Women's Hockey - Princeton & Quinnipiac (5/6 Nov)

RPI returned to the friendly confines of Houston Field House for the first weekend of ECAC home games, earning a split on the weekend by falling 2-1 to Princeton on Friday before playing an excellent game against Quinnipiac in a 2-0 shutout victory. Friday’s game was marked by a few defensive lapses which cost the Engineers the game while Saturday’s game looked to be their best of the season thus far.

Princeton

Smelker/Vandegrift/Horton

Sanders/Dunlop/Harrison

Padmore/O’Keefe/Jakubowski

Guillemette/Stapleton/Mankey/Letuligasenoa

Le Donne/Vadner

Castignetti/Marzario

Daniels

Van der Bliek

Friday night’s game against Princeton was a relatively well-played, back-and-forth affair, with both teams getting chances at the net, but it was two defensive lapses which led to the Princeton goals. The first came near the midpoint of the first period as a missed clear was turned around by Princeton and skated back toward Engineer netminder Sonja van der Bliek. Olivia Mucha found Denna Laing with a pass and Laing found herself without a defender covering her, leaving her open to roof a shot over van der Bliek’s shoulder for the 1-0 lead. A body checking penalty on Kendra Dunlop late in the period would give Princeton a few more chances at the net, but they couldn’t capitalize with the man-advantage and took the 1-0 lead into the locker room, also leading 8-5 in shots in the opening frame.

Nearly a full period after their first goal, at 8:15 of the second, a similar play unfolded for the Tigers as Engineer defenseman Andie Le Donne pinched to the right to challenge Olivia Mucha, who was again trying to break through with the puck. Mucha threaded a pass to a now wide-open Sally Butler on the right wing, who put another shot past van der Bliek to double the Tigers’ lead to 2-0. This lead would stand for only a couple minutes, as the Tigers would take a penalty and allow the Engineers to set up on the power play. After a minute and a half of constant puck possession and good movement in the offensive zone, Le Donne sent a pass from the right point to Jordan Smelker on the right faceoff dot, who shot a laser which launched the water bottle off the top of the Princeton net and cut the Tigers’ lead to 2-1.

The Engineers turned up the pressure in the third period, dominating most of the final frame and outshooting the Tigers by an 8-1 margin, but Princeton goalie Cassie Seguin held strong and kept RPI from finding the equalizer. Despite a power play opportunity near the middle of the third, and 1:27 of extra attacker time at the end of the game, RPI couldn’t hit the back of the net and fell 2-1, giving Princeton its second win of the season. The Engineers fell to 2-6-2 with the loss.

Quinnipiac

Smelker/Horton/Harrison

Sanders/Dunlop/Vandegrift

Padmore/O’Keefe/Jakubowski

Guillemette/Stapleton/Mankey/Letuligasenoa

Le Donne/Vadner

Castignetti/Marzario

Daniels

Van der Bliek

After RPI knocked Quinnipiac out of the postseason in last year’s ECAC quarterfinals, it was widely expected that Saturday’s rematch would have the Bobcats out for vengeance, and while they were, RPI matched their intensity and put forth one of the best single-game efforts seen in the past several seasons. After a very fast-paced first period, which saw two Engineer penalties but no goals, the goalies had quickly become the story, as one might have expected after last year’s overtime marathon games. Van der Bliek and Quinnipiac’s Victoria Vigilanti were perfect through the first frame and most of the second, but the Engineers were able to capitalize late in the second period. With Vigilanti sprawled out of the net to stop a shot from the point by Kristen Jakubowski, a rebound popped out to Clare Padmore who wasted no time in putting it home for her first goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.

The third period was marked by fast transitions, crisp passing, and a lot of back-and-forth hockey, with Quinnipiac trying desperately to tie the game and the Engineers searching for the extra goal that would put the game out of reach for Quinnipiac. It wasn’t until the Bobcats had their net empty in the final minute that RPI would get the chance it was looking for. Quinnipiac’s Jordan Elkins failed to hold the puck in at the Engineer blue line and Alisa Harrison cut around her, getting a break down ice and dumping the puck into the empty net at 19:28 to put the game on ice.

Sonja van der Bliek earned her first shutout of the season with a 25-save effort, and some of the saves were spectacular. Just as importantly, this was the first game of the season where things really seemed to “click” for the Engineers. Nearly every pass found the stick of its intended recipient, puck control was excellent, the Engineer offense was able to set up in the Quinnipiac zone and cycle smoothly…in general, everything went right. Part of the reason may have been some changes to the lines by Coach Burke, who swapped Taylor Horton onto the top line in place of Jill Vandegrift. Whether it was meant to be a message, or just an experiment, it worked, as every line looked great and most importantly each showed chemistry with each other. It will be interesting to see if Burke keeps the lineup intact for next weekend’s games against Yale and Brown – and if we see the same kind of results as we saw on Saturday. Also important was the lack of “sixth-period syndrome”, where the Engineers get outworked in the third period of Saturday’s game – something which has plagued them on and off for several seasons. The team looked energetic and active throughout the final frame, keeping a frantic Quinnipiac squad at bay.

The Engineers hit the road again next weekend for a series at Yale and Brown. WRPI will not cover the games, however Yale and Brown will both have subscription video available for purchase.

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RPI vs. Princeton

ECAC Hockey Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)

11/5/10 – 7:00pm

PU 2, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2010/11/05/princeton-vs-rensselaer/

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1011/boxes/wprnren1.n05

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/11/5/WICE_1105102954.aspx

PU: http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=46915&SPID=4275&ATCLID=205025758

RECORD: 2-6-2 (1-2-0 ECAC)

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RPI vs. Quinnipiac

ECAC Hockey Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)

11/6/10 – 4:00pm

RPI 2, QU 0

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2010/11/06/quinnipiac-vs-rensselaer/

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1011/boxes/wquiren1.n06

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/11/6/WICE_1106103752.aspx

QU: http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17500&ATCLID=205026007

RECORD: 3-6-2 (2-2-0 ECAC)

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Upcoming Games

Nov. 12 – at Yale (7pm)

Nov. 13 – at Brown (4pm)

Nov. 19 – Niagara (7pm)

Nov. 20 – Niagara (2pm)

Nov. 26 – at Syracuse (7pm)

Nov. 27 – at Syracuse (2pm)

Women's Hockey - Harvard & Dartmouth (2/12-13)

Tell a random women's hockey fan at the beginning of the season that RPI would sweep a weekend against Harvard and Dartmouth and they'd call you an eternal optimist. Tell them the Engineers would sweep the season series against the Crimson and Big Green and they'd call you crazy. RPI did its part this weekend to make crazy fans look a little more sane as they downed Harvard 3-2 in overtime on Friday before going on to earn a solid 5-2 win over Dartmouth on Senior Night.

The four points boosted the Engineers into a tie for third place with Harvard, a tie which RPI wins by virtue of sweeping the season series with the Crimson. The win over Dartmouth trapped the Big Green in a 3-way fight for the eighth and final playoff spot, meaning next weekend has the possibility of seeing 4-time ECAC Champion Dartmouth eliminated from the ECAC playoffs for the first time since 1990-91.

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Friday

Wright/Harrison/Horton
Naslund/Dunlop/Weidner
Guillemette/Vandegrift/O'Keefe
Padmore/Jakubowski/Stapleton

Castignetti/Gersten
Le Donne/Vadner
Gaylord/Daniels

van der Bliek

Friday's game started off in frustrating fashion as RPI controlled almost every aspect of the game for the first 10 minutes, but was unable to put a puck in the net and get something to show for it. An early RPI power play contributed to the strong start as Harvard's Ashley Wheeler took a hooking penalty that assuredly deserved a matching holding the stick call. The Crimson woke up in the latter half of the period and put some strong pressure on the RPI net, but Sonja van der Bliek stood tall and kept the game scoreless.

With Amanda Castignetti off the ice on a tripping call, one of the most baffling series of officiating decisions in a weekend full of them led to Harvard's first goal. Moments after an RPI skater was flattened at center ice by a Harvard hip check (which would be legal if this were men's hockey...a recurring theme with the officials on the weekend), Allison Wright was whistled for a slashing call while attempting to lift an opponent's stick and steal a puck. While the Engineers killed the resulting 5-on-3, Harvard capitalized on the carryover time on the second penalty to take a 1-0 lead at 16:45.

The 1-0 score held up until the intermission, and the second period saw a parade of four Harvard players to the penalty box. Despite putting up a 13-5 shot margin in the period, RPI couldn't solve Harvard netminder Laura Bellamy, who made 25 saves in the first two periods. I noted during the game that this "[was] not the Harvard of yesteryear", with the Crimson clutching, grabbing, checking, and generally doing everything their fans complained about RPI doing the season before in the ECAC Semifinal game. It honestly looked as though the teams had been swapped during the offseason.

Things went from bad to worse for the Engineers just 2:22 into the final frame as Harvard doubled their lead to 2-0 on a 2-on-1 rush into the RPI zone. Sierra Vadner took a penalty just 30 seconds later to put RPI back on its heels and Harvard poured on the shots, but van der Bliek returned to form and kept them out of the net with some spectacular stops. With 8:40 left, Castignetti took an opportunistic shot from the faceoff circle which found its way through traffic and past Bellamy to get RPI back in the game, closing the lead to 2-1.

Allison Wright reminded everyone why she's on the top line with just 35 seconds left in regulation, as she skated the puck down ice and fired off a laser shot that rang off the junction of goalpost and crossbar and down into the net to tie the game. The game headed to overtime and it took Wright just 19 seconds in the extra frame to completely turn the tables on Harvard as she again skated into the zone and put a puck past Bellamy for the overtime game winner. RPI outshot the Crimson 33-30 on the game, including 2-0 in overtime. Harvard held the Engineers to 6 shots in the third period, but two of them found the twine, and that's all that matters.

One thing of note about the crowd - it was Military Appreciation Night at the Field House and the ROTC students came out in full force. While they spent much of the game slightly disinterested in the events on the ice, they came together late in the game to help really liven up the rink and the cheers that went up for the game-tying and -winning goals were very nice to hear in a Field House that rarely sees more than 100 fans at a women's hockey game. Attendance was only reported as 355, but it looked to be well over 500, certainly one of the larger crowds to take in a game at HFH.

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Saturday

Wright/Harrison/Horton
Naslund/Dunlop/Weidner
Guillemette/Vandegrift/O'Keefe
Padmore/Jakubowski/Stapleton

Castignetti/Gersten
Le Donne/Vadner
Gaylord/Daniels

van der Bliek

Coming off Friday's exhilarating overtime win, the stage was set for another Saturday letdown with a tired RPI team facing off against a Dartmouth squad who coasted to an easy 4-0 win at Union, outshooting the Dutchwomen 42-12 on their way there. Dartmouth got just the start they were looking for as Jenna Cunningham sprung Amanda Trunzo on a breakaway just two minutes into the game, and the top-line Dartmouth forward beat van der Bliek for a 1-0 lead. A few Dartmouth penalties came and went as RPI held the puck well but made poor decisions in the offensive zone to allow the Big Green to kill off each RPI opportunity.

The Engineers got right back into the game early in the second as a scrum in front of the Dartmouth net allowed RPI's fourth line to capitalize, and Audrey Stapleton got just her second goal of the season to tie the game at one. After a few back-and-forth penalties, RPI took the lead for the first and last time as Whitney Naslund threaded a beautiful pass across the front of the crease, allowing Kendra Dunlop to put a puck into a nearly empty net that Dartmouth goalie Mariel Lacina had no chance at stopping. The assist marked Naslund's 100th point on the season.

Naslund added an insurance goal at 8:15 of the third on a breakaway, but Dartmouth had no intentions of making it easy on the Engineers, and they cut the lead back to one on a bad turnover by RPI that found its way past van der Bliek and into the net. Dartmouth pulled Lacina in favor of the extra attacker, but couldn't generate any serious pressure - Alisa Harrison put the game away with an empty netter at 19:05 to give RPI a 4-2 lead. With the goalie pulled again, Naslund added an empty netter with 0.3 seconds remaining to put the final score at 5-2.

The Engineers outshot the Big Green in each period, with margins of 13-7, 10-9, and 10-9. It was a marked turnaround for the Engineers, who have struggled against Dartmouth, posting an 0-8-1 record against the Big Green before this season.

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Senior Night

Saturday marked the final regular season home game for RPI's five graduating seniors - Whitney Naslund, Allison Wright, Laura Gersten, Allysen Weidner, and Rossli Chace. A postgame ceremony honored the five for their contribution to the team, and hearing it spelled out all at once made everyone realize just how big an impact the class has had on the program as a whole.

Some highlights about the graduating class of 2010:

• Whitney Naslund became the first RPI player to break 100 career points since the team turned D-1, earning her 100th, 101st, and 102nd point against Dartmouth. She is the 7th leading scoring in RPI women's hockey history.
• Naslund and Wright each played their 136th career game against Dartmouth - the most of any player in RPI history, and it also happens to be every game since they set foot on campus four years ago. Gersten and Weidner trail by just one game - each has played 135. Chace played in 110 games over four seasons.
• Though Rossli Chace's season was ended early due to injury, she was behind the bench for the Dartmouth game and honored all the same during the postgame ceremonies.
• The seniors are more than a combined +100 in career +/-. The exact numbers were mentioned during the ceremony but I didn't manage to write them down. An impressive feat on a team that has gone 58-62-16 over the past four seasons.
• Naslund, Wright, and Gersten were 2nd, 3rd, and 5th in scoring on last year's team that made it to the ECAC Championship game. The same three are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively this season, with Weidner at sixth.

The seniors stand to have at least one more pair of games in front of friendly fans if they can help the Engineers to secure home ice in the playoffs.

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Playoff Possibilities

With one weekend of play left, we're getting a better idea of the playoff picture. There's still a lot up in the air, but here's what we know so far:

• If the playoffs started today, #3 RPI would host #6 Princeton at Houston Field House in the ECAC Quarterfinals.
• Union and Brown are eliminated from the playoffs and can only play spoiler to other teams next weekend.
• RPI can techincally still finish in first place, but it would require Clarkson and Cornell getting swept next weekend (not likely!) along with an RPI win over Colgate.
• RPI can finish as low as as 7th if they lose at Colgate and Cornell, and Quinnipiac/Princeton/SLU take enough points to pass them.
• RPI can guarantee themselves home ice for the first time since joining the ECAC by earning three points next weekend.

With Quinnipiac, Princeton, and SLU trailing the Engineers by 1, 2, and 3 points respectively, and Q/P facing Yale and Brown who are by no means powerhouses, the Engineers need to be vigilant in a hunt for points next weekend. It's a fine line they walk between a serious risk of losing home ice (by taking 2 points or fewer next weekend) or guaranteeing they get it (3 or more points).

It is most likely that Clarkson and Cornell will finish first and second in either order, while Colgate, Yale, and Dartmouth battle it out for the final playoff spot. The 3-7 seeds are entirely up in the air and could play out in a ton of different ways. We'll have a breakdown after next Friday's game of the playoff implications held in the final game of the regular season.

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RPI vs. Harvard
ECAC Hockey Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/12/10 - 7:00pm
RPI 3, Harvard 2 (OT)

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wharren1.f12
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20100212&vis=hu&home=rpi&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/2/12/WICE_0212102138.aspx
Harvard: http://gocrimson.com/sports/wice/2009-10/releases/20100212_Rensselaer_Recap
Postgame Interviews: http://www.youtube.com/user/RPIathletics#p/u/0/fSCvMJfskbA

RECORD: 13-11-6 (10-5-4 ECAC Hockey, 24 points)

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RPI vs. Dartmouth (Senior Night)
ECAC Hockey Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/13/10 – 4:00pm
RPI 5, Datrmouth 2

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wdarren1.f13
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20100213&vis=dc&home=rpi&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/2/13/WICE_0213102027.aspx
Dartmouth: http://is.gd/8nIvA
Postgame Interviews: http://www.youtube.com/user/RPIathletics#p/u/0/aZNtIOZv6xU

RECORD: 14-11-6 (11-5-4 ECAC Hockey, 26 points)

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ECAC Standings (as of 2/14/10, all teams have played 20 games):
Standings in parentheses are ties that have been broken using ECAC tiebreakers.

                Pts  ECAC       All
(1) Clarkson    30   14-4-2     20-8-4  (Clarkson wins 2nd tiebreaker - # wins)
(2) Cornell     30   12-2-6     13-8-6
(3) RPI         26   11-5-4     14-11-6 (RPI wins 1st tiebreaker - head-to-head)
(4) Harvard     26   12-6-2     17-6-4
5   Quinnipiac  25   9-4-7      16-8-8
6   Princeton   24   10-6-4     12-11-4
7   SLU         23   10-7-3     14-11-7
(8) Dartmouth   17   8-11-1     11-13-2 (DC wins 1st tiebreaker - head-to-head)
(9) Yale        17   8-11-1     10-14-3
10  Colgate     16   6-10-4     10-18-4
(11)Union        3   1-18-1     5-26-1  (UC wins 1st tiebreaker - head-to-head)
(12)Brown        3   0-17-3     2-20-4

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Upcoming Games

Feb. 19 - at Cornell
Feb. 20 - at Colgate (end of regular season)
Feb. 26 - ECAC Quarterfinals
Feb. 27 - ECAC Quarterfinals
Feb. 28 - ECAC Quarterfinals (if necessary)

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WOMEN’S HOCKEY

The Engineers went 2-0-0 last week, edging fifth-ranked Harvard (3-2) in overtime on Friday night, before downing Dartmouth (5-2) on Senior Day, Saturday afternoon. Senior Whitney Naslund (2 goals, 1 assist) had three points against the Big Green, including the 100th of her collegiate career.

Rensselaer (14-11-6; 11-5-4 ECACH) travels to Cornell and Colgate to close out its ECAC Hockey regular season schedule on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (4pm), respectively. Live stats for Friday’s game will be available at http://livestats.internetconsult.com/cornell/whockey/index.htm and Saturday’s game at http://livestats.internetconsult.com/colgate/whockey/index.htm.

Women's Hockey - Quinnipiac & Princeton (1/29, 1/30)

This weekend promised to be a big one for RPI, as they entered tied for fourth place with Princeton and Quinnipiac, the very two teams they would be facing at Houston Field House. A sweep would put the Engineers 2 points ahead of both, in lone possession of a home ice playoff spot with 6 games left.

While the Engineers didn't pick up the sweep, they did net 3 out of 4 points with a 1-0 shutout of Quinnipiac and a 1-1 tie against Princeton, good enough to move RPI into a 3-way tie for 3rd place in the ECAC, with Harvard and Princeton. The shutout against Quinnipiac was Sonja van der Bliek's 6th of the season (4th in ECAC play).

Monday morning saw van der Bliek named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week posting a 0.48 GAA and .978 save percentage on the weekend, while Kendra Dunlop was named to the weekly honor roll for scoring both of RPI's goals on the weekend. It is van der Bliek's first GotW honor this season, and the fourth in her career.

Finally, senior captain Allison was nominated for the NCAA Frozen Four Skills Competition with takes place on the off-day of the Frozen Four weekend in April. There is an online voting component, which can be found at http://www.ncaa.com/frozenfourskillschallenge/. Please cast your vote for Allison if you have an opportunity.

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Friday

Wright/Harrison/Naslund
Padmore/Dunlop/Weidner
Horton/Vandegrift/O'Keefe
Guillemette/Jakubowski/Stapleton

Castignetti/Gersten
Daniels/Vadner
Gaylord

Van der Bliek

The one thing those of us at this game took home was an overwhelming question of how RPI could have possible been beaten 6-1 by this Quinnipiac team earlier in the season. The Bobcats had no puck control, no pressure, minimal shots on goal, and hooked, held, and hit their way around the ice as a result. There was no comparing the two teams, even if the final score would indicate a very close game.

After a scoreless first period and a half which saw Quinnipiac take four straight penalties, the officials decided it was time to swallow the whistles and they did not call another penalty in the remainder of the game - despite Quinnipiac playing the exact same way that left them shorthanded four times early.

Early in the third, RPI would score the lone goal that would hold up for the win. Laura Gersten connected with Kendra Dunlop who skated in alone and snuck a shot five-hole on Quinnipiac's Victoria Vigilanti to give the Engineers the 1-0 lead. A Quinnipiac timeout and empty net late in the period didn't help the Bobcats recover from the goal and the shutout stood for van der Bliek.

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Saturday

Wright/Harrison/Naslund
Padmore/Dunlop/Weidner
Horton/Vandegrift/O'Keefe
Guillemette/Jakubowski/Stapleton

Castignetti/Gersten
Le Donne/Vadner
Daniels/Gaylord

Van der Bliek

There were no worries of seeing nearly an entire scoreless game on Saturday, as Princeton took a 1-0 lead over RPI just 2:06 into the game on a real fluky goal. Princeton's Alex Kinney threw a soft shot toward the RPI net which tipped off Andie Le Donne's stick and bounced high, over van der Bliek's head and behind her into the net. From her response it looked like she expected the puck to go out of play, not behind her into the net.

The lead did not last long as Dunlop scored her second of the weekend, again from Laura Gersten. Gersten threw the puck on net on an RPI rush and Princeton goalie Rachel Weber gave up a rebound which Dunlop slammed home to tie the game at one.

Three straight Princeton penalties in the second gave RPI a chance to take the lead but they couldn't get anything going, managing just four shots in the frame despite nearly five minutes of power play time. The Engineers turned up the pressure in a fast-paced third, throwing 13 shots on net and taking just one penalty, with very few other stoppages, but again, no goals. In all, the second and third period of the game elapsed in just over the time Coach Appert spent talking to supporters at the pregame reception in New Haven before the men's game.

Overtime saw two RPI shots to one for Princeton, and an RPI penalty with 21 seconds remaining, but the game was destined to go down as a tie, giving the Engineers and Tigers a point each and moving them both ahead of Quinnipiac and into a tie with Harvard for third place.

Clarkson looks to be pretty safe in first place with 27 points, while Cornell is in second with 23 before we hit the RPI/Harvard/Princeton tie for third with 20 points. Quinnipiac is one back with 19, followed by SLU with 17. The rest drops off from there, with Yale in 8th place with 13 points. Colgate and Dartmouth are still in the hunt for playoff berths, while Brown and Union will certainly be done at the end of the regular season. With a game remaining against each of the three teams ahead of them, RPI has a chance to make up some ground and make a real run at playoff home ice for the first time since joining the ECAC. Perhaps the biggest test of all will come next Friday night as the Engineers travel to Potsdam to take on the #3 nationally-ranked Golden Knights. Game time is 7pm.

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RPI vs. Quinnipiac
ECAC Hockey Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/29/10 - 7:00pm
RPI 1, Quinnipiac 0

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wquiren1.j29
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20100129&vis=qu&home=rpi&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/1/29/WICE_0129104210.aspx
QU: http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17500&ATCLID=204877284

RECORD: 11-10-5 (8-4-3 ECAC Hockey, 19 points)

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RPI vs. Princeton
ECAC Hockey Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/30/10 – 4:00pm
RPI 1, Princeton 1

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wprnren1.j30
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20100130&vis=pri&home=rpi&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/1/30/WICE_0130104523.aspx
Princeton: http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=10600&ATCLID=204877789

RECORD: 11-10-6 (8-4-4 ECAC Hockey, 20 points)

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ECAC Standings (as of 1/31/10):

            GP    Pts    ECAC      All
Clarkson    15    27     13-1-1    19-5-3
Cornell     16    23     9-2-5     10-8-5
Harvard     16    20     9-5-2     12-5-4
Princeton   16    20     8-4-4     10-9-4
RPI         16    20     8-4-4     11-10-6
Quinnipiac  16    19     7-4-5     14-8-6
SLU         15    17     7-5-3     11-9-7
Yale        16    15     7-8-1     9-11-3
Colgate     16    12     4-8-4     8-16-4
Dartmouth   16    11     5-10-1    8-12-2
Brown       16    3      0-13-3    2-16-4
Union       16    3      1-14-1    5-22-1

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Upcoming Games

Feb. 5 – at Clarkson
Feb. 6 – at St. Lawrence
Feb. 12 - Harvard
Feb. 13 - Dartmouth

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WOMEN'S HOCKEY

The Engineers went 1-0-1 last week, topping Quinnipiac on Friday (1-0), before tying Princeton in overtime (1-1) on Saturday. Junior Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON) stopped 45 of 46 shots she faced on the weekend, including 17 stops in RPI’s shutout of the Bobcats.

Rensselaer (11-10-6; 8-4-4 ECACH) is back in action this weekend, when it visits North Country-rivals Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Live stats for Friday’s match-up with the third-ranked Golden Knights can be found at http://www.ecachockey.com/livestats/clarkson/landing. Live stats for Saturday’s game will be available at http://www.ecachockey.com/livestats/stlawrence/landing. Live video will also be available for both games on a pay-per-view basis through the B2 Networks at http://www.b2livetv.com/upcoming_events.asp?q=v&value=ecac.

Women's Hockey - at Dartmouth & Harvard

It was a weekend for the history books as RPI earned their first ever win over Dartmouth before continuing on to their first ever regular season win over Harvard to take a weekend road sweep - only the second ECAC road sweep in the program’s four seasons in the league.

The story of the weekend was goaltending as RPI netminders Sonja van der Bliek and Shannon Ramelot split the duties, turning away 45 and 43 shots against Dartmouth and Harvard respectively, en route to 2-1 and 4-2 victories. Senior captain Laura Gersten led the charge against Harvard, scoring two of RPI’s goals and tacking on an assist for a 3-point performance.

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Friday

Wright/Harrison/Naslund
Padmore/Dunlop/Weidner
Horton/Vandegrift/O'Keefe
Guillemette/Jakubowski/Stapleton

Castignetti/Gersten
Gaylord/Daniels
Vadner

van der Bliek

Let’s put it this way – Sonja van der Bliek is a hero for keeping the Engineers in this game. Keeping in mind that Dartmouth dismantled RPI 6-1 in the championship game of the ECAC playoffs last season, many weren’t expecting a great outcome for the Engineers. However – this year’s Dartmouth team is not the typical powerhouse the ECAC is used to seeing. They hover on the cusp of missing the playoffs right now, which is nearly inconceivable for a team that’s been in the NCAA tournament more often than not recently.

Facing a firestorm of 22 Dartmouth shots in the first period alone (more than RPI managed to get the entire game), van der Bliek stopped them all, and with RPI managing just six shots of their own, Dartmouth’s Mariel Lacina had little trouble keeping RPI off the board, and the teams made it out of the period with no score.

It was another Dartmouth shooting gallery in the second, as the Big Green outshot RPI 16-4, but in the numbers that count, each team picked up one. Dartmouth’s Alyssa Boehm broke the scoreless tie at 14:10 of the period on a goal from Sally Komarek. Less than four minutes later, Kendra Dunlop found Allysen Weidner with a pass, and Weidner put it past Lacina to tie the score at one heading to the locker room.

Allison Wright broke the tie near the middle of the third period on a goal from Dunlop and Weidner, and despite a Dartmouth power play in the final three minutes of regulation, van der Bliek was up to the task and kept the score locked at 2-1 until the final buzzer. Dartmouth is now 6-11-2 (4-9-1 ECAC) after going 20-10-4 (13-5-4 ECAC) last season and making it to the NCAA tournament. A surprising turn of events to say the least for a team led by seniors Jenna Cunningham and Sarah Parsons, who have been among the top players in women’s hockey in their time at Dartmouth.

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Saturday

Wright/Harrison/Naslund
Padmore/Dunlop/Weidner
Horton/Vandegrift/O'Keefe
Guillemette/Jakubowski/Stapleton

Castignetti/Gersten
Vadner/Le Donne
Gaylord/Daniels

Ramelot

RPI proved last season that they were up to the task of beating Harvard, defeating the top seeded Crimson in the semifinals of the ECAC championship. That didn’t mean a repeat was expected, as Harvard came into the game ranked #6 in the nation and #3 in the ECAC. After van der Bliek’s 45-saves the night before in Hanover, and a short turnaround for an afternoon game in Boston, Coach Burke played rookie Shannon Ramelot in net. She made the most of her ECAC debut, proving she’s up to the task of being a backup that can be relied upon, and built some confidence in her capability as van der Bliek’s eventual replacement.

RPI took off out of the gate and put Harvard on their heels early as Laura Guillemette put a shot past Crimson goalie Laura Bellamy just 1:47 into the game. Two Harvard penalties early in the period gave RPI nearly four straight minutes of power play time, and Laura Gersten capitalized at 8:06 with help from Allison Wright to give RPI a commanding 2-0 lead. In a relatively evenly matched rest of the period, play went back and forth until there was just over a minute remaining, when Harvard defenseman Cori Bassett notched an unassisted goal to cut RPI’s lead in half at 18:51.

Gersten restored RPI’s two-goal lead at 6:54 of the second, with her second goal of the afternoon from Syndey O’Keefe and Jill Vandegrift. Harvard would again cut the lead to one at 16:20 of the third period, but Alisa Harrison added an empty netter with 30 seconds remaining to put the game away at 4-2.

The Crimson outshot the Engineers 45-29, for a lopsided total weekend shot count 91-47 in favor of the home teams. Van der Bliek and Ramelot’s superior performances, and a lot of help from the defense (including more than a dozen blocked shots) gave RPI the opportunity to win, and they capitalized.

Last week I mentioned RPI would have to work hard to stay safe in the playoff picture this season. With this sweep, 4 points that were by no means considered safe for RPI, the Engineers have moved into a 3-way tie for fourth place with Princeton and Quinnipiac, who visit the Capital District next weekend. With two points pretty much guaranteed for the visitors against Union, the two games at RPI will be huge in starting to sort out the standings as we get closer to the end of the season. Third place Harvard is only one point up on the Engineers, and RPI still holds a game in hand over the Crimson. Cornell and Clarkson are five and six points up respectively, and likely to finish in the top two spots barring any big upsets. RPI still has a game remaining against each Clarkson and Cornell, so the opportunity is there to make up some ground with some big games from the Engineers.

Amazing how quickly an outlook can turn around, as we now look to whether RPI will be seeing home ice in the playoffs for the first time. RPI needs to stay on top of their game still, as the bottom two spots may be wrapped up by Brown and Union, but Dartmouth and Colgate are currently out of the playoffs but only 6 and 7 points back from the Engineers. Ever-increasing parity in the league has made every game count more than seasons past.

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RPI at Dartmouth
ECAC Hockey Game – Thompson Arena (Hanover, NH)
1/22/10 - 7:00pm
RPI 2, Dartmouth 1

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wdarren1.j22
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20100122&vis=rpi&home=dc&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/1/22/WICE_0122103232.aspx
Dartmouth: http://dartmouthsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11600&ATCLID=204873375

RECORD: 9-10-5 (6-4-3 ECAC Hockey, 15 points)

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RPI at Harvard
ECAC Hockey Game – Bright Hockey Center (Boston, MA)
1/23/10 – 4:00pm
RPI 4, Harvard 2

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wharren1.j23
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20100123&vis=rpi&home=hu&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/1/23/WICE_0123104911.aspx
Harvard: http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/wice/2009-10/releases/20100123_Rensselaer_Recap

RECORD: 10-10-5 (7-4-3 ECAC Hockey, 17 points)

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ECAC Standings (as of 1/23/10):

            GP    Pts    ECAC      All
Clarkson    13    23     11-1-1    17-5-3
Cornell     14    22     9-1-4     10-7-4
Harvard     15    18     8-5-2     10-5-4
Quinnipiac  14    17     6-3-5     13-7-6
Princeton   14    17     7-4-3     9-9-3
RPI         14    17     7-4-3     10-10-5
SLU         13    16     7-4-2     11-8-6
Yale        14    11     5-8-1     7-11-3
Dartmouth   15    11     5-9-1     7-11-2
Colgate     14    10     3-7-4     7-15-4
Union       14    3      1-12-1    5-20-1
Brown       14    3      0-11-3    2-14-4

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Upcoming Games:

Jan. 29 - Quinnipiac
Jan. 30 – Princeton
Feb. 5 – at Clarkson
Feb. 6 – at St. Lawrence

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WOMEN'S HOCKEY

The Engineers went 2-0-0 last week, beating Dartmouth (2-1) - for the first time in school history - and sixth-ranked Harvard (4-2). Freshman Shannon Ramelot (Bloomfield, MI) picked up her first collegiate victory against the Crimson, stopping 43 shots, including 20 in the second period alone.

Rensselaer (10-10-5; 7-4-3 ECACH) returns to the Houston Field House this weekend, when it hosts Quinnipiac (7pm) and Princeton (4pm) on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Live stats will be available http://www.sidearmstats.com/rpi/whockey/index.htm and a live video feed will also be available through the B2 Networks at https://www.b2livetv.com/login.asp. Saturday's contest will also broadcast on the air courtesy of WRPI radio on 91.5 FM or log on to www.wrpi.org and click on sports.

Women's Hockey - Union Home-and-Home

This weekend marked the annual home-and-home series between RPI and Union, a series which has given the Engineers a little trouble the past few seasons despite Union regularly occupying the cellar of the ECAC standings. Last season the game in Schenectady needed a late RPI power play goal to secure the win, while the season before the Engineers surrendered a point at Messa Rink (one of only two points earned by Union that season), tying the Dutchwomen 4-4 despite outshooting them 52-17.

RPI had no such difficulty this season, nor did they give anyone reason to doubt they were the better team as they shutout Union on consecutive afternoons, picking up four important ECAC points in the process. The margin was a (relatively) close 2-0 on Saturday, while Sunday's game was a dominant 5-0 victory for the Engineers

Saturday

Wright/Harrison/Naslund
Padmore/Dunlop/Weidner
Horton/Vandegrift/O'Keefe
Guillemette/Jakubowski/Stapleton

Castignetti/Gersten
Le Donne/Haller
Vadner/Daniels

van der Bliek

It was an uneventful first half of the game over in Schenectady, with no scoring in the first period or in the early part of the second, and only a couple penalties each way. As is fairly typical in Union games, the Dutchwomen only managed a handful of shots in the first half, with none that really tested Sonja van der Bliek. Through the first two periods Union recorded only 5 shots on goal to RPI's 22.

Midway through that second frame, Whitney Naslund broke the stalemate and picked up her 9th of the season from Alisa Harrison to give RPI a 1-0 lead near the midpoint of the period. The Engineers took several penalties in the latter half of the second but Union was unable to manage any sustained pressure, and the score remained 1-0 for the better part of 20 minutes.

Midway through the third RPI got a power play opportunity as Union was sent off on a holding the stick call, and it took just 22 seconds with the advantage for Alisa Harrison to score a goal of her own, with assists going to Naslund and Allison Wright. Union brought some pressure late in regulation but nothing of significance and the buzzer sounded with the score still 2-0.

Some assorted notes about Saturday's game - the scoreboard at Messa Rink was broken, leading to confusion about the game clock, penalties, and scoring. The public address guys had to announce the game time at regular intervals so the teams (and broadcasters) knew how much was left on the clock. RPI's top line of Wright, Harrison, and Naslund accounted for all of RPI's points, going 0-1-1, 1-1-2, and 1-1-2 respectively. The win also marked the first on a Saturday for the Engineers since the exhibition season opener against Bluewater on September 26.

Sunday

Wright/Harrison/Naslund
Padmore/Dunlop/Weidner
Horton/Vandegrift/O'Keefe
Guillemette/Jakubowski/Stapleton

Castignetti/Gersten
Le Donne/Vadner
Haller/Daniels

van der Bliek

Unlike Saturday's game, where Union played strong, and with energy, Sunday's game was really no contest from the get-go. Allison Wright tallied what would stand as the game winning goal at 5:07 of the first and it was all RPI from there. Kendra Dunlop doubled RPI's score a little less than three minutes later with a power play goal en route to outshooting the Dutchwomen 10-3 in the period.

Jill Vandegrift and Whitney Naslund notched goals in the second to again double RPI's lead to 4-0, and Alisa Harrison picked up the Engineers' fifth at 12:01 of the final frame to give the band the first legitimate excuse to play Hawaii 5-0 in quite a long time.

Unlike in Saturday's totally top-line dominated affair, 11 players tallied points in Sunday's game, with Allison Wright leading the charge with a 1-2-3 line. Harrison and Naslund had a goal and assist apiece while 8 others each picked up a point. Sonja van der Bliek was strong in net to earn her second shutout of the weekend, turning away several good Union opportunities as the Dutchwomen had their only flurry of good shots on the power play late in the third. The third period saw RPI outshot by Union (8-6), a feat not accomplished since January of 2006 when Union outshot RPI 6-5 in the second period of an otherwise uneventful 5-1 RPI win.

Whether RPI's weekend inconsistencies stemmed from games on Saturday or simply the second game of the weekend, they broke the pattern decisively this weekend with two convincing wins over Union. And they did so in games that have given both RPI teams fits in seasons past - those that come against opponents we "should" beat.

Rossli Chace did not dress this weekend after suffering a broken leg in practice the week prior.

RPI is now idle for a full month before hosting Clarkson and St. Lawrence at the Field House on January 8th and 9th.

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RPI @ Union
ECAC Hockey Game - Messa Rink (Schenectady, NY)
12/5/09 - 2:00pm
RPI 2, Union 0

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wrenuni1.d05
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20091205&vis=rpi&home=uc&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2009/12/5/WICE_1205090855.aspx
UC: http://www.unionathletics.com/news/2009/12/5/WICE_1205094606.aspx

RECORD: 6-8-4 (3-2-2 ECAC Hockey, 8 points)

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Union @ RPI
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
12/6/09 - 12:00pm
RPI 5, Union 0

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wrenuni1.d06
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20091206&vis=uc&home=rpi&gender=w

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2009/12/6/WICE_1206092422.aspx
UC: http://www.unionathletics.com/news/2009/12/6/WICE_1206090422.aspx

RECORD: 7-8-4 (4-2-2 ECAC Hockey, 10 points)

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ECAC Standings (as of 12/6/09):

             GP    Pts    ECAC      All
Clarkson     9     16     8-1-0     14-4-1
Cornell      10    16     7-1-2     8-4-2
Harvard      9     12     6-3-0     7-3-2
Quinnipiac   10    12     4-2-4     7-6-5
Princeton    10    11     5-4-1     7-6-1
RPI          8     10     4-2-2     7-8-4
SLU          9     10     4-3-2     7-5-5
Dartmouth    9     9      4-4-1     5-4-1
Colgate      10    7      2-5-3     4-12-3
Yale         10    5      2-7-1     3-8-2
Brown        10    3      0-7-3     1-10-3
Union        8     1      0-7-1     2-13-1

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Upcoming Games

Jan. 8 - St. Lawrence
Jan. 9 - Clarkson
Jan. 15 - at Brown
Jan. 16 - at Yale

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WOMEN’S HOCKEY

The Engineers went 2-0 last week, sweeping a home-and-home series with Union College, 2-0 and 5-0. Senior Allison Wright (Oakville, ON) recorded four points (1 goals, 3 assists) in the two games, including three (1 goal, 2 assists) in the home win on Sunday. Rensselaer (7-8-4; 4-2-2 ECACH) returns to the ice on January 8 & 9, when it hosts North Country-rivals St. Lawrence and Clarkson, respectively.

Live Stats for both games will be available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/rpi/whockey/index.htm and can be seen live on a pay-per-view basis through the B2 Networks at https://www.b2livetv.com/login.asp.