Know Your Enemy: Union

The tables have most undoubtedly turned in the Route 7 Rivalry, and they turned rather quickly. Season after season over the last decade-plus, it was Union getting the better of the Engineers with regularity. And now, here we stand, two years removed from the Dutchmen's national championship, and RPI can now claim six wins in the past seven games with their bitter rivals from Schenectady, including four consecutive ECAC victories and two Mayor's Cup titles. Will that continue this season? Who knows. While RPI has finished ahead of Union in the final standings of the last two ECAC seasons, it still seems like all of that can basically be thrown out the window when these sides square off.

Union
Nickname: Dutchmen
Location: Schenectady, NY
Founded: 1795
Conference: ECAC
National Championships: 1 (2014)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2014
Last Frozen Four: 2014
Coach: Rick Bennett (6th season)
2015-16 Record: 13-14-9 (6-10-6 ECAC, 9th place)
Series: RPI leads, 51-34-10
First Game: February 26, 1904 (Albany, NY)
Last RPI win: January 23, 2016 (Albany, NY)
Last UC win: January 24, 2015 (Albany, NY)

2016-17 games: October 28, 2016 (Troy, NY); October 29, 2016 (Schenectady, NY); January 19, 2017 (Albany, NY)

Key players: F Eli Lichtenwald, sr.; F Michael Pontarelli, sr.; G Alex Sakellaropoulos, sr.; D Jeff Taylor, sr.; F Mike Vecchione, sr.; D JC Brassard, jr.; D Nick DeSimone, jr.; F Spencer Foo, jr.; F Ryan Scarfo, jr.; D Greg Campbell, so.; F Brett Supinski, so.; F Brendan Taylor, so.; F Sebastian Vidmar, so.; F Ryan Burton, fr.; D Vas Kolias, fr.; D Ben Newhouse, fr.

Key losses: F Matt Wilkins, D Sebastien Gingras, D Noah Henry

Previous KYE installments:

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

The ECAC tends to have some pretty distinct tiers of teams and they typically group together somewhere in the middle. Whenever there's a tier of one, it's frequently at the top (like Quinnipiac last season) or at the bottom (like Princeton in 2014 and 2015). Union, unusually, had a very firm grip on 9th place for much of the late run of the season - not close to catching a home playoff spot, yet not likely to fall even lower.

That was indicative of a team that had at least a little bit of capacity to it, but wasn't terribly strong at anything. 36th in the nation on offense (2.53 GPG), 27th in defense (2.67 GAA), 31st in power play (17.5%), 38th in penalty kill (80.8%) - pretty much perfectly average all around when put up against the rest of the country, within eight spots from the national median in each category. Not so bad any anything, not so great either.

The Dutchmen were a fairly streaky team at times. Unbeaten in their first five games (all at home, 2-0-3), they then proceeded to drop four straight (including the home-and-home with RPI) and six out of seven in a row overall. That was followed by a seven game unbeaten stretch (6-0-1), but after the first weekend of 2016, the Dutchmen won just four games the rest of the season.

The best news Union got this offseason was that Vecchione, the team's leading scorer, would return for his senior season, spurning NHL offers for the second consecutive off-season to finish up his career in Schenectady. He will be a key offensive element on a team that returns 10 of its top 11 scorers from last season, including Scarfo and Foo, who tied for the team lead in goals with 12 each. Union certainly isn't scoring goals at anywhere near the pace they had when they won the national championship in 2014, but they aren't even remotely helpless in this part of the game.

The biggest issue for the Dutchmen to overcome this coming year is in becoming more consistent. Too often, they were either getting good offense for long stretches without getting defensive support, or vice versa. For instance, in their final three games last season, Union managed to keep the opposition away from that "magic" three-goal total, but they dropped all three games while scoring only twice at Colgate and Cornell. Similarly, in six of the team's nine ties, they themselves scored three or more goals but couldn't produce a victory.

The ECAC was so deep in goaltending last season that the uneven offensive outputs can certainly be forgiven to a significant degree. Netminders stole games with such regularity last season that it's hard to fault what appears to still be a decent enough attack. What Union needs more of is stability in its own crease. Sakellaropoulos has yet to put up numbers that would rank him among the top-half of the league in net and while he's a proven, capable Division I goaltender, he hasn't been among the elite and that has been a hindrance to Union's success in the last two seasons.

But again, as we say every year when it comes to analyzing Union up against RPI, none of this even remotely matters. We've seen far superior Union teams taken down by plainly inferior RPI squads and vice versa throughout the last 15+ years. RPI-Union has reached a point where guts, heart, and attitude go farther than anything else in determining a winner - which is a reason many of their games can get chippy, since both try to bring all three in spades. The only thing that RPI's streak of six wins in seven contests means is that the Engineers know they can win these games, a serious reversal from the previous 14 out of 15 won by the Dutchmen.

There are certainly enough questions with both of these squads heading into this season that "anything goes" remains a very viable statement. It's exceptionally easy to see either of these teams being able to sweep all three games this year - or anything inbetween. In terms of Union's standing in the ECAC, however, expect at least a little bit of a bump just on experience alone, as the team was light on seniors last year. But unless they can find some more consistency, especially on defense, the possibility of continued tire-spinning is there as well.

Men's Hockey - at Quinnipiac/vs. Union (21/23 Jan)

The Engineers came out of a big weekend with a couple of great results, though they were mere inches and scant seconds away from coming away with an even bigger result. On Thursday of last week, RPI gave #1 Quinnipiac all they could handle, taking a (brief) 2-0 lead and very nearly pulling off the second upset over a #1 team this year, but gave up the lead with less than 10 seconds remaining, settling for a 2-2 tie. They rebounded nicely two days later, picking up a third win this year over Union in a solid if frequently not exceptional game in Albany, 5-2.

Quinnipiac
Melanson-Schroeder-Nanne
Miller-Bubela-Wood
Ohrvall-DeVito-Liljegren
Rodriguez-Fulton-Gillespie

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Grant
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

Quinnipiac came into Thursday's conference game just two days removed from a harrowing 3-3 tie at Maine in which the Bobcats had to notch two goals in the final 7:01 - including an extra-attacker goal on the power play with less than a minute remaining - to keep their 1-loss record intact. The Engineers, on the other hand, were in need of a far better performance than they had at home against Colgate the previous Saturday.

Onslaught is the best word to describe the first period from Quinnipiac's perspective. The Bobcats maintained puck control for a majority of the period, and unleashed 13 shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes, all turned aside by Jason Kasdorf. The first period was a question of survival for RPI as the Q looked to establish dominance early. They did look the better of the two teams, but getting out of the period at a score of 0-0 was a huge boost to the Engineers.

As the 2nd period rolled on, the storm drew down and RPI was able to start operating on more or less equal footing with the home team - and they got the first bounce for a goal to go their way as Zach Schroeder opened the scoring with just over three minutes left in the period on an odd man rush, putting the Engineers ahead 1-0 despite being outshot 30-16 in the first two periods.

Five minutes into the third, RPI got an insurance tally when a shot by Milos Bubela banked off Mark Miller's chest and into the net, putting the Engineers up 2-0. But that lead would last only 31 seconds, as Quinnipiac got themselves on the board with Soren Jonzzon scoring moments after a draw in the RPI end to bring the Bobcats back within one.

Kasdorf led the charge defensively, but the Engineers gave him plenty of support as Quinnipiac pushed for the tying goal. It started to look like a potential redux of Tuesday for the Bobcats when Jared Wilson was called for slashing with 3:01 left in regulation. The Q immediately pulled their netminder to create the same 6-on-4 situation that had helped them tie the score in the final minute against the Black Bears.

RPI's penalty kill, strong all season long, held up once again, and very nearly sealed up the victory. The usual caveat on pulling your goaltender while on the power play is that the penalty killers can take shots on the open net without worrying about icing - and the Engineers came oh so close to potting one when Lou Nanne sent one the length of the ice, and missed the net by mere inches with about 30 seconds left on the Wilson penalty.

The Engineers killed the penalty completely, but still had 60 more seconds to survive with the extra attacker on the ice. Ultimately, they would need to make it a total of 181 seconds with six skaters attacking for the #1 team in the nation. They made it 172. Sam Anas, one of Quinnipiac's most dangerous attackers, poked in a loose puck on the goal line with 9.3 seconds remaining in regulation to break the hearts of Engineer Nation and send the game into overtime.

Just 14 seconds into the overtime period, QU gained a golden opportunity to steal the win when Schroeder was called for boarding - a penalty the officials discussed at length but chose to call a minor. Again, the RPI penalty kill stood strong, and the Engineers themselves got a power play chance with just over a minute left in the OT period, but neither team were able to put one home for the victory. Kasdorf made 3 saves in overtime to give him a total of 46 saves on 48 shots for the evening.

To come so close to victory on the road against a team RPI hasn't beaten since 2010 was rough, but ultimately, it was a solid result in the grand scheme of things.

Union
Melanson-Schroeder-Nanne
Miller-Bubela-Wood
Ohrvall-DeVito-Liljegren
Rodriguez-Fulton-Gillespie

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Grant
Moore-Hampton

Kasdorf

Hampered by injuries and perhaps emboldened by the figurative level of success RPI found two days prior against Quinnipiac, the Engineers ran the same lineup against Union in the Mayor's Cup game.

It took RPI just 50 seconds to open the scoring at the Times Union Center as Lou Nanne jumped on a rebound from a shot by Chris Bradley for his third goal of the year, making it 1-0 Engineers before many in the crowd even had the time to settle into their seats. But that lead didn't last terribly long - Eli Lichtenwald jumped on a rebound that should have been cleared into the corner about a minute and a half later, and just like that, it was a 1-1 game.

Mike Prapavessis showed off some sweet moves with about 7 minutes left in the first, toe dragging around his man to create open ice at the top of the slot, and he rifled one home to make it 2-1 Engineers. But once again, it would be a short-lived lead, as Union's Ryan Scarfo scored on the power play two minutes later to knot things up once again.

From there, the game devolved into a complete mess flow-wise, as neither team seemed able to exert any significant attacking pressure. Union managed only feeble attempts on goal, while RPI was at times utterly unable to win faceoffs anywhere on the ice. The deadlock would remain until 13 minutes into the second period, when Jimmy DeVito pounced on a loose puck and beat Alex Sakellaropoulos for his first goal of the year, making it 3-2 RPI.

The lack of flow persisted from that point well into the third period, and for the same reasons. As time ticked by, it seemed as though the game was setting up for an explosive ending, but once more RPI managed to control the right bounce at the right time to let things set up for a simply ugly victory instead. Phil Hampton saw a shot by Jesper Ohrvall deflect right to him in the faceoff circle to the left of Sakellaropoulos, and he one-timed that rebound home to give RPI a 4-2 edge with just under 4 minutes left to play.

Drew Melanson added an empty netter, his fourth goal of the season, with 1:10 left to seal things up tight for the Engineers, who won the Mayor's Cup for the second time in four tries and exorcised the demons of last year's abysmal third period, in which RPI allowed six goals in the final 20 minutes.

The Engineers have 6 of their last 10 games on the road, and that starts this coming weekend when they take on a Brown team they need to find a win against, and a Yale team that could provide a significant boost if RPI can manage to sweep the season series. They fell behind Harvard in the ECAC standings after the Crimson swept their weekend set at Colgate and Cornell, but they do still have a game in hand against Harvard. There's a bit of separation beginning to develop between the top 6 and the bottom 6 within the league, but there are only 3 points separating 2nd place from 6th.

Current ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 23 pts (10-0-3)
2. Harvard - 17 pts (7-3-3)
3. RPI - 16 pts (5-1-6)
4. Yale - 15 pts (6-3-3)
5. Dartmouth - 14 pts (7-5-0)
6. Cornell - 14 pts (6-4-2)
7. St. Lawrence - 11 pts (5-6-1)
8. Clarkson - 9 pts (3-6-3)
9. Princeton - 8 pts (3-7-2)
10. Colgate - 8 pts (3-8-2)
11. Union - 7 pts (2-7-3)
12. Brown - 6 pts (2-9-2)

By winning percentage
1. Quinnipiac (.885)
2. RPI (.667)
3. Harvard (.654)
4. Yale (.625)
5. Dartmouth (.583)
6. Cornell (.583)
7. St. Lawrence (.458)
8. Clarkson (.375)
9. Princeton (.333)
10. Colgate (.308)
11. Union (.292)
12. Brown (.231)

#16 RPI at #1 Quinnipiac 

ECAC Game - TD Banknorth Sports Center (Hamden, CT)
1/21/16 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, Quinnipiac 2 (OT)

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
USCHO
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 12-7-6 (5-1-6 ECAC, 16 pts)

Union vs. #16 RPI
Mayor's Cup Game - Times Union Center (Albany, NY)
1/23/16 - 7:30pm

RESULT: RPI 5, Union 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

VIDEO
RPI TV highlights
RPI TV full game

RECORD: 13-7-6 (5-1-6 ECAC, 16 pts)

Upcoming games
29 Jan - at Brown
30 Jan - at #11 Yale
05 Feb - St. Lawrence
06 Feb - Clarkson (Big Red Freakout!)
12 Feb - at #7 Harvard

Crossroads of a Season

Tonight, the Engineers get to take their best shot at the top - Quinnipiac. The Bobcats have been totally unreal this season, sitting a monumental 7 points ahead of RPI in 1st place and basically playing king of the mountain with the rest of college hockey. First in the RPI, first in KRACH, first in the Pairwise, first in the polls. They've lost only once all year. It ain't going to be easy. But glory awaits tonight in Hamden if the Engineers can do what they've done all year - find ways to win, and take down top-end squads. They did it at home just last weekend. Doing it on the road would be a huge (and we mean huge) boost, both in the ECAC and in the Pairwise.

RPI hasn't beaten Union three times in the same season since 1997, and even that year they were 3-1-1 against the Dutchmen (they swept a home playoff series, because that's what they did back then). Even when Union was horrible, they still found ways to produce a result against RPI. And these last couple of years, even more so than usual, you can just throw the records out the door. They don't even matter a little bit when these teams play. Both teams have a shot at skating away with the Mayor's Cup.

And last year, at least, it represented a bad turning point for the Engineers. Coming in on a 3-game winning streak after finally snapping a long 9-game losing streak and easily playing some of their best hockey of the season, RPI took a 3-2 edge into the 3rd period and promptly gave up six goals in 20 of the most painful minutes of hockey you'll ever see - and kicking off a brand new 9-game winless streak that wasn't broken until the last night of the regular season.

On the surface, there's not much to this weekend. An odd mid-week league game at a team RPI hasn't beaten since 2010, and then a non-conference game on neutral ice. But mark my words. Two losses at the end of this weekend will sour everyone on this team, while two wins would turn some serious heads. The final results of these two games won't have much more of a lasting impact than in how it propels the Engineers into the remainder of the season.

On the women's side, it's a road trip to Brown and Yale, and a couple of games the Engineers have got to come up with points in if they want to stay in the playoff hunt. Brown should present more of a challenge than Union did last week, but only slightly. Points lost there would hurt a lot. Yale, on the other hand, is a primary competitor for a playoff - and RPI's already coughed up a pair of points to the Bulldogs this year. This weekend's a crucial one in the playoff hunt for sure - they won't have nearly as many opportunities for easy points after this one's over.

No team wants to be peaking in January, but it's clear both teams have a lot to play for and need to be on top of their game now, more than ever before this year.

Women's Hockey - Union Home-and-Home (15/16 Jan)

Coming into the home-and-home series against a Union team which was winless in its last 39 games, RPI had no choice but to take four points if they wanted to remain in the hunt for a playoff spot.

While the games may not have been RPI's best-executed, the Engineers got the points they needed, as Lovisa Selander backstopped the cherry and white to back-to-back shutouts - 2-0 on Friday in Troy and 3-0 on Saturday in Schenectady.

Friday (vs. Union)

Horwood/Gruschow/Thomas
Rooney/Mankey/Wash
Grigsby/Hylwa/Tremblay
Raspa/Tomlinson/Orzechowski

Behounek/Banks
Hansen/Godin
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

Lovisa Selander stopped all 28 shots she faced Friday afternoon to lead RPI to a 2-0 victory over Union at Houston Field House. It was a fairly sloppy game by the Engineers; one which turned out okay only because they were not facing a hardier opponent.

Hannah Behounek scored the game's first goal and RPI's eventual game-winner after Union turned the puck over in their own zone. Katie Rooney fed it back to Behounek at the point for a slapper which deflected off a Union stick on its way to the net and past Leah Patrick for a 1-0 RPI lead.

The second period passed without any scoring, through the Engineers managed to outshoot the Dutchwomen by just one shot, 12-11. This was a common thread on the weekend, which saw RPI outshoot Union just 32-28 on Friday before actually being outshot 33-32 on Saturday - an unusual result given the Dutchwomen have been heavily outshot in most of their games on the season.

Laura Horwood added a goal at 10:11 of the third period, just barely getting a stick on a shot by Makenna Thomas to tip it between the goalpost and Patrick's skate as the netminder slid across the crease to make a stop. That goal would be the game's last as RPI picked up the 2-0 win.

The game was a fast one, taking just 1:50 to complete primarily due to a lack of penalty calls despite a number of infractions that could have been whistled on both teams. While each team was whistled for just one penalty each, things would go much differently on Saturday with a different set of officials.

Saturday (at Union)

Rooney/Mankey/Wash
Horwood/Gruschow/Thomas
Grigsby/Hylwa/Tremblay
Raspa/Tomlinson/Orzechowski

Behounek/Banks
Hansen/Godin
Kimmerle/Renn

Selander

After just two penalties on Friday, RPI and Union combined for 13 on Saturday, making for a very choppy game but one which RPI played to their advantage, scoring two power play goals en route to a 3-0 victory over Union to extend the Dutchwomen's winless streak to 41 games and goal-less streak to over five full games.

Katie Rooney and Alexa Gruschow scored power play tallies in the first period to open up a 2-0 lead, while Laura Horwood again tacked on a goal - this time in the second - to make it 3-0.

Rooney's goal came moments after a point blank chance that saw them robbed by Melissa Black, who is quickly racking up the saves for the Dutchwomen. The goal was briefly reviewed for possible interference but allowed to stand.

Gruschow scored just a few minutes later on the next RPI power play, taking a feed across the slot from Whitney Renn for an easy point blank shot past Black, who couldn't get across the crease quickly enough to get a glove on it.

The Engineers wasted a 5-on-3 chance waffling in their own zone early in the second before negating the rest of the 5-on-4 by taking an interference call. The teams continued to trade penalties in the second period - seven in total, all before the midpoint of the period - before Horwood put home a rebound at 16:38 to make it a 3-0 game which would hold up throughout a third period where Union outshot RPI 16-10.

To keep pace in the playoff race next weekend, RPI will need to shoot for another four point weekend against Brown and Yale. While both teams trail the Engineers in the standings - Brown languishing in 11th while Yale sits six points ahead in 10th - the last meeting between the Engineers and the Bulldogs saw RPI soundly defeated.

With Cornell and Dartmouth just one point back of RPI, the Engineers need to continue to outstrip their Ivy League foes to hold on to a top-eight spot.

-----

RPI vs Union
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/15/16 - 3pm
RPI 2, Union 0

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5199
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wrenuni1.j15

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2016/1/15/WICE_0115162400.aspx?path=whock
Union: http://www.unionathletics.com/news/2016/1/15/WICE_0115163700.aspx?path=whockey
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erxAkRZ9Fv0
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/1029-womens-hockey-vs-union

RECORD: 6-11-4 (4-5-2 ECAC)

-----

RPI at Union
ECAC Hockey Game - Messa Rink (Schenectady, NY)
1/16/16 - 3pm
RPI 3, Union 0

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=5200
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1516/boxes/wrenuni1.j16

RECAPS:
RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2016/1/16/WICE_0116162914.aspx?path=whock
Union: http://www.unionathletics.com/news/2016/1/16/WICE_0116160418.aspx?path=whockey

RECORD: 7-11-4 (5-5-2 ECAC)

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ECAC Standings

1. Quinnipiac - 23 pts (10-1-3) (.821)
2. Princeton - 19 pts (9-4-1) (.679)
3t. Clarkson - 16 pts (7-3-2) (.667)
3t. Colgate - 16 pts (6-2-4) (.667)
5. Harvard - 15 pts (7-5-1) (.577)
6. St. Lawrence - 13 pts (6-5-1) (.542)
7. RPI - 12 pts (5-5-2) (.500)
8t. Cornell - 11 pts (4-5-3) (.458)
8t. Dartmouth - 11 pts (4-6-3) (.423)
10. Yale - 9 pts (4-7-1) (.375)
11. Brown - 3 pts (1-10-1) (.125)
12. Union - 2 pts (0-10-2) (.083)

-----

Upcoming Schedule

Jan. 22 - at Brown (7pm)
Jan. 23 - at Yale (4pm)
Jan. 29 - Colgate (7pm)
Jan. 30 - Cornell (4pm)

None Shall Pass

No pumpup? No problem.

Missed posting this pumpup yesterday due to some family obligations, but the Engineers, both teams, made the song I was planning to use look mighty prescient.

A 2-0 win for the ladies over Union was followed by a 1-0 win for the gentlemen over Cornell. Lovisa Selander and Jason Kasdorf became the first RPI netminding duo to post shutouts on the same day since Brianna Piper and Bryce Merriam did it on November 12, 2011 - which also happens to be the same day the men last won a game 1-0.

Now, we see if the teams can engineer the first double sweep since October 19-20, 2007, when the men swept Army and Sacred Heart while the women swept Maine - it's never happened that both teams have swept an ECAC weekend at the same time.

Let's make some history tonight, eh?

Men's Hockey - Union Home-and-Home (30/31 Oct)

The Route 7 Rivalry was renewed once more last weekend, and it continued the trend that has been ongoing since 2014 began - the matchups continue to be dominated by one side, only now, that side is certainly RPI. For the fourth and fifth times in the last six meetings between the Engineers and the Dutchmen, RPI skated off with victories this past weekend, sweeping the ECAC series between the rivals for the second time in as many seasons with a 5-1 victory in Schenectady followed by a 3-2 win in Troy.

Friday
Liljegren-Bubela-Wood
Nanne-Tironese-Bourbonnais
Fulton-Schroeder-Gillespie
Ohrvall, Miller

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Hampton
Moore-Reno
Grant

Kasdorf

Sophomore Drew Melanson was a healthy scratch in the first game of the series, with freshman Tommy Grant getting his collegiate debut in his place. That led to a tiny bit of line juggling heading into the first ECAC weekend of the regular season.

It took the referees exactly six seconds to inject themselves into the game, calling a cross-checking penalty against Jake Wood off the opening faceoff, creating for Union what would be the first of nine power play opportunities on the evening. The Dutchmen, however, have been brutal on the power play all month long and that would continue for much of the weekend as well. RPI killed the Wood penalty with relative ease, and were unable to score on a power play of their own that came along about two and a half minutes later.

Midway through the first period, the Engineers struck first blood as Travis Fulton notched his first goal of the season with a tight-angle shot from along the goal line, sneaking one past Alex Sakellaropoulos after a neutral zone takeaway from Wood to make it 1-0 RPI. Five minutes later, a Phil Hampton blast from the point was redirected in front by Lou Nanne for the sophomore's first goal of the year to make it 2-0, the first in an outright volley of goals by the Engineers. 58 seconds after Nanne's goal, Kenny Gillespie scored the first goal of his collegiate career by picking up a drop pass from Fulton and blasting it from along the boards near the blue line, a bad goal for Sakellaropoulos to let in, and the Union junior was chased from the net.

Sakellaropoulos' replacement, freshman Jake Kupsky, couldn't initialy staunch the blood-letting. Just under two minutes later, Riley Bourbonnais one-timed a drop pass from Viktor Liljegren to the back of the net, making it 4-0 RPI just 18:12 into the contest. The Engineers outshot the Dutchmen 15-4 in the first period.

From there, things quieted down considerably, turning instead into the RPI march to the penalty box. Four separate penalties, including two to Milos Bubela, were called on the Engineers during the middle frame, but Union's rough power play abilities kept RPI ahead 4-0 after two periods. Over the first 40 minutes, Jason Kasdorf required only 11 saves to keep Union off the scoreboard.

Liljegren picked up a five-minute major for boarding just seconds after Bubela's second minor expired early in the third period, a penalty that had the potential to allow Union to creep back into contention. However, Bubela himself broke Union's back mere moments after the major began, jumping on a bad pass to create a shorthanded breakway that he buried to make it 5-0 Engineers. The remainder of the Liljegren penalty expired without too much of a problem for the visitors.

The penalties would not end there. Penalties to Evan Tironese, Mark Miller, and Jared Wilson would ensue, with Union finally breaking through for a goal on the Wilson penalty, their ninth and final power play of the evening, keeping Kasdorf from his first shutout of the season.

After that, it was all over but the requisite pushing and shoving that rears its head in any RPI-Union affair. Union captain Matt Wilkins was the first to go, getting hit with a contact-to-the-head penalty with about 90 seconds left. That was followed in the waning seconds with misconducts for Bourbonnais, Bubela, Eli Lichtenwald, and Connor Light for a general dustup, and a charging penalty to Nick Cruice as time expired.

Saturday
Liljegren-Bubela-Wood
Nanne-Tironese-Bourbonnais
Fulton-Schroeder-Gillespie
Melanson, Miller

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Hampton
Moore-Reno
Grant

Kasdorf

Melanson returned to the lineup for the Black Saturday game, replacing Jesper Ohrvall, who was a healthy scratch. Otherwise, the lineup remained exactly the same.

Union looked slightly better to start the game on Saturday, but it was not difficult for the visitors to look better than they had on Friday following a performance their coach described as the worst he'd ever seen since his arrival in Schenectady. Nonetheless, the opening 20 minutes were mostly controlled by the Engineers, especially late in the period as they peppered Sakellaropoulos with shots to emerge from the first with a 17-6 edge in shots. But unlike on Friday, that lopsided tally did not accompany a lopsided score, as the teams skated to a scoreless draw in the first period.

Wilson's first goal of the season ignited the scoring early in the second period, as his blast from the point 3:29 gave teeth to RPI's dominant early play, and Hampton's first of the year - on a similar play three and a half minutes later - put RPI up 2-0.

The third period is when the officiating - widely reviled from the previous night - reared its ugly head. Union cut the RPI lead in half on a power play goal 4:03 into the third as Sebastien Gingras scored following a behind-the-play interference call on Mike Prapavessis. A fairly weak slashing call against Union's Jeff Taylor midway through the period evened things out, however, as Mark Miller put together his first goal of the year on the ensuing power play, rifling one through traffic to put RPI up 3-1.

Both teams appeared lifeless after the Miller goal, but a terrible diving call against Melanson after a very clear takedown by Union's Brendan Taylor led to a 4-on-4 that got the Dutchmen back into the game once again as Ryan Scarfo scored on a rebound to make it 3-2.

Minutes later, a rough charge by Wilkins on Evan Tironese into the boards was not called, and Tironese was lost for the remainder of the game - and potentially longer - after injuring his wrist on the play. With the whistles swallowed, Union pushed for the tying goal late, pulling the goaltender and getting some decent looks, but Kasdorf stood up tall in the end to preserve the weekend sweep for the Engineers, who begin the season 2-0-0 in league play for the second consecutive season.

The road forward for the Engineers is one in which they'll be forced to prove themselves repeatedly - the next three games in a row are all against nationally ranked teams. If they are to prove that their start to the ECAC season was no fluke, they'll have to get some results on the road against a Clarkson team that is off to its best start in nearly a quarter-century and a St. Lawrence team that appears to be just as good as they were last season.

Current ECAC Standings

1. Harvard - 4 pts (2-0-0)

2. RPI - 4 pts (2-0-0)

3. Brown - 0 pts (0-0-0)

3. Clarkson - 0 pts (0-0-0)

3. Colgate - 0 pts (0-0-0)

3. Cornell - 0 pts (0-0-0)

3. Princeton - 0 pts (0-0-0)

3. Quinnipiac - 0 pts (0-0-0)

3. St. Lawrence - 0 pts (0-0-0)

3. Yale - 0 pts (0-0-0)

11. Union - 0 pts (0-2-0)

12. Dartmouth - 0 pts (0-2-0) 

RPI at Union
ECAC Game - Messa Rink (Schenectady, NY)
10/30/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 5, Union 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS

RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

VIDEO
RPI TV (highlights)
YouTube (Appert postgame)

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

Union at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/31/15 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Union 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

VIDEO
RPI TV (Full game)
YouTube (Appert post game)

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

Upcoming games
06 Nov - at #17 Clarkson
07 Nov - at #15 St. Lawrence
13 Nov - #12 Yale
14 Nov - Brown
20 Nov - at Bentley

Haters Gonna Hate

"We hate them, they hate us, that's all there really is to it."

I've mentioned this quote in the past - uttered by an RPI Engineer who will forever remain anonymous. It's pretty much a perfect one-sentence coverage of RPI-Union. As much as RPI hated Clarkson for generations, there was never as much mutual hatred as there has been in RPI-Union for years (Clarkson always saved that for St. Lawrence).

Records are irrelevant this weekend - if you need proof, just look at last year's ECAC home-and-home. The defending national champions against a team that just got swept at home against Bentley. So of course the team that got swept at home against Bentley swept all four points. Union's victory over RPI last year in the Mayor's Cup - an equally bizarre outcome, especially considering the condition of both teams heading into it - was the Dutchmen's first win over RPI in four tries.

And it means there's some payback owed. Whoever lost the last round always owes some payback. Period.

It's the opening weekend of ECAC play for the women, too, as they travel to take on a Cornell team that's not quite as mighty as they had been in recent years (they just got taken behind the woodshed by a current power team, Boston College, in Ithaca, 12-1 in two games), and a Colgate team that has been a major competitor for playoff positions in those same years.

Important? All ECAC games are important. But this weekend, both teams face games that, for one reason or another are just a little more important.

Stick tap to Tyler Hinman for this week's pumpup.

Know Your Enemy: Union

Finishing in 10th in the ECAC is pretty much never an easy season, but if there was one year where a 10th place team could probably just let it roll off their backs pretty easily, that would be Union from last season. They could likely finish in the bottom four for the next five years and it wouldn't hurt that much, but they're now moving on from the ultimate glory and after failing to win hardware for the first time in a few seasons, re-setting for what they're surely hoping will be a new opportunity to make some noise.

Union
Nickname: Dutchmen
Location: Schenectady, NY
Founded: 1795
Conference: ECAC
National Championships: 1 (2014)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2014
Last Frozen Four: 2014
Coach: Rick Bennett (5th season)
2013-14 Record: 19-18-2 (8-13-1 ECAC, 10th place)
Series: RPI leads, 48-34-10
First Game: February 26, 1904 (Albany, NY)
Last RPI win: November 1, 2014 (Schenectady, NY)
Last UC win: January 24, 2015 (Albany, NY)

2014-15 games: October 30, 2015 (Schenectady, NY); October 31, 2015 (Troy, NY); January 23, 2016 (Albany, NY)

Key players: F Nick Cruice, sr.; D Sebastian Gingras, sr.; F Matt Wilkins, sr.; D Noah Henry, jr.; F Eli Lichtenwald, jr.; F Michael Pontarelli, jr.; G Alex Sakellaropoulos, jr.; D Jeff Taylor, jr.; F Mike Vecchione, jr.; F Roman Ammirato, so.; D JC Brassard, so.; D Nick DeSimone, so.; F Spencer Foo, so.; F Ryan Scarfo, so.; F Cole Maier, fr.; F Brett Supinski, fr.; F Brendan Taylor, fr.; F Sebastian Vidmar, fr.

Key losses: F Daniel Ciampini, F Max Novak, G Colin Stevens, D Charlie Vasaturo, F Sam Coatta

Previous KYE installments:

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

The Dutchmen were very uneven in their title defense season, yet by the end of the year they still needed to be killed with fire in order to be put to bed. They came out of the gate on fire, extending the long unbeaten streak they finished the previous year with to 22 games by winning their first five in a row to open the year, then they turned around and went winless in 6 straight, including getting swept by RPI.

February was especially rough. While RPI had their own struggles scoring goals at times last season, it paled to the struggle the Dutchmen endured in a five game stretch wherein they scored a grand total of two goals, losing all of them by a combined 14-2 margin. Union went 223:40 without lighting the lamp even once during that five game run.

Then, like flipping a switch, they were back. After pair of 3-2 home wins to end the season, the Dutchmen basically strolled into Lynah Rink and smoked Cornell with 4-2 and 7-0 victories to sweep the first round series. Top-seeded Quinnipiac awaited in the quarterfinals, but even there, Union wouldn't go down without being put down. Because it's Union, they had to lose Game 1 in multiple overtimes as they are wont to do in multiple overtime games, but they bounced back for a win in Game 2 before falling in Game 3 of a tough-fought series.

The major question in Schenectady will be in net. Colin Stevens had basically the worst season of his collegiate career as a senior with top blueliners he'd worked with gone, and Sakellaropoulos put up some tough numbers when Stevens was sidelined with injury. The top job isn't necessarily going to belong to Sakellaropoulos, as Union brings in Jake Kupsky, who the San Jose Sharks took a flier on in the last round of the NHL Entry Draft last month. Either one will need to shore up a defense that looked a bit deflated at times last year, although the blue line does have a couple of solid elements in Gingras and Taylor.

On offense, losing Ciampini is a hit for the Dutchmen, but there's still plenty of demonstrated talent among the forwards, led by Vecchione, Wilkins, and Foo. Taylor also contributes offensively, which is important to success in the Union system. But if Union is going to have success this season they're going to need to get more out of Pontarelli, who managed only five goals and three assists last year after a solid freshman campaign thanks in part to injuries.

10th place was a pretty unexpected finish last season for the Dutchmen - but despite looking like a team that might not really have as much on either side of the puck as they had even last season, 10th would probably be a shock again this year. Last year's team battled a lot of issues at different times of the year, between injuries and inconsistency, and this year's squad, if they can avoid those pitfalls, has the potential to do better than that. They're probably not going to be a strong peg for the top four, but they've at least got the talent to be a solid pick for the middle of the pack and a first-round series at home.

As usual, you can pretty much just toss records out the door when RPI and Union play. Going into the league games last season, the Engineers had just been swept at home by Bentley, and Union had only just lost for the first time in 23 games - and RPI swept the weekend. Heading into the Mayor's Cup, the Dutchmen were looking down and out and the Engineers had just produced perhaps their most impressive weekend of the year in sweping Cornell and Colgate. Six-goal third period for Union. So whatever you think about RPI-Union coming into the games, just expect anything else to happen.

Men's Hockey - Mayor's Cup (24 Jan)

Last week we talked about how quickly a season can turn around, often in the span of a weekend's worth of games. This week, it was illustrated that a weekend itself can be an eternity - all it can take is one game, or in this case, just two periods. RPI looked very much the aggressor against Union in the first period of the annual Mayor's Cup game, in line with their upward trend and Union's general downward spiral. Then, as the second period started, it all seemed to vanish completely. Horrendous play by the Engineers coupled with some nice finishing by the Dutchmen conspired to result in an 8-3 defeat for an RPI team that actually had a lead after 40 minutes, a stunning turn of events that put the brakes on the optimistic outlook that the previous three games had produced.

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

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bradley-Bokenfohr
Curadi-Wilson

Kasdorf

With Mark Miller and Travis Fulton still out to injuries and the Engineers coming off a four-point weekend at home, it wasn't a shock to see RPI put the same lineup out against Union as was dressed for the Cornell game.

The Engineers struck first, scoring first for the fourth game in a row on Drew Melanson's fifth goal of the year just 2:07 into the game. That lead lasted for only 27 seconds, however, as Union went down right away off the ensuing faceoff to tie things up at one.

Late in the first, shortly after coming out of the penalty box, Jacob Laliberte entered the Union zone with plenty of ice in front of him on the right wing, but he pulled up instead, allowing a couple of Union defenders to get back, and waited instead for wingmate Matt Neal to get into position. With the Dutchmen defenders getting in place, Laliberte put the puck behind them, threading it to Neal who one-timed it to the back of the cage for his fourth goal of the season.

RPI took the 2-1 lead into the second period, where things started to come unraveled mighty quickly. The Engineers were lucky not to give up the lead early in the period, getting stuck in their own end and repeatedly being unable to change personnel due to the long change of the second period (with both benches on the same side of the ice). The Dutchmen dominated possession and shots, but Jason Kasdorf looked very solid in front of his cage.

Well against the flow of play, the Engineers picked up a 3-1 lead with a little under seven minutes left in the middle frame. Luke Curadi took a big slap shot from the blue line that missed the net to the left, but the rebound off the end boards caromed to Melanson to the right of the net, and he deposited in a gaping cage for his second goal of the night.

The goal did absolutely nothing to change the flow of the game, however, as Union continued to win faceoffs, pick up loose pucks, and dig pucks out of the corners. RPI's inability to stay out of the box finally started catching up as well. Union scored on the power play with just under three minutes left in the period to cut the RPI lead to one, and heading into the third period, it was clear the Engineers were going to need a serious energy jolt in order to maintain their edge.

It didn't take long to realize that the second period would not be the aberration in this contest. 17 seconds into the third, Union had tied it, and a power play goal three minutes later put Union in front for the first time. From there, the floodgates opened as lethargic defensive play by the Engineers was added to the same woes they had been fighting in the second period. Two more Union goals were reviewed over the next six minutes - one was put in with a stick that was just below being a high stick, the other was initially called a glove save by Jason Kasdorf but later proved to have crossed into the goal. 8:58 into a period RPI had led entering, they trailed by three.

Kasdorf would be pulled from the net following Union's fifth goal of the period at 10:43, but literally none of the goals given up by the Engineers could be classified as being his fault. Screens, power plays, extended possessions in the RPI zone, and odd-man rushes simply added up, and he came out of the game if for no other reason than to keep his psyche fresh.

Union completed the scoring against Scott Diebold, who allowed one goal on two shots.

In the game's final minute, after Luke Curadi had been slashed, Jake Wood took out his frustrations on Union captain Charlie Vasaturo, who was hit from behind into the Union net. Wood received a major for hitting from behind and a game misconduct, but the league would later assess him a 2 game suspension, meaning he'll miss road games at Dartmouth and St. Lawrence. The Engineers, defending Mayor's Cup champions who had led heading into the final 20 minutes, departed without even as much as a whimper.

Despite the rough game there were a few bright spots. Kenny Gillespie picked up his first two collegiate points with assists on both of Melanson's goals. The Neal goal, and the pass from Laliberte, was probably the prettiest of the night. Four of the defensemen managed to have a plus rating for the night (we won't get into who the other two are - you can see for yourself in the box score anyway).

But regardless, the game wasn't completely meaningless. The good news is that it doesn't count in the league standings, but games against Union are never just throwaway outings. The challenge now for RPI is to put this awful performance behind them and focus on the final nine games of the regular season, the most crucial part of the stretch run is ahead. Despite the struggles this year, the Engineers find themselves in a good place for home ice in the first round at least, and potentially within striking distance of a lower-end first round bye position if they can get back to the form they had against Colgate and Cornell. Whether the Mayor's Cup represents another turning point in a season that has been full of them will help determine their fate.

Current ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 20 points (10-2-0)
2. St. Lawrence - 18 points (9-4-0)
3. Harvard - 18 points (8-3-2)
4. Clarkson - 16 points (7-4-2)
5. Colgate - 14 points (6-4-2)
6. RPI - 14 points (7-6-0)
7. Yale - 13 points (6-5-1)
8. Cornell - 12 points (6-6-0)
9. Dartmouth - 10 points (4-6-2)
10. Union - 9 points (4-7-1)
11. Princeton - 2 points (1-11-0)
12. Brown - 2 points (1-11-0)

By winning percentage
1. Quinnipiac (.833)
2. St. Lawrence (.692)
3. Harvard (.692)
4. Clarkson (.615)
5. Colgate (.583)
6. Yale (.542)
7. RPI (.538)
8. Cornell (.500)
9. Dartmouth (.417)
10. Union (.375)
11. Princeton (.083)
12. Brown (.083)

RPI vs. Union
Non-Conference Game - Times Union Center (Albany, NY)
1/27/15 - 7:30pm

RESULT: Union 8, RPI 3

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 9-17-1 (7-6-0, 14pts)

Upcoming games
30 Jan - at Dartmouth
06 Feb - at St. Lawrence
07 Feb - at Clarkson
13 Feb - Brown
14 Feb - #16 Yale (Big Red Freakout!)

Women's Hockey - Union Home & Home (23/24 Jan)

RPI and Union faced off in their annual home-and-home, and as has tended to happen in recent years, Union played their crosstown rivals tough. The Dutchwomen took a point in Schenectady on Friday as they tied the Engineers 2-2, but RPI picked things up at home on Saturday with a solid 4-2 victory.

Friday

Wash/Mahoney/Svoboda
Horwood/Tomlinson/Gruschow
Rooney/Mankey/Walsh
Hylwa/Raspa

Middlebrook/Schilter
Banks/Behounek
Kimmerle/Renn

O'Brien

RPI had to come from behind twice on Friday night, down 1-0 and 2-1, to force a 2-2 tie against Union in Schenectady.

Alexa Gruschow scored 23 seconds into the second period to recover from the 1-0 deficit, and Laura Horwood picked up a power play tally at 10:14 of the third to even things at two.

Kelly O'Brien had 20 saves on the night. The Engineers only managed to outshoot Union 26-22, with most of that coming in the third period after the Dutchwomen outshot RPI 9-5 in the first and both teams managed six shots in the second.

Saturday

Horwood/Tomlinson/Gruschow
Wash/Mahoney/Svoboda
Rooney/Mankey/Walsh
Hylwa/Raspa

Banks/Behounek
Middlebrook/Schilter
Kimmerle/Renn

O'Brien

After squandering a point on Friday night, RPI took the opportunity to at least make it a 3-point weekend as they beat Union 4-2 in Troy, racking up 43 shots in the process.

Laura Horwood and Katie Rooney scored in the first to give RPI a 2-0 lead. Union cut the lead in half before the intermission but Lauren Wash got it back early in the third to make it 3-1.

Gruschow's goal in the third period put RPI up 4-1 and the score almost held up, but Union notched a second goal in the final minute for a 4-2 final.

With Yale only earning two points over Brown on the weekend, RPI made up one point in the race for 8th place. However RPI will be depending on Yale losses coupled with a little good luck to make up ground with just eight games left in the season.

-----

RPI at Union
ECAC Hockey Game - Messa Rink (Schenectady, NY)
1/23/15 - 7:00pm
RPI 2, Union 2 (OT)

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wrenuni1.j23
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4447

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2015/1/23/WICE_0123153253.aspx
Union: http://www.unionathletics.com/news/2015/1/23/WICE_0123152221.aspx
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzOeoXEGhPg

RECORD: 4-17-4 (2-10-1 ECAC)

-----

RPI vs. Union
ECAC Hockey Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1/24/15 - 4:00pm
RPI 4, Union 2

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wrenuni1.j24
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4448

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2015/1/24/WICE_0124153258.aspx
Union: http://www.unionathletics.com/news/2015/1/24/wice.aspx
Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uJm_ZSnuyE
Complete Game Video: http://rpitv.org/productions/894-womens-hockey-vs-union

RECORD: 5-17-5 (3-10-1 ECAC)

-----

Upcoming Schedule

Jan. 30 - at Colgate (3pm)
Jan. 31 - at Cornell (3pm)
Feb. 6 - Clarkson (7pm)
Feb. 7 - St. Lawrence (4pm)

-----

ECAC Standings

1. Quinnipiac - 24 pts. (11-1-2) (.857)
2. Harvard - 23 pts. (11-2-1) (.821)
3. Clarkson - 20 pts. (9-2-2) (.769)
4t. Cornell - 18 pts. (8-3-2) (.692)
4t. St. Lawrence - 18 pts. (8-3-2) (.692)
6. Princeton - 16 pts. (8-6-0) (.571)
7. Dartmouth - 13 pts. (6-7-1) (.464)
8. Yale - 12 pts. (6-8-0) (.429)
9. RPI - 7 pts. (3-10-1) (.250)
10. Colgate - 6 pts. (3-10-0) (.231)
11. Brown - 4 pts (2-12-0) (.143)
12. Union - 2 pts. (1-12-1) (.107)

#HateUnionWeek

Yes, friends, it's that time of year again.

For the women, this week is going to tell us whether they've still got a ghost of a chance at extending their season by an extra week. The reality is that the Engineers are 6 points out of a playoff spot with 10 games left to play, and 9 points out of 7th. If they somehow manage to nab a playoff berth, they're probably not sticking around for long. That's just being realistic. But the goal right now still has to be that #8 spot, and if they can't collect 4 points against Union this weekend, the playoffs are going to be almost impossible to attain.

For the men, it's all about pride and bragging rights. Sure, we've got plenty already that come in a fashion that'll still be meaningful come March after having swept Union earlier in the year (boy that feels good to say). But remember how good winning the Mayor's Cup felt last season after being swept? Let's finish this, and complete the real sweep. They're saying the attendance could top 10,000 at the TU Center. They're not likely to see a repeat of the "FU at the TU" from last year, but they're likely to see yet another encounter between RPI and Union where the records don't matter.

Sure, the Mayor's Cup still looks like a glorified bowling trophy. But it's our glorified bowling trophy right now.

It's a battle for both teams for regional dominance. Let's lower the hammer.

(a few F-bombs are dropped in this song, in case you're at work)

BOHICA

We got two up close and personal examples of Rule 83.5 this past weekend in Troy. One was an exercise in how to apply it. The other was an exercise in how to royally screw things up in ways only the average ECAC referee can.

This is known around these parts as the "Second Union Rule" or the "National Union Rule," as it was adopted following the Union-Michigan State game in the 2012 national tournament where a goal for the Spartans was waved off because Union's Josh Jooris, apparently intentionally according to the NCAA, lifted the net off its moorings just before the puck went in (the "First Union Rule" or the "ECAC Union Rule" provides for all 12 ECAC teams making the post-season tournament).

The rule was redefined as such in the summer of 2012:

83.5 Goal Cage Dislodged - In the event that the goal post is displaced, either deliberately or accidentally, by a defending player, prior to the puck crossing the goal line between the normal position of the goalposts, the Referee may award a goal. 

In order to award a goal in this situation, the goal post must have been displaced by the actions of a defending player, the puck must have been shot (or the player must be in position to shoot) at the goal prior to the goal post being displaced, and it must be determined that the puck would have entered the net between the normal position of the goal posts. 

When the goal post has been displaced deliberately by the defending team when their goalkeeper has been removed for an extra attacker thereby preventing an impending goal by the attacking team, the Referee shall award a goal to the attacking team. 

The goal frame is considered to be displaced if either or both goal pegs are no longer in their respective holes in the ice, or the net has come completely off one or both pegs, prior to or as the puck enters the goal. This rule also applies to other types of net anchoring systems.

So there are a few elements to examine here.

First, there's a defined difference between "may award a goal" and "shall award a goal." The referee is given leeway to award a goal but is not required to when this happens with the goaltender in the net. If it's an empty net, he's required.

This is pretty standard, it allows the referees to use judgment when it pertains to the other elements that we're about to discuss.

In order for the goal to be awarded, three things have to be true. First, the goal has to have been dislodged by the actions of a defending player. This would include a defending player pushing an attacking player into the net - the reverse would be cause for disallowing a goal. Second, the puck must have been already shot, or the shooting player must already be in position to shoot, when the net is dislodged. Third, the puck must be determined to have crossed the line where it would have counted had the net been in the proper position.

Let's examine this first in the Princeton game, where a Princeton goal was disallowed.

With RPI leading 1-0, Princeton's Ryan Siiro took a shot toward the RPI cage from the top of the right faceoff circle that was saved by Jason Kasdorf, the rebound falling just to his right. Princeton's Ben Foster worked it free and came around behind the net to the left side.

Foster beat out Jimmy DeVito to grab the rebound, but Craig Bokenfohr and Phil Hampton skated into the area to try and help out - Bokenfohr into the mix with Foster and DeVito, Hampton into the crease. Princeton freshman Eric Robinson arrived late to the party and ultimately checked Hampton into the cage, knocking it loose.

At this point, Foster had the puck to the left of the cage. He passed it to Siiro, who moved into the slot, and Siiro one-timed it into the cage, which was off both of its moorings at that point.

This goal was rightfully disallowed because the circumstances met only one of the three criteria for it to be upheld. Siiro's shot did go where the net would have been, but it was the actions of an attacking player - Robinson checking Hampton - that dislodged the net, and the shot was not imminent when the net was dislodged - Foster had the puck behind the cage and passed it in front only after the net came loose.

Referee CJ Hanafin got this one right from start to finish. He did the right thing by awarding a goal on the ice, then reviewing the play. Under Rule 83.5, this is not a goal, so he disallowed it. For anyone who might still be on the fence, Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty agreed after the game after reviewing video that the goal should not have been awarded. (We like Hanafin a lot because he's an Engineer. Some of us here were crestfallen when we heard he'd become an ECAC referee, but he seems to be raising the bar. He's done well so far and he's been fair.)

Compare this with the disallowed RPI goal the next night against Quinnipiac.

On the power play and with RPI down 2-1, Mike Prapavessis digs the puck out of the corner to the left of the net. He brings it up and around through the faceoff circle and the slot, waiting for his opportunity to catch QU goaltender Michael Gartieg off balance. He gets it when defenseman Connor Clifton, also trying to defend against Prapavessis, falls to a knee and into Gartieg. Prapavessis takes his shot and rings it off the post, the rebound coming straight back out.

Meanwhile, once Clifton and Gartieg collide, QU forward Matthew Peca, standing at the top of the crease, makes a bee-line for the net, sliding into the right-side post to dislodge the net shortly after Prapavessis' shot rebounded off the post. Drew Melanson, now standing over Clifton, does not move with the puck coming directly back to him, and simply puts the puck into the open but dislodged cage.

The goal was awarded on the ice, and it met all three requirements. First, the cage was dislodged by the actions of Peca, who skated straight into the cage unaided. Second, while the shot by Melanson did not come before the cage was dislodged, the rebound from Prapavessis' shot (which happened and hit the post before the dislodging) was coming straight to him already and he did not have to move to take the shot, which occurred a split-second after the net was dislodged. Third, the puck clearly enters the net in a way that it would have been in had the goal been in the proper place.

And despite all of this, the tying goal was waved off. In a search for justification, there are some very, very thin arguments that can be made. All four were posited by our researchers in an attempt to find something that would rationalize the goal being waved off.

1. Melanson is near Clifton just before the latter takes out his own netminder, but he doesn't appear to do anything that would cause Clifton to go down. He does push through Clifton, who is impeding his progress forward, in the bottom of the slot with his stick on the ice. If he'd shoved Clifton into Gartieg, that could be goaltender interference (which was never suggested anyway), but it doesn't seem to be there.

2. While Peca is moving to the net, Melanson's stick is in his vicinity, but it's tough to make even a cursory argument that Melanson did anything to put Peca into the net. It's possible, even likely that Peca was only trying to get himself in a position to defend Prapavessis' initial shot, but he's honestly lucky that he wasn't called for delay of game.

3. One could try to make the argument that Melanson wasn't yet preparing to take his shot at the moment the puck was dislodged, but the shot, based on the trajectory and speed of the rebound and the fact that Clifton and Gartieg were taken out of the play, was clearly imminent at the time the net was dislodged by any reasonable definition of the word.

4. The last question is whether the whistle had blown, or whether there was "intent to blow." That's rendered fairly irrelevant by the fact that the referee behind the net never came close to blowing the play dead (he had his arms at his sides the whole time), and in fact signaled a goal on the ice.

Ultimately, this is exactly the type of situation that the Second Union Rule was intended to fix, and the referees blew it. Compounding the error, it was called a goal on the ice, and then waved off without clear evidence to support a reversal.

By the way, this was not the first time last weekend that Quinnipiac got away with one on a bad call by the referees that directly impacted the scoreline. The previous night in Schenectady, the Bobcats notched the game winner on a play in which the goal-scorer was offsides.

It's not possible to tell with 100% surety from this camera angle because of people standing on the Union bench, but unless the 5'7" Travis St. Denis (bottom of the screen) has abnormally sized legs, he's totally offside right before he takes a pass he ends up putting in the net for the winning goal.

No coach is going to get overly upset over calls that are blown this badly, because most teams still have other opportunities to rectify the problem themselves. Bad calls are part of the game and referees are human, but you'd think they'd at least get the call right with the opportunity to review the play. It's true that the Engineers had other chances before and after this call to get a goal and they didn't. This goal being disallowed wasn't the reason they lost on Saturday. Who knows if QU then goes down and scores off the ensuing faceoff or something. But there's no team that wouldn't prefer to be in a 2-2 situation than down 2-1, and the missed call changes things for the worse for the team being dealt a raw deal. Union in particular had less than a minute to make up for the bad call that put them behind.

So now the league has a team in first place, half of whose wins were assisted by the men in stripes. Are we happy?

Men's Hockey - Union Home & Home (31 Oct/1 Nov)

From the lowest of lows to the highest for highs for the Engineers in just a two week span. While the previous weekend's affair with Bentley may mark one of the lowest results RPI has ever produced, the following weekend's home and home with Union may prove to be one of the best. With few pundits - including us - giving the Engineers much hope of accomplishing anything against the defending national champions, RPI instead turned around and gave an inspired performance that injected life into a moribund season, soundly defeating their archrivals on Friday in Troy 6-1 before turning around the next night on the road and coming from behind for a 2-1 victory in overtime.

Friday
Fulton-Neal-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-Schroeder- DeVito
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bradley-Wilson
Curadi-Bokenfohr

Kasdorf

The line juggling continued into the Union weekend, with the Miller line the only one that was more or less kept intact from previous outings.

RPI played with the initiative from the very outset of the game and quickly began establishing themselves as the aggressors. The Engineers led very early in shots and ultimately accrued an 11-2 edge in the first period, a wide margin that had frequently been going the other way in most games. They broke onto the scoreboard with the game's first goal about seven and a half minutes in, marking the first time on the season that RPI struck for a 1-0 lead. Riley Bourbonnais brought the puck into the zone along the boards, bringing Matt Neal and Travis Fulton to his right. Bourbonnais ultimately took it himself, beating Colin Stevens on the short side for his first collegiate goal.

Late in the period, the Engineers took a two goal lead on a bizarre goal by Jared Wilson. The freshman defenseman netted his first career goal after taking a cross-ice pass from classmate Drew Melanson. Wilson flipped his shot up over Stevens' stick, over his shoulder and in from a tough angle.

Five minutes into the second period, the Engineers earned themselves a comfortable 3-0 edge on another goal by Bourbonnais, who was left alone along the boards and easily walked into the slot and put the shot home through a screen provided by Neal.

Union drew much closer in shots during the second period, but were unable to get anything past Jason Kasdorf, who stopped 15 in the middle frame. Meanwhile, RPI was making the most of their opportunities. Just seconds into their first power play opportunity of the night, Viktor Liljegren made it 4-0 on a one-timer in the slot off a feed by Lou Nanne. That ended Stevens' night early, as he departed with 4 goals given up on 18 shots.

Union got one back on the power play 4:24 into the third period, but RPI attacked off the ensuing faceoff. Bourbonnais moved into the zone along the boards and then just dropped the puck off in the slot. Union captain Charlie Vasaturo was there and tried to make a play with the puck, but instead he ended up putting the puck past his own goaltender and in to make it 5-1 RPI. Bourbonnais, as the last Engineer to touch the puck, was awarded the goal and the hat trick just seven seconds after Union had gotten onto the board.

RPI continued to pour it on. Three minutes later, Melanson set up his second goal of the night by speeding up the boards and past the defenders, then whipping a pass into the slot for an equally speedy Nanne to one-time to the back of the net, making it 6-1.

Both teams would have power play opportunities from there on out, but Union never looked about to claw their way back in. Kasdorf ended the night with 24 saves on 25 shots for the win.

Saturday
Fulton-Neal-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-Schroeder- DeVito
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan

Leonard-Prapavessis
Bradley-Wilson
Curadi-Bokenfohr

Kasdorf

The concept of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" won out on Saturday night, as RPI put forward the exact same lineup they had on Friday.

RPI came out with intensity just as they had on Friday, but they weren't initially able to translate it to much offensive output. This time, it was Union who earned the early edge in shots, and they also nabbed the early lead on a goal by freshman Spencer Foo with a little under six minutes left in the first period, beating Kasdorf on the short side to make it 1-0.

Union would not take a single penalty all night, keeping the RPI power play out of commission, but they ended up with plenty of power play opportunities of their own as the Engineers took six penalties on the evening, including a double minor by Lou Nanne in the second period. However, the Union power play looked very anemic, and the RPI penalty kill frequently looked as though it would score a goal itself. None was forthcoming on the penalty kill, and the second period came to an end with RPI 4-for-4 on the kill but still trailing 1-0.

RPI didn't truly control the third period but they certainly earned the lion's share of the quality scoring opportunities. After a considerable amount of patience, the Engineers finally broke through for the tying goal with 3:49 left in regulation. A giveaway by Union to Mark McGowan in the slot was fired to the back of the cage to make it 1-1.

Union swarmed the RPI zone in the final minute of play with their sixth power play of the night after a penalty to Luke Curadi, but Kasdorf was equal to the task, making a number of saves to preserve the tie.

A Union turnover in overtime led to the Engineers keeping the puck in the attacking zone, and ultimately led to a wraparound attempt by Viktor Liljegren that was initially stopped, but eventually put in after a scrum in front by the freshman from Sweden, scoring his third goal of the year for the game winner as RPI completed the weekend sweep of Union for the first time in a decade.

The goal was reviewed to see if Stevens had his glove on the puck, but the goal was eventually upheld, giving the Engineers four key points to start the ECAC season.

RPI's season-long homestand (if one includes the hop, skip, and jump to Schenectady as not going on the road) concludes this coming weekend with two more ECAC games as they host Harvard and Dartmouth, looking to build upon the early lead they've given themselves in the league table.

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

#2 Union at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
1031/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 6, Union 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
USCHO
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 2-5-0 (1-0-0, 2pts)

RPI at #2 Union
ECAC Game - Messa Rink (Schenectady, NY)
11/1/14 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, Union 1 (OT)

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

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

Upcoming games
7 Nov - Harvard
8 Nov - Dartmouth
14 Nov - Princeton
15 Nov - Quinnipiac
18 Nov - at UConn

Well, That Was Enjoyable

Savor the Flavor

Who knows how long it's going to last? Might as well enjoy it now.

The Men in Black

Not sure what happened to last week's pumpup. Given the way the weekend went for the men, perhaps it's better to keep that one in the chamber anyway.

This isn't likely to be a fun weekend for RPI on the scoreboard. The women are at Harvard and Dartmouth, to start off their ECAC schedule, while the men have the opportunity to seize first place in the ECAC with a win tonight at home against Union.

Yes, that last part was tongue-in-cheek. The Route 7 Rivalry has provided some memorable games even at wide disparities (going both ways) over the last decade plus, but that disparity hasn't been this wide in a long time. We've said it twice before and it's worth repeating - if RPI doesn't pull themselves out of the tailspin they've been in the last two weeks, tonight and tomorrow will be ugly with a capital U. See what I did there?

But it's when things look darkest that improvement begins. If there's a reversal, perhaps one day we'll look back on this weekend as the moment things turned. We're not holding our breath. But everything that has a beginning has an end. Union's had a good run. It's been a long run. It may not be over. But it will end, given enough time. Perhaps that time is now.

Here's a reminder from a fitting source - the Man in Black.

No Comment

Here's the worst thing that happened on Tuesday when Union head coach Rick Bennett was addressing the media on the semi-lengthy suspensions handed out to three Union upperclassmen.

From a video shot by the Daily Gazette:

Reporter: Is this a legal matter involved here?

Bennett: No comment.

There's no worse response to a request for a statement of fact - or worse, a yes or no question - than "no comment." None. All it does is make everyone wonder why you won't say yes or no.

If it wasn't a legal matter, it would be easy enough to simply say so. Therefore, if it's not something that can be immediately denied, there's obviously some truth to it.

Saying "no comment" is always a comment - the comment is that you don't want to answer the question. Depending on the nature of the question being responded to, it can quickly lead to some obvious assumptions as to what the answer is.

Let's look at a couple of examples from the recent ECAC past.

A few years ago, Brown head coach Brendan Whittet was being asked about the officiating in an RPI-Brown game at Houston Field House - during the playoffs, I believe. There was a question about the validity of a goal that the Engineers scored, and Whittet responded with "no comment."

It was a response that made sense for everyone. Reporters understood immediately that Whittet was really saying. "Yeah, I thought that goal was nonsense, but I'm not going to complain about it here because coaches get suspended by the league for showing up referees." Whittet gets his point across without having to sit out a game.

The difference here is that Whittet was being asked for a statement of opinion, not a statement of fact.

Even Bennett himself has properly used "no comment." Last year after the Mayor's Cup brawl (popularly known in the Secret Underwater Lair as the "FU at the TU"), Bennett was asked why he went after Seth Appert in the post-game press conference, and he said "no comment."

It works here because he was being asked to divulge information that, unless he's already told someone else, no one else would know. If someone decides not to bear personal knowledge for public scrutiny, "no comment" ends up shutting down the only path to that knowledge.

Whether the suspended Union players are involved in a legal matter is not something that would be limited in that fashion. They either are, or they aren't, and if one can't answer a binary question, anyone with any degree of curiosity about the situation (like, say, reporters) will immediately consider why either answer would draw stonewalling. If they aren't, why would that be something that would be covered up? The opposite question, of course, is easy to answer.

Here's the way Bennett should have handled things if he didn't want to tip his hand here.

Reporter: Is this a legal matter involved here?

Bennett: This is a matter of three players that did something that was in violation of team rules and they have been assessed consequences for their violations, which they fully understand was detrimental to the entire program. They're taking accountability for what they have done and as a program we're moving on from what they did.

Assuming that a legal matter was indeed involved, and getting involved in legal matters is indeed a violation of team rules, this response isn't untrue. If you look closely, you'll notice it doesn't answer the question, but it looks and sounds far less evasive.

Bottom line, if you can't (or don't want to) flatly state the truth, dazzle them with BS. Don't ever look like you're dodging a simple question.

Instead, the response of "no comment" just fans the flames even more, and makes reporters want to dig under the wall - and when they find out what's going on, whether it's a big deal or not, suddenly it's not just the incident in question that is a problem. The cover-up becomes just as important.

Know Your Enemy: Union

Do not adjust your screen. You did not die and go to hell. That actually happened. A team that most observers thought would be pretty good, perhaps among the best in the ECAC but no more than an outside shot at doing anything on a higher level played some of the best team hockey you'll ever see, proving that what was once thought impossible was only merely improbable, and the improbable happened. When everything comes together perfectly at exactly the right time, anything is possible - and given the way the last game between RPI and Union ended, it's only an element that's going to throw additional fuel on what has become (as of this very localized point in history, at least) the most heated rivalry in college hockey.

Union
Nickname: Dutchmen
Location: Schenectady, NY
Founded: 1795
Conference: ECAC
National Championships: 1 (2014)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2014
Last Frozen Four: 2014
Coach: Rick Bennett (4th season)
2013-14 Record: 32-6-4 (18-3-1 ECAC, 1st place)
Series: RPI leads, 46-33-10
First Game: February 26, 1904 (Albany, NY)
Last RPI win: January 25, 2014 (Albany, NY)
Last UC win: November 16, 2013 (Troy, NY)

2014-15 games: October 31, 2014 (Troy, NY); November 1, 2014 (Schenectady, NY); January 24, 2015 (Albany, NY)

Key players: F Daniel Ciampini, sr.; F Sam Coatta, sr.; F Max Novak, sr.; G Colin Stevens, sr.; D Charlie Vasaturo, sr.; F Nick Cruice, jr.; D Sebastian Gingras, jr.; F Matt Wilkins, jr.; D Noah Henry, so.; F Eli Lichtenwald, so.; F Michael Pontarelli, so.;  D Jeff Taylor, so.; F Mike Vecchione, so.; F Roman Ammirato, fr.; F Spencer Foo, fr.; F Ryan Scarfo, fr.; F Kevin Shier, fr.

Key losses: D Shayne Gostisbehere, D Mat Bodie, F Daniel Carr, F Matt Hatch, F Kevin Sullivan

Previous KYE installments:

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

If there was any love lost whatsoever between RPI and Union before last year's Mayor's Cup game, it ceased to exist after it. The antics that followed the Engineers' first win over the Dutchmen in some three years catapulted the rivalry to the forefront of the Capital District's attention and gained notice throughout the college world. The game itself had been remarkably free of the cheap shots, unwarranted physical play, and the usual other indicators of a game between two bitter rivals, especially considering how out of hand the game in Troy had been, but the powder keg exploded at the very end and made this year's RPI-Union games must see TV.

After their Mayor's Cup setback, Union then lost to St. Lawrence in the North Country without some key players as a result of the suspensions handed out in the melee - and then promptly never lost again. A team that most coming into the season thought would be decent but probably not the very best in the ECAC turned out to be the very best in the nation when all was said and done. To illustrate how much of a finely oiled machine Union became, look no further than Shayne Gostisbehere. In a game in which the Dutchmen scored seven goals, he was +7. In the national championship game. That's an all-time great performance no matter how you slice it, and it came in the biggest game of the year.

Without question, the "guts" of Union's run through March and April are gone, but several key elements remain. The tag team sniper duo of Gostisbehere and Bodie was a major source of power for the Dutchmen during the stretch run, one or the other was practically always on the ice, providing not only offensive juice from long range but also the ability to distribute the puck to forwards down low who could get open a little easier as defenses accounted the threat from the outside. Carr was certainly a proven offensive power in his own right, completing his career not only with a ring but with 50 points on the season.

Union is likely to drop off a little bit from last season, but mostly in the sense that it's extremely difficult to repeat as champions in the first place, and it's even harder when you're losing your top players in the aftermath. But it's definitely not a situation where the cupboard is bare, or even wanting in many places. Stevens' numbers may not be as strong as Jason Kasdorf's were from two years ago, but they're the best among returning goaltenders in the ECAC from last season. Say all you want about the Dutchmen and their defensive scheme, the reigning Dryden Award winner still does a more than competent job of keeping the puck out of the net when he's the last line of defense. That he returns for his senior season is a boost for Union, who have lost their last two starters to early departures.

Meanwhile, Ciampini returns off a 23-goal season, making him the top returning goal scorer in the ECAC. Part of that output, no doubt, stems from the exceptional transition and distribution from the blue line, but like Carr, he's proven himself a capable scorer. Novak, Vecchione, Pontarelli, and Lichtenwald all return with at least nine goals scored last season as well, giving Union plenty of offensive options. It's easier for a team to lose four of its top six scorers when it had 11 different players notching 20 points last season.

Especially if Union can find a way to make up for the loss of its blueline heroes - and Taylor may well be the next in line for the job - the Dutchmen are still going to be tough to tangle with this season. For years, even weaker Union squads have been up for the challenge against RPI, but the current condition of the rivalry may be an opening to just throw out what you know about both teams and just expect the unexpected. From a purely hockey standpoint, Union does appear the stronger of the two sides on paper, especially when it comes to offense, but these teams have just played far too many close games over the years to make any predictions about what we'll see. There are certainly some who will be looking to settle old scores, and it's going to make for an insane Halloween weekend.