanson moving to the fourth line.

The first period on Saturday was similar to the first period on Friday, just without the goals. Not a lot of offensive chances for either team as RPI took a 8-7 edge in shots. The Engineers tended to dominate play at even strength, but were hampered by three penalties taken during the opening frame that gave the Big Red plenty of opportunity to open the scoring, but the penalty kill did its job early on. Ultimately, these would be the only three penalties of the game for RPI.

Jake Wood broke the scoreless deadlock 7:45 into the second period with a shot that looped up and over Cornell goaltender Mitch Gillam's shoulder and into the net to give the Engineers their third straight 1-0 lead (after having only accomplished that edge three times prior to last weekend). Wood was being hooked at the time of his shot, which gave RPI their only power play of the game immediately following the goal, but it was a poor effort on the man advantage.

The score remained 1-0 heading into the final period of play, but RPI came out quickly for the final period once again to take a more commanding lead. Jacob Laliberte's second goal of the weekend and fourth of the season was generated by Matt Neal, who kept a clearance attempt banked off the glass from leaving the zone, then quickly zipped it up to his classmate, who beat Gillam five-hole for the 2-0 lead.

Two and a half minutes later, the Engineers scored on a 2-on-1 break as Mark McGowan dished to Jared Wilson across the crease, and the freshman put it past a badly positioned Gillam to make the score 3-0. Gillam, who had the nation's best goals against average and save percentage coming into the game, was pulled in favor of Hayden Stewart following the goal by Wilson, his third of the year.

RPI continued to pour it on through the remainder of the third period, forcing the new Cornell goaltender to make nine saves, but it wasn't until an icing call against RPI with 3:44 remaining in the game that momentum shifted distinctly in Cornell's favor. Pulling the netminder for the extra attacker, they kept the Engineers pinned in their own zone for the remainder of the game, winning faceoffs, maintaining puck control, and peppering the RPI net with shots. Fortunately for the home team, Jason Kasdorf was right on top of his game. When all was said and done, the junior had made 14 saves in the final period as part of a 26 save night overall in picking up his first shutout of the season.

The schedule is somewhat unkind to the Engineers over the next two weeks, as they won't immediately get a chance to build on their three-game winning streak in league. This coming weekend, they fight for pride and local glory in defending the Mayor's Cup against Union in Albany - essentially, the only piece of hardware denied the Dutchmen last season. After that, they get just one game the following week at Dartmouth, as the corresponding game at Harvard was played at the end of December. Nevertheless, some folks are starting to compare this team with the 2012-13 team, which had a rough season until January and then went on a serious run to finish 2nd in the ECAC. That might be tough to duplicate and it's probably too early to say that the Engineers are that dangerous a team, but things certainly look a lot brighter than they did after losing to Quinnipiac to make it nine losses in a row. There's still so much to play for.

Current ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 20 points (10-2-0)
2. Harvard - 16 points (7-2-2)
3. St. Lawrence - 14 points (7-4-0)
4. RPI - 14 points (7-6-0)
5. Yale - 13 points (6-3-1)
6. Colgate - 13 points (6-3-1)
7. Clarkson - 12 points (5-4-2)
8. Cornell - 10 points (5-5-0)
9. Union - 9 points (4-7-1)
10. Dartmouth - 7 points (3-6-1)
11. Brown - 2 points (1-9-0)
12. Princeton - 2 points (1-11-0)

By winning percentage
1. Quinnipiac (.833)
2. Harvard (.727)
3. Yale (.650)
4. Colgate (.650)
5. St. Lawrence (.636)
6. Clarkson (.545)
7. RPI (.538)
8. Cornell (.500)
9. Union (.375)
10. Dartmouth (.350)
11. Brown (.100)
12. Princeton (.083)

#15 Colgate at RPI

ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/16/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 4, Colgate 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 8-16-1 (6-6-0, 12pts)

Cornell at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/17/15 - 7:07pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Cornell 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 9-16-1 (7-6-0, 14pts)

Upcoming games
24 Jan - vs. Union (Albany, NY)
30 Jan - at Dartmouth
06 Feb - at St. Lawrence
07 Feb - at Clarkson
13 Feb - Brown

Men's Hockey - at Quinnipiac & Princeton (9/10 Jan)

In desperate need to find some way to turn the season around with the ECAC schedule now back in full swing, RPI made at least some process in throwing the brakes on a very rough set of play. Their myriad dismal streaks continued on Friday night against the ECAC team they've now gone the longest without beating, falling 4-2 against Quinnipiac, but the streaks came to a screeching halt the next night as the Engineers took care of business against the worst team in the league by blitzing Princeton, 5-2.

Quinnipiac
Liljegren-DeVito-McGowan
Melanson-Schroeder-Nanne
Laliberte-Bubela-Fulton
Wood-Neal-Bourbonnais

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bradley-Bokenfohr
Curadi-Wilson

Kasdorf

A major shot in the arm for the Engineers came from the return of Lou Nanne to the lineup from injury - he'd been more or less since the last time RPI played the Bobcats in Troy back in November, save the first period of the BU game. The other big return came in the four senior captains who'd been kept out against Miami, allowing the Engineers to return to a more or less optimal lineup (though they still await the return of Mark Miller from an ankle injury).

At even strength on Friday night in Hamden, the Engineers did a fairly decent job of hanging in there with one of the best teams in the league, but they certainly got themselves into trouble on the penalty kill enough times to get burned. Quinnpiac got themselves on the board first not with a power play goal, but with a terrific individual effort by Matthew Peca just 1:10 into the second period. The coast to coast score by the QU senior broke a scoreless tie that had persisted through the game's first 20 minutes after some sloppy early play from both teams.

The remainder of the Bobcats' goals would be generated more or less by their power play. Devon Toews made it 2-0 twelve minutes later while Curtis Leonard was serving a high-sticking penalty. That goal was mitigated almost immediately by the Engineers, who got a team-leading 5th goal of the year from Milos Bubela just 27 seconds later to make the score 2-1.

A pair of penalties to Zach Schroeder in the third period, however, would make the hole too deep to climb back from. A boarding call 48 seconds into the third culminated in a Travis St. Denis goal, then a tripping call at 8:08 produced a power play that RPI killed off, but led to a goal by Tim Clifton just seven seconds after the game had returned to full strength, effectively a power play goal if not officially one.

Mark McGowan would net his second of the year on a fluky play on the power play in the game's final minute, but it was little more than a consolation effort. The loss was RPI's ninth in a row, and the 12th straight game in which they'd failed to produce at least three goals, tying a 99-year school record.

Princeton
Liljegren-DeVito-McGowan
Melanson-Schroeder-Nanne
Neal-Bubela-Laliberte
Curadi-Bourbonnais-Wood

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bradley-Reno
Wilson-Bokenfohr

Kasdorf

A road game against the bottom of the barrel was what ultimately brought those regrettable streaks to an end. In addition to being the first non-nationally ranked opponent in over a month, it came with an almost back to full-strength Engineers team. One injury from Friday was to Travis Fulton, but it was easy enough for Seth Appert to slot Luke Curadi, whose play up front had steadily improved, onto the fourth line, and add a much improved Parker Reno back to the lineup on the blue line.

RPI emphatically ended their 3 goal game streak by scoring three goals in the game's first 13:30. Curtis Leonard ended another streak - 11 straight games of RPI not scoring the game's first goal - by collecting his second goal of the season at 5:36 to give the Engineers only their 4th 1-0 lead of the entire season. Freshman Drew Melanson followed up six and a half minutes later with his fourth goal of the season to make it 2-0, and Chris Bradley followed on two and a half minutes after that with his third of the year to give the Engineers a 3-0 lead. Oddly enough, despite RPI's struggles to score the first goal, it was the Engineers' third 3-0 lead of the campaign.

Matt Neal made it 4-0 on the power play midway through the second period with his long awaited first goal of the season. From there, the final result was never truly in doubt, but Princeton did make it interesting. Defenseman Tom Kroshus scored a fluke goal in the last minute of the second period, the puck bouncing off the end wall, hitting Jason Kasdorf in the leg and trickling just over the line to make it 4-1. Kroshus scored again seven minutes into the third to make it 4-2, but RPI's hold on the game was rarely tenuous.

Viktor Liljegren collected an empty netter for his fourth goal of the year in the final minute of play to ice the game. Kasdorf, looking to return to his usual form, made 35 saves on 37 shots for the victory, a big step forward for the junior goaltender.

Jacob Laliberte had a very fruitful weekend, collecting 4 assists in the two games, giving him a team leading 9 and tying Melanson for the team's scoring lead at 11.

The ECAC schedule continues this weekend as the Field House plays host to league contests for the first time in two months. Streaky Colgate, winners of four straight, come to Troy on Friday, followed by a Cornell team that's had an even harder time scoring than RPI of late with 4 goals in their last 5 games.

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

By winning percentage
1. Quinnipiac (.833)
2. Harvard (.778)
3. Colgate (.688)
4. Yale (.562)
5. St. Lawrence (.556)
6. Clarkson (.556)
7. Cornell (.500)
8. RPI (.455)
9. Union (.450)
10. Dartmouth (.438)
11. Brown (.125)
12. Princeton (.083)

RPI at #15 Quinnipiac
ECAC Game - High Point Solutions Arena (Hamden, CT)
1/9/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Quinnipiac 4, RPI 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS

RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
New Haven Register

RECORD: 6-16-1 (4-6-0, 8pts)

RPI at Princeton
ECAC Game - Hobey Baker Memorial Rink (Princeton, NJ)
1/10/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 5, Princeton 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS

RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 7-16-1 (5-6-0, 10pts)

Upcoming games
16 Jan - #15 Colgate
17 Jan - Cornell
24 Jan - vs. Union (Albany, NY)
30 Jan - at Dartmouth
06 Feb - at St. Lawrence

Men's Hockey - Icebreaker Tournament (10-12 Oct)

The Engineers got their season out of the gates with a difficult assignment - the annual Icebreaker tournament, which always features some of the top teams in the nation. The way it played out was probably one of the toughest paths possible, featuring a game against the homestanding Notre Dame Fighting Irish followed by the consensus favorites for the national championship, the Minnesota Golden Gophers. RPI picked up an upset victory in the first round by knocking off the Irish, 3-2, but learned they have a long way to go to challenge the very best in the nation, playing well but falling 3-0 to Minnesota.

Notre Dame
Neal-Laliberte-Bourbonnais
McGowan-Bubela-Schroeder
Wood-Liljegren-Melanson
Nanne-Miller-DeVito

Leonard-Bokenfohr
Curadi-Prapavessis
Wilson-Bradley

Kasdorf

Lines and pairings for the Engineers against Notre Dame were similar to the ones put forward for the exhibition matchup the previous weekend. Milos Bubela was reinserted into the lineup on the second line, moving Lou Nanne to the fourth line.

After a back-and-forth, fast-paced 10 minutes to start the game as both teams got their competitive legs underneath them, a penalty to Jared Wilson was the first item of note on the box score, producing a penalty kill that RPI got behind them with little fuss. Notre Dame would, however, score the game's first goal shortly after killing a penalty of their own with very little problem, getting a tally from Mario Lucia to take a 1-0 lead with just under three minutes left in the game.

RPI wasted very little game time getting the goal back. After a cross-checking call against the Irish with 11 seconds left in the first period, freshman Viktor Liljegren scored the Engineers' first goal of the season, and the first of his career, on the power play just 42 seconds into the second period to knot the game up at one.

Five minutes later, it was Jacob Laliberte scoring his first of the year on a redirection of a shot by Matt Neal to put RPI ahead for the first time. After that, it was the Engineers' penalty kill that saved the day, scotching power play opportunities for Notre Dame off penalties to Drew Melanson and Jake Wood.

Another penalty by Wood in the early third period looked to give the Irish their fifth power-play chance of the game, but a penalty to Lucia six seconds later ended it before it even began. Notre Dame did end up making the most of the ensuing 4-on-4, tying the game at two with a goal by Jordan Gross. But as the 4-on-4 continued, and with Wood about to exit the penalty box, RPI earned what would eventually be the game winning goal from junior Mark Miller, who put back a shot by Zach Schroeder to put the Engineers ahead for good.

Jason Kasdorf, in his first official game for RPI in almost a full calendar year, stopped 14 of 15 Notre Dame shots in the third period to seal the victory, as the Irish spent much of the last 10 minutes of the game with the puck down in the Engineers zone. He made 31 saves on 33 shots overall.

The victory set up an early Sunday championship game against #1 Minnesota, who had been 4-3 winners over Minnesota-Duluth earlier on Friday. There were no games played on Saturday due to the Notre Dame football game taking place on campus that day, which would have completely dominated the tournament's conclusion otherwise.

Minnesota
Neal-Laliberte-Bourbonnais
McGowan-Miller-Schroeder
Wood-Liljegren-Melanson
Nanne, DeVito

Leonard-Bokenfohr
Curadi-Prapavessis
Wilson-Bradley

Bell

Kasdorf

Bubela, who didn't see an awful lot of ice time on Friday, was pulled out of the RPI lineup against the Golden Gophers. The Engineers dressed just 11 forwards, two of which (Nanne and Schroeder) are from families with Minnesota hockey alums in their ranks. In Bubela's place, Bradley Bell suited up for his first official action as an RPI Engineer, skating as a seventh defenseman.

From the very outset of the game, it was apparent that Minnesota was the dominant team. The Golden Gophers controlled basically every aspect of the game from start to finish, and it was a testament to how well RPI played in response that the final score was not worse than it ended up becoming. Some observers said the Engineers looked like they were a step behind the #1 ranked team in the country, it was probably more accurate to say that Minnesota was a step ahead.

The Gophers collected just one goal in each of the three periods, getting points from Seth Ambroz in the first, tournament MVP Hudson Fasching in the second, and Connor Reilly in the third. The first two goals were on redirects in front that were primarily a function of Minnesota's superior puck control, the third was a power play goal immediately after the first faceoff of the man advantage, a booming shot from the point that Kasdorf probably would have preferred a second chance at, quite possibly the only goal of the weekend that he gave up that he could have done better with.

The Engineers took their chances throughout the game and put a respectable 22 shots on Minnesota goaltender Adam Wilcox, but many of their opportunities were not high-percentage chances, and Wilcox gave up few rebounds. Despite Wilcox's shutout, it was Kasdorf who was named the game's third star after a second consecutive 31-save effort, this time making 31 saves on 34 shots, including a couple of breakaway saves against some of the best shooters in the country.

For the next three weekends, the Engineers will have only a single opponent in a weekend series. It starts with another long road trip, this one to the NCHC's Denver, and follows with the home openers against Bentley and the annual home-and-home against Union.

RPI at #12 Notre Dame
Icebreaker Game - Compton Family Ice Arena (South Bend, IN)
10/10/14 - 7:30pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Notre Dame 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
USCHO
Troy Record

RECORD: 1-0-0

RPI vs. #1 Minnesota
Icebreaker Game - Compton Family Ice Arena (South Bend, IN)
10/12/14 - 12:00pm

RESULT: Minnesota 3, RPI 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
USCHO
Troy Record
Minneapolis Star-Tribune

RECORD: 1-1-0

Upcoming games
17 Oct - at #16 Denver
18 Oct - at #16 Denver
24 Oct - Bentley
25 Oct - Bentley
31 Oct - #2 Union

What If: Wait Until Next Year

* August 2010: Brandon Pirri and Jerry D'Amigo sign NHL contracts shortly before the beginning of their sophomore seasons

Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart


For a program that was in desperate need of salvation, Brandon Pirri and Jerry D'Amigo seemed like godsends - and despite a bitter ending to an otherwise successful season, better days were certainly on the horizon. Given all the things RPI fans were expecting to happen in the offseason following the team's bitter Game 3 loss to last-place Brown, the 2010-11 season was full of all kinds of hopes and dreams.

The first three seasons of the Seth Appert era were difficult to say the least. Making it clear early on that he intended to start essentially from scratch and build the program into prosperity with his own recruits, the team went 31-68-14 between 2007 and 2009, bottoming out in the third season with a .282 winning percentage that was the second lowest in the modern era, ahead of only the 3-19-0 season of 1965-66.

That 2009 result was deflating for a lot of RPI fans. After all, the new coach by that point was now at the head of a team that was comprised more than half of its roster with players he had recruited. There was little question that sophomores Chase Polacek and Tyler Helfrich were the heart of the offense, but team defense continued to suffer by and large.

Hope, it seemed, was on the way in the form of three prized forward recruits that had been landed just ahead of that dismal season. The first was a small forward from Ontario who could score in bunches, Jacob Laliberte, who committed in February 2008. Then came two big names at the almost same time - Jerry D'Amigo, who would play the 2008-09 season for USA Hockey's Under-18 program, who committed in July, and then the talented Brandon Pirri, a somewhat larger forward from Ontario who could also score in bunches.

Laliberte, who would have turned 19 just before the 2009-11 season got underway, was eventually pushed back a year, but the arrival of D'Amigo and Pirri as boosters for Polacek, Helfrich, and freshman standout Patrick Cullen certainly mitigated that move significantly, with interest piquing after Pirri was selected late in the second round of the NHL Entry Draft that summer, followed by D'Amigo's selection in the sixth round, not to mention the head-turning he did at the US Junior camp in Lake Placid that summer.

The season got off to a slow start as RPI put together a 1-2-1 record in its first four games and then posted lackluster wins against Sacred Heart and American International on back-to-back nights. A dramatic come-from-behind win in Schenectady over Union was overshadowed the next night by a loss to Army on Halloween night which concluded a lackluster October.

Hope began to spring in November with the ECAC schedule getting underway, as the Engineers whipped off wins against Yale, Brown, and Clarkson to start the league season 3-0, the first time the team had accomplished the task since the ECAC championship season of 1995. They then jumped out to a 1-0 lead over St. Lawrence, only two give up two goals in the span of 1:49 in the third period to lose 2-1. That would be the first of six losses in the team's next seven games, including four ECAC games, which sunk those early high hopes, especially given that the other three league games were all in Troy.

In December, D'Amigo was invited to join the US junior team in Canada, and he not only played, he starred on a team that defeated Canada for the gold medal. By the time he returned to Troy in January, his stock had risen significantly, and it coincided with a rise in the team's performance.

Things slowly cranked back up in mid-December. After an upset over BU in Boston, RPI took down Michigan in the first round of the Great Lakes Invitational and then swept the Quinnipiac/Princeton road trip. Between New Year's Day and Freakout, RPI put up a 7-3-2 record that put the team right back in contention for a first round bye. By this point, people were well aware of D'Amigo and Pirri as potential rookie of the year candidates, and Polacek was becoming a legitimate Hobey Baker candidate himself.

Then came Freakout, which was also senior night, and the Engineers could not have played more poorly. With sophomore goaltender Allen York out with an injury, Princeton destroyed RPI 7-0 and dealt a serious setback to the Engineers' first-round bye hopes. A one-point weekend in Central New York sealed the Engineers' fate, they would be the sixth seed after losing a tiebreak with St. Lawrence for fifth place.

Then, the Brown debacle. After a terrible third period performance in Game 1 put RPI down in the series, a 4-1 win in Game 2 forced the a deciding Game 3 - but the Engineers were flat as could be in that contest, falling behind 3-0 early in the third period. Two third period goals were too little, too late, and the turnaround season ended with an upset loss.

But, fortunately, another talented freshman class was waiting in the wings, chock full of defensive strength and, of course, Laliberte.

In August, as the team was getting ready to congeal again for the season, word came from Lake Placid - where D'Amigo was training again for the World Juniors - that the rising sophomore had gained a good 20 pounds of muscle during the offseason, and that Toronto, who had drafted him a year earlier, was impressed with his Rookie of the Year season and previous WJC exploits. After camp ended, D'Amigo was offered the money, and he signed.

It was certainly a blow to the team to lose D'Amigo that early - after his successful freshman year, few thought he would stay through his senior season, but almost no one thought he'd leave before his sophomore year - but conventional wisdom had it that as long as Pirri was in the mix, RPI was going to be OK. Then Pirri was a conspicuous absence at captain's practices, and before long, he had signed a professional deal as well.

The departure of the freshmen actually made up two of a series of events we deemed the "summer from hell" that drastically changed the 2010-11 Engineers from what expectations had been at the end of the 2009-10 season. Assistant coach Jim Montgomery left the program to restart the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL, prized defensive recruit Nick Quinn first pushed his arrival in Troy back a year and the decommitted altogether (ending up in the OHL), and Laliberte had his arrival in Troy pushed back for a second year in a row. That let a lot of the air out of high expectations for 2011 that had some pegging RPI as the top contender to Yale's dominance of the league table.

Pirri's departure was chalked up to the roster issues that Chicago, the Stanley Cup champions, had after being forced to let go of many of its role players to be able to afford some of the hefty contracts they'd taken on to make their championship run, but in all likelihood, D'Amigo's departure only hastened Pirri all the more. D'Amigo ultimately struggled in the AHL in 2011, eventually being sent to play in the OHL, while Pirri spent nearly the entire season in the AHL, save a single NHL game which extended RPI's streak of alums playing in the big leagues.

Despite diminished expectations, the Engineers still ended up having a phenomenal 2011. They chased after and picked up the team's first NCAA bid since 1995, and were nearly unbeatable at home - they won their first seven home games in a row, and didn't have a regulation loss at home until the final week of the regular season - which, as it turned out, could have helped them gain the first-round bye if they'd have had any other result in that contest. Overall, RPI went 14-3-1 between mid-November and early February, a showing for much of the season that helped them back into the NCAA tournament despite a 2-6-1 conclusion to the year.

How would the 2010-11 Engineers have fared if the "summer from hell" had never taken place? What if Toronto had told D'Amigo to hone his skills in Troy for another year to see if his skill level would catch up with his bigger size?

D'Amigo had a difficult first season in the pros, but it may have been portended by a rough WJC camp that summer, which had been chalked up to the attention Toronto had been giving him at the time. He may have been destined for a down year, but night-in and night-out at RPI is still a touch easier than the AHL or even the World Junior camp. Polacek managed to be a Hobey Baker candidate for a second straight season even without the pair, and Allen York came into his own as a top-tier goaltender as well.

Whatever kind of seasons Pirri and D'Amigo would have had in Troy in 2011, you have to think their presence would have boosted the Engineers in close games that were either tied or lost. That by itself likely would have been enough to boost RPI into a top four position in the ECAC playoffs, and probably would have made an NCAA bid more of a sure thing rather than the edge-of-your-seat waiting game that took place for two weeks after being upset by Colgate (which may have helped them get the bid, ironically).

Without considering how RPI would have fared in the ECAC tournament, the boost would surely have been enough to improve the team's draw for the NCAAs. Being matched up with the odds-on favorites for the national championship is never easy (and unfortunately, York wasn't in a good position to channel his inner Jon Casey against North Dakota).

Could that have produced at least the team's first NCAA goal since George Servinis, or perhaps even a first round win? I'd like to think that adding Pirri and D'Amigo to the NCAA roster combined with a less difficult first round opponent would have made the first likely, and the second one very, very possible.

Some have wistfully commented that given the actual turnout of the 2011 season, RPI could have been a Frozen Four team if not for the "summer from hell." It's certainly going too far to peg that as some kind of sure thing, but even to be able to say that such an event was even in the realm of the possible is an intriguing "what if" to chew on.

Beyond 2011, there's little likelihood either player would have ever been playing this season, as seniors, for the Engineers. After the 2010 season, most figured Pirri would stick around one more year, and D'Amigo two at the most.

To some extent, we are still seeing the fallout from the departure of Pirri and D'Amigo today through the depleted nature of this year's senior class. It's had a certain effect on recruiting, in all likelihood, too. While the fab frosh electrified Troy and got boosters dreaming of bigger things, their one season did not have the same impact as a player like Chase Polacek, whose career was overlooked by the NHL, allowing him to be a solid four-year contributor in Troy - or even Jeremy Welsh, who was a freshman at Union during Pirri and D'Amigo's lone year at RPI. Arguably, Welsh contributed more to Union's success by being undrafted and staying three years than Pirri and D'Amigo contributed at RPI.

As a positive aspect, though, their early success and quick professional attention at least portrayed RPI as a place serious hockey prospects could consider as a place to develop both the mind and body - something, however, that would have been enhanced had they stayed an extra year.

Men's Hockey - at Yale/Brown (7/8 Dec)

Heading into the mid-season break, it was obvious that RPI needed a boost if they were going to avoid falling well behind the rest of the pack in the ECAC. The Engineers provided themselves with the boost they needed, heading on the road and picking up three crucial points as they exploded on Friday for a blowout, upset victory over nationally-ranked Yale before tangling with a pesky Brown team that would not go away, settling for a 2-2 tie but emerging from the weekend in much better shape than they'd entered.

Yale
Tinordi-Schroeder-Lee
Rogic-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Miller-Bubela
Fulton-O'Grady-Higgs

Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan

Kasdorf

An illness to forward Matt Neal put him on the sidelines Friday night, necessitating a slight jumbling of the lines. Jason Kasdorf earned his third consecutive start in net.

Penalties were the name of the game in the first period, as both sides picked up three minors each, though both teams ultimately went 0-for-3 in the first 20 minutes on the man advantage. Key for the Engineers on the weekend was power play improvement after a dreadful 0-for-9 showing at home against Quinnipiac, and in the first period, despite a lack of goals, it was apparent that the power play was looking much better than it had a week prior.

Yale would earn the only goal of the first period on a bad pass behind the RPI net by Luke Curadi. The towering defenseman attempted to move the puck with a pass through forecheckers to the forwards in the neutral zone, but the pass was intercepted at the point by the Bulldogs. With all kinds of ice to work with and plenty of time before RPI could even get into his vicinity, the defenseman lasered a shot that was perfectly placed to beat Kasdorf and put Yale ahead 1-0.

Unfortunately for Yale, that was all the offense they would be able to put up for the entire game. Kasdorf was dialed in for the Engineers, stopping 36 of 37 shots and getting good looks at the puck, making big saves when he had to and keeping rebounds from appearing on easier shots.

Meanwhile, the RPI offense got going midway through the second period and started firing on all cylinders. Mike Zalewski and his classmates got things started with an impressive give-and-go move in transition and through traffic, with Zalewski passing back and forth with Milos Bubela before blasting it into the net to tie the game.

Just over a minute later, RPI broke through its power play funk with a goal on the man advantage. Bubela rifled a shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle, simply powering the puck past the Yale netminder to put RPI up 2-1 with the Engineers' second goal in 1:08.

Jacob Laliberte gave RPI a two-goal cushion by hanging out in front of the Yale net a little over six minutes later. After Brock Higgs got his man to bite with a nifty move behind the net that put the defender down on the ice, he skated around to the left side of the net and simply passed across to the waiting Laliberte, who one-timed it in to make it 3-1.

The Engineers disabused Yale of any possibility of comeback early on in the third period as Mark Miller notched his second goal of the season 2:11 in to push the score to 4-1, followed by a highlight-reel goal by Johnny Rogic, who scored from his back to make it 5-1 Engineers. Ryan Haggerty added a sixth goal against a relief goaltender, his fourth goal of the year making it 6-1 RPI with over 12 minutes left in the game.

RPI's attack gradually started to pull back after attaining a five-goal edge, and Yale, it was clear, was not on their game either offensively or defensively, but the Engineers capitalized well on both sides of the puck. The Engineers finished the game on a high note despite nearly back-to-back calls against Curadi and Bo Dolan giving Yale a late five-on-three, but Kasdorf and the penalty kill stood tall despite a 42 second two-man disadvantage to end the game, allowing no more goals.

The win represented RPI's first ECAC victory of the season, and marked the third time in four years that the Engineers were able to pick up a win at the Yale Whale. It was also the second win of the season against a ranked opponent, the first since the season's opening game against Ferris State.

Brown

Tinordi-O'Grady-Lee
Higgs-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Miller-Bubela
Fulton-Rogic-Neal

Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan

Kasdorf

Neal returned to the lineup, replacing Zach Schroeder, but he was placed on the fourth line (presumably to ease him back into things). That moved Brock Higgs onto the Laliberte line, with Johnny Rogic moving to center the fourth line and O'Grady centering Tinordi and Lee in place of Schroeder.

Brown, the previous night, had managed a tie with Union after giving up three goals in the first period. The backup goaltender, Anthony Borelli, came on in relief and stoned the Dutchmen in the second and third periods as well as overtime to pick up the tie, not surprisingly he was in net for Brown against the Engineers.

A penalty to Brock Higgs for boarding four and a half minutes into the game and a lackluster Brown power play effort was the only notable event of the first period, which saw RPI lead in shots 9-7. Neither team really put forward an overly impressive showing in the opening 20 minutes, and neither had any real quality opportunities to score.

Ryan Haggerty's second goal of the weekend and fifth of the season came down at 13:14 of the second period to give RPI a 1-0 lead. Haggerty scored on a rebound opportunity to finally break the scoreless tie over halfway through the game.

The second period was the only one of the game with multiple penalties called, and RPI had three chances against Brown's sub-par penalty kill. The first power play early in the period was decent, but the second displayed shades of the struggles that were evident last weekend. The third power play, coming just a couple of minutes after the Haggerty goal, was markedly better than the second but still was unable to result in an insurance goal.

The Engineers took the 1-0 lead into the third period, but just 42 seconds into the third, Brown tied it up on a horrifying display of poor defense by the Engineers, as the forward line failed to retreat to help out the defense after a turnover in the RPI zone.

RPI would get the lead right back on a slick tap-in by Matt Neal, who took Travis Fulton's shot through the crease and just poked it home, giving Neal his fourth goal of the season and Fulton his second assist of the weekend. Fulton would later come within inches of scoring his first collegiate goal after picking off a pass from Borelli behind his own net and whipping it toward the empty cage. Borelli somehow managed to get back to put a pad on a puck that looked destined for a goal, saving the game for the Bears.

With seven and a half minutes left to play, Brown were able to find the equalizer to make it 2-2, and from there the Bears looked very hungry for the go-ahead goal while the Engineers looked more like they were hanging on for dear life. No penalties were called in the third period and RPI outshot Brown 11-10 in the third period, but the momentum was all with the home team late in the game.

In overtime, Brown managed four shots against RPI's two, but neither team was able to break through. A blown icing call gave Brown possession in the RPI zone for the final 30 seconds, and despite frenzied shooting and defense, Kasdorf and the Engineers were able to at least escape with one point, despite blowing a pair of third period leads.

Other junk - Ranked teams in the ECAC this week include #9 Quinnipiac (swept Princeton, up four), #10 Dartmouth (beat Vermont, no change), #12 Cornell (idle, down one), #14 Union (tied Brown and Yale, down two), #15 Yale (lost to RPI and tied Union, no change), and #18 Harvard (tied Merrimack, up two). Also receiving votes was Colgate (35). Other RPI opponents ranked this week are #2 New Hampshire (down one, with 9 first place votes), #6 Boston University (up one), #17 St. Cloud State (no change), #19 Ferris State (down three) and #20 Minnesota State (previously unranked).

Matt Neal sat out on Friday with an illness, leaving RPI's iron man club at four heading into the winter break - Bailen, Bubela, Leboeuf, and Miller. These are the only players on the roster who have played in all 12 games this season.

The freshman line of Mike Zalewski, Mark Miller, and Milos Bubela has played very well of late. The trio has been together for four consecutive games and looks like a battle-hardened group. Their two-game goal scoring streak was stopped against Brown, but they looked very good against both opponents on the weekend.

Jason Kasdorf, now eligible for inclusion in the national statistics with a minimum of 33% of team games played, is fourth in the nation in goals against with a 1.46 GAA, second in the ECAC only to Quinnipiac's Eric Hartzell, who sits at 1.29. He is third in the nation and first in the ECAC with a save percentage of .945. We may be seeing more of him in the near future.

Jacob Laliberte has backed off the national lead in scoring, but his rate of 1.17 points per game still has him in the top 30, sitting tied for 25th in the nation.

The Engineers are now off until just after Christmas, when they play the first two of five non-conference games out in Minnesota against nationally-ranked St. Cloud State. That continues with a home game on New Year's Eve against Sacred Heart, and rounds out against national powerhouses Boston University and New Hampshire. The stretch should present a serious gut-check before the remainder of the ECAC schedule begins the following weekend.

ECAC Standings (by winning percentage in parentheses)
1 (1). Quinnipiac - 16 points (8-0-0)
2 (2). Dartmouth - 9 points (4-1-1)
3 (3). Union - 9 points (3-2-3)
4 (7). Cornell - 8 points (3-3-2)
5 (5). Clarkson - 7 points (3-3-1, +3 GD)
6 (6). Yale - 7 points (3-3-1, -2 GD)
7 (8). Princeton - 7 points (2-3-3, -4 GD)
8 (9). Colgate - 7 points (3-4-1, -6 GD)
9 (4). Harvard - 6 points (3-3-0)
10 (10). Brown - 4 points (0-3-4, -3 GD)
11 (11). St. Lawrence - 4 points (1-3-2, -9 GD)
12 (12). RPI - 4 points (1-5-2)

RPI at #15 Yale
ECAC Game - Ingalls Rink (New Haven, CT)
12/7/12 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 6, Yale 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
New Haven Register

VIDEO
Yale All-Access (full game)

RECORD: 4-6-3 (1-5-1 ECAC, 3 points)

RPI at Brown
ECAC Game - Meehan Auditorium (Providence, RI)
12/8/12 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, Brown 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
Providence Journal

RECORD: 4-6-4 (1-5-2 ECAC, 4 points)

Upcoming games
27 Dec - at #17 St. Cloud State
28 Dec - at #17 St. Cloud State
31 Dec - Sacred Heart
04 Jan - at #6 Boston University
05 Jan - at #2 New Hampshire

Men's Hockey - Mercyhurst (16/17 Nov)

A turnaround was practically a necessity for the Engineers heading into a home non-conference weekend series against Mercyhurst, and with luck, that's exactly what they gained. RPI pulled off its first home weekend sweep since January 2011 and its first home non-conference sweep since October 2010 with 4-2 and 4-1 victories over Atlantic Hockey's Mercyhurst, a result that probably is not a cure-all but certainly helped to stop the bleeding from three consecutive weekends of bad results for the Engineers.

Friday
Neal-Laliberte-Haggerty
Higgs-Miller-Lee
Zalewski-McGowan-Bubela
Fulton-O'Grady-Burgdoerfer

Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bokenfohr
Curadi-Hampton

Merriam

With Jacob Laliberte's return from injury and a "message received" return to the lineup by several regular starters, RPI's starting lineup looked much more impressive than it had in its last outing against Harvard. Laliberte and Ryan Haggerty specifically returned to reunite the "NHL line," RPI's top scoring line this year.

Milos Bubela got things going six minutes into the game with his second career goal, snapping RPI's scoreless stretch of 138:26 dating back to, interestingly enough, Bubela's first career goal, which was against Union in Schenectady. Craig Bokenfohr picked up his first collegiate point with an assist on the play, which put the Engineers ahead 1-0. Bubela redirected Bokenfohr's initial blast from the blueline into the net.

Nick Bailen notched his third tally of the year about four minutes later to put RPI up 2-0 by ripping a shot from the top of the slot that beat the goaltender on the stick side. All was looking pretty rosy for the Engineers at that point.

Unfortunately, the offense seemed to go into hibernation for the next 30 minutes or so. RPI mustered just 16 shots on goal in the game's first two periods, failing to score on any of five shots in the second despite two power play opportunities. Fortunately, Bryce Merriam continued his strong play in net for RPI, carrying over from a good showing at Harvard with 14 saves in the first 40 minutes.

Three minutes into the third period, some good stickwork behind the net by Mike Zalewski ended with the freshman registering his first point. Zalewski dished the puck quickly to Mark McGowan in front of the net, who one-timed it to the back of the net before his defender could react, giving RPI their first 3-0 lead of the season. Luke Curadi picked up the secondary assist, which was also his first collegiate point.

Mercyhurst didn't just roll over and play dead, however. In all, they put 15 shots on Merriam in the final period, including two in a span of 4:23 that eluded him, making it a 3-2 contest with nine and a half minutes left to play. The first Laker goal came on a power play that started with a somewhat dubious hooking call against Bubela, the second was a shorthanded goal off a too many men penalty against Mercyhurst, marking the third time in four games that the RPI power play had given up a shorthanded goal.

The Lakers pushed hard late for the tying goal, but Merriam stayed up to the task until an iffy cross-checking call against Mercyhurst with 1:45 remaining in regulation basically doomed their chances of tying the game. The Engineers deftly spent much of the power play's first minute simply playing keepaway in the Mercyhurst end, but Bailen eventually found a shooting lane at the top of the right faceoff circle and put a wrister into the back of the net, providing RPI with a little extra insurance and a 4-2 final score. The win snapped a five-game losing streak and a seven-game winless streak for the Engineers dating back to the first week of the season.

The one downside for the Engineers was the loss of C.J. Lee to injury at the end of the second period. Lee tried to make a check in the RPI zone, but hit the boards hard on his back instead. He favored his left leg as he was helped off the ice, he did not return to the game.

Saturday
Neal-Laliberte-Haggerty
Higgs-Miller-Tinordi
Zalewski-McGowan-Bubela
Fulton-O'Grady-Burgdoerfer

Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Hampton

Kasdorf

Lee's injury forced Matt Tinordi back into the lineup, taking the captain's place on the second line after he was unable to skate in the warmups - this was a game-time decision. Tinordi appeared likely to return to the lineup anyway, Greg Burgdoerfer was listed as the extra skater on the lineup sheet and simply returned to his place on the fourth line when Lee couldn't go.

Although Scott Diebold had been listed on the sheet as the likely starter, word came down early that freshman Jason Kasdorf would get his first collegiate start instead, giving the Houston Field House crowd their first real-game look at the Engineers' lone NHL draft pick.

RPI completely dominated pretty much every facet of the game in the first period on Saturday, outshooting Mercyhurst 12-3 in the opening 20 minutes. They were assisted by two almost back-to-back power play chances midway through the period, but they were unable to break onto the board.

A boarding call on Bubela six minutes into the second period changed the face of the game completely. While the Lakers had been continuing to trail RPI in shots significantly up to that point, the Mercyhurst power play unloaded an outright barrage on Kasdorf, eventually scoring on a poor defensive showing by the RPI penalty kill to go up 1-0 and practically even the shot output for the game.

Things threatened to get worse minutes later as a RPI turnover on the power play led to a breakaway for the Lakers, but Kasdorf came up with a huge save to preserve the one-goal deficit and keep the Engineers from giving up yet another shorthanded goal.

Just two minutes after the RPI power play opportunity expired, Bailen set up the Engineers' first goal by carrying the puck into the zone and behind the net before dishing it to Mark Miller in front, setting up the freshman's first collegiate goal, which knotted the game at one.

The Engineers would pull ahead early in the third period with Jacob Laliberte's team-leading fifth goal of the season. The sophomore picked up a beautiful pass from Bailen to the Mercyhurst goaltender's left and slammed it home to put RPI up 2-1. Minutes later, a second effort by Greg Burgdoerfer after a wraparound attempt hit paydirt, giving the senior his first goal of the year and putting RPI up 3-1.

Again, Mercyhurst refused to die, eventually putting up a total of 13 shots on RPI's freshman goaltender, but he was equal to the task, sucking up a number of shots that might have otherwise led to rebounds on his way to a 30-save night and his first collegiate win. Marty O'Grady would hit his first goal of the year on an empty-netter with 1:10 left to produce the final 4-1 score.

The back-to-back victories were the first for RPI since they closed out the ECAC regular season with a shocking road sweep at Colgate and Cornell back in February (and extended to three games with a win in Game 1 of the ECAC First Round against Clarkson).

Other junk - Ranked teams in the ECAC this week include #8 Union (idle, down one), #11 Dartmouth (lost to Colgate and tied Cornell, up one), #13 Cornell (lost to Harvard and tied Dartmouth, down three), #17 Harvard (beat Cornell and lost to Colgate, no change), and #18 Quinnipiac (swept Clarkson/SLU, previously unranked). Also receiving votes were Yale (66), St. Lawrence (57) and Colgate (1). Other ranked opponents on the RPI schedule include #3 New Hampshire (up two, one first place vote), #10 Boston University (up one), #12 St. Cloud State (up three), and #16 Ferris State (up four). Minnesota State received one vote.

Cornell is off to a horrendous start in ECAC play. They lost four ECAC games all last season, they have already lost three just six games into this year's schedule.

The ranks of the ironmen continue to fall as C.J. Lee was sidelined by injury on Saturday, leaving Matt Neal, Nick Bailen, Brock Higgs, Mark Miller, Guy Leboeuf, and Milos Bubela as the only players on the roster who have seen ice time in all 10 games this season. All but two players on the roster have played in at least three games this season, Andrew Commers is the only one who has appeared just once and Jason Kasdorf the only one who has appeared just twice.

Zach Schroeder has missed four consecutive games with injuries, Ken Schott of the Daily Gazette reports that junior Johnny Rogic is also sidelined due to injury.

Jacob Laliberte remains near the top of the national race in scoring, he has 11 points in 8 games for a 1.38 points per game average, tying him for 11th in the nation alongside Dartmouth's Eric Robinson.

With three power play goals on the season, Nick Bailen is tied for 9th in the nation - the eight players ahead of him are tied for first with four. His nine points in 10 games has him tied for 11th in the nation in scoring among defensemen.

The defense has rebounded a bit, but is still down in the national doldrums, at a 3.20 GAA, RPI is tied for 48th in the nation out of 59 teams.

The Engineers have their second bye weekend of the still-fairly-young season coming up for Thanksgiving weekend, but their next two weekends will be key going forward, as they face four more ECAC games before the New Year. They've found ways to win against Mercyhurst, now they have to find a way to handle the somehow-always-monstrous-in-Troy Princeton Tigers on the last day of November before tangling with the as-yet-undefeated-in-the-ECAC Quinnipiac Bobcats on the first day of December. Then they hit the road to take on Yale and Brown. Points are a must, because the Engineers are the only team left in the league without any. In two weeks' time, we'll find out if this is a team that has a shot at the middle of the ECAC table, or whether it's going to be another scrape-and-claw for home ice in the first round season.

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

Mercyhurst at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/16/12 - 7:05pm

RESULT: RPI 4, Mercyhurst 2

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
Erie Times-News

RECORD: 2-5-2 (0-4-0 ECAC)

Mercyhurst at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/17/12 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 4, Mercyhurst 1

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 3-5-2 (0-4-0 ECAC)

Upcoming games
30 Nov - Princeton
1 Dec - #18 Quinnipiac
7 Dec - at Yale
8 Dec - at Brown
27 Dec - at #12 St. Cloud State

Super Troopers

Both the men and the women will be grappling with league opponents this weekend, and both will be on the hunt for their first ECAC points of the season... not exactly something you want to be saying when they've played four league games between each other.

For the ladies, it's a home weekend against Princeton (tonight) and Quinnipiac (tomorrow afternoon) in a pair of games they could be competitive in. Here's John Burke's evaluation of what to expect:

For the men, it's just as much of a need-points weekend, especially now that they are winless in five straight games. Tonight they tangle with an unbeaten-in-four Dartmouth squad before wrestling with a nationally-ranked Harvard team that skunked Bentley and Brown but failed to impress in their first challenge with Yale. It gets worse for RPI - they'll be without leading scorer Jacob Laliberte this weekend, victim of an up-high hit at the hands of Mat Bodie last Saturday, out with concussion symptoms.

What are we listening to today? Just some basic pumpup - couldn't derive a themed selection today, so instead just enjoy this work of hard driving heavy metal from Iron Maiden. We're going to need to see some troopers this weekend for sure. Cheers.

Men's Hockey - at Minnesota State (19/20 Oct)

One typical hallmark of a young team is the inability to score goals - we saw that in spades at this time last year. If scoring goals isn't a problem, holding leads can be another issue, and that's something the Engineers were surely kicking themselves over all the way home to Troy this past weekend. Despite holding two-goal leads in the third period both Friday and Saturday nights, RPI was forced to settle for a tie on Friday and to swallow an overtime loss on Saturday following back to back blown leads in the final period, drawing 3-3 and losing 4-3, settling for a one point weekend (if this had been a league weekend, of course), instead of taking all four, which were within the grasp.

Friday
Lee-Rogic-Schroeder
Zalewski-Higgs-Tinordi
Neal-Laliberte-Haggerty
Bubela-Miller-Burgdoerfer

Leboeuf-Bailen
Curadi-Leonard
Bradley-Dolan

Diebold

Following on from the relatively successful home weekend against Ferris State, minimal lineup changes were in order. Before leaving for Minnesota, coach Seth Appert told the Troy Record that the team was nursing some relatively minor injuries, and that the lineup would reflect the hope for some good recovery time for those injuries. When the lineup was produced, Mark McGowan was the only starter against Ferris State not in the lineup - he did not play over the weekend in Mankato, but if Appert was accurate in his description, he should be good to go when the ECAC schedule opens in two weeks against local rivals Union (and on three weeks rest, to boot). Johnny Rogic was moved from the fourth line into McGowan's position between Lee and Schroeder, while Mark Miller moved into the center position on the fourth line with winger Greg Burgdoerfer entering the lineup.

Both teams got their scoring started on their first power plays of the game during the first period. Mankato got themselves on the board first a little over halfway through an interference call against Nick Bailen, and RPI responded about four minutes later as Bailen notched his first goal of the year a little under a minute into the Engineers' first advantage.

Throughout the final 10 minutes of the first period, RPI was forced to hold on for dear life as a Bo Dolan penalty was killed off, a penalty shot caused by a Bailen trip on the breakaway was stopped by Scott Diebold, and a Miller interference call was shortly thereafter killed off. Despite the numerous penalties in the first period, RPI got out of the first 20 with a 1-1 tie and an 8-6 edge in shots.

The Engineers put in some very good work in the second period, making that shot total more lopsided by the end of the middle frame. With about three and a half minutes left in the second, Matt Neal put the Engineers ahead with his first goal of the season, making it 2-1 in favor of RPI heading into the third.

Things were looking very good for RPI following Ryan Haggerty's second goal of the season about seven minutes in on the power play to make it 3-1, but the homestanding Mavericks did not back down. Shortly after a timeout called by Seth Appert following an icing call, Mankato pulled to within one a little over three minutes after Haggerty's goal, and with about three minutes left in regulation, tied the game. Minnesota State ended the third period with an 11-6 edge in shots, almost mirroring RPI's 12-6 advantage from the second period.

Both teams had some good opportunities in the overtime period, especially RPI late with a shot by Zach Schroeder just missing, but ultimately RPI had to settle for a second consecutive tie, this one a little worse than the previous one given the Engineers' two goal advantage which was still in place with 10 minutes left to play. Diebold finished with 22 saves on 25 shots to earn the tie. Neal, meanwhile, had a hand in all three of the RPI goals, notching secondary assists on the Bailen and Haggerty tallies.

Saturday
Lee-Rogic-Schroeder
Zalewski-Higgs-Tinordi
Neal-Laliberte-Haggerty
Bubela-Miller-Commers

Leboeuf-Bailen
Curadi-Leonard
Bradley-Dolan

Merriam

Among the other things Appert mentioned to the Troy Record ahead of the trip was that Burgdoerfer and Minnesota native Andrew Commers had earned ice time in practice - and given that the trip was to Commers' home state, it wasn't too shocking to see Commers get his RPI debut in Mankato, replacing Burgdoerfer for the second game. (The team's other MN natives, Schroeder and Dolan, played both nights. Interestingly, all seven of the team's New York natives were in the lineup on Friday.)

Things got rough early on in game two, as Guy Leboeuf was assessed a five minute major and a game misconduct for hitting from behind just over five minutes into the contest, putting RPI short a defenseman for the rest of the game. That put the Engineers on an extended penalty kill, but the Mavericks were unable to score during the major. Late in the period, after a charging call against Mankato, Schroeder scored his first goal of the season on the man advantage to put the Engineers ahead 1-0.

Neal's second goal of the year came during a 4-on-3 power play in the second period caused in part by a five-minute charging penalty against Mankato after Bryce Merriam was run down in the crease. That tally came just seconds into the major, but it would be the only one the Engineers could muster from the long power play, which was in part cut short by a tripping penalty to Matt Tinordi.

The Engineers brought their 2-0 lead into the third period, but that edge evaporated even more quickly than it had the previous night. Minnesota State scored just 62 seconds into the third period to cut RPI's lead in half, then tied it with another goal 2:37 later. The tie ran for a good 10 minutes or so with plenty of back and forth action before a breakaway with just over five minutes to play gave the Mavericks their first lead of the night, 3-2.

RPI did not back down, however. With Merriam off for the extra attacker, Neal scored his second goal of the night and third on the weekend and year to tie the game with 1:36 remaining in regulation, immediately jolting the Engineers back to life.

It was, however, short lived. 1:09 into RPI's third straight overtime, the Mavericks scored off a faceoff in the RPI zone to skate away with the 4-3 victory. The Engineers, about 30 minutes of gameplay away from two wins on a long road weekend instead got just a tie for their efforts.

Other junk - Following the "one point weekend," the Engineers' vote haul in the weekly USCHO poll dropped from 40 to seven, now ranking 6th among ECAC teams in the poll. Other league teams were #7 Cornell (idle, down one with one first place vote), #8 Union (idle, no change with one first place vote), #17 Harvard (idle, no change), and #20 Quinnipiac (tied and beat Ohio State, no change). Also receiving votes were St. Lawrence (109, just missing a ranking by 7 votes) and Yale (3). Other teams on RPI's schedule this year include #12 New Hampshire (up three, one first place vote), #13 Boston University (down two), and #18 Ferris State (down two). Also receiving votes were Minnesota State (39) and St. Cloud State (12).

Neal is on fire. He's already doubled his point total from last season in just four games, and with eight points, trails only St. Lawrence duo Kyle Flanagan and Greg Carey for the national lead. Laliberte is halfway to his point total from last year with seven points and is tied for fourth nationally in points. Both linemates are among the Top 10 in the nation in points per game.

With Commers and Burgdoerfer making their season debuts over the weekend, the Engineers are down to five players who have yet to make their first appearance after four games: Craig Bokenfohr, Phil Hampton, Travis Fulton, Marty O'Grady, and Jason Kasdorf - though Hampton and Kasdorf did play in the exhibition game.

Scoring is no longer a major concern for RPI... at least, not right now. The Engineers have scored at least two goals in each of their last 12 contests and in 29 of their last 31. Those last 31, it should be noted, followed a start to last season in which the Engineers failed to score at least two goals in 10 of 12 games, which included a stretch of eight games in which RPI scored just five goals. The Engineers have 11 goals in their first four games, they did not reach their 11th goal last year until November 15th, in their 12th game.

As part of that scoring jump, RPI has thus far produced the nation's 4th best power play, clicking at 35.3% so far with a 6-for-17 record. The penalty kill hasn't been too shabby either, as RPI has allowed just one power play goal in four games (Mankato's first goal on Friday) at 12-for-13, a 92.3% success rate.

The Engineers get a rare early-season weekend off next week, but then jump right into the ECAC schedule with the yearly home-and-home weekend against Union to get things going. The Dutchmen are 2-1-0 on the season after an unexpected home loss to Merrimack to start the year, followed by a sweep at Bowling Green. Union is in action next weekend at American International (a rare home non-conference game for the Yellow Jackets, against a Frozen Four team no less) and UConn, so we'll probably be looking at a confident Union squad that has had the opportunity to beat up some lesser teams in the recent past by the time the festivities begin. Friday's game, being the home ECAC opener, is the annual Black Friday game.

RPI at Minnesota State
Non-Conference Game - Verizon Wireless Center (Mankato, MN)
10/19/12 - 8:30pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Minnesota State 3

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats

RECAPS
AP
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
Mankato Free Press

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

RPI at Minnesota State
Non-Conference Game - Verizon Wireless Center (Mankato, MN)
10/20/12 - 8:00pm

RESULT: Minnesota State 4, RPI 3 (OT)

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
AP
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
Mankato Free Press

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

Upcoming games
02 Nov - #8 Union (Black Friday)
03 Nov - at #8 Union
09 Nov - at Dartmouth
10 Nov - at #17 Harvard
16 Nov - Mercyhurst

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.

Men's Hockey - Ferris State (12/13 Oct)

The Engineers concluded their season last year playing some very good team hockey, especially on the road. They arguably controlled play in their final nine road games of the year, going 5-3-1 in those contests and sparking a run to the ECAC Quarterfinals. At home, it was a very different story for RPI. Welcoming the national runners-up to Houston Field House, it didn't seem to be a good opportunity for the Engineers to shine in Troy, but instead they picked up their first home win since January 27, taking down 11th-ranked Ferris State 3-1 on Friday and picking up a 2-2 tie on Saturday.

Friday
Lee-McGowan-Schroeder
Zalewski-Higgs-Tinordi
Neal-Laliberte-Haggerty
Miller-Rogic-Bubela

Leboeuf-Bailen
Curadi-Leonard
Bradley-Dolan

Diebold

Friday's lines were actually just as advertised in the exhibition matchup against Acadia - the extra skaters of Andrew Commers, Greg Burgdoerfer, and Phil Hampton were dropped from the lineup, and sophomore Scott Diebold was given the surprise start in net for the Engineers in the season opener for both teams. Excluding both teams' exhibition matchups, it was RPI's first game since dropping Game 2 of the ECAC Quarterfinals, and Ferris State's first since falling to Boston College in the national championship.

Things started out very poorly for the Engineers, and it seemed a harbinger of things to come. The Bulldogs would score with their very first shot on goal just a minute and a half into the game, a tip-in after a spin-around pass from Diebold's left putting RPI behind the eight ball from the get-go, down 1-0.

Eight minutes in, the Engineers would finally notch their first ever goal against Ferris State (after failing to score in two games last year) to tie the game at one. Nick Bailen found Mark McGowan with a perfect cross-ice head-man pass, allowing McGowan to go in all alone on Ferris goaltender C.J. Motte. McGowan ripped a wrister from the top of the slot that beat Motte top shelf to knot the score.

Ryan Haggerty's first goal of the season midway through the second period broke the deadlock and gave the Engineers a lead they would not relinquish. After an initial shot from the point by Guy Leboeuf, Haggerty eventually picked up a rebound in the slot which he put past a sprawling Motte to make it 2-1 Engineers.

Ferris State was able to maintain some good puck control in the final 40 minutes, but Diebold proved up to the task, stopping 11 shots in the second and 12 in the third, having to make a number of outstanding saves in the final stanza to preserve the Engineers' lead. In total, he finished the contest with 30 saves.

There were a dearth of penalties in the game, with RPI taking only two minors in 60 minutes and Ferris State only three. The Bulldogs' third penalty could not have come at a worse time, as an interference call put them down a man with about two and a half minutes left in regulation, forcing FSU to kill a penalty for most of the time they had left to find the tying goal.

The RPI power play sealed things up about a minute into that man advantage, as a sharp shot by Bailen from the top of the left faceoff circle was redirected in front by Jacob Laliberte to make it 3-1 with just a minute and a half left, giving the Engineers the upset victory at home in the first game of the season.

Saturday
Lee-McGowan-Schroeder
Zalewski-Higgs-Tinordi
Neal-Laliberte-Haggerty
Miller-Rogic-Bubela

Leboeuf-Bailen
Curadi-Leonard
Bradley-Dolan

Merriam

Not surp risingly, the same lines that worked on Friday were rolled out again on Saturday, and on a team with three legitimate goaltenders, a new goalie was between the pipes for RPI in senior Bryce Merriam.

Where Friday's game had seen a low number of penalties, the Bulldogs managed to match their total from that contest in Saturday's first period alone, and much like on Friday, it was RPI's third power play opportunity that would lead to a goal - albeit a goal that had a little controversy to it. After extended pressure in the Ferris State zone, Matt Neal took a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that Motte stopped, and while Ryan Haggerty and Laliberte tried to work the puck free, the net was knocked off its pegs by a defender. Laliberte put the puck across the goal line, and the goal was upheld after review. The defender knocking the net loose was key; this would not have been a goal last year but the situation was changed as part of the new "Union rule," so-named because Union nullified a Michigan State goal in last year's NCAA Tournament in a similar fashion.

Ferris State's first goal of the game came with the Bulldogs pouncing on RPI at the outset of the second period. Just 39 seconds into the middle frame, a tight angle shot from the boards on Merriam's right side bounced in to tie the score at one. For the second straight night, it would be a solid second for Ferris State as Merriam made 10 saves over the course of the period to maintain the tie.

After a slow start to the third period, Ferris State picked up their first lead of the game midway through the period on a rip from the blue line, making it 2-1 and giving them a very serious edge given the way the third period had been playing out to that time. Things didn't look promising for the Engineers to crawl back into things.

However, it took only 24 seconds for RPI to find the equalizer, and it was Laliberte notching his third consecutive goal. After a turnover in the Ferris State zone, Laliberte poked at the puck while fading back toward the blue line to bring the game level again, 2-2.

The Engineers maintained an even keel heading into overtime, even though they managed only three shots on goal in the entire third period. The final five minutes was a different story, as RPI blasted Ferris State with five shots on goal in the extra stanza. Motte was up to the task, however, and the game ended in a 2-2 tie which completed a virtual three-point weekend for the Engineers.

Other junk - The surprise showing vaulted the Engineers up in the consideration for the always volatile early season polls, picking up 40 votes in this week's USCHO rankings. #6 Cornell (idle, down one), #8 Union (swept Bowling Green, up two with one first-place vote for some reason), #17 Harvard (idle, no change), and #20 Quinnipiac (split with Robert Morris, down two) are the ranked ECAC teams this week, St. Lawrence (6) and Yale (3) are the other league teams receiving votes this week. Other ranked teams on RPI's schedule are #11 Boston University (up one), #15 New Hampshire (previously unranked), and #16 Ferris State (down five). St. Cloud State (9) and Minnesota State (3) also received votes.

RPI's penalty kill was 4-for-4 on the weekend, but 17 teams have a similar 100% penalty kill ratings (including Quinnipiac, who has killed all 15 penalties they've taken in three games). RPI's 10 total penalty minutes in two games has them 46th out of 48 teams that have played games thus far in penalties, which won't last given the Engineers' reputation for penalties.

Boston College fell in their first game of the season (to Northeastern), ending their 19-game winning and unbeaten streak. Northeastern, ironically, was the only other team in the nation that won their last game of the season last year, and now has the longest unbeaten streak in the nation with three wins in a row.

Next on the docket for RPI is a trip to Mankato, MN for the second half of the home-and-home series with Minnesota State. The teams split in Troy last year, with the Mavericks winning 1-0 in the season opener for both sides last year and the Engineers winning 4-1 in the Saturday game. Minnesota State also picked up a win and a tie to open this season, taking three points at Alabama-Huntsville over the weekend 4-1 and 2-2.

#11 Ferris State at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/12/12 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Ferris State 1

BOX SCORES
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USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

VIDEO
Highlights (YouTube, no audio)
Post-game press conference (YouTube)
Full game (RPI TV)

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

#11 Ferris State at RPI
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/13/12 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, Ferris State 2

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS

RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

VIDEO

Highlights (YouTube, no audio)
Post-game press conference (YouTube)
Full game (RPI TV)

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

Upcoming games
19 Oct - at Minnesota State
20 Oct - at Minnesota State
02 Nov - #8 Union (Black Friday)
03 Nov - at #8 Union
09 Nov - at Dartmouth

Men's Hockey - at Harvard & Dartmouth (10/11 Feb)

Perhaps it is time to start calling RPI the "road warriors." After a mediocre four-game homestand bookended by a solid win and an awful loss, the Engineers managed to extend their road unbeaten streak to four straight games by riding a defense rebounding from the Freakout nightmare to a 3-point weekend on the road, battling back to pick up a 2-2 tie with the fit-to-be-tied Crimson on Friday, then coming back to pick up a 2-1 win the next night at Dartmouth to pass a plummeting Brown and move out of the ECAC cellar.

Harvard

Lee/McGowan/O'Grady 

Cullen/Higgs/Haggerty

Neal/Laliberte/Schroeder

Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Rabbani

Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen

Curadi/Dolan

Merriam

The top line of C.J. Lee, Mark McGowan, and Marty O'Grady has been together for some time now, but the rest of the forward lines have been jumbled a bit. Matt Tinordi, Greg Burgdoerfer, Johnny Rogic, and Pat Koudys were removed from the Friday lineup after having played in the Freakout, and were replaced with Matt Neal, Jacob Laliberte, Josh Rabbani, and Luke Curadi.

The Engineers got out to the 1-0 lead, scoring the game's opening goal for the first time since the 4-0 win at home over St. Lawrence with Lee's team-lead-tying sixth goal of the season from O'Grady and McGowan    about 15 and a half minutes into the game, but the lead only lasted a short time as the Crimson answered back to tie the game just 1:43 later.

RPI weathered the storm in the second period as Bryce Merriam made 11 saves to keep the game knotted at one heading into the final period, where the Engineers began to take more control of the game, and yet they still ended up falling behind. Harvard coach Ted Donato called timeout shortly after RPI failed to score on their second power play opportunity of the game, and just under two minutes later, the Crimson grabbed the lead.

That goal was followed just over a minute later by a questionable tripping call against Luke Curadi, but the Engineer penalty kill held strong, giving RPI the opportunity to stick around. After the Curadi penalty expired, the Engineers started getting some good puck control and had a number of good opportunities on a subsequent power play, but as time ticked down, they still trailed 2-1.

Following an icing call against Harvard, Seth Appert used his timeout and pulled Merriam from the cage - not an uncommon sight this season, but the script was changed this time. For the first time this season, RPI scored an extra attacker goal, coming off the stick of Brock Higgs, who with 1:03 left on the clock, tied the game at two with just his second goal of the season.

The Engineers dominated the overtime period, but could not find the game winner and settled for their second straight 2-2 tie with Harvard. Interestingly, the tie was the Crimson's 10th of the season (in 24 games), tying an NCAA record. As opposed to the tie in January in which RPI blew a 2-0 lead, this one was a little easier to swallow, but the Engineers surely would have hoped for the win given the way the first and third periods went.

Bryce Merriam finished with 29 saves on the night.

Dartmouth

Lee/McGowan/O'Grady 

Cullen/Higgs/Tinordi

Neal/Laliberte/Schroeder

Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Rogic

Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen

Curadi/Dolan

Merriam

Rogic and Tinordi returned to the lineup on Saturday night, replacing Rabbani and Ryan Haggerty.

As with Friday night, the Engineers jumped out to the 1-0 lead in the first period, and this time they were able to make it stick for a bit longer. Joel Malchuk's fifth goal of the season 9:23 into the game put RPI ahead, and the team killed off the only penalty of the period late to hold the lead into the second thanks in part to some very sloppy play by the Big Green.

Jacob Laliberte struck on the power play about six minutes into the second to give the Engineers a 2-0 edge, but that lead was cut in half about four minutes later, shortly after RPI was unable to convert on another power play opportunity. Dartmouth's Brandon McNally scored just seconds after getting out of the box on a boarding call to make it 2-1, but it was the only high point for the Big Green in the second period, as their overall anemic play carried over into the second overall. Dartmouth managed only two shots on goal in the second period.

Things picked up dramatically in the third period. While RPI put up 14 shots against Dartmouth's 9 in the first two periods, both teams went to work in the final stanza, throwing all kinds of pucks on net. Big Green netminder James Mello made 14 saves in the third, while Merriam threw up 11 of his own.

Both teams had a pair of power play opportunities each in the final frame, but none was more important than Mike Bergin's interference penalty with 1:04 left in regulation. Dartmouth called timeout, and went to work on a 6-on-4 power play which the Engineers were able to break a couple of times with clearances (and open shots on an empty net without the fear of icing), but largely kept RPI hemmed in their own zone. It wasn't until an interference call against Dartmouth with 3 seconds left on the clock that the Engineers could breathe a sigh of relief that they would not be victimized in the same fashion they had done the previous night.

RPI is now undefeated in four straight road games (3-0-1), but they return home this weekend for their final home appearances of the year if they are unable to dig themselves out of their current hole. The good news is that RPI is now within striking distance of a home ice position, now tied for 10th with Princeton and two points behind the tie for 8th between Dartmouth and Yale. With four games left, it's a mad dash for positioning and as we're used to in the ECAC, pretty much anything is possible.

Other junk - Congratulations to Seth Appert's alma mater (and one of RPI's non-conference opponents both this season and next) Ferris State, as they have become the #1 team in the country for the first time in school history, pulling down 27 first place votes (up five). Also ranked this week on the RPI schedule are #6 UMass-Lowell (up one, with one first place vote), #8 Union (up three), #12 Cornell (up one), #13 Notre Dame (down four), and #15 Colorado College (down five). Also receiving votes were Colgate (107) and Quinnipiac (5).


Union, Cornell, and Colgate have clinched home ice at some point in the playoffs. Realistically, given usual point total targets, Union and Cornell have clinched first round byes, while Harvard and Clarkson have pretty much wrapped up home ice at some point as well.

The win over Dartmouth was RPI's second straight win at Thompson Arena. That's the first time that's happened since the playoff upset of March 2009 and the first time in the regular season since the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons.

The men and the women both defeated Dartmouth on Saturday, marking the first time both teams defeated the same school on the same day since January 15, 2011, when both teams beat Colgate. Both teams also beat Dartmouth on January 22, 2009.

ECAC Standings

1. Union - 26 pts (11-3-4)
2. Cornell - 25 pts (10-3-5)
3. Colgate - 23 pts (11-6-1)
4. Harvard - 20 pts (6-4-8)
5. Clarkson - 19 pts (8-7-3)

6. Quinnipiac - 18 pts (7-7-4)

7. St. Lawrence - 17 pts (8-9-1)

8. Yale - 15 pts (7-10-1)

9. Dartmouth - 15 pts (6-9-3)

10. Princeton - 13 pts (5-10-3)

11. RPI - 13 pts (5-10-3)

12. Brown - 12 pts (5-11-2)

RPI at Harvard
ECAC Game - Bright Hockey Center (Boston, MA)
2/10/12- 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 2, Harvard 2 (OT)

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats

USCHO

RECAPS

RPI

USCHO

Troy Record

Albany Times Union
The Harvard Crimson

RECORD: 7-19-3 (4-10-3 ECAC, 11 pts)

RPI at Dartmouth
ECAC Game - Thompson Arena (Hanover, NH)
2/11/12 - 7:00pm
RESULT:  RPI 2, Dartmouth 1

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats

USCHO

RECAPS

RPI

Troy Record

Albany Times Union

RECORD: 8-19-3 (5-10-3 ECAC, 13 pts)

Upcoming games

16 Feb - Quinnipiac

17 Feb - Princeton (Senior Night)

24 Feb - at Colgate

25 Feb - at #12 Cornell

02 Mar - ECAC First Round, Game 1 (site/opponent TBD)