Women's Hockey - Vermont Home-and-Home (11/12 Oct)

After a rough start to the season against North Dakota and Bemidji State, RPI looked to rebound in a home-and-home series against the Vermont Catamounts. The Engineers gave up a 2-1 lead, allowing three goals in the third period to fall 4-2 on Saturday, but managed to salvage a 2-2 tie out of the weekend on Sunday.

With another winless weekend, the Engineers have not picked up a win in an NCAA contest since January 18 (14 games), when they beat Union 3-0.

Saturday

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

Behounek/Banks
Middlebrook/Schilter
Kimmerle/Godin

O'Brien

Two goals in less than two minutes flipped the lead from RPI to Vermont, and a total of three goals in the third period led the Catamounts to a 4-2 victory over RPI in Troy Frday night.

Brittany Zuback scored on a 3-on-1 rush in the first period to open up the scoring. RPI erased the deficit in the second with a goal by Ali Svoboda, then later in the frame took a 2-1 lead behind a Mariana Walsh goal out of a scrum in the Vermont crease.

The positives were not long-lasting for the Engineers, as back to back power play goals by Zuback and Amanda Pelkey flipped the 2-1 RPI lead to a 3-2 Vermont lead before the 3:30 mark of the third. Pelkey notched another goal later in the third, soundly beating several RPI players on her march down ice to turn the 3-2 lead into a 4-2 lead which held up through the end of regulation.

RPI finished the afternoon with 33 shots, while the Catamounts put 38 shots on net.

Sunday

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

Behounek/Banks
Middlebrook/Schilter
Kimmerle/Godin

Piper

Whitney Renn and Lauren Wash scored for the Engineers, but another pair of power play goals by Vermont's Bridget Baker cost the Engineers a chance at a win in another game in which they were outshot by Vermont.

Once again, Vermont scored first, with Baker picking up a rebound on the power play and putting it past Brianna Piper to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead.

Renn evened things up a few minutes later, with a little confusion and controversy after what started as an inconclusive play was ruled a goal when the officials declared that a Vermont defender had pushed Renn into Vermont goalie Madison Litchfield, sliding Litchfield and the puck into the net.

After a scoreless second period which saw the teams trade several penalties, Wash gave RPI its first lead of the season at 3:54 of the third, putting a backhand shot past Litchfield to make it 2-1.

That lead too would evaporate later in the third when Baker scored her second power play goal of the afternoon, picking up another rebound much like her first goal.

The Engineers were outshot every period on Sunday, including 14-4 in the first period and 36-20 overall on the afternoon. They will look to turn things around next Friday in Durham against a New Hampshire squad that has had it's share of difficulties over the past season.

-----

RPI vs. Vermont
Non-Conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/11/14 - 3:00pm
Vermont 4, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wrenver1.o11
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4425

RECAPS:
Vermont: http://uvmathletics.com/news/2014/10/11/WHOCKEY_1011140121.aspx

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

-----

RPI at Vermont
Non-Conference Game - Gutterson Fieldhouse (Burlington, VT)
10/12/14 - 2:00pm
RPI 2, Vermont 2 (OT)

BOX SCORES:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4426
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wrenver1.o12

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2014/10/12/WICE_1012142605.aspx
Vermont: http://uvmathletics.com/news/2014/10/12/WHOCKEY_1012144051.aspx

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

-----

Upcoming Schedule

Oct. 18 - at New Hampshire (2pm)
Oct. 25 - UConn (3pm)
Oct. 26 - UConn (2pm)
Oct. 31 - at Harvard (7pm)
Nov. 1 - at Dartmouth (4pm)

The Boys are Back

It's on.

The men's grueling start to the season begins tonight, as they take on #12 Notre Dame in the annual Icebreaker Tournament, straight outta Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend. On Sunday, they get either Minnesota-Duluth, a team that was just barely outside of the first USCHO poll (by a single vote) or the #1 team in all the land and the pretty clear favorites for the national championship, Minnesota.

The women get their first home game on Saturday when they take on Vermont, and then they turn around and head up to Burlington on Sunday for the back-end of a home-and-home series. That makes for an even more rare men/women doubleheader on a Sunday.

Hockey is fully back, and it's time to get flying.

Women's Hockey - Vermont (19 Oct)

Sometimes teams are reminded that all the shots in the world aren't worth anything if you can't score, and this week the Engineers received a reminder of that fact as they fell 3-1 to Vermont at Houston Field House, despite outshooting the Catamounts by a wide 40-16 margin.

Smelker/Mahoney/Mari Mankey

Sanders/Wash/Svoboda

Letuligasenoa/Horwood/Rooney

Hylwa/Missy Mankey

Banks/Schilter

Huhtamaki/Marzario

Godin/Behounek

Middlebrook

O'Brien

40 shots only netted a single goal for the Engineers, and a pair of third period tallies for Vermont pushed the Catamounts to a 3-1 victory over RPI on Saturday. With the loss, RPI is now 1-3-1 on the season while Vermont moves to 2-2-1.

Dayna Colang opened up the scoring at 13:10 of the first, intercepting a clearing attempt at the RPI blue line and firing it through traffic to beat Kelly O'Brien for a 1-0 lead.

The Engineers responded in the second period, racking up a 13-4 edge in shots and evening the score 11:56 after taking control of the puck along the near side boards in the Vermont zone. The puck made its way to Toni Sanders who skated across the front of the net and put it past goalie Madison Litchfield, evening the score at 1-1.

The tie was quickly broken in the third period, with Breanne Sundquist sending another shot through traffic from the blue line to beat O'Brien and make it a 2-1 margin.

RPI pressured Vermont hard in the third period, throwing 17 shots at the Catamount net, but it was Vermont who scored again on a late power play, with Colang picking up her second of the game as she put yet another shot through a crowd and past O'Brien.

Vermont's two goals in the third period would come off just six shots in total, and all three Catamount goals would be through screens.

RPI closes out its early non-conference schedule next weekend with a pair of games at Connecticut. Both Friday and Saturday's games will feature 2pm starts.

-----

RPI vs. Vermont

Non-Conference Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)

10/19/13 - 7:00pm

Vermont 3, RPI 1

BOX SCORES: 

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1314/boxes/wrenver1.o19

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?id=3923

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2013/10/19/WICE_1019134325.aspx

UVM: http://www.uvmathletics.com/news/2013/10/19/WHOCKEY_1019131749.aspx

Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLrZnro4k0Q

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

-----

Upcoming Games

Oct. 25 - at UConn (2pm)

Oct. 26 - at UConn (2pm)

Nov. 1 - Harvard (7pm)

Nov. 2 - Dartmouth (4pm)

Backups in Boston

(Tom is in the West Indies on his honeymoon, hence the lack of additional content this week... he'll be back at the end of next week, don't worry.)

BU may not be aware of how much they've lucked out at Agganis Arena against the Engineers in the recent past - and yet, that luck hasn't translated into blowouts of RPI, not in the least. Tonight's game in Beantown represents the third straight BU-RPI game in Boston that has featured the Engineers forced to cope with an injury to its first-choice goaltender who will be inactive for the game. On December 11, 2009, an injury to Allen York pressed Bryce Merriam into duty at Agganis, and the freshman netminder responded with 32 saves on 35 shots to lead the Engineers to a 5-3 victory. Last season, on January 4, 2013, an injury to Jason Kasdorf required Merriam to take charge once again, and the senior turned in an even more impressive performance with 38 saves on 41 shots but in a losing effort as the offense was not as strong with RPI falling 3-2 in overtime.

Once again, it's RPI at BU, and once again, it's an injured top goaltender. Jason Kasdorf suffered a "freak" shoulder injury before practice on Tuesday, and while rumors are wild and flying about his long-term status (one blogger in Winnipeg suggested he was out for the year, others have said he'll be back relatively soon), we do know he's out for the coming weekend. RPI will look to Scott Diebold to channel Bryce Merriam's last two performances in order to orchestrate a bounce-back from Sunday's horrifying turnout at Boston College.

After a pair of games against two of the stronger college hockey programs in the nation, the Engineers bookend with a second game against Sacred Heart, this one the home opener. After a slow start last week in Connecticut, RPI thoroughly demolished a team that was one day removed from one of the biggest regular-season upsets in NCAA history, as the Pioneers, with just 2 wins all of last season, had just knocked off then-#1 UMass-Lowell. Hopefully, RPI can duplicate that success as a confidence builder heading into next week's till with New Hampshire, another one of the traditional Hockey East beasts.

Just one outing for the women this weekend as they take on Vermont tomorrow at the Field House as the first half of the family weekend doubleheader in Troy along with the men's game with Sacred Heart. The Engineers are coming off a big tie against BU and should be the favorites against a Catamounts team that has traditionally been one of the weakest in Hockey East. If you're planning to head to Troy for the men's game anyway, why not turn out to see the women at 3pm?

It's October, it's Friday, and you know what that means around here... turn up the volume and get psyched. In honor of the men's home opener... ladies and gentlemen... THE ROLLING STONES!

2013-14 Women's Hockey Schedule

We pieced together most of this schedule on Twitter over the last couple of weeks, but the full official schedule was released last week. So here it is. This year's schedule includes just three non-conference games at home (eight are on the road), but there are a couple of earlier opportunities to see the team play non-ECAC squads with a pair of exhibitions in late September - the official opening of the RPI hockey season.

Friday games are at 7pm and Saturday games are at 4pm unless otherwise indicated.

September
Sunday, 22 September - OTTAWA JR. SENATORS, 1pm (exhibition)
Monday, 23 September - BROCK, 3pm (exhibition)

October
Friday, 4 October - at Robert Morris
Saturday, 5 October - at Robert Morris, 3pm
Friday, 11 October - BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Saturday, 12 October - NORTHEASTERN
Saturday, 19 October - VERMONT, 3pm
Friday, 25 October - at UConn, 2pm
Saturday, 26 October - at UConn, 2pm

November
Friday, 1 November - HARVARD*
Saturday, 2 November - DARTMOUTH*
Friday, 8 November - at Cornell*
Saturday, 9 November - at Colgate*
Friday, 15 November - YALE*
Saturday, 16 November - BROWN*
Friday, 29 November - at St. Cloud State, 4pm
Saturday, 30 November - at St. Cloud State

December
Friday, 06 December - at Princeton*
Saturday, 07 December - at Quinnipiac*

January
Saturday, 04 January - at Providence, 7pm
Sunday, 05 January - at Providence, 4pm
Friday, 10 January - QUINNIPIAC*
Saturday, 11 January - PRINCETON*
Friday, 17 January - UNION*
Saturday, 18 January - at Union*
Friday, 24 January - at Dartmouth*
Saturday, 25 January - at Harvard,* 5pm
Friday, 31 January - ST. LAWRENCE*

February
Saturday, 01 February - CLARKSON*
Friday, 07 February - at Brown*
Saturday, 08 February - at Yale*
Friday, 14 February - COLGATE*
Saturday, 15 February - CORNELL* (Senior Night)
Friday, 21 February - at Clarkson*
Saturday, 22 February - at St. Lawrence*
Friday, 28 February - ECAC Quarterfinals Game 1 (at campus sites)

March
Saturday, 01 March - ECAC Quarterfinals Game 2 (at campus sites)
Sunday, 02 March - ECAC Quarterfinals Game 3 (if necessary, at campus sites)
Saturday, 08 March - ECAC Semifinals (at highest seed)
Sunday, 09 March - ECAC Championship (at highest semifinal seed)
Sat-Sun, 15-16 March - NCAA Quarterfinals (at campus sites)
Friday, 21 March - NCAA Frozen Four (Hamden, CT)
Sunday, 23 March - NCAA Championship (Hamden, CT)

Women's Hockey - at Vermont (31 Oct)

RPI took a rare mid-week trip to Burlington for a Halloween night game against Vermont and took the opportunity to recover from a rough weekend with a 5-1 win. Despite the score, it was not a spectacular game for the Engineers, who were sloppy with the puck at times and committed several unnecessary penalties against a team that they outnumbered nearly 2-to-1 on the bench.

Vermont

Smelker/Gruschow/Svoboda
Cox/Mari Mankey/Horton
Letuligasenoa/Mahoney/Wash
Middlebrook/Sanders/Padmore

Daniels/Banks
Godin/Marzario
Le Donne/Schilter

Piper

A very fast first period saw no action on the scoreboard although the Engineers racked up a solid 10-3 shot advantage and saw the majority of play in the Catamounts' zone. The period's single power play went to the Engineers, but they were unable to crack netminder Kelci Lanthier.

The Engineers opened things up in the second period, starting with a quick goal just 48 seconds in by Jordan Smelker to make it 1-0. Taylor Horton doubled the lead at 3:26, taking a feed from Andie Le Donne and proceeding to outmaneuver several UVM skaters before beating Lanthier for the tally.

With an already short UVM bench made even shorter when Meghan Huertas was sent off on a 10-minute misconduct, Gruschow notched her fifth of the season to make it 3-0 at 16:52 of the middle frame.

RPI would pick up a power play goal on a too many players call at 5:44 of the third period, when Taylor Horton faked her way around the UVM defense to get a clean shot past Lanthier. Gruschow notched her second of the evening just two minutes later on a rebound after Lanthier made a nice stop on RPI's initial shot, and like that the Engineers led by five.

UVM got on the board at 12:21 of the third period with Mari Mankey off on a tripping call, but it would be the only goal the Catamounts would be able to muster on the night.

While it was probably a relief for the Engineers to pick up a win after five straight losses, UVM only had 11 skaters dressed, and spent 10 minutes with an even shorter bench with Huertas off on her misconduct. To take seven penalties against a team that shorthanded is not a shining example of discipline by the Engineers, and with a penalty kill that came into the night last in the nation (64.3%), that lack of discipline will need some work before facing tougher opposition or it will likely cost the Engineers.

RPI is off this coming weekend, but returns to Houston Field House Nov. 9 and 10 for a pair of ECAC matchups against Princeton and Quinnipiac.

-----

RPI at Vermont
Non-Conference Game – Gutterson Field House (Burlington, VT)
10/31/12 - 7:00pm
RPI 5, Vermont 1

BOX SCORES:
USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/10/31/rensselaer-vs-vermont/
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wrenver1.o31

RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2012/10/31/WICE_1031125500.aspx
UVM: http://uvmathletics.com/news/2012/10/31/WHOCKEY_1031124913.aspx
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMkmJlW59U0

RECORD: 2-5-1 (0-2-0 ECAC)

-----

Upcoming Games

Nov. 9 - Princeton (7pm)
Nov. 10 - Quinnipiac (4pm)
Nov. 16 - Robert Morris (3pm)
Nov. 17 - Robert Morris (3pm)

Halloween Hockey

A little extra hockey for you this week with a mid-week event - the college hockey equivalent of a matinee movie showing. The women get their week's game out of the way early with a Halloween visit to one of the scariest places ever - Burlington, VT.

Tonight, the women seek to bounce back from their difficult weekend in the North Country by taking an almost equally tough bus ride to Vermont to take on the Catamounts. Perennial also-rans, Vermont has never had a winning season in Division I - much like Union, they've never even won 10 games in a single Division I season. They kicked this season off with the honor of being the first team to take on Penn State in varsity hockey - and they lost that game. They did beat New Hampshire two weeks ago... but then again, New Hampshire isn't exactly New Hampshire anymore, if you catch our meaning. Basically, if RPI wants to prove that they are the same team that took BU and SLU to the limit, they're looking to pick up a win tonight.

Here's a rare mid-week pumpup for tonight's contest... no Monster Mash or Thriller here, those are way too predictable (plus Monster Mash isn't getting anyone pumped). Try this on for size instead. It's got a beat and you can dance to it, plus there's certainly some kind of Halloweenish thing going on with it. And it's classic. Can't go wrong with classic.

Women's Hockey - at Vermont (7/8 Oct)

RPI took to the road for their second of three straight road weekends, paying a visit to Gutterson Fieldhouse and the Vermont Catamounts. When the teams met last season in Troy, a pair of ties resulted; this year, Friday's game ended the same way when Vermont came back from a 2-goal defecit to force a 2-2 tie, while the Engineers took over on Saturday, cruising to a 4-0 victory behind Kelly O'Brien's second shutout in as many collegiate games.

Friday

Smelker/Harrison/Vandegrift

Cox/Mahoney/Horton

Sanders/Guillemette/Svoboda

Letuligasenoa/Mankey/Walsh

Le Donne/Vadner

Castignetti/Marzario

Schilter

Piper

RPI roared out of the gate on Friday night, jumping out to a 1-0 lead just 2:22 into play when Toni Sanders got a tipped shot past netminder Kelcy Lanthier. Madison Marzario was credited with the primary assist on her initial shot toward the net, with Ali Svoboda picking up a second assist.

Vermont nearly tied the game at one with an attempt that beat Brianna Piper but rang off the post, but it was instead RPI who extended their lead to 2-0 when Alisa Harrison rushed up ice with Jill Vandegrift on a 2-on-1 midway through the second period. Vandegrift threaded a pass through the UVM's Kailey Nash, which Harrison corralled and fired past Lanthier while falling to the ice.

Brittany Zuback cut the Engineers' lead in half at 17:51 of the third with a bit of a fluky goal. After Zuback's rush up ice was broken up by Amanda Castignetti at the right faceoff circle, the puck trickled past Castignetti and Zuback was able to get it back on her stick and fire a sharp angle shot which trickled past Piper to make it 2-1.

The tying goal came early in the third period with the Catamounts shorthanded. Amanda Pelkey jumped out on a missed attempt to hold the puck on the UVM blue line, burned past Andie Le Donne, and skated in all alone on Piper, shifting to her backhand and lifting the shot over Piper's outstretched glove to make it a 2-2 game.

Laura Guillemette and Toni Sanders would have back-to-back chances at a wide open net later in the period, but twice in a row Lanthier swung her stick from the opposite side of the crease to bat down the shots in what would easily be the saves of the game. Kathryn Schilter would get another look at an open net for the Engineers, only to be denied by the quick action of UVM forward Brittany Zuback, who jumped in front of the shot to prevent a sure goal.

Piper would finish the game with a solid 33 saves for the Engineers and was named second star, while Lanthier stopped 22 for the Catamounts. Pelkey's shorthanded game-tying goal would net her first star honors, while Zuback, with the Catamounts other goal and quick-thinking save in the crease, was named third star.

Saturday

Smelker/Harrison/Vandegrift

Cox/Mahoney/Horton

Sanders/Guillemette/Svoboda

Letuligasenoa/Mankey/Walsh

Le Donne/Vadner

Castignetti/Marzario

Schilter

O'Brien

The Engineers attempted to duplicate their strong first period start on Saturday afternoon as the teams returned to action, dictating play and racking up an 8-2 shot advantage in the frame, but Lanthier held RPI scoreless through the first 20 minutes.

With Madison Marzario in the box on a tripping minor early in the second, Ali Svoboda took off down the left wing and fired a shot past a screen to beat Lanthier stick side for a shorthanded goal - the first of her collegiate career - and a 1-0 lead at 3:33.

Alisa Harrison doubled the Engineer lead just over five minutes later, tipping a shot by Sierra Vadner past Lanthier to make it 2-0 at 8:51. Svoboda made it two goals on the game with a power play goal at 13:28. Firing a rocket of a shot from the left point, the puck rang off the post and down into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead.

Andie Le Donne closed out the scoring with another power play goal at 12:28 of the third period. With Svoboda on a breakaway and looking for the hat trick, Vermont's Kailey Nash took a hooking penalty which would set up the Engineers' final goal. Le Donne drove a shot from the point which snuck through traffic and past Lanthier for a 4-0 lead which held up through a late UVM power play.

Kelly O'Brien picked up her second shutout in as many games for the Engineers in the 18-save effort, being named third star. Lanthier finished the afternoon with 17 saves on 21 shots. Svoboda was named first star for her two goals, and Sierra Vadner was named second star with two assists, two shots on goal, and +2 finish on the afternoon.

With the weekend's results, the Engineers move to 2-0-2 on the season and will carry their four-game unbeaten streak westward for a pair of games at Niagara University on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (2pm). Live stats will be available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/niagara/whockey/index.htm, with pay-per-view video being carried by America One at http://www.b2livetv.com/partner_members.asp?id=402&s=396&sid=47.

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RPI at Vermont

Non-Conference Game – Gutterson Fieldhouse (Burlington, VT)

10/7/11 – 7:00pm

RPI 2, Vermont 2 (OT)

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2011/10/07/rensselaer-vs-vermont/

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1112/boxes/wrenver1.o07

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2011/10/7/WICE_1007110200.aspx

Vermont: http://www.uvmathletics.com/news/2011/10/7/WHOCKEY_1007110910.aspx

Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kEe0T9AU90

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

-----

RPI at Vermont

Non-Conference Game – Gutterson Fieldhouse (Burlington, VT)

10/8/11 – 4:00pm

RPI 4, Vermont 0

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2011/10/08/rensselaer-vs-vermont/

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1112/boxes/wrenver1.o08

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2011/10/8/WICE_1008114139.aspx

Vermont: http://www.uvmathletics.com/news/2011/10/8/WHOCKEY_1008114211.aspx

Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oMgKykjUgI

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

-----

Upcoming Games

Oct. 14 - @Niagara (7pm)

Oct. 15 - @Niagara (4pm)

Oct. 21 - Robert Morris (7pm)

Oct. 22 - Robert Morris (4pm)

Oct. 28 - Quinnipiac (3pm)

Oct. 29 - Princeton (3pm)

The End is the Beginning

OK, Yankee fans. Cheer up. Look on the bright side. The day after the baseball season ends, the Engineers' season gets underway, in addition to the bulk of the NHL getting underway. It's the silver lining - perfect timing. And of course, when the college hockey season ends in Tampa in April, the Bombers will be right there for their first series of the season against the Rays. So it all comes full circle eventually.

In honor of the cyclical passing of the torch, here's a pumpup that A) has become renowned in the Bronx for signifying the end and B) is a great rabble rouser anyway. So even if you're not a Yankee fan (in which case, you're probably celebrating even more, and that's OK), enjoy this classic pumpup.

The women, of course, are actually entering their second week of the season, on the road again at Vermont after kicking off the year with 3 "points" at UConn last week. The men face Minnesota State tonight for the first time in the program's history, at the Field House.

If you've got a pumpup request, feel free to hit us up: tomyousieve (at) gmail (period) com.

2011-12 Women's Hockey Schedule

The women's schedule was released yesterday. Here it is in all its glory.

Of note, the national champions from Wisconsin will be coming into Troy in mid-November. There's not much reason to suspect that the games will be anything terribly different than they were in Madison last season, but... you never know, maybe we'll use some home cooking to get a goal or two, or shock the world. Regardless it should be a pretty good weekend to catch a game at the Field House.

The "series" with Syracuse, it appears, will continue for a third consecutive season, which is pretty nifty. A weekend with Niagara also appears on the schedule for a fourth straight year, while the Engineers head to Burlington this season in return for the Catamounts' appearance in Troy last year.

Friday games are at 7 p.m., Saturday games at 4 p.m. unless otherwise noted. ECAC league games have the little star next to them.

September

Fri. 23 - Toronto Aeros (Exhibition, Skate With The Engineers to follow)

Fri. 30 - at UConn

October

Sat. 1 - at UConn

Fri. 7 - at Vermont

Sat. 8 - at Vermont

Fri. 14 - at Niagara

Sat. 15 - at Niagara, 2 p.m.

Fri. 21 - Robert Morris (Homecoming)

Sat. 22 - Robert Morris (Homecoming)

Fri. 28 - Quinnipiac*, 3 p.m.

Sat. 29 - Princeton*, 3 p.m.

November

Fri. 4 - St. Lawrence*

Sat. 5 - Clarkson*

Fri. 11 - at Brown*

Sat. 12 - at Yale*

Fri. 18 - Wisconsin

Sat. 19 - Wisconsin

Fri. 25 - Syracuse

Sat. 26 - Syracuse

December

Fri. 2 - at Clarkson*

Sat. 3 - at St. Lawrence*

January

Fri. 6 - Colgate*, 3 p.m.

Sat. 7 - Cornell*, 3 p.m.

Fri. 13 - at Dartmouth*

Sat. 14 - at Harvard*

Fri. 20 - Yale*

Sat. 21 - Brown*

Fri. 27 - at Union*, 3 p.m.

Sat. 28 - Union, 3 p.m.

February

Fri. 3 - at Cornell*

Sat. 4 - at Colgate*

Fri. 10 - Harvard*

Sat. 11 - Dartmouth* (Senior Night)

Fri. 17 - at Princeton*

Sat. 18 - at Quinnipiac*

Fri. 24 - Sun. 26 - ECAC Quarterfinals (at higher seed, best of three)

March

Thu. 1 - ECAC Semifinals (at two highest remaining seeds)

Sat. 3 - ECAC Championship (at highest remaining seed)

Sat. 10 - NCAA Quarterfinals (at seeded teams)

Fri. 16 - NCAA Frozen Four (Duluth, MN)

Sun. 18 - NCAA Championship (Duluth, MN)

Upcoming Podcast: Cindy Acropolis, Tim Heiman

This is homecoming weekend at the Institute, and the annual induction ceremony for the RPI Athletic Hall of Fame is this Sunday. Among the inductees is Cindy (Acropolis) Toye of the class of 2000, who will become the second member of the Hall of Fame from the women's hockey program. Cindy will join us early in the podcast (tomorrow night at 8pm, as usual!) to discuss her induction and the evolution of women's hockey at RPI.

Long time RPI fans heard a familiar voice on the air last week in Colorado College - recent grad and regular play-by-play man Tim Heiman returned to the radio to call the Engineers' games in the Centennial State. We'll catch up with Tim and talk about the CC series he just saw, along with the upcoming weekend at Northeastern and the home opener against Bentley.

We'll also discuss the women's home series last weekend against Vermont and touch on the tough Friday night matchup with one of the usual powers of Hockey East in New Hampshire. The standard breakdown of last week's big games will also be on tap.

We had a snafu during our podcast last week - a messup here at the secret underwater lair that led us to not be able to hear our guest, Joe Paisley, of the Colorado Springs Gazette even though he was on the air. That snafu has been corrected and we look forward to a relatively error-free broadcast this week (we tried to get Joe for this week, but with CC heading to Alaska he's got a lot on his plate, unfortunately). Catch our podcast live on Wednesday, October 13 at 8pm by clicking "Listen to Without a Peer" in the upper right-hand corner of the site.

Our interview with Seth Appert went swimmingly, however, and the first half-hour of last week's broadcast went without a hitch. You can catch last week's broadcast on demand by pushing play on the player below.

Listen to internet radio with Without a Peer on Blog Talk Radio

Women's Hockey - Vermont (8/9 Oct)

The Engineers returned to the familiar confines of Houston Field House this weekend for a pair of games against the Catamounts of the University of Vermont. The series marked the first time the teams have played since January 2006 (in RPI’s first Division I season), a game which UVM won 4-3. This weekend, despite outplaying UVM much of the time, penalty troubles and defensive lapses forced the Engineers to walk away with a pair of ties, 3-3 on Friday and 1-1 on Saturday.

Friday

Padmore/Dunlop/Horton

Smelker/Vandegrift/Harrison

Sanders/Jakubowski/O’Keefe

Letuligasenoa/Guillemette/Mankey/Stapleton

Castignetti/Marzario

Le Donne/Daniels

Vadner

Van der Bliek

The Engineers got off to a strong start on Friday, controlling play through most of the early game, however it was Vermont who would strike first, taking a 1-0 lead as a defensive lapse allowed Teddy Fortin to break in on Sonja van der Bliek and put the puck in the back of the net. The lead didn’t stand for long as a body checking call on UVM’s Kelly Dineen gave RPI the chance it needed for the equalizer, and Kendra Dunlop forced home a rebound to knot the score at one at 14:27 of the first.

It looked like the score would stand through the end of the period, with the teams playing a lot of back and forth hockey without great chances either way, but another defensive breakdown let UVM’s Celeste Doucet in all alone against van der Bliek, and just like that UVM took a 2-1 advantage into the locker room.

Three straight Vermont penalties in the early second period gave RPI the chance to knot the score, but the Engineers couldn’t find the tying goal despite holding a 13-6 shot advantage in the frame. Instead, it was UVM who found the net again, opening up a 3-1 lead on a controversial goal. Breanne Sundquist sent a shot in on net which looked to roll along the crossbar and back out without entering the net. The goal judge and fans believed the puck never went in, however the referee ruled it a goal and the Catamounts took a 3-1 lead into the third period.

Jill Vandegrift gave the Engineers just the spark they needed in the third period, firing a slapshot past goalie Roxanne Douville from the faceoff dot just 12 seconds into the frame to close the gap to 3-2. A hooking call against UVM’s Kailey Nash at 6:21 handed RPI a chance to tie the game, and they made short work of it. Just eight seconds after the ensuing faceoff, Katie Daniels fired a rocket slapshot from the point which beat Douville to tie the game at three. A period of back-and-forth penalties gave both teams chances to take the lead – the Engineers pressured UVM relentlessly but couldn’t get the game winner through the rest of the third or the five-minute overtime. Shots on goal in the game were a lopsided 39-20 in favor of RPI, with a couple of defensive lapses costing the Engineers what could otherwise have been a solid home win.

Saturday

Padmore/Dunlop/Horton

Smelker/Vandegrift/Harrison

Sanders/Jakubowski/O’Keefe

Letuligasenoa/Guillemette/Stapleton/Mankey

Le Donne/Daniels

Castignetti/Marzario

Vadner

Ramelot

If possible for there to be a more lopsided tie game than happened Friday, Saturday saw the Engineers have an even stronger advantage throughout the game, while still skating away with the same end result. The Engineers piled on a whopping 41 shots on goal to UVM’s 19, but the Engineers got in penalty trouble to allow Vermont its only goal. Laura Guillemette was sent off for tripping late in the first period, and Celeste Doucet scored her second goal of the weekend to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead at 16:36.

With RPI holding an advantage through much of the second period, UVM coach Tim Bothwell called his timeout with 3:37 left in the second after an icing call, to regroup and give his players a rest as they were not allowed to change on the icing. The timeout did not have the intended effect, as RPI controlled play for the next 30 seconds after the ensuing faceoff before Vadner took a slapshot from the point and Jordan Smelker smacked home the rebound to tie the score at one.

Vermont appeared to take the lead around the midpoint of the third period as the puck rolled, in seeming slow-motion, past Shannon Ramelot into the RPI net. Ramelot immediately jumped up and started shaking her glove at the officials, Coach Burke called them over for discussion, and after the officials conferred with one another the goal was ruled to have gone in the net off a Vermont player’s hand, and was thus waved off.

RPI had chances on the power play late in the third period as well as with a minute left in overtime, but once again they could not put the puck home, and the game went in the books as a 1-1 tie. All in all it had to be a disappointing weekend for RPI, who played well enough to win both games but simply couldn’t bury enough chances to pull out the wins. Jordan Smelker had another good weekend with a strong physical presence and Saturday’s only RPI goal, while Kristen Jakubowski, who spent most of last season filling in for other players, has started to come into her own light making several very good plays over the course of the weekend. Jill Vandegrift was also very noticeable against Vermont, creating space and scoring opportunities for herself, even when outnumbered by two or three Vermont defenders. As a whole, there were a lot of positives to be taken from the weekend’s games; if RPI can find the back of the net with some more of their shots, things should get a lot easier for them.

RPI hosts #8 New Hampshire on Friday night at 7pm in their only game on the weekend. The game will not be carried on WRPI as the men will be playing at Northeastern, but live video should be available via the RPI Athletics website.

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RPI vs. Vermont

Non-Conference Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)

10/8/10 – 7:00pm

RPI 3, UVM 3 (OT)

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20101008&vis=uvm&home=rpi&gender=w

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1011/boxes/wrenver1.o08

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/10/8/WICE_1008105931.aspx

UVM: http://www.uvmathletics.com/news/2010/10/8/WHOCKEY_1008100332.aspx

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

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RPI vs. Vermont

Non-Conference Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)

10/9/10 – 4:00pm

RPI 1, UVM 1 (OT)

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20101009&vis=uvm&home=rpi&gender=w

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1011/boxes/wrenver1.o09

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/10/9/WICE_1009105121.aspx

UVM: http://www.uvmathletics.com/news/2010/10/9/WHOCKEY_1009101904.aspx

VIDEO: http://www.rpitv.org/productions/321-womens-hockey-vs-university-of-vermont

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

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Upcoming Games

Oct. 15 – New Hampshire (7pm)

Oct. 22 – at Providence (7pm)

Oct. 24 – at Northeastern (1pm)

Oct. 29 – at SLU (7pm)

Oct. 30 – at Clarkson (4pm)

The Wait is Over

Time to get psyched - the long, hard summer is over. It's time to see what the season brings, and it starts on the other side of the country as the Engineers face off with the Colorado College Tigers in what should be a very interesting matchup between two teams with similar national expectations.

Meanwhile, the women kick off their regular season home schedule tonight against Vermont in what should be a more competitive series than the one they finished last weekend in Wisconsin.

Let's get pumped.