Men's Hockey - at Cornell/Colgate (22/23 Feb)

Sometimes when you're playing well, things around you start falling into place. RPI had to settle for a weekend split in Central New York, falling for the first time in seven games with a 4-1 loss at Cornell before bouncing back with a dramatic 3-2 at-the-death overtime victory over Colgate. Fortunately for the Engineers, nearly every single game around the league went their way, and despite just two points on the weekend, RPI is still in second place, and looking very good for their first-ever first-round bye.

Cornell
Lee-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Burgdoerfer
Rogic-Miller-Fulton

Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan

Kasdorf

With injuries to Matt Tinordi and Marty O'Grady still keeping those upperclassmen sidelined, RPI rolled with the same exact lineup for the third consecutive game.

For the first time in several games, the Engineers turned in a bad period in the first that really ended up costing them. They spent much of the first 20 minutes on their heels, and Cornell capitalized with a 14-7 shooting edge. The Big Red also capitalized with the game's first two goals, which came 1:09 apart from each other near the period's midway point.

On Cornell's first goal, Nick Bailen turned the puck over with a bad cross-ice pass in his own zone, giving the Big Red all the ice they needed to work the puck past Jason Kasdorf and go ahead 1-0. Then, moments later, Cornell quickly converted on a shot from the outside just after winning a faceoff in the RPI zone to take the two-goal edge, always a difficult situation when playing on the road at Lynah Rink.

RPI had plenty of chances to pull themselves back into the game late in the first period and early in the second period, as Cornell's Brian Ferlin was called for three minors practically back-to-back-to-back (slashing, hooking, and boarding), but the Cornell penalty kill did a tremendous job of keeping the Engineers out of the net despite some decent play on the man advantage.

On the third such power play chance, another spot error by RPI ended with a Cornell goal, as Bo Dolan caught an edge while going to take the puck at the blue line, and Cornell senior Greg Miller pounced on it and took the breakaway practically as soon as he touched the puck. He skated the length of the ice and beat Kasdorf to make the score a daunting 3-0 hole for the Engineers.

RPI actually did a decent job of controlling the puck in the final two periods, regaining shot parity in the second with a lopsided 17-4 shooting edge, but they'd get no closer than within two, pulling back the shorthanded goal with Travis Fulton's first collegiate tally with about four minutes left in the second.

From there, Cornell went into lockdown mode, and although the Engineers did pretty well with the extra skater for over a minute, they took few shots, and when the Big Red cleared the zone, they were able to easily score on the empty net with 32 seconds left to ice it.

The loss snapped RPI's streak of eight straight wins in ECAC play, but the collateral damage in the standings was minimal. St. Lawrence beat Harvard, but losses by Dartmouth, Yale, and Union helped keep the Engineers in a solid position heading into Saturday night, just one point behind the Saints for second place.

Colgate
Lee-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Burgdoerfer
Rogic-Miller-Fulton

Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan

Kasdorf

Seth Appert made it four straight games with no changes to the lineup despite the previous night's loss. While the Engineers were coming off a six-game winning streak ending, the Raiders were celebrating the end of a four-game losing streak the previous night against Union.

The first period on Saturday was full of back and forth, neither team really establishing themselves as the aggressor. The only notable event of the period, really, was a roughing penalty picked up by Curtis Leonard 15 minutes into the contest, which the Engineers killed without much fuss.

Leonard's second penalty proved more problematic. Coming just 32 seconds into the second period, it gave Colgate their second power play of the night on relatively fresh ice, and ended just 38 seconds later with the Raiders' first goal of the night.

A holding call against Greg Burgdoerfer midway through the period provided Colgate with their second power play goal of the night, making it 2-0 with just under 30 minutes left to play and the Engineers beginning to look like they were in for a bad weekend at the wrong time, hampered by significant offensive struggles just as they were looking like a force to be reckoned with.

Then, an offensive spark was provided by an unusual outlet - defenseman Luke Curadi. His blue line blast two minutes after the Raiders had taken the lead was redirected in front by Mark Miller to cut the Colgate lead in half, 2-1. Five minutes later, RPI converted on their second power play opportunity of the night as Nick Bailen scored his 11th goal of the season to tie the game at two heading into the third period.

Among the things RPI started doing right in the second half of the game was staying out of the box. Colgate was 2-for-3 on the power play by the time they took a 2-0 lead, but it was the last time they would get an opportunity with the man advantage. The Engineers got a third power play chance six minutes into the third, but were unable to convert, eventually taking the game to overtime.

RPI fans had reason to be upset after an uncalled trip deprived them of a juicy 2-on-1 opportunity in the extra period of hockey, but the Engineers would get their comeuppance as the final seconds began to tick off the clock. With only 10 seconds remaining before both teams would leave with a point, Matt Neal managed to work in his eighth goal of the season, stealing a point from Colgate, securing a home-ice playoff series in at least the first round, and sending RPI back to Troy sitting alone in second place once again.

On Saturday night, it wasn't just the Engineers providing good results for their chances. Union, St. Lawrence, Princeton, and Clarkson all lost at just the right time to not only boost RPI back into second, but leave them looking exceptionally good heading into the year's final league weekend for a top four finish at least.

Other junk - RPI picked up 57 votes in this week's USCHO.com poll, just missing out on being ranked as the top vote-getter among those who weren't ranked, 23 behind #20 Providence. Quinnipiac (beat Yale, tied Brown) remains the top-ranked team in the nation with 37 first place votes. Other ranked ECAC teams are #15 Yale (lost to Quinnipiac and beat Princeton, down two) and #18 Dartmouth (lost to Clarkson and beat St. Lawrence, up one). St. Lawrence (36) and Union (14, formerly #20) also received votes. Other ranked teams on RPI's schedule this year include #5 New Hampshire (no change), #7 St. Cloud State (no change), #9 Minnesota State (no change), and #19 Boston University (down four). Ferris State (12) also received votes.

It wasn't a great weekend in net for Jason Kasdorf, but he's still fourth in the nation in goals against (1.63) and sixth in save percentage (.938). He's now tied for fourth in winning percentage (.750). In the ECAC only, he's second in all three categories.

Matt Neal is tied for 10th in the ECAC with 17 points in league play. 9 of those points have come on the power play, good for a tie for 5th in that category. He leads the team overall with 27 points.

Meanwhile, Nick Bailen has 5 power play goals in league play now, which has him tied for 3rd. Nationally, he ranks fourth in points per game by defensemen at 0.84. He picked up a secondary assist on Neal's overtime winner to give him 100 points for his collegiate career, 84 of which have been scored with the Engineers.

Ryan Haggerty leads RPI in goals with 12, followed by Bailen with 11. Last season's goal scoring leader was C.J. Lee with 8, Neal, Bailen, Haggerty, and Jacob Laliberte all have 8 or more already with three others - Milos Bubela, Mike Zalewski, and Mark Miller, all freshmen - sitting on 7 each.

Last year's Engineers scored a total of 78 goals in 39 games. This year's team has 88 in 32 thus far.

Concluding the regular season is a visit from Clarkson and St. Lawrence. The latter of the two games promises to be huge with the Saints sitting in third place just a point behind RPI, but the Engineers are in a position where they can lock up second before SLU ever gets to Troy if they can beat their old rivals and get the right results elsewhere.

ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 35 points (16-1-3)
2. RPI - 23 points (10-7-3)
3. St. Lawrence - 22 points (9-7-4)
4. Yale - 21 points (10-9-1)
5. Dartmouth - 21 points (9-8-3)
6. Union - 20 points (8-8-4)
7. Clarkson - 19 points (8-9-3)
8. Brown - 18 points (6-8-6)
9. Princeton - 17 points (7-10-3)
10. Cornell - 17 points (7-10-3)
11. Colgate - 15 points (6-11-3)
12. Harvard - 12 points (5-13-2)

RPI at Cornell
ECAC Game - Lynah Rink (Ithaca, NY)
2/22/13 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Cornell 4, RPI 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 14-12-5 (9-7-3 ECAC, 21 points)


RPI at Colgate

ECAC Game - Starr Rink (Hamilton, NY)
2/23/13 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Colgate 2 (OT)


BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 15-12-5 (10-7-3 ECAC, 23 points)

Upcoming games
02 Mar - Clarkson
03 Mar - St. Lawrence
08 Mar OR 15 Mar - ECAC Playoffs (Troy, NY)
09 Mar OR 16 Mar - ECAC Playoffs (Troy, NY)
10 Mar OR 17 Mar - ECAC Playoffs (Troy, NY, if necessary)

Men's Hockey - at St. Lawrence/Clarkson (8/9 Feb)

After enduring a difficult first two months to the season, the Engineers have picked the right time to come alive, and as a result, they find themselves right in the thick of the hunt for a home-ice playoff spot with three weeks left in the regular season. As part of the recent renaissance, RPI picked up a sweep in the North Country, battling against a tough St. Lawrence squad on Friday night to nab an overtime victory, 4-3, before coming back the next night in Potsdam and embarrassing Clarkson in their own house, 6-2.

St. Lawrence
Lee-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Tinordi
Rogic-Miller-Burgdoerfer

Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan

Kasdorf

Johnny Rogic returned to the lineup after serving his one game suspension for a hit from behind in the Harvard game a week prior. He replaced Andrew Commers. Otherwise, RPI dressed exactly the same lineup as they had for Freakout.

Jason Kasdorf's shutout streak came to an end early on a power-play tally by St. Lawrence's top line just 2:20 into the game, a goal that was had only seven seconds into a slashing call against Mark Miller. But the Engineers would get that goal back on their first power play opportunity five minutes later, as Matt Neal potted his fifth of the season about a minute into a hooking call against the Saints, making the score 1-1.

RPI would run their power play total to 2-for-2 just two and a half minutes later as Ryan Haggerty notched his 11th goal of the year during an interference call against SLU to put the Engineers up 2-1 midway through the first. RPI dominated possession in the first 20 minutes, outshooting the home side 13-5.

The second period featured more of the same, although St. Lawrence finally got some good opportunities off on Kasdorf as well. Again, an early penalty, this time a hooking call on Milos Bubela, cost RPI as SLU's top line again converted, knotting the score at 2-2 with all four goals coming on the power play.

The Engineers picked up their third power play of the night late in the second period, and while they didn't make it a combined five-for-five on the man advantage, they did get a goal out of the situation as Nick Bailen scored his sixth goal of the season during what was technically even strength, but was certainly assisted by the fact that RPI had just been on the power play, the goal coming just five seconds after the expiration of the minor.

The RPI penalty kill finally got some conversions in the third period, killing a pair of penalties that helped put the Saints on a 5-on-3 power play for over a minute, but they escaped unharmed. Eventually, however, the Engineers' lack of discipline caught up with them, as SLU scored the tying goal on the power play with just under 7 minutes left to play. The penalty kill was then called upon a fourth time in the final frame just under a minute later, but they held strong to preserve the tie.

As the game progressed into overtime, it seemed that the Engineers were mostly just hanging in there at the end, but C.J. Lee's determination to stick with the play midway through the extra period of hockey paid off as he took a wide-angle shot that caromed in off the goaltender's back 2:31 into overtime to lift RPI to a hard-fought 4-3 overtime win.

The victory was the first since December 27th against St. Cloud State in which the Engineers pulled out a win despite giving up the game's first goal - their fifth such victory of the year. It was also their first win in Canton in their last four tries, and their previous victory had been in overtime as well, a 7-6 thriller in the 2008-09 season.

Clarkson
Lee-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Burgdoerfer
Rogic-Miller-Commers

Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan

Kasdorf

One major setback from Friday night's game was a knee injury to Matt Tinordi. It is unknown how long the junior will be sidelined, early indications are that he may miss a few games as the team enters the final stretch. Andrew Commers took his place in the lineup, with Greg Burgdoerfer moving up to third-line duty.

With two points on the weekend already, RPI came into Potsdam ready to go and they pretty much jumped on the home team, which was tied with the Engineers coming into the evening due to their own victory the previous night over Union. Although it took RPI over 12 minutes to get themselves on the scoresheet, the dominance was clear practically from the beginning that the Engineers were the dominant side on the evening.

After failing to score on an early power play chance and then killing a penalty of their own, RPI opened the scoring with a goal by Bo Dolan, then got two more in quick succession - Ryan Haggerty's 12th goal of the year and Matt Neal's 6th, with all three goals coming in a span of 4:17, quickly getting the Engineers up to a 3-0 edge.

After the Golden Knights took a penalty with two seconds remaining in the first period, the Engineers went right back to work early in the second, with Jacob Laliberte scoring his 8th goal of the year 42 seconds in to put RPI up 4-0. After another Clarkson penalty, Nick Bailen notched his second of the weekend five seconds into the power play and just about a minute and a half after Laliberte's goal to give RPI the 5-0 lead after just 22 minutes of gametime, and on just 10 total shots. That spelled the end of Clarkson netminder Greg Lewis' night, and senior Cody Rosen came on in relief. That stemmed the tide at least a little bit, especially since the Engineers got yet another power play just seconds after Bailen's goal, but were they were unable to convert.

Bailen's second goal of the night at 9:08 put RPI up 6-0, and from there the Engineers were essentially on cruise control.

With things well in hand, Kasdorf's other shutout streak ended in the third period as the freshman gave up his first even-strength goal since early in the third period against Union at the Times Union Center, a stretch of over four full contests, at 8:06 of the third period. Clarkson picked up a second goal just 1:02 later, but a massive comeback was not in order as RPI, despite a lackadaisical third period, did not give up any more. They were helped by a major penalty against a Clarkson forward with under five minutes to play, and the final minutes played out with the Engineers basically just passing the puck around in the Clarkson zone.

The sweep was RPI's fourth ever in the North Country, and their first since the 2004-05 season. It was also the third time in four seasons that the team swept a road weekend.

Other junk - RPI received a vote in the USCHO poll for the first time since October, with one of 40 voters choosing the Engineers as the 20th best team in the nation, which is all of one vote. On a much larger front, Quinnipiac is the #1 team in the country for the first time, garnering 41 of 50 first place votes after sweeping Cornell and Colgate. #10 Yale (idle due to the snowstorm, no change) and #17 Dartmouth (tied Harvard, no change) were the only other ranked ECAC teams this week, a seasonal low for the conference. Union (40 votes, ex-18th), Colgate (2) and St. Lawrence (2) also received votes. Other teams on the RPI schedule ranked this week were #5 New Hampshire (down one), #8 St. Cloud State (no change), #9 Minnesota State (up two), and #13 Boston University (no change). Ferris State (12) also received votes.

Despite the two wins, Kasdorf's numbers dropped on the national level. His save percentage dipped to .938 and his goals against average is down to 1.60. That makes him sixth in the nation on the former category and fourth on the latter.

With four straight wins, the Engineers are on the nation's longest current win streak, and fourth longest unbeaten streak.

Twin challenges at home for RPI this week as Brown and Anthony Borelli come to town. The Bears' senior netminder has keyed the Bears' small resurgence this season in a similar fashion as did Jason Kasdorf, with slightly better numbers in almost exactly the same amount of time between the pipes. That's followed by a visit from Yale, a team that can score in bunches. Although playing at home, these teams present a solid challenge for the Engineers, but fortunately they are playing as well as anyone in the league right now.

The standings below are adjusted for actual tiebreakers now with the end of the season coming up. RPI is in a three-way tie for third. They lose that three-way tie to Princeton, but have the edge on Dartmouth right now thanks to, essentially, their tie with Quinnipiac (third tiebreaker is record against the Top 4).

ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 30 points (14-0-2)
2. Yale - 19 points (9-5-1)
3. Princeton - 17 points (7-6-3)
4. RPI - 17 points (7-6-3)
5. Dartmouth - 17 points (7-6-3)
6. St. Lawrence - 16 points (6-6-4)
7. Union - 16 points (6-6-4)
8. Clarkson - 15 points (6-7-3)
9. Colgate - 13 points (5-8-3)
10. Brown - 13 points (4-6-5)
11. Cornell - 10 points (4-10-2)
12. Harvard - 7 points (3-12-1)

RPI at St. Lawrence
ECAC Game - Appleton Arena (Canton, NY)
2/8/13 - 7:00pm

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

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
Watertown Daily Times

RECORD: 11-11-5 (6-6-3 ECAC, 15 points)

RPI at Clarkson
ECAC Game - Cheel Arena (Potsdam, NY)
2/9/13 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 6, Clarkson 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
Watertown Daily Times

RECORD: 12-11-5 (7-6-3 ECAC, 17 points)

Upcoming games
15 Feb - Brown
16 Feb - #10 Yale
22 Feb - at Cornell
23 Feb - at Colgate
02 Mar - Clarkson

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

Hero #1: Nick Bailen

Nick Bailen has had a rough season. From second-team All-American last year to some well described struggles (along with the rest of the team) in what were some bread and butter situations last year.

But the best thing about being a hero is that it doesn't matter what happened before - all that matters is one game, and Bailen stepped up big time for the Engineers, picking up two goals and two assists in the first period alone to help the Engineers jump out to a big lead early that they held throughout the very well played game.

That's one. One more and the band plays on. Nick Bailen stepped up last night. Who's the hero tonight?




Oh, and in case you missed it last night... Clarkson needs handouts to know how to cheer.

Men's Hockey - at Yale and Brown (3/4 Dec)

This is was the "island" ECAC weekend for the Engineers. After getting things started in early November with a road trip and the Union home-and-home, this was the one weekend separated from all the rest by at least three weeks on either side - and yet, it was more than likely the most difficult and key road weekend of the season. RPI earned a split, but still came out smelling like roses on the other side, dropping a close-fought battle to high-flying Yale, 4-2 before coming out on top in the grudge match with Brown the following afternoon, 6-2.

Yale
Cullen/Polacek/Brutlag
Angers-Goulet/Higgs/Helfrich
Tinordi/Rogic/Rabbani
Burgdoerfer/Halpern/Smith

Bergin/Foss
Bailen/Dolan
Koudys/Leboeuf

York

Injuries limited the Engineer lineup at the worst possible time. With C.J. Lee, Joel Malchuk, and John Kennedy all out already, sophomore Marty O'Grady picked up a concussion in practice to add to the Engineers' injury woes. That necessitated another reshuffle of the lines.

With Yale's dynamic offense and power play, it was always going to be important to stay out of the penalty box to avoid trouble, and that's exactly what the Engineers didn't manage from the very beginning. Jeff Foss was called for tripping just 34 seconds into the game to put Yale on the power play from the get-go, and with just 11 seconds left on the penalty, the Bulldogs converted as Broc Little gave Yale a 1-0 lead after a well executed power play.

The Bulldogs controlled play for much of the first period through their solid puck control and passing. The Engineers did not back down from the challenge, putting up a solid defensive front with good forechecking and allowing no quarter past the center red line, but they would find themselves in a 2-0 hole a little over halfway through the first period as Chris Cahill scored on a nice shot.

The second period got ugly fast for RPI. The Engineers gave up three power plays, including another quick one on a penalty to Bryan Brutlag just 20 seconds into the period that almost turned into a disaster. The Bulldogs just missed on a breakaway, then hit the inside of the post, then forced Allen York to make a save with his hand after he'd lost his stick moments prior. RPI most certainly bent but they did not break despite a near total onslaught in the second period.

The turnaround began in the final minute of the period. With momentum slightly shifting toward the Engineers, they finally scored their first goal of the game as Nick Bailen ripped a blast from the point that went straight to the back of the net. The flow of the game had been with Yale all the way, but the lead was only one at 2-1. RPI pushed for the tying goal immediately, even before the end of the period, nearly tying it on a shot by Chase Polacek and ultimately drawing a penalty that was called at 20:00, giving RPI a power play to start the 3rd period.

RPI would come close to scoring on that power play, but was unable to put it home. A couple of minutes later, that didn't matter as Mike Bergin glided down to the faceoff circle to one-time a pass from Alex Angers-Goulet into the back of the net, tying the game at two. From there, it appeared the momentum may have shifted to the Engineers, and that the upset could well be brewing.

But then the penalty woes returned with three straight penalties. The Engineers killed a penalty to Brock Higgs, but when Guy Leboeuf and Bailen were called for tripping about a minute apart, it set up a long 5-on-3 against Yale's impressive power play. 11 seconds later, it was fairly academic as Andrew Miller scored on a textbook 5-on-3 implementation, putting Yale back in front, 3-2.

The Engineers' best chance to catch back up about a minute later as they got another power play, but they were unable to draw square for a second time, finishing the evening 0-for-4 on the man advantage, giving Yale's rough penalty kill a boost. The Bulldogs uncharacteristically stayed out of the box pretty well, while RPI's penalty woes ended their shot at an upset. The Bulldogs added a late empty netter to secure a 4-2 victory.

At even-strength, missing four key players, the Engineers hung with the Bulldogs, forced them to adapt their game, and even outscored the #2 team in the country, 2-1. The penalties, especially the 5-on-3, were the dagger, but it was a loss that the Engineers could at least take a little bit of pride in. It was only the second time this season a team had brought Yale down to the wire (their 15 minute collapse at Air Force notwithstanding), and the first time they'd had a close game at home.

The one issue after the game was the health of Allen York, who was slow to get up after his final action of the night - he was pulled right away and did not see the ice again as the Engineer net was empty for the remainder of the game.

Brown
Angers-Goulet/Rogic/Brutlag
Cullen/Polacek/Helfrich
Tinordi/Higgs/Rabbani
Burgdoerfer/Beauregard/Halpern

Bergin/Foss
Bailen/Dolan
Koudys/Leboeuf

York

More line shuffling was in order after the Yale loss, with Johnny Rogic finding his first opportunity to center a scoring line. Tyler Helfrich was put back on the wing with Chase Polacek. York did start despite injury concerns, but observers at the game noted that he often rested on one of his knees during the game.

The Engineers got a 5-on-3 opportunity about 8 minutes into the first period, and they capitalized with a goal as Helfrich scored his 7th of the year from Brock Higgs and Polacek to give RPI a 1-0 lead. The goal actually came as the first Brown penalty expired, so they did not have an opportunity for a follow-up 5-on-4 chance.

The penalty problems persisted in the first frame as Patrick Cullen and Matt Tinordi both earned minor penalties late in the period that resulted in Brown power plays, but both were killed off. Shortly after Tinordi left the penalty box, Johnny Rogic cashed in with his first collegiate goal with just four seconds left in the period, giving RPI a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

RPI didn't let up as the second period began, as Helfrich notched his second of the game in a 4-on-4 situation to make it 3-0. 90 seconds later, everyone's favorite Brown captain, Harry Zolnierczyk was called for holding (a call he most likely protested vehemently), and Nick Bailen scored another goal from the point with 2 seconds left on the ensuing power play to put RPI up 4-0 after just over 25 minutes of play. The rout, it seemed, was on.

But Brown would get one back about three minutes later, beating Allen York on a defensive breakdown to make it 4-1, a score that would hold up into the third period. The Engineers came out poorly early in the final stanza, allowing another goal 2:23 in to make it 4-2, and Brown appeared to have the initiative for much of the period, with York forced to make a total of 17 shots in the period. A penalty to Polacek with about 7 minutes left looked like a key opportunity for Brown to pull within a goal, but the RPI penalty kill stood firm.

Seconds after the penalty expired, the Engineers closed the door firmly, as Greg Burgdoerfer landed his first goal as an Engineer to give RPI their three-goal lead back with just over 4 minutes left in the game, and an exclamation point was put on the win just under 2 minutes later when defenseman Pat Koudys scored his first collegiate goal to make the final score 6-2.

For the second time this season, the Engineers earned a road split. That bodes well moving forward. If they can continue their dominance at home (where they are undefeated and untied) in league play and continue to churn out two points at a minimum in their remaining three road weekends, they will be in a very good position to end the season.

There is no rest for the weary, not right away at least. A huge non-conference tilt is coming up this weekend, as RPI faces traditional rivals Boston University at the Field House in a game that could go a long way towards making the Engineers national contenders with the right result. The Terriers were swept by their hated nemeses from Boston College last weekend and must face Northeastern on Wednesday before taking their trip down the Masspike to Troy.

That game, it should be mentioned, will be broadcast live around North America on the NHL Network. Puck drop is at 3:30pm.

Other junk - The valiant stand against Yale and the solid win over Brown impressed the voters in the USCHO.com poll to move the Engineers up yet again - they are now ranked #15 in the nation, up one from last week with 260 votes. The Bulldogs' sweep of RPI and Union (beating the Dutchmen by an impressive 5-0 score on national TV) propelled them into the top spot for the first time in school history - #1 Yale (34 first place votes, up one) is the 17th school in the history of the poll to hold the top position and only the second ECAC team (Cornell was ranked #1 in the final poll in 2003). Two other ECAC schools are ranked this week - #13 Union (no change, beat Brown and lost to Yale) and #19 Dartmouth (previously unranked, idle). The Engineers' opponent this week is #7 Boston University (down five, swept by Boston College). Other RPI opponents earning votes were Clarkson (42, the most by an unranked team), Colorado College (17), Princeton (3), and Niagara (1).

With his assist on Helfrich's second goal on Saturday, Polacek moved past Neil Hernberg '87 and Tim Regan '96 to move into 35th in scoring all time at RPI. He now has 132 points for his career. Next on the list is Don Hearns '75 and Brian Ferreira '90, tied for 33rd with 134 points, and Trevor Kaye '62, 32nd with 135 points. The four assist night on Saturday helped move him up to 17th in the nation in points per game with 1.33 PPG.

Helfrich needs 16 more points this season to become the 61st member of the RPI Century Club. If he can continue scoring at his current pace, he will reach it.

Nick Bailen's goal on Saturday was his 7th in 15 games as an Engineer. He scored only six in 37 games at Bowling Green in 2008-09. It is already the most goals scored by an Engineer defenseman in a season since Keith MCWilliams scored 9 in the 2005-06 season and Scott Basiuk netted 11 in 2003-04. He has scored a goal in three straight games, and five of the last six. With 17 points, he is 4th in the nation in scoring by a defenseman, and his 7 goals are 2nd in the nation behind Wisconsin's Justin Schultz.

With Kevin Beauregard's appearance in Saturday's game, the only player on the roster that has not seen ice time is third-string goaltender Jeremy Coupal. Beauregard, Justin Smith, Matt Tinordi, and Guy Leboeuf are the only skaters yet to record a point thus far.

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

Adjusted Standings
1. Yale (1.000)
2. Dartmouth (.688)
3. Princeton (.667)
4. Clarkson (.643)
5. Union (.583)
6. RPI (.500)
7. St. Lawrence (.429)
8. Brown (.417)
9. Quinnipiac (.389)
10. Cornell (.333)
11. Harvard (.250)
12. Colgate (.083)

#16 RPI at #2 Yale
ECAC Game - Ingalls Rink (New Haven, CT)
12/3/10 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Yale 4, RPI 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Yale Daily News

RECORD: 7-4-3 (2-3-0 ECAC, 4 pts)

Reale Deals
1. D Nick Bailen, 1 G
2. D Mike Bergin, 1 G
3. F Alex Angers-Goulet, 1 A, 2 shots

#16 RPI at Brown
ECAC Game - Meehan Auditorium (Providence, RI)
12/4/10 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 6, Brown 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey News
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 8-4-3 (3-3-0 ECAC, 6 pts)

Reale Deals
1. F Chase Polacek, 4 A
2. F Tyler Helfrich, 2 G
3. G Allen York, 33 saves

Upcoming games
11 Dec - #7 Boston University
19 Dec - US Junior National Team (exhibition)
30 Dec - at Alabama-Huntsville
31 Dec - at Alabama-Huntsville
07 Jan - Clarkson

Eh, Why Not

See the title. Feel the title.

Yeah, it's just two games, but come on. It's been nine years. Just enjoy the moment.



All Tournament Team
G - Allen York, RPI
D - Nick Bailen, RPI
D - Jeff Foss, RPI
F - Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Bowling Green
F - Chase Polacek, RPI
F - Tyler Helfrich, RPI

MVP - Bryan Brutlag, RPI

Men's Hockey - Union (12/13 Nov)

They said it couldn't be done, but RPI and Union just keep finding new and inventive ways to ratchet up the intensity. In a weekend that will likely go down in the lore of both schools, the Engineers and Dutchmen played a hard-fought home-and-home series that had plenty of just about everything, including late-game action and controversial finishes. On Friday in Schenectady, the Engineers walked away on the losing end of a 2-1 final after having a goal disallowed in the waning moments, then returned the next night to take advantage of a major penalty in Troy to tie the game in the final second before winning in overtime, 4-3.

Friday
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag
Lee/Polacek/Helfrich
Cullen/Higgs/Rabbani
Tinordi/O'Grady/Smith

Bergin/Foss
Koudys/Kennedy
Leboeuf/Bailen

York

With Alex Angers-Goulet recovered from his infection, he was re-inserted into the lineup, replacing Johnny Rogic and Matt Tinordi replacing Greg Burgdoerfer. Without Rogic, Marty O'Grady centered the fourth line.

RPI survived an early penalty kill, getting through a boarding call against O'Grady in the game's first six minutes, but the second call, a retaliatory penalty taken by Guy Leboeuf, resulted in the first goal of the game for Union as Daniel Carr scored his fifth goal of the season to put Union up 1-0. The Engineers would have their first power play shortly thereafter, but could not convert.

By the middle of the second period, the RPI penalty kill had basically been on the ice for almost a third of the game, but had been holding steady, clicking at 4-for-5 by the time Union's Adam Presizniuk took a tripping penalty to negate the power play caused by Joel Malchuk's tripping call midway through the period.

Union continued to cling to its 1-0 lead until Nick Bailen, just two seconds after the end of RPI's fourth power play opportunity of the game, ripped a shot from near the blue line that beat Keith Kinkaid to tie the game.

After a back-and-forth opening to the third period, Matt Tinordi was called for roughing about six minutes in, giving Union their sixth power play - and so far this season, giving the Dutchmen that many power play opportunities has just been asking for trouble. That's exactly what the Engineers got as Jeremy Welsh scored to put Union up 2-1 at 7:39 of the third period.

With less than six minutes left in the game, the Engineers found themselves killing a 4-on-3 situation, and captain John Kennedy displayed the type of grit and tenacity that has become commonplace on the team under his leadership. In a very short span, Kennedy blocked two shots - one slapshot slamming into his skate, and a second one hitting his left hand. In obvious pain, the captain stayed out to finish his shift until the puck was cleared, dropping his glove as soon as he reached the bench. He would not return to the game.

Following an icing call with 1:20 left to play and the faceoff coming in the Union zone, Seth Appert called timeout and pulled Allen York, hoping to get the same type of late, tying goal that Union found in Lake Placid. With 7.6 seconds remaining on the clock, it appeared that Mike Bergin had done just that, as he redirected a shot by Nick Bailen past Kinkaid and into the back of the net. Referee Bryan Hicks had other ideas. After initially pointing to the net, he began waving off the goal, calling C.J. Lee, who had been screening Kinkaid, for goaltender interference (the infraction, not the penalty). Appert was livid. He stood on the the bench and angrily shouted at Hicks.

On the ensuing faceoff, both teams basically came to blows, but only Union's Justin Pallos was called for roughing, practically a make-up call to give the Engineers a faceoff in the Union zone at 6-on-4 with five seconds left, but it didn't make any difference whatsoever, as Union took the 2-1 victory. In the post-game press conference, Appert interrupted the interviews of Bailen and Kennedy to place a laptop on the dais and replay the disallowed goal, captured through the lens of the RPI game camera. He did not explicitly say it was a bad call, but the video did seem to indicate that Lee was nowhere near making contact with Kinkaid, nor was he in the crease.

Saturday
Lee/Polacek/Helfrich
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag
Cullen/Higgs/Rabbani
O'Grady/Rogic/Halpern

Bergin/Foss
Koudys/Dolan
Leboeuf/Bailen

York

Kennedy's hand was X-rayed in Albany after the game on Friday, and he was scratched from Saturday's game. The expectation is that he will probably be out for 4-6 weeks, leaving RPI with six defensemen, and necessarily ending the freshman rotation that Appert has been using until Kennedy's return. The captain stood alongside the coaches on the RPI bench, an unusual place for a scratch, continuing his role as a leader despite being unable to take his place on the ice.

The only other changes to the lineup were Johnny Rogic's return as the fourth-line center, bumping O'Grady to the wing on the fourth line and moving Matt Tinordi out of the lineup, and Scott Halpern's return in place of Justin Smith. The Engineers' top two lines, the Polacek and Malchuk lines, seem to be pretty firm, and the third line of Patrick Cullen, Brock Higgs, and Josh Rabbani has been the same for two straight weekends.

After failing to score on an early power play opportunity, the Engineers appeared to get the game's first goal midway through the first period when Rogic threw the puck in towards Halpern, who drove the net. Kinkaid made the initial save, but the puck squirted behind him and sat in the crease before eventually ending up in the back of the net. The goal was immediately waved off, with the official ruling being that the net was dislodged. A replay, however, shows that while the net didn't seem to move at all, the puck was put in by a skate - that of Union's Nolan Julseth-White, who was defending against Rogic to the left of the crease and accidentally knocked the puck in. The goal should have counted, credited to Halpern, but the Engineers instead had a second consecutive goal wiped off the board. RPI fans loudly voiced their disagreement.

The first period ended with no score, though the Engineers were the better of the sides during the opening 20 minutes, outshooting the Dutchmen 14-3. The second period started off well for RPI, as they had a productive power play early on after an interference call against Kinkaid, doing everything but putting it home. The momentum turned quickly, however, as the Dutchmen finally earned their first even-strength goal of the season against the Engineers two minutes later as Justin Pallos scored to make it 1-0 Union.

With the Engineers continuing to struggle on the power play - they had two more opportunities to score on the man advantage after the Pallos goal, only to fall to 0-for-10 on the weekend - Union struck again to make things worse with a goal by Matt Hatch with 5:30 left in the 2nd to make it 2-0. The Dutchmen went into lockdown mode, as is their norm with a two-goal lead, shortly thereafter, but RPI played so poorly as the clock wound down for the 2nd period that Unino continued to have opportunities to score. It was not until Daniel Carr took a tripping penalty in the final minute that the Engineers finally showed some signs of life.

The power play carried over into the third period, and RPI got themselves on the board by finally converting with the man advantage as Patrick Cullen scored his first goal of the season from Brock Higgs and Nick Bailen to cut Union's lead in half, just one minute into the third. From there, the game turned into a back and forth slugfest until Mike Bergin took a hooking call midway through, setting Union up on only their second power play of the game. But it was RPI who would be celebrating a goal with Bergin in the box. Bailen led a breakout going the other way, eventually connecting with Joel Malchuk, who finally landed his first goal of the season in shorthanded fashion, just over midway through the Bergin penalty, to tie the game at two.

Two minutes after Bergin returned to the ice, Brock Higgs took a tripping call in the defensive zone, setting the top power play in the country back up for the third time, and the Dutchmen delivered. With Allen York sprawled out trying to cover the puck, it squirted loose to RPI legend Mark Jooris' son Josh, who put the puck on net. Bergin was standing in the net to cover for York, and while Bergin made the save, the puck dropped straight down onto the goal line and barely made it over, before Bergin's skate swept it out of the area, putting Union back up on top.

An RPI power play shortly thereafter was unproductive, and the Engineers weren't getting many good looks at Kinkaid as time started to wind down. They were granted a reprieve, however, with 1:51 left in regulation as Union freshman Mike Ingoldsby hammered C.J. Lee into the boards from behind near the penalty boxes. The referees wasted no time in assessing a 5-minute major and a game misconduct to Ingoldsby, and with the faceoff coming in the Union zone, Allen York was pulled to make it a long 6-on-4. The Dutchmen had three potshots at the open net without icing being in effect, but they were unable to seal the victory. Meanwhile, the Engineers never quit, taking every shot they could when the time was right. Kinkaid made a number of saves, but he couldn't stop the last shot, a rebound of a Chase Polacek shot that bounced left to Marty O'Grady, who buried the puck just before the buzzer sounded. Officially, the goal was scored at 19:59, and 0.2 seconds were put back on the clock, as the puck had crossed the line before the green light came on to end the game. O'Grady's second goal of the season sent the game to overtime, where the Engineers would still have over 3 minutes of power play time thanks to the Ingoldsby major.

The 5-on-4 power play wasn't producing much in the extra session until Julseth-White was called on a dangerous cross-check in the corner that, after review, was certainly dangerous enough to warrant a call in overtime. That gave the Engineers a 5-on-3 of well over a minute, and after patiently waiting for the right shot and shooting wide several times, Nick Bailen blasted one from the right side faceoff circle that found the back of the net, completing the amazing comeback and sending the Field House into a frenzy.

All four of the Engineers' goals came on special teams, including a 3-for-9 record on the power play, to carry RPI to a season split with Union. The teams went 1-1-1 against each other this season, and they will not face each other again before the ECAC Tournament. They remain undefeated in the Black Friday game (which was on a Saturday this year), now 7-0-1 all time, and beat Union in Troy for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

The Engineers are off this coming weekend. They will return to action the day after Thanksgiving, when they host UConn in the annual RPI Holiday Tournament. They face Alabama-Huntsville or Bowling Green on the second night.

Other junk - RPI's second consecutive ECAC weekend split has them holding steady in the national polls for the second straight week, as they will be #18 in the nation for the third straight week, ranked for the fourth straight week overall. #5 Yale (down two, beat Colorado College and lost to Air Force) and #14 Union (down two) are the only other ECAC teams in the rankings, while #2 Boston University (down one, 11 first place votes, tied Merrimack twice) remains the only ranked non-conference opponent of the Engineers. Also receiving votes this week were Dartmouth (18), Cornell (9), Princeton (4), Colorado College (3), Clarkson (2), Niagara (2), and Quinnipiac (1).

Nick Bailen's huge weekend - 2 goals and 2 assists - propelled him up into the upper reaches of the nation in scoring by a defenseman. He's second in the nation in points per game from the blue line, and third in total scoring. Additionally, at 4-8-12, he's only a point off the team's overall lead in scoring (Chase Polacek, 5-8-13). Keith Kinkaid is thanking his lucky stars that he won't see Bailen again this season - Bailen had a goal in all three games against Union.

Chase Polacek's next goal will be his 50th as an Engineer. His two assists on Saturday moved him past Tony Hejna on the all-time points list - his 125 career points has him alone in 38th all time at RPI. Next on the list are Wayne Clark '95 (126), Tim Regan '96 and Neil Hernberg '87 (both 129). If he can duplicate his point totals from last year, he would be among the Top 20 scorers in RPI history.

Tyler Helfrich's primary assist on the game-winning goal on Saturday was the 80th point of his career. He is the only potential addition to the RPI Century Club this season, and would need the best statistical season of his career - 32 points - to reach that mark.

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

#18 RPI at #12 Union
ECAC Game - Achilles Center (Schenectady, NY)
11/12/10 - 7:00pm

RESULT: Union 2, RPI 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
USCHO
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
Schenectady Gazette

VIDEO
Schenectady Gazette
Goals (w/homer Union radio)

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

Reale Deals
1. D Nick Bailen, 1 G, 7 shots, +1
2. F Tyler Helfrich, 1 A, 3 shots
3. D John Kennedy, having big ones

#12 Union at #18 RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/13/10 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 4, Union 3 (OT)

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
USCHO
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
Schenectady Gazette

VIDEO
Schenectady Gazette
RPI TV - full game
Post-game press conference
Goals (no audio)

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

Reale Deals
1. D Nick Bailen, 1 G, 2 A, 4 shots
2. F Marty O'Grady, 1 G
3. F Chase Polacek, 2 A, 9 shots

Upcoming games
26 Nov - UConn (RPI Invitational)
27 Nov - Alabama-Huntsville/Bowling Green (RPI Invitational)
03 Dec - at #5 Yale
04 Dec - at Brown
11 Dec - #2 Boston University

Payback's A

A short commentary on tonight's game.






And then, of course... Marty O'Grady ties the game with 0.2 seconds remaining (video replay does in fact show that the puck is in the net before the green light comes on), but as heroic as his goal was, there was one man who rose above.

Nick Bailen: 1 goal, 2 assists - 4-8-12 on the year, one point off the team lead... as a defenseman.

Men's Hockey - vs. Union (30 Oct)

The Route 7 Rivalry was rekindled in unfamiliar territory, as the two teams played each other outside of the Capital District for the first time since meeting in the Catamount Cup in 2006 in Burlington - this time clashing on the hallowed ice of Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, a venue the Engineers hadn't visited since the 2002 ECAC Championships, which was also the last time they played in that tournament. With an eye on two weeks from now, when the Engineers and Dutchmen will go head to head for ECAC points, the teams skated to a 3-3 tie in a well played, back-and-forth affair.

Union
Lee/Polacek/Helfrich
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag
Rabbani/Higgs/O'Grady
Tinordi/Rogic/Halpern

Bergin/Foss
Kennedy/Leboeuf
Koudys/Bailen

York

The forward lines seem to be settling in nicely - which is bad news for the guys who are now becoming regular scratches, especially Patrick Cullen and Greg Burgdoerfer, who are continuing to have trouble cracking the lineup. Meanwhile, the rotation of the three freshmen defensemen continues, and this time it was Bo Dolan's turn to sit out.

After an early feeling out period, the first major event was an interference penalty to Bryan Brutlag, which gave us our first taste of the crucial Union power play vs. RPI penalty kill matchup, and the first round went definitively to the Dutchmen. Shortly after the man advantage got underway, Greg Coburn scored on a rocket from the point to put Union up 1-0.

A penalty to Union captain Brock Matheson shortly thereafter gave RPI their first power play of the afternoon, but they were unable to convert. Brutlag hit the box again on a tripping call about a minute after the RPI advantage ended, and Union made it 2-for-2 on the power play with a little help from a defensive miscue. Nick Bailen checked a Union forward in front of the net, and the Dutchman, perhaps seeing a golden opportunity after the hit, sprawled into Allen York in front fairly easily, putting the RPI netminder on his back for the shot that came in from senior Adam Presizniuk, giving Union the 2-0 lead that they would carry into the second period.

The Engineers finally killed a penalty early in the 2nd period when they successfully got through an elbowing call against Bailen. The increasingly famous Union slow-down kept things difficult for RPI through the majority of the period, as shots became few and far between, but a penalty late in the period to Justin Pallos opened the door, and the RPI power play walked through it. Just one second after the penalty expired, a laser of a shot from Bailen hit the back of the net. His second goal as an Engineer made it 2-1 heading into the third period.

The Union slow-down continued into the third as the Dutchmen clung to their one-goal lead. What appeared to be an RPI power play chance on a hooking call to Presizniuk was wiped away when the referees called Bailen for embellishment on the play. But a minute after the teams returned to 5-on-5, C.J. Lee came into the zone with Polacek and Helfrich on a 3-on-2, keeping the puck himself as he drove to the net and jammed it past Keith Kincaid to tie the score at two.

With the RPI faithful still cheering Lee's goal, the Engineers attacked immediately on the center-ice faceoff. Just 11 seconds after Lee had tied the game, Tyler Helfrich continued his personal renaissance with his team leading 4th goal of the season, sneaking a Chase Polacek pass between Kincaid and the post to put RPI ahead, 3-2.

From there, the Engineers seemed to have broken the Dutchmen's backs, as they continued pressing and looking for another goal, exhibiting good puck control and keeping Union from having any decent looks. But a late icing call on the Engineers with exactly 60 seconds left in regulation provided the opening they needed. Previously unable to pull Kincaid, Nate Leaman called timeout and set up a play with the extra attacker - a situation in which the Dutchmen have been dangerous all season long, as their excellent power play statistics (and their 2-for-3 record on the night) underscore. 30 seconds later, before the Engineers had ever been able to clear the zone, freshman Mat Bodie scored his first career goal on a shot from the blue line with traffic in front to tie things up at three.

Both teams had opportunities to score in the overtime period, but neither were able to get any quality chances, and the first battle between the Route 7 rivalry ended without resolution. The Dutchmen led most of the way but were fortunate to get the tie - in some respects, both teams were disappointed with the final result. John Kennedy told Ed Weaver after the game that "the team was more PO'd than disappointed." That chip on the shoulder will be important in two weeks.

Other junk - The tie with Union, coupled with some bad weeks from other teams in the rankings, helped the Engineers rise two spots in the USCHO.com poll, they now sit as the 18th ranked team in the nation. Also ranked this week from the ECAC are #5 Yale (one first place vote, no change, beat Brown and Dartmouth at home), #15 Union (up one, tied UConn and RPI), and #19 Cornell (down five, lost at home to UNH and RIT). #3 Boston University (seven first place votes, up three) is the only other ranked RPI opponent this week, but also receiving votes were Quinnipiac (38), Colorado College (18), Clarkson (7), and RIT (6).

The ECAC schedule starts this week with a full slate of games, including RPI/Union visiting Dartmouth/Harvard. The Big Green got two games under their belts last weekend, beating Princeton before falling to Yale in the Ivy Shootout, but this will be the first weekend of competitive hockey for the Crimson.

#20 RPI vs. #16 Union
Nonconference Game - Herb Brooks Arena at Olympic Center (Lake Placid, NY)
10/30/10 - 4:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Union 3

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times-Union
WNYT-TV (Albany)

VIDEO
Goals (Union goals first, RPI goals after)

RECORD: 3-1-3 (0-0-0 ECAC)

Reale Deals
1. F Tyler Helfrich, 1 G, 1 A
2. F Chase Polacek, 2 A
3. D Nick Bailen, 1 G, 1 A

Upcoming games
05 Nov - at Dartmouth
06 Nov - at Harvard
12 Nov - at #15 Union
13 Nov - #15 Union (Black Saturday)
26 Nov - UConn (RPI Invitational)