Women's Hockey - Colgate & Cornell (6/7 Jan)

With the holiday break behind them, RPI took to the ice in the first of seven straight league weekends which will close out the 2011-12 season. After ending 2011 with five losses in six games, including a 10-0 thrashing by Clarkson, RPI desperately needed a win over a Colgate squad just ahead of them in the standings, and they got it, posting a 4-1 victory over the Raiders before falling 3-0 to a powerful, albeit depleted Cornell squad.

Colgate

Cox/Harrison/Smelker

Mahoney/Vandegrift/Horton

Letuligasenoa/Guillemette/Svoboda

Sanders/Mankey

Castignetti/Vadner

Le Donne/Walsh

Schilter/Marzario

O'Brien

As the race to make the playoffs truly heats up over the tail end of the season, it becomes more and more critical to pick up points wherever possible - but nowhere moreso than the teams you're trying to catch in the standings. With RPI hovering around the bottom of the pack, and both Colgate and Brown just a point ahead, the game proved a ripe opportunity for the Engineers to do just that.

An early power play did little to help the Engineers find their momentum, as RPI put only a single shot on net during the advantage. Colgate came out firing after the penalty kill, putting several shots on netminder Kelly O'Brien before Melissa Kueber put a puck home from close range at 5:57 to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

RPI would answer before the end of the period, as Taylor Horton knotted the game at one with a shot over Kimberly Sass's glove at 17:10.

Eleeza Cox put the Engineers ahead late in the second period, tapping a loose puck over the outstretched stick of Sass after the Colgate goalie made a nice play to stop a 2-on-1 opportunity for the Engineers. Cox made it a two goal game with her team-leading eighth goal of the season - with just 1:04 left in the third period after a brillian takeaway by Alisa Harrison behind the Colgate net. Harrison slid the puck forward to Cox, who was flying into the slot and left undefended for an easy one-timer past Sass.

Cox's goal, while not on the power play, came just after the tail end of the final of three penalties in a row for the Raiders in the third period, which stifled their comeback attempts. Madison Marzario scored her second of the season into an empty net to seal the game at 4-1.

Cornell

Cox/Harrison/Smelker

Mahoney/Vandegrift/Horton

Letuligasenoa/Guillemette/Svoboda

Sanders/Mankey

Castignetti/Vadner

Le Donne/Marzario

Schilter/Walsh

O'Brien

Cornell entered the game with six of their top players out of the lineup as they represented Team Canada at the Meco Cup in Germany, but the shortened bench did not disrupt the Big Red's winning ways. After trouncing Union 9-1 the night before despite dressing just 11 skaters, the same lineup took to the ice in Troy and worked its way to a 3-0 shutout and a 30-15 advantage in shots.

Cornell's Kendice Ogilvie scored from the slot at 11:07 of the first despite being surrounded by three RPI skaters, ripping the puck stick side on O'Brien for a 1-0 lead.

The teams traded a long series of penalties in the second period as the game got surprisingly rough. After combining for two slashing calls, a checking call, and three roughing calls, Cornell finally cashed in on a power play opportunity at 13:53 of the period when Monika Leck was given a little too much room to maneuver and fed a precise pass through the crease to Laura Fortino for an glove-side tap-in past O'Brien.

The Big Red extended their lead to three with just 22 seconds remaining in the middle frame, with Brianne Jenner firing a laser of a shot over O'Brien's shoulder from a surprisingly sharp angle.

Despite the two goals allowed, it was a rather good period defensively for the Engineers, who held Cornell to just six shots on goal in the frame. Unfortunately, RPI managed just two shots of their own in the same period, and four in the third - simply not enough to pick up any goals against a loaded Cornell squad.

Cornell made it clear once again that they are the team to beat in the ECAC, skating with just over half a full complement of skaters yet still not getting fatigued and cruising to a fairly easy win. Credit to RPI for keeping the score close, but Cornell clearly performs at a higher level and appears more than deserving of their current #3 national ranking.

RPI hits the road next weekend for a pair at Dartmouth (7pm Friday) and Harvard (4pm Saturday). WRPI will not have coverage of the road games, however audio and video will likely be available from the home teams. Check the RPI Athletics website closer to game day for links, or check Without a Peer on Twitter for score updates. The Engineers return to the Capital District the following weekend for a home-and-home with Union which will prove critical if the Engineers hope to make the playoffs.

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RPI vs. Colgate

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

1/6/12 – 3:00pm

RPI 4, Colgate 1

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/01/06/colgate-vs-rensselaer/

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1112/boxes/wclgren1.j06

RECAPS:

RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2012/1/6/WICE_0106124448.aspx

Colgate: http://www.gocolgateraiders.com/news/2012/1/6/WHOCKEY_0106120648.aspx

Video Highlights (no audio): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFB5yeBks34

RECORD: 5-12-4 (2-5-2 ECAC)

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RPI vs. Cornell

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

1/7/12 – 3:00pm

Cornell 3, RPI 0

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2012/01/07/cornell-vs-rensselaer/

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1112/boxes/wcorren1.j07

RECAPS:

RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2012/1/7/WICE_0107124430.aspx

Cornell: http://cornellbigred.com/news/2012/1/7/WICE_0107120838.aspx

Video Highlights (no audio): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vrLch-2vUs

RECORD: 5-13-4 (2-6-2 ECAC)

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ECAC Standings

                GP    Pts     Conf    All
Quinnipiac      14    20      9-3-2   13-8-2
Cornell         9     16      8-1     12-2
Princeton       14    14      6-6-2   7-9-4
Clarkson        10    13      6-3-1   12-6-4
Harvard         10    13      6-3-1   9-5-1
Dartmouth       10    12      5-3-2   8-5-2
St. Lawrence    10    11      5-4-1   10-7-3
Brown           9     7       2-4-3   5-5-6
Colgate         9     7       3-5-1   8-11-1
Rensselaer      10    6       2-6-2   5-13-4
Union           10    3       1-8-1   3-16-2
Yale            9     2       1-8     1-15

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Upcoming Games

Jan. 13 - at Dartmouth (7pm)

Jan. 14 - at Harvard (4pm)

Jan. 20 - Yale (7pm)

Jan. 21 - Brown (4pm)

Jan. 27 - at Union (3pm)

Jan. 28 - Union (3pm)

Homecoming Spotlight

It was a dark December at Houston Field House - literally. Neither the men or the women had home games last month, and believe it or not, the last game played there was a win for RPI; a 2-1 victory for the women over Syracuse way back on November 26. The last men's game was a little less memorable and a little longer ago, a 5-1 loss to Union on November 15 - going on two months ago now.

Both teams make their returns this weekend with four ECAC contests. This afternoon at 3pm, the women return from their winter break - their first actual game in over a month - with a big one against Colgate, a team just in front of them in the league standings. That makes this a winnable game and an important one as well, since the Raiders have a game in hand over the Engineers.

Tonight, the men take center stage with the big spotlight of a national television audience against a team that certainly has an axe to grind with RPI - Dartmouth, the team that was first out back in March for the NCAA tournament, with the Engineers first in. RPI's two big wins over the Big Green last season were the difference makers. Will they have similar success this year, or will Dartmouth get their revenge? Come down to the Field House tonight at 7:30 (get there at seven or earlier!) to find out.

Tomorrow afternoon brings another huge challenge for the women with the Cornell Big Red, ranked #3 in the nation. RPI has lost 7 straight against resurgent Cornell, but they gave them all they could handle in Game 1 of last year's ECAC quarterfinals - just as they did with #1 Wisconsin in the first of two in November. Can they pull the upset and snag a golden point or two from a team that isn't giving many up this year? It'll be tough.

Finally on Saturday night, it's Harvard for the men, and the Crimson have been all over the map this season. They managed a tie last week at North Dakota (before being blown out the next night), something that is never easy even though this isn't exactly the Team Formerly Known as the Fighting Sioux's year.

Hockey is back in Troy, and the lights are shining tonight. Hopefully, the optimism of Friday morning doesn't have to give way, as it has frequently this year, to the disappointment of Sunday morning.

Come On Down

As we slide back into the ECAC schedule - there's only one non-league game left and that's on Tuesday against American International, pray we win that one - I'd like to highlight the fact that tomorrow night's game against Dartmouth is going to be on national television.

Yes, that's right. To kick off college hockey on the newly branded NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus), Dartmouth at RPI. It's a bit of an honor, but there's also kind of a collection of problems.

1. The school is on winter break. That means there probably won't be a heck of a lot of students around.

2. The team isn't doing that great. That means there probably won't be a heck of a lot of only semi-interested people around.

3. Dartmouth doesn't travel very well. That means there probably won't be a heck of a lot of visiting fans around.

4. To bring this full circle, the game's on national television, which means that some people who are interested in watching the game will take the easier (and cheaper) route by staying home and watching on TV.

What does that add up to? In all likelihood, that's one empty Field House. And, to emphasize the point, it's going to be on national television. You can see the problem.

So we're asking our readers to do your part. Most of you in the Capital District, we know, will probably go to the game. You've probably got season tickets and we definitely hope most of you are with the team through thick or thin (if you haven't figured it out yet, this is thin). Just two simple requests.

1. Go to the game on Friday.

2. Invite someone to come with you. If you're too far out and can't go yourself, call a friend and suggest a night of hockey.

That's all. I'm sure we won't fill the place or anything, but it would at least be nice to put our best foot forward for the NBC cameras.

It's the first home game in six weeks. Come show your support. Watch the DVR after the game's over to see if you made it on TV.

Men's Hockey - UConn Holiday Classic (29/30 Dec)

The unofficial start of the second half arrived with a great deal of promise for the struggling Engineers. With three weeks off and the team finally back to 100% health for the first time all season, hope seemed to be on the horizon. Unfortunately, the games turned out to be more of the same as RPI was savaged in the opening game of the UConn Holiday Classic, 7-2, and followed with a dismal consolation game, falling to Army 3-2.

UMass-Lowell
Lee/Neal/Schroeder
Laliberte/Higgs/Haggerty
Angers-Goulet/McGowan/O'Grady

Rogic/Malchuk/Tinordi

Curadi/Bailen
Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Koudys

Diebold

The big news before the game was certainly the lineup. With no injuries to work around, Seth Appert was free to start whatever team he thought gave him the best chance to win for the first time all season, and the result was a number of seniors, especially Pat Cullen and Josh Rabbani, sitting in the stands. All seven freshman skaters started, as did freshman goaltender Scott Diebold. Matt Neal made his long awaited return to the lineup after missing more than two months with an ankle injury, and Ryan Haggerty came back after missing three games with the flu.

The optimism that came with the opening of the second half lasted precisely 43 seconds. That's how long it took the River Hawks to score, following a defensive breakdown that resulted in Lowell sending two forwards in alone on Diebold to make it 1-0. They made it 2-0 about 10 minutes later on a second defensive breakdown, and scored a shorthanded goal just two and a half minutes after that to make it 3-0. All three first period goals came as part of a lightning transition through the neutral zone that the RPI blueliners simply could not stop, leaving Diebold high and dry.

The Engineers tried to pick things up in the second period with Ryan Haggerty notching his team leading fourth goal of the season - yes, that's right - on the first opportunity of the middle stanza. The momentum didn't last long, however, as yet another defensive breakdown led to a Lowell goal just 30 seconds later, making the score 4-1 and immediately and visibly demoralizing RPI. Lowell picked up another goal about 10 minutes later to all but ice the game with almost a full half of the game left to be played.

Former RPI recruiting target Terrance Wallin - who reportedly had Lowell and RPI as his two finalists before choosing the River Hawks - made things worse three minutes into the third with his fourth of the season, making it 6-1. Zach Schroeder picked up his second of the year with just over three minutes left to play, but by that time it was far too late for anything to get going for the Engineers. Lowell added a power play goal with 10 seconds left just for good measure, and RPI limped away with a five-goal loss for the first time since the North Dakota NCAA game last year (which was six).

It was the first time since the "unspeakable Freakout!" two years ago that anyone had hung seven goals on RPI. The glaring issue was not between the pipes, as Scott Diebold frequently was left hanging by his defensemen and actually had a halfway decent appearance otherwise, although the goalfest left his numbers for the season significantly damaged.

Army, 2-0 losers to the homestanding UConn Huskies, became RPI's consolation game opponent.


Army
Angers-Goulet/McGowan/O'Grady
Laliberte/Higgs/Haggerty
Lee/Neal/Schroeder

Tinordi/Rogic/Rabbani

Smith

Leonard/Bergin
Curadi/Bailen
Dolan

Merriam

The response was immediate. Joel Malchuk was benched for the first time this season, and defensemen Pat Koudys and Guy Leboeuf were also yanked, resulting in only five defensemen dressing. Bryce Merriam got the start in net, and senior Justin Smith skated as the extra forward.

With the Black Knights coming in with just one victory on the season, this had all the hallmarks of a must-win game for RPI, if only to maintain some semblance of confidence moving forward.

Once again, the Engineers got off on the wrong foot by getting behind early. After both sides had failed to score on their first power play of the game, Army was first to the scoresheet by notching a power play goal on Matt Neal's second penalty of the first period to go up 1-0.

RPI's power play struggles continued into the second period, as an opportunity right from the get-go fell by the wayside. In fact, it was not until Army went down two men six minutes into the second that the Engineers were able to get on the board, tying things with Brock Higgs' first goal of the season, getting the monkey off his back but keeping the Engineers somewhat behind the eight ball, as their efforts at even strength proved futile for the remainder of the period. RPI dominated the second in shots, 15-2, yet could only muster the two-man advantage goal.

Matt Neal's first career goal also came on the power play, arriving three and a half minutes into RPI's fifth man advantage of the game, giving the Engineers the lead for the first time in the tournament, but once again, the momentum was fleeting.

Just over two minutes later, following an interference call against Bo Dolan that Dolan, Appert and most RPI fans in attendance thought was a bit of a phantom call, Army scored on the ensuing faceoff to tie the game at two.

The Engineers pushed forward in an attempt to retake the lead, but just as they picked up the pressure, a slap shot by Nick Bailen broke the glass behind the Army net, resulting in a delay of about half an hour while  repairs were made. When play resumed, the momentum built by the pressure was gone.

In heart-breaking fashion, a weak shot by Army with only 93 ticks remaining on the clock eluded Merriam and gave Army the late lead. The Engineers did what they could to get things square again with the empty net, but they could not get one past Army's Ryan Leets, who made 29 saves on 31 shots for the victory. Merriam finished with just 13 saves on 16 shots, while the Engineers allowed 10 goals on 40 shots on the weekend.

RPI now limps home to begin the second half of the ECAC schedule, in desperate need of a bounce their way in order to salvage the season.

Other junk - Plenty of movement in the national rankings this week. RPI opponents on the chart this week are #5 Notre Dame (no change), #6 Colorado College (no change), #9 Colgate (up three), #12 UMass-Lowell (up five), #13 Cornell (no change), #14 Union (down four), #17 Ferris State (down six), and #20 Yale (down one). Also receiving votes were RIT (12) and Harvard (4).

RPI's three leading scorers - Nick Bailen, Brock Higgs and Ryan Haggerty - have scored 100% of their goals on the power play, accounting for 8 of RPI's 10 power play goals.

All of RPI's freshmen forwards - Haggerty, Jacob Laliberte, Zach Schroeder, Mark McGowan and Matt Neal - have now notched their first career goal.

Bailen, Schroeder, C.J. Lee, Alex Angers-Goulet, Mike Bergin and Curtis Leonard are the only remaining players who have not missed a game this season.

RPI's next game is their first home game since November - and it's a big one as it's not only a league game, it's also a nationally televised game as the first college game to air on the newly rechristened NBC Sports Network.  Unfortunately, it comes at a time when students are not on campus, against a team that doesn't travel well and with the team struggling significantly, so this showpiece game could be played in front of a fairly weak crowd. If you can get to the Field House on Friday, please do so.

ECAC Standings (by win% in parentheses)

1 (1). Cornell - 13 pts (6-1-1)
2 (2). Colgate - 12 pts (6-2-0)
3 (8). Quinnipiac - 9 pts (3-4-3)
4 (3). Yale - 8 pts (4-2-0)
5 (4). Union - 8 pts (3-2-2)
6 (7). Harvard - 8 pts (3-3-2)
7 (10). St. Lawrence - 8 pts (4-5-0)
8 (9). Clarkson - 8 pts (3-4-2)

9 (6). Dartmouth - 7 pts (3-3-1)

10 (11). Princeton - 7 pts (3-7-1)
11 (5). Brown - 6 pts (3-3-0)

12 (12). RPI - 2 pts (1-6-0)

#17 UMass-Lowell vs. RPI
Non-Conference Game - Freitas Ice Forum (Storrs, CT)
12/29/11 - 4:00pm
RESULT: UMass-Lowell 7, RPI 2


BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
USCHO
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
Lowell Sun

RECORD: 3-14-0 (1-6-0 ECAC, 2 pts)

Army vs. RPI
Non-Conference Game - Freitas Ice Forum (Storrs, CT)
12/30/11 - 4:00pm
RESULT: Army 3, RPI 2


BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union

RECORD: 3-15-0 (1-6-0 ECAC, 2 pts)

Upcoming games

06 Jan - Dartmouth
07 Jan - Harvard
10 Jan - American International
14 Jan - at #14 Union
20 Jan - at Brown

ECAC Power Rankings: December

Well, it's time to pay the piper. The month of December is over, and with two more months left before crunch time, we take a look at how the league looks at this point in time. Throw the league standings out the window... here's how the ECAC stacks up right now. You'll hardly be surprised by who occupies the basement.

Happy New Year. Let last year be forgot, and never brought to mind.

(Last month's ranking in parentheses)

1 (3). Colgate (12-4-2) - What a month for the Raiders. They steamrolled Clarkson and St. Lawrence for four home points at the start of the month, fought to a 1-1 tie with high-flying Merrimack, then closed out with a solid win over Canisius last night. Colgate is on a seven game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) and have lost only twice since October. This time last year, Colgate was easily the worst team in the ECAC - so cheer up, Engineer Nation.

2 (1). Cornell (8-4-1) - The first two games this month for the Big Red pretty much confirmed our opinion of the Cornell style: boring. They featured a grand total of one goal in 120 minutes of game play - two less goals than the number of ECAC points they got out of those games, since the one goal was theirs. A rough loss on Thursday to UMass (despite the retention of Andy Iles, who was not selected for the World Junior team) was made up by a solid win yesterday over Paul Karpowich-less Clarkson.

3 (2). Union (9-5-5) - Other than a big road win at Merrimack, December was a bit of an injury-induced downer for the Dutchmen. It included a win over floundering RPI, but a pair of losses out in Colorado on the last two days of 2011 were a missed opportunity for Union to make a statement following an otherwise rotten December which got underway with two ties that a healthy team probably could have turned into wins.

4 (7). Quinnipiac (11-7-4) - The Bobcats are righting the ship in a big way following a dreary November. A loss last night at Nebraska-Omaha snapped a six game unbeaten streak, but Quinnipiac does appear to have its mojo back overall. Although most of their opponents were not exactly of a solid stature, the Bobcats did very well, going 3-1-2 in over the month. We'll find out for sure if they're contenders in the second week of January when they host Colgate and Cornell.

5 (6). Harvard (4-4-4) - Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes you tie. Harvard has that down to a science at this point, equally dividing the results among their first 12 outings. A 1-1-2 December doesn't seem terribly impressive, but all four games came on the road, and two were at North Dakota Friday and last night, a tough place to play even in a season like this where the Fighting Sioux are struggling.

6 (5). St. Lawrence (7-10-2) - The Saints have bounced back from a horrible start not only to the season but to the month of December as well. They endured a tough stretch at the Central New York teams and then against Clarkson, losing all three to start the month, but they currently ride a four-game unbeaten streak, including a pair of ties (and shootout victories) to claim Dartmouth's tournament, including a rollercoaster affair against Merrimack.

7 (8). Dartmouth (6-5-2) - The slimmest of margins separate the Big Green and the Saints, and right now that margin just happens to be the shootout loss last night in the championship of their own tournament. It was a 2-0-1 December for Dartmouth, but they weren't overly tested - all three games at home, two against Atlantic Hockey opponents. It's too early to know if they've improved from their difficult November.

8 (4). Yale (6-5-1) - Lost here at WaP amidst the Engineers' own struggles is the possible downfall of mighty Yale. Their shocking loss to Sacred Heart was followed up by a miserable December, in which the Bulldogs managed only a split with Brown, and added a loss to UMass to fall to a 1-4-0 record in their last four games. They host Bentley to ring in the New Year this afternoon in New Haven, and if they don't win that one... they're in some serious trouble.

9 (9). Clarkson (9-9-4) - A miserable trip to Florida last week underscores just how much the Knights rely on Paul Karpowich to keep them in games. The senior had previously started every game this year, and his backups were less than stellar, allowing 11 goals in two games. Worse for Clarkson is that they struggled even with the senior netminder in December, picking up a win against their archrivals from Canton but struggling otherwise, going 1-4-1 for the month.

10 (12). Brown (5-6-1) - The Bears move out of the doldrums thanks to a road win against an admittedly weaker than usual New Hampshire team on Friday, but a travel-partner split with Yale was also pretty big for Brown. When you're this far down the chart, a 2-1-0 month can be all it takes to look a little bit better, and they have the opportunity to show that they've put the awful losses of November behind them against Providence in the annual Mayor's Cup today.

11 (10). Princeton (4-9-4) - When your only win of the month is against a last place team, you had a pretty bad month. The Tigers did manage three ties, including a gutsy tie with a solid Northeastern team out in Minnesota on Friday, but just couldn't get over the hump with a second tie last night against Niagara. The offense is OK, but the defense is struggling; Princeton has allowed three goals or more in each of their last six games.

12 (11). RPI (3-15-0) - This is not pretty and it's only getting worse. To wit - with a full month worth of games more, the Engineers have fewer wins on the season than all six Ivies and five more losses than anyone else in the conference, going 0-5-0 in December with the defense going to pot in all five games. The offense is improving with at least two goals in each of the games, but they were outscored 23-11 in December.

Lost in the Desert

The Army "juggernaut" rolls on. That's two losses in a row for RPI against the Black Knights.

Leet.

2011 can't end soon enough. The Engineers' total record this calendar year is 12-24-2, with fully half of those wins coming in January. Yeah.

Only three teams in the nation register worse in KRACH right now than RPI - American International, Alabama-Huntsville, and Sacred Heart. That means the Engineers, as of right now, are the underdog in every game they will play for the rest of the year, except for the AIC game in which they are slight favorites (at the moment).

In the Fetal Position

A gutsy move to sit some upperclassmen in favor of younger players didn't quite pay off yesterday, but a lot of credit to Lowell - they're a solid team. They perfectly exploited a serious problem we've been having.

What was the problem? I think we might have talked about it recently.

Oh well. On to Army this afternoon. And if we can't beat Army... yeah.