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

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

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

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton
Grant

Kasdorf

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Moore-Hampton
Grant

Hackett

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RPI at #17 Clarkson

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

RESULT: RPI 2, Clarkson 2 (OT)

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Watertown Daily Times

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

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

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

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS

RPI
USCHO
Troy Record
Watertown Daily Times
North Country Now

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

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

Men's Hockey - Princeton/Quinnipiac, at UConn (14/15, 18 Nov)

Three games in five nights is difficult enough under the best of circumstances. When your team is battling illness and injury, it tends to make things worse, especially when that team is still trying to get into an offensive groove. With all of that as the backdrop, it makes the 1-1-1 record the Engineers put together in that three game stretch pretty easy to accept, especially considering the manner in which the only loss came about. After taking down Princeton 3-1 on Friday night, RPI fell by the same score against Quinnipiac in somewhat controversial fashion, bouncing back with an even more depleted roster on Tuesday night with a 1-1 draw against Hockey East's UConn.

Princeton
Fulton-DeVito-Bourbonnais
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Laliberte-Schroeder-Wood

Leonard-Prapavessis
Hampton-Bokenfohr
Wilson-Reno

Kasdorf

We got a little more clarity on some of the absences seen the previous week - Chris Bradley has been sidelined with a shoulder injury, Luke Curadi out with a concussion, and added to that list for the ECAC weekend was Matt Neal, who was sick.

The Engineers managed to score the game's first goal for only the second time all season as Mark Miller rocketed a pass from Drew Melanson to the back of the net at 8:45 of the first period to give RPI a 1-0 edge. Three minutes later on the power play, another one-timer from just about the same part of the ice put the Engineers up 2-0 as Jared Wilson blasted a pass by Milos Bubela for his second goal of the season.

Princeton almost halved the RPI lead late in the first period, but the apparent goal was waved off due to the net being disloged by an Engineer checked into the cage by a Princeton player.

RPI carried the 2-0 edge into the third period, pretty much sealing things up with a second goal by Miller midway through the final frame. Like the first two goals, it was an a one-timed shot from near the top of the slot, and this feed came from the stick of Riley Bourbonnais.

The Tigers pulled back within two just under two minutes later with a power play goal by Ben Foster that ended Jason Kasdorf's shutout bid, but Princeton would get no closer. The Engineers managed 35 shots on goal, a big improvement from their outing a week prior against Harvard, and Kasdorf stopped 24 of 25 shots for the victory.

Quinnipiac
Fulton-DeVito-Bourbonnais
Liljegren-Schroeder-McGowan
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Wood-Laliberte-Gillespie

Leonard-Prapavessis
Hampton-Bokenfohr
Wilson-Reno

Kasdorf

Late in the Princeton game, the Engineers lost Milos Bubela to a concussion, leaving the already short-staffed Engineers with just 12 healthy forwards. Freshman Kenny Gillespie was inserted into the lineup, seeing his first collegiate action.

As with Friday night, it was RPI who struck first. A centering pass by Wilson was tapped home by a speeding Lou Nanne for his team-leading fourth goal of the season, putting the Engineers ahead 1-0 just 5:22 into the game.

RPI continued to dominate play in the first period until a tripping call against Craig Bokenfohr put them on the penalty kill. That kill did a pretty decent job, but late in the Bokenfohr penalty, a dicey tripping call against Mike Prapavessis put the Engineers down two men for 18 seconds. That danger zone was killed off without much of a problem either, but then an even dicier call against Parker Reno for high-sticking generated yet another two-man advantage for Quinnipiac, this one 17 seconds long. The Bobcats ultimately cashed in for a goal, but it came 19 seconds after the Reno call, officially coming 5-on-4, but tying the game nonetheless to the great displeasure of the home fans.

A deadlocked and fairly uninteresting second period gave way to a more interesting third period, and the Bobcats took the lead just under six minutes into the third with some sustained pressure in the RPI zone. The Engineers spent a good 90 seconds trapped in their own end, getting the puck out once but not far enough out to change the line that had been stuck out there for some time, and Quinnipiac eventually converted to take a 2-1 lead.

The Engineers did not back down. Despite struggles on the power play all night, they were the beneficiaries of a holding call with just over five minutes left to play. Early in the advantage, Prapavessis dug the puck out of the corner and then skated through the slot, trying to outwait Bobcat goaltender Michael Gartieg. When Gartieg went down, Prapavessis took a shot that rang off the post, and in the immediate interim, Quinnipiac's Michael Peca slid into the net to dislodge it. Immediately after the net was dislodged, Drew Melanson picked up the rebound and put it into the open cage for what should have been his first collegiate goal. Called a goal on the ice, the officials reviewed it and disallowed the goal for reasons that were not made abundantly clear.

The 2-1 lead for Quinnipiac intact, the Engineers pulled Kasdorf from the net late, but gave up an empty-netter to seal the victory for the Bobcats.

All told, RPI played a brave game despite some horrendous officiating practically from start to finish, and despite missing some very key players. They also lost another two important forwards during the game, as Lou Nanne was boarded behind the Quinnipiac net in the third period (no call), leading to him skating off favoring his surgically repaired shoulder, while Zach Schroeder picked up an ankle injury during the night.

UConn
Liljegren-Neal-McGowan
Melanson-Miller-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-DeVito-Wood
Fulton-Bokenfohr-Gillespie

Leonard-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Bell-Hampton

Diebold

Now with only 11 healthy forwards following the loss of Nanne and Schroeder and the return from illness of Matt Neal, Kenny Gillespie was again in the lineup, joined on the fourth line by Craig Bokenfohr. The Engineers dressed literally every healthy skater they had available for their mid-week non-conference road game, and reports got out after the game was over that defenseman Phil Hampton was battling an illness himself despite playing.

After an uneventful first period, UConn got themselves on the board first in the cavernous XL Center (which is almost literally across the street from the RPI Hartford campus) about three minutes into the second period, shortly after the Engineers killed off their second penalty of the game. The Huskies pounced on a turnover in the RPI zone and put it past Diebold to go up 1-0, but it was the only goal the senior would allow on the evening. He eventually stopped 33 of 34 shots that he faced.

RPI pulled back within one late in the period, with Drew Melanson making up for the power play goal he was deprived of three nights earlier, officially notching his first collegiate goal from Neal and Curtis Leonard with just 2 ticks remaining on the clock to make it 1-1.

UConn dominated the third period almost completely, outshooting the Engineers 13-4, but Diebold was rarely tested beyond his capacity. The Huskies came close on a couple of occasions to taking the lead, but were unable to convert on one-timers or put shots wide. To some extent, RPI was lucky to get to the overtime period.

In that overtime period, however, it was all RPI as they poured on the output. They managed 7 shots in the extra five minutes, more shots than they managed in either the first or the third periods, and only two shy of their second period production. However they weren't able to find the winning goal, having to settle for a 1-1 tie, a draw that undoubtedly goes into the book as a "good" tie considering that they scored the game tying goal and fielded a less than ideal lineup.

RPI is off this weekend, but is back in action this coming Tuesday as they travel to play a struggling New Hampshire team in Durham ahead of a trip to Michigan against the equally struggling Wolverines. Most of the injured players are expected to be back in the lineup by the time the team gets to Ann Arbor.

By the way, the #1 team in the nation right now? 10-0-0 Michigan Tech. If anyone ever tells you that RPI's never going to get back to where they once were, they're lying.

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

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

RESULT: RPI 3, Princeton 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS

RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

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

#20 Quinnipiac at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/15/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Quinnipiac 3, RPI 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS

RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 5-7-0 (4-2-0, 8pts)

RPI at UConn
Non-conference Game - XL Center (Hartford, CT)
11/18/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 1, UConn 1 (OT)

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
USCHO
Troy Record
Hartford Courant

RECORD: 5-7-1 (4-2-0, 8pts)

Upcoming games
25 Nov - at New Hampshire
28 Nov - at Michigan
29 Nov - at Michigan
05 Dec - at Yale
06 Dec - at Brown

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

Men's Hockey - Harvard/Dartmouth (1/2 Feb)

February is about the right time for teams to start making their moves, especially if they're near the bottom and looking to move up, and RPI put forward exactly the right signals on that front, pitching back-to-back shutouts in a home league weekend. They took care of Harvard and Dartmouth by twin 3-0 scores to earn four more big ECAC points as the stretch run begins.

Harvard
Lee-Rogic-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Tinordi
Burgdoerfer-Miller-Commers

Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan

Kasdorf

Originally, Jacob Laliberte was slated to play against the Crimson, but he was a last minute scratch due to illness. Johnny Rogic was moved up to the top line to replace him, and Andrew Commers got the start on the fourth line instead, making his home-ice debut.

Rogic's time as the top line center was short and came to a very abrupt end just 10:37 into the game, when he was called for checking from behind thanks to a reckless hit at the Harvard bench on Alex Fallstrom. That ended his night early and put Harvard on a five-minute power play that had the potential to put the Crimson into a game they had been floundering in to that point. However, what transpired following the penalty was five solid minutes of the Engineers playing fetch with Harvard, as the penalty kill threw the puck down ice repeatedly. Only once, for a short time, were the Crimson able to even set up in the RPI zone during the long power play, and they were unable to put a single shot on goal while the Engineers managed two of their own.

Late in the first period, RPI put the first goal on the board as Mark Miller redirected a shot from the point by Luke Curadi into the back of the net, giving the Engineers a 1-0 edge heading into the locker room.

Shortly after another fairly easy penalty kill by RPI in the early part of the second period, the Engineers converted on their second power play opportunity of the game thanks to a highlight-reel goal by Mike Zalewski. The freshman skated with the puck from behind the net to the left of the goaltender, waiting so long to find his opening that he eventually went down to his knees and shot from the backhand to score and put RPI up 2-0.

Harvard put the majority of their shots on goal up in the second period, but even that wasn't much of a feat, as Jason Kasdorf stopped just six shots in the second to preserve the shutout going forward. The third was even quieter for him, with Kasdorf stopping only two shots in the third period for a total of 11 in the entire game in his first collegiate shutout.

Meanwhile, Miller scored his second goal of the game to put it away a little under three minutes into the third, shooting from the slot and beating the goaltender top shelf to make it 3-0, which would stand as the final score. The RPI penalty kill ended up 3-for-3 on the evening, including the five-minute major.

Dartmouth
Lee-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Tinordi
Burgdoerfer-Miller-Commers

Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan

Kasdorf

Laliberte, still feeling ill but well enough to give it a go, returned to the lineup on Saturday night for the Freakout!, arguably replacing Johnny Rogic, who was given a one-game suspension by the league thanks to his check from behind during the first period against Harvard. Functionally, it was Andrew Commers getting a second consecutive start due to the Rogic suspension.

A very physical first period was put together by both teams on Saturday night, but you'd never know it by looking at the box score, which shows no penalties whatsoever being called in the first 20 minutes. That set the tone for the rest of the evening, as both teams were called just three times over the course of the game, the second straight night that five-on-five action was the name of the game.

Dartmouth arguably had the best chance of breaking the deadlock early in the game as an initial shot was saved by Kasdorf, but the rebound dropped to a position that left him out of line for the followup save. Fortunately, Guy Leboeuf was standing in the crease at the right time and made a save of his own to keep the Big Green off the board.

Just as it appeared that Dartmouth and RPI were destined to hit the first intermission without scoring, RPI landed a confidence crusher with just 11 seconds remaining in the first period. Leboeuf didn't get all of a one-timer attempt to the goaltender's left off a pass from Matt Neal, but the momentum of the puck carried to Matt Tinordi, situated just a little farther back, and the junior one-timed the puck himself to the back of the net to make it 1-0 at the death of the first.

RPI got enough jump out of the gate early in the second period as well to make it 2-0 just 1:52 of game-time after the Tinordi goal. Brock Higgs found Mike Zalewski sitting alone at point blank range in the slot, and Zalewski one-timed the pass in for his second goal of the weekend.

With about five minutes left in the second, Mark Miller scored his third goal of the weekend on one of the most amazing moves you'll see. Leboeuf found him with a long up-ice pass, and the freshman darted in alone on the Dartmouth net. Despite being tripped up from behind (and no call on the play), Miller stayed with the play, firing the puck while stretched out in mid-air and beating the netminder for a 3-0 RPI edge.

Dartmouth regularly got the puck on Kasdorf, and Saturday night was nothing like Friday for the freshman goalie. He turned away as many shots in the second period - 11 - as he had the entire previous night, and was forced to step up for 12 saves in the third period, but despite the Big Green's fevered attempts in the final period to crawl back into things, Kasdorf and the defenders around him played shutdown hockey. C.J. Lee even chipped in early in the third by slashing apart the stick of a Dartmouth forward who had been in good position to score on a rebound - it resulted in a penalty, but RPI successfully killed it off.

Kasdorf ultimately stopped 28 shots on the night and 39 for the weekend in picking up back-to-back saves for the first time since Nathan Marsters accomplished the feat in 2004 against Cornell and Sacred Heart. More importantly for the Engineers, it was their fourth consecutive win in as many ECAC games, running their record in the last eight league outings to 5-1-2.

Other junk - Quinnipiac again just missed the #1 ranking in the nation this week, dropping two first place votes but still coming in at #2 with 20 first place votes after tying Brown and beating Yale. Also ranked this week are #10 Yale (beat Princeton and lost to Quinnipiac, down two), #17 Dartmouth (tied Union and lost to RPI, down one), and #18 Union (beat Harvard and tied Dartmouth, no change). Colgate (46) and St. Lawrence (2) also received votes. Other ranked teams on RPI's schedule this season are #4 New Hampshire (down one), #8 St. Cloud State (up four), #11 Minnesota State (up four), and #13 Boston University (down two). Ferris State (17) also received votes.

Jason Kasdorf holds the second best goals against average in the nation with a 1.44 GAA in 667:27 of game time. That trails only Miami freshman Ryan McKay, who has a 1.08 GAA in 612:33.  His .944 save percentage is good enough for fifth in the nation, second only to McKay's nation-leading .960 among freshman. Interestingly, both McKay and Kasdorf are 6-2-2 on the season.

Next weekend, RPI takes their ECAC streak up to the North Country, where on Friday they face one of the hottest teams in the nation outside of Quinnipiac - St. Lawrence is 4-0-2 in their last six games and as a by-product of that, are now sitting alone in fifth place in the ECAC. That's a spot that the Engineers covet, and they can pass the Saints with a win on Friday, where a loss puts them three points behind, making that a big game indeed. The Saturday game in Potsdam will be just as important for RPI, as they are currently tied with the Golden Knights in the ECAC standings.

If everything goes perfectly for RPI next weekend, they could be sitting in as high as 3rd (alone) at the end of Saturday. If everything goes badly, they could end up back in 11th. More likely, they should end up somewhere in between. That's the ECAC for you - but make no mistake every point is precious now, and the Engineers are undoubtedly playing their best hockey of the year.

ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 26 points (12-0-2)
2. Yale - 19 points (9-5-1)
3. Dartmouth - 16 points (7-6-2)
4. Union - 16 points (6-4-4)
5. St. Lawrence - 14 points (5-5-4)
6. Princeton - 13 points (5-6-3)
7. Colgate - 13 points (5-6-3)
8. Clarkson - 13 points (5-6-3)
9. RPI - 13 points (5-6-3)
10. Brown - 13 points (4-6-5)
11. Cornell - 10 points (4-8-2)
12. Harvard - 6 points (3-12-0)

Harvard at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/1/13 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Harvard 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 9-11-5 (4-6-3 ECAC, 11 points)

#16 Dartmouth at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/2/13 - 7:05pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Dartmouth 0

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS

RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 10-11-5 (5-6-3 ECAC, 13 points)

Upcoming games
08 Feb - at St. Lawrence
09 Feb - at Clarkson
15 Feb - Brown
16 Feb - #10 Yale
22 Feb - at Cornell