Women's Hockey - at Niagara (14/15 Oct)

A great start to the season took a turn for the worse this weekend, as the RPI Engineers found themselves on the losing side of a pair of games against the Niagara Purple Eagles. RPI fell 5-4 on a penalty shot goal in overtime of a high-flying, back-and-forth affair on Friday, before getting edged 3-2 the following afternoon. In total, the Engineers squandered two-goal leads three times en route to the final results on the weekend.

Friday

Smelker/Harrison/Horton

Mahoney/Vandegrift/Svoboda

Cox/Guillemette/Mankey

Sanders/Letuligasenoa/Walsh

Castignetti/Schilter

Le Donne/Vadner

Marzario

Piper

An unusual event in college hockey broke a 4-4 deadlock in overtime when RPI's Andie Le Donne was called for hooking Niagara's Kristen Richards on a breakaway, leading to a penalty shot. With just 52 seconds remaining in overtime, Niagara elected the penalty shot over the optional minor, and Richards lifted the puck past RPI netminder Brianna Piper for the game-winning goal.

The game had started in the Engineers' favor, however, with RPI jumping out to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Taylor Horton at 6:49 of the first, and Jill Vandegrift at exactly 1:00 of the second.

The momentum that carried the Engineers through the first period, and led to a 7-5 advantage in shots, evaporated in a hurry after Vandegrift's goal, when Jordan Smelker and Kathryn Schilter took back-to-back penalties to put the Engineers down 5-on-3. Kelsey Gunn got Niagara on the board during the 5-on-3 to make it a 2-1 game, and Kristen Richards tied it shortly after the second penalty expired.

Despite a heavy shot disparity in favor of Niagara, RPI regained the lead before the end of the frame, with Smelker beating goalie Sarah Moses for a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission.

Another quick goal to start the period gave RPI its two goal lead back, as Toni Sanders put a quick shot past Moses 1:34 into the third period. That would end the Engineers' scoring and Niagara would spend much of the remainder of the third period on the power play, racking up 15 shots to RPI's 5.

Jessica Hitchcock cut the Engineer lead to 4-3 at 11:12 of the third, with Sierra Vadner off for slashing, and Jenna Hendrikx again tied the game just over two minutes later after Amanda Castignetti took a body checking call.

Overtime saw just three shots on goal before the penalty shot game-winner for Niagara. In total, the Engineers were outshot 32-18 on the evening. Kristen Richards was named first star for her penalty shot game-winner, while Jessica Hitchcock picked up second star with a goal and an assist. RPI's Madison Marzario earned the third star, finishing the evening with two assists and a +2 rating.

Saturday

Cox/Harrison/Horton

Smelker/Vandegrift/Svoboda

Mahoney/Guillemette/Sanders

Letuligasenoa/Sanders

Marzario/Vadner

Le Donne/Schilter

Castignetti

O'Brien

As has become the pattern over the early season, Coach Burke again switched goalies for Saturday's game, opting to play Kelly O'Brien over Brianna Piper. With Piper stopping the first seven shots she saw, the Engineers took the opportunity to capitalize against Niagara's new goalie for the afternoon affair, freshman Abby Ryplanski.

Toni Sanders scored unassisted at 5:32 of the game when she lobbed a weak shot on net from the right point which snuck over Ryplanski's shoulder for a 1-0 lead. Laura Guillemette doubled the lead to 2-0 at 9:07, when Sanders fed a beautiful pass from behind the net for an easy one-timer in the slot.

Niagara put a damper on RPI's otherwise good first period when Jenna Hendrikx capitalized on a failed breakaway by Jessica Hitchcock, beating O'Brien to cut the lead to 2-1 with just 47 seconds left in the first.

It was Niagara's turn for an early-period goal in the second, as May Wilkerson put home a Kaleigh Chippy rebound to tie it at two at the 2:26 mark.

Unlike Friday, the Engineers could not find the punch to retake the lead, and it was Niagara's Kelsey Welch put the Purple Eagles ahead with just over five minutes left in regulation. A few last-minute chances missed their mark and the 3-2 score would hold up to give Niagara the weekend sweep. The weekend would mark the first win and first sweep for Niagara's coach Josh Sciba, as well as the first career wins for both Moses and Ryplanski.

Kelsey Welch's game winner netted her first star on Saturday, with Toni Sanders' goal and assist good for second star. Ryplanski picked up the third star in her winning effort for the Purple Eagles.

RPI returns home next weekend for a pair against the Colonials of Robert Morris University. The games on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (4pm) are not expected to be covered by WRPI, but will be available for pay-per-view video streaming and live stats at http://www.rpiathletics.com. Live tweets will also be available, follow @without_a_peer for updates.

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RPI at Niagara

Non-Conference Game – Dwyer Arena (Lewiston, NY)

10/14/11 – 7:00pm

Niagara 5, RPI 4 (OT)

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2011/10/14/rensselaer-vs-niagara/

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1112/boxes/wniaren1.o14

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2011/10/14/WICE_1014112729.aspx

Niagara: http://www.purpleeagles.com/news/2011/10/14/WHOCKEY_1014115603.aspx

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

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RPI at Niagara

Non-Conference Game – Dwyer Arena (Lewiston, NY)

10/15/11 – 2:00pm

Niagara 3, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2011/10/15/rensselaer-vs-niagara/

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1112/boxes/wniaren1.o15

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2011/10/15/WICE_1015115444.aspx

Niagara: http://www.purpleeagles.com/news/2011/10/15/WHOCKEY_1015115302.aspx

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

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Upcoming Games

Oct. 21 - Robert Morris (7pm)

Oct. 22 - Robert Morris (4pm)

Oct. 28 - Quinnipiac (3pm)

Oct. 29 - Princeton (3pm)

Nov. 4 - St. Lawrence (7pm)

Nov. 5 - Clarkson (4pm)

Game #4: Ferris State

Oy. It has not been a good weekend thus far. The women were swept out at Niagara to fall to 2-2-2 on the season. The men dropped a tough 4-0 decision last night after once again finding themselves unable to finish during the first two periods. Can we end on a high note? Maybe. We'll be right here breaking things down.

Game #3: Ferris State

Here it is - tonight's live blog, complete with all the Twitter feeds you want, plus WaP commentary.

Save Ferris

You knew this was coming.

No, this is not original. Just ask anyone from Ferris State - which, by amazing coincidence, is where the Engineers will be playing this weekend as Seth Appert returns to his alma mater.

The Bulldogs are very popular. The sportos, the motorheads, the geeks, sluts, bloods, wasteoids, dweebies, dickheads, they all adore them. They think they're righteous dudes.

Alright, enough of that.

Also this weekend, the women try to stay hot, taking a four-game road unbeaten streak in to Dwyer Arena for a weekend series with Niagara. It's the fourth straight year that the Engineers have a series with the Purps, and they're 3-0-3 against them in the last three seasons (though two of the ties were last year in Troy). Can the fab frosh continue their outstanding play?

Finish Line

The biggest takeaway that the Engineers have from last weekend's games against Minnesota State: finishing appears to be the issue of the moment.

Defensively, RPI looked very comfortable, which was something we mostly expected coming into the season. The blueliners are big and, to a man, talented at keeping offensive opportunities down. Both Bryce Merriam and Scott Diebold have impressed in net, making the saves they've needed to make and also making the saves that are a bit more difficult to make.

Offensively, however, the young core of forwards had a bit of a problem putting the puck away. They were shut out on Friday - partially because Austin Lee did a phenomenal job in net, but occasionally because the forwards simply couldn't move the puck at the right time to put it home. On Saturday, three of the four goals were scored on the perimeter by defensemen, while the fourth was on an open net and a defensive miscue by the other team.

The forwards playing this weekend against Ferris State are basically known - it's an all-hands on deck situation because of lingering injuries in the MASH unit to junior Greg Burgdoerfer and freshman Mark McGowan which have now added junior Marty O'Grady and sophomore Brock Higgs, leaving the Engineers with 12 healthy forwards on the roster.

It's good to know that there's offensive ability among the defensemen. We already knew Nick Bailen was a power play threat who's always willing to take the puck down below the faceoff circles to menace the opposing defense down low. Guy Leboeuf and Pat Koudys, in addition to being big, wield a big stick as well from the point, and even Luke Curadi (certainly not known for his scoring in juniors) uncorked a couple of slappers on Saturday as well.

Now it falls to the forwards. Higgs, Ryan Haggerty, Patrick Cullen, Alex Angers-Goulet, Zach Schroeder, and Jacob Laliberte all impressed last weekend with their ability to put themselves and the puck in a position to score goals on multiple occasions each. All they need to do now is get that finishing touch down. Higgs' injury is obviously a drawback, but with so many of the team's forwards right on the cusp of scoring last week, the potential is certainly there for breakout.

Today's Podcast: Seth Appert (CANCELED)

Without a Peer Radio has a very special guest on tap today - men's hockey coach Seth Appert. We talked to Mr. Appert two years back, when he mentioned that he was hopeful to get some games scheduled against his alma mater. This weekend, those games finally come to fruition as the Engineers travel to Big Rapids, MI for the second time in school history for a weekend set against the CCHA's Ferris State Bulldogs. We'll ask Seth about his days in rural Michigan, the team's outings last week against Minnesota State, and a few other topics, including the Great Western Shuffle.

Since we are no longer doing a call-in format (since we don't have enough people with access to the lair to screen calls), if you have a question for Coach Appert, shoot us an email at tomyousieve (aht) gmail (dat) com before the show. If we like it, we'll ask it.

Also, since we haven't had much time to talk women's hockey on WaP Radio, we'll run down the early season results for the 2-0-2 Engineers, who travel to Western New York this weekend to conclude their season-opening six-game road trip against the Niagara Purple Eagles.

We get underway at 3:00pm, and you can listen in live or on demand after the show by clicking Listen to Without a Peer on the right-hand side of the page.

UPDATE: Technology, once again, fails us when we need it most. The transmitter at the lair is once again on the fritz, and therefore, we reluctantly have to cancel what we hoped would be a great podcast. Our deepest apologies.

Tsunami Watch: The Flood Recedes

This is our final edition of Tsunami Watch. Why? Because the radical changes in the college hockey world caused by the advent of varsity hockey at Penn State are over.

But, you say, the most exciting part of all could be just around the corner for RPI! Perhaps. But it will be a secondary reaction if it happens.

Here is where we currently stand for 2013-14.

* There will essentially be one new conference: the Big Ten. Thus, at the end of the day, we're back to six conferences, where we were when the CHA was still around.

* The CCHA membership will disperse into four of those six conferences - Notre Dame to Hockey East, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State to the Big Ten, Miami and Western Michigan to the NCHC, and the balance to the WCHA.

* The WCHA, while it will continue to exist, will look radically different, with three less teams than they currently stand and, really, no programs that would be considered power programs. We could be talking about a WCHA that moves to the level of the ECAC.

* The only thing left to shake out will be autobids, which may not be back to six until 2015-16 under the rules. NCAA regulations say six teams of any league must have been playing together for two full seasons before they can have the autobid conferred upon them. That would seem to leave out the Big Ten off the bat since the rule applies to specific sports, but it could also leave the NCHC and the WCHA high and dry.

The NCHC might have the excuse that six of their teams have been playing together in the WCHA. The new-look WCHA, however, has only 4 teams that have played together in the previous incarnation of the league, and only 5 that played together in the CCHA.

That leaves us with four scenarios.

1) The WCHA, as the previously existing league, gets an autobid, while the NCHC has to wait two years.

2) The NCHC, as the league with six previously existing league members, gets an autobid, while the WCHA has to do without for a couple of seasons.

3) Both leagues get an autobid.

4) Neither league gets an autobid.

And, of course, the Big Ten could somehow manage to get a waiver for a supposedly unwaiverable rule.

Anyway, here's what the college hockey landscape looks like after the tsunami. The only potential secondary changes are a 12th team for Hockey East and, if that team comes from the ECAC, a move by an Atlantic Hockey team into the ECAC. Any further discussions by the discontented programs of Atlantic Hockey at a new conference would be on its own track.

Big Ten

Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin.

NCHC

Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan.

WCHA

Alaska, Alaska-Anchorage, Bemidji State, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State and Northern Michigan.

Hockey East

Boston College, Boston University, Maine, Merrimack, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Notre Dame, Providence, UMass, UMass-Lowell and Vermont.

ECAC & Atlantic Hockey

Unchanged

Independents

Alabama-Huntsville

Recently discussed potential new programs

Buffalo and MSU-Moorhead