Women's Hockey - St. Lawrence & Clarkson (4/5 Nov)

With this weekend marking the final ECAC games at Houston Field House until after the new year, it would have behooved RPI to pick up a few points, but instead they dropped a pair of 2-1 decisions to the North Country duo to drop to 0-3-1 in ECAC play. Meanwhile, elsewhere this weekend in the bizarro-ECAC, Union picked up a win over Clarkson and a tie against St. Lawrence, earning three more points than the Engineers while playing the same teams.

St. Lawrence

Cox/Harrison/Vandegrift

Smelker/Guillemette/Horton

Sanders/Mahoney/Svoboda

Letuligasenoa

Vadner/Castignetti

Le Donne/Schilter

Walsh/Marzario

O'Brien

An extra attacker goal by the Engineers at the 18:48 mark of the third period was not enough to recover from a 2-0 deficit, as St. Lawrence held on for a 2-1 victory while outshooting RPI 32-25.

The first period went without scoring, but not without opportunities as RPI and SLU traded power play opportunities, including over a minute of 5-on-3 time for the Engineers. Offensive troubles continued to plague RPI however, with the Engineers not able to capitalize on any of their first period power play opportunities, nor did they on either of their second period chances.

It was St. Lawrence who opened up the scoring extremely early in the second period, as Rylee Smith slid a pass across the crease for a tap-in by Kelly Sabatine just 23 seconds into the frame. That score would hold through the second intermission despite heavy pressure from the Engineers, who outshot the visiting Saints by a 13-6 margin in the period.

That shot margin was almost exactly flip-flopped in the final period as SLU held a 13-5 edge of their own. Jordan Smelker took a pair of penalties in the period, and Vanessa Emond capitalized on the second, with a very similar goal to the Saints' first, thanks to a feed through the crease from Ellie Williams.

RPI netminder Kelly O'Brien headed to the bench with about 2:30 left in regulation, and the Engineers made use of the extra attacker time, with Eleeza Cox scoring her first collegiate goal with 1:12 left in the period. RPI called its timeout just after and kept the net empty for the rest of the game, but was unable to draw even as SLU's Caitlyn Lahonen picked up her second win of the season while O'Brien dropped to 2-4-0.

Clarkson

Smelker/Guillemette/Horton

Cox/Harrison/Vandegrift

Sanders/Mahoney/Svoboda

Letuligasenoa

Castignetti/Vadner

Le Donne/Schilter

Walsh/Marzario

Piper

Saturday's game played out quite similarly to Friday's, with early second period and mid-third period goals for Clarkson before an extra attacker goal got RPI back into the game before falling short in another 2-1 loss.

Danielle Skirrow notched the Clarkson goal in the second period, taking a pass from Shelby Nisbet and skating across the front of the net to beat Brianna Piper at 2:42.

Vanessa Plante doubled the Golden Knights' lead at 13:56 of the third, firing a booming slapshot from the faceoff circle which beat Piper through traffic.

Once again, Coach Burke pulled the goalie for the extra attacker, but this time it came even earlier when Clarkson's Kali Gillanders took a tripping call with 5:07 left in regulation. The Engineers won the ensuing faceoff back to Sierra Vadner, who traded the puck back and forth with Andie Le Donne before firing a shot from the point which Laura Guillemette tipped past Erica Howe just eight seconds into the power play to draw within a goal.

The Engineers would play with the empty net again for the final half minute of the game, but it would turn out that the RPI goal would be their only shot in an offense-starved third period. In all, the Engineers managed just 14 shots - eight of which came in the first period.

With the loss, the Engineers fall to 2-7-3, and 0-3-1 in the ECAC - certainly not the start anyone hoped for with a four game homestand to open the league schedule. RPI now hits the road for a weekend at Brown and Yale before jumping back to two weekends of nonconference games at home, including a pair against #1 Wisconsin - who is 11-1 and has outscored its opponents 61-17 to date. Check the RPI Athletics website later in the week for links to video for the games; Without a Peer will have scoring updates as usual on Twitter.

-----

RPI vs. St. Lawrence

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

11/4/11 – 7:00pm

SLU 2, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2011/11/04/st-lawrence-vs-rensselaer/

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1112/boxes/wrenstl1.n04

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2011/11/4/WICE_1104110554.aspx

SLU: http://www.stlawu.edu/athletics/saints/women%27s+hockey/story/8351

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

RECORD: 2-6-3 (0-2-1 ECAC)

-----

RPI vs. Clarkson

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

11/5/11 – 3:00pm

Clarkson 2, RPI 1

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2011/11/05/clarkson-vs-rensselaer/

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1112/boxes/wclkren1.n05

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2011/11/5/WICE_1105110437.aspx

Clarkson: http://www.clarksonathletics.com/news/2011/11/5/WHOCK_1105114515.aspx

Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBn8XpL6SEE

RECORD: 2-7-3 (0-3-1 ECAC)

-----

Upcoming Games

Nov. 11 - at Brown (7pm)

Nov. 12 - at Yale (4pm)

Nov. 18 - Wisconsin (7pm)

Nov. 19 - Wisconsin (4pm)

Nov. 25 - Syracuse (7pm)

Nov. 26 - Syracuse (4pm)

Game #9: St. Lawrence

It's do or die tonight for both of these teams, who have a combined record of 1-12-0. One of these teams is going to be the tonic that cures the other, I'm sure of it.

Here's tonight's chat, if you've got the gumption for it. And be sure to follow us on Twitter at 4 o'clock as the women take on a Clarkson team that lost to Union last night. Two ways to look at that. A) THEY LOST TO UNION LAST NIGHT. B) Losing to Union would make me pretty angry. Would it make you angry?

Game #8: Clarkson

Here's the live blog/twitter feed for tonight's game. Tom is pulling color duty on WRPI and Gary's out of town, but our man behind the scenes may drop in for some witty repartee.

Oooooooooone minute...

The League

Now comes the part where the games matter a little bit more. With the Ivies rousted from their usual October hibernation, the league schedule gets underway in earnest this weekend for the men as they get the North Country trip out of the way early this year in a couple of games they should probably be competitive in.

The women, meanwhile, already have two home games down and while their play is improving, they still only took one point away from a weekend in which they played well enough to earn four. With another home weekend tonight and tomorrow, they're going to have to pick it up against an always-strong North Country duo, because not counting the Union games, they'll be down to just three more home weekends against five road weekends the rest of the way - those home points are very, very important.

This week's pump-up comes courtesy of Ed Lass, a heck of an outstanding individual who knows his Capital District college sports well enough to have been a guest on WaP Radio last year. He suggested "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire.

The band is from Montreal, so it's appropriate for heading up to Potsdam. RPI should fare better in the rest of the season, but some of the fans may need to "wake up" about that... or maybe the offensive scoring needs to "wake up." The song just has a lot of energy. It's sort of unexpected because the beat isn't that fast and the lyrics are more melancholy, but the rhythm guitar and drum just drive the song. Sometimes I listen to it in the morning as my own pump-up song.

Well put, Ed. Without further ado...

If you'd like to try your hand with next week's pumpup... well, forget it, because we've got our traditional Black Friday pumpup already in the chamber. But we're going to have a special Tuesday pumpup afterwards for the Union game, so if you'd like to try your hand at that, hit us up by email - tomyousieve (ought) gmail (dat) com.

By the way... go make a pledge to Goals For Good!

Goals For Good: Help the Tyler DeMarco Foundation

The season gets underway tomorrow - and thanks to a wonderful new charity project, so does a great way to give to some very worthy charities.

Goals For Good is the outstanding brainchild of Colgate senior defenseman (and captain) Kevin McNamara. Under the program, ECAC fans (or even fans from outside the ECAC) can make donations to exceptionally worthy charity causes based on the number of goals or the number of wins their team picks up in league play.

RPI, both the men and the women, will be putting pucks on net for the Tyler DeMarco Foundation in Schenectady. The foundation focuses their efforts on raising awareness and charitable contributions that go toward fighting childhood cancers. Just like adopted Engineer Ben Mayo, Tyler - who passed away in February 2010 at the age of 12 - suffered from medulloblastoma, a highly malignant form of pediatric brain cancer. Fortunately, Ben's cancer is in remission, but the battle goes on against childhood cancer.

Tyler said, "no kid should have to go through this." So very true.

Without a Peer is proud to team with McNamara and Goals For Good by helping to get the word out and solicit some donations - every time RPI scores a goal or picks up a win this season, make a little donation to help stop childhood cancer in its tracks.

Goals For Good is a bit of a competition between the 12 schools of the ECAC, but in reality, the true winners will be the 12 charities, who will hopefully be able to rake in thousands of dollars from generous fans around the college hockey world. Even if you're not an RPI or an ECAC fan, we ask you to check out the Goals For Good website and make a pledge or two to the Tyler DeMarco Foundation or one of the other 11 worthy causes.

College hockey is a community. RPI Hockey is also a community. Let's show the world that our communities truly care.

If you would like to make your donation public, leave us a comment or shoot us an email and we'll put it up on this page. Thank you in advance.

WaP's Tom Reale will donate $1 per goal and $2 per win.

Today's Podcast: Ed Weaver

With the ECAC schedule ready to open up in earnest (say hello to first place Quinnipiac, who beat Princeton 5-2 last night) on Friday, it's time to check in with the Record's Ed Weaver to get his thoughts on the league picture this season. We'll ask him about the Engineers' tribulations of the last month, get an injury update, and see what lies in store in the North Country this weekend.

We'll also get his thoughts on the women as well, forced last weekend to walk away from a pair of home games with just one point to show for it - and a tough home weekend to come with the North Country coming into town.

Today's podcast gets underway at 4 p.m. Eastern. Click Listen to Without a Peer on the right-hand side of the page to listen live, or click it any time after the broadcast to listen on demand.

Don't Panic

This is one of the best 1-6-0 teams you'll ever see.

Now, please examine these words carefully. I'm not saying we've got one of the best teams in the nation. I'm not saying that the Engineers are going to be favorites in the ECAC, necessarily - although that's not outside the realm of possibility if some things improve.

But there's certainly a long way from the casual fan looking at a 1-6-0 record and declaring the team completely screwed, and a close look at the facts to say... there could be something here.

Let's run down the list.

1) Of RPI's first seven games, five (the last five) were against teams currently ranked in the Top 10 in the nation (and they have another one coming the weekend after next). No other team in the country can make that claim - Minnesota-Duluth, Northern Michigan and Vermont come closest with four each.

2) In none of these first seven games did the Engineers have less than two of their forwards sidelined with injuries. Brock Higgs, who most observers have picked to be one of the team's best offensive sparks this season, has missed the last five contests. Marty O'Grady, one of the team's key centers, has been out with a concussion, also missing the last five games. Jacob Laliberte, whose departure from junior hockey had opposing coaches in Ontario on their knees and finding God, has been out for the last three.

Higgs and Laliberte have had this coming weekend marked on the calendar for their return, though we're still waiting to hear if they've been cleared to play. It sounds like O'Grady may be on the road to recovery as well. Fingers crossed.

3) Six of the goals given up in the losses - almost 1/3 of the total goals given up - were scored on empty nets. While RPI has averaged three goals given up per game, discounting the empty netters brings the true defensive number (that is, goals given up when the team is actually playing defense, which they aren't doing with the net empty) down to something closer to two per game. Not bad given the competition.

4) The penalty kill is working - toss the empty net power play goal from last Friday, and it's clicking at a rate that puts it in the top 10 nationally.

5) Most importantly, heading into this weekend, RPI is 0-0-0 in ECAC play, just like everyone else (although the league's first two points get doled out tonight in New Jersey as travel partners Quinnipiac and Princeton get it on).

So, at the end of the day, it was October adversity that created a 1-6-0 record. It's something that could be problematic later in the season if the Engineers play well enough in league play to be an NCAA tournament contender, but that's an awful long way off from here. With league play beginning, it's time to reset back to 0-0-0 and, especially if they get some returns from the injured list, move forward with confidence.

What's on tap this weekend? The North Country trip, which is getting out of the way (hopefully) before the weather becomes an issue in it.

On Friday, it's Clarkson, which may be one of the least impressive 5-1-2 teams you'll ever see. While the Engineers were busy running a veritable gauntlet, the Golden Knights frolicked through one of the easiest non-conference stretches any team could possibly assemble - consecutive home weekends against Sacred Heart and American International, followed by a road weekend at Bentley.

Yes, while over 4,400 were watching RPI go stride-for-stride with Colorado College in Troy on Saturday, a reported crowd of 312 at the Waltham, Mass. municipal rink watched Clarkson tie Bentley despite an overtime power play chance. That attendance figure was obviously affected by the nor'easter, 850 had jammed the John A. Ryan Skating Rink the previous night.

We've talked about Atlantic Hockey's position in the college hockey pecking order enough that we don't need to underline it again. But guess which three teams the league's coaches thought would be on the bottom of the AHA barrel? You guessed it.

St. Lawrence, bless them, had a pretty difficult opening schedule as well, and there's a direct comparison - Ferris State. One week before RPI visited Big Rapids, the Bulldogs were in Canton, playing a close game with the Saints on Friday before a more solid victory on Saturday.

That was followed by a trip to Ann Arbor, where the Saints were just brutalized at the hands of Michigan, another one of the nation's top teams, 10-3. Two nights later in Rochester, the Saints redefined getting your heart ripped out and stomped on, giving up the tying goal with 9 seconds left on the clock, and then the game winning goal 14 seconds into overtime to fall to RIT.

SLU has been off the last two weeks, which either gives them plenty of time to forget that game or plenty of time to dwell on it. At any rate, Union's going to be more worried about that than we are.

RPI, to be fair, has some things they need to work on. They could probably afford to put more shots on net. Their finishing has been suspect, whether it's crashing the net or picking up rebounds - these things can't be placed solely on the lineup of quality defenses and goaltending that the Engineers have faced.

The power play needs a big boost - 2-for-40 speaks for itself no matter who you've been playing, especially considering that both goals came in the same game.

Defensively, there's been one goal given up each weekend on glaring defensive breakdowns. Those breakdowns need to occur less frequently, because they're a black mark on what has otherwise been a solid defensive showing given the circumstances.

But on Friday, perhaps we'll find out which tactic works better to prepare for league play - an endless supply of some of the nation's best teams to force a team to step up their game, or a steady diet of cupcakes to build confidence.

So no, it's not time to panic just yet. If some of the issues continue this weekend, especially if the injured soldiers return to the front line... maybe a little.