It's back to hockey after the post-Thanksgiving food coma.
At home in Troy, the women take on RIT, the reigning CHA champions. This season for the Tigers... a lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of what-have-yous. Cross your fingers here that the Engineers are finally getting over the injury bug.
That's something the men have been doing over the last couple of weeks, and they've persevered pretty well. We're just waiting to see when Lou Nanne and Zach Schroeder get back into the lineup. If it's not this weekend against Michigan, hopefully, it's at least next week against Yale and Brown, games which arguably will go a lot farther in helping RPI succeed this season.
The Engineers have historically held some kind of mystical advantage over the Wolverines. From that epic and immortal takedown in the 1954 national tournament to the win in the 2009 GLI, RPI has an unexpected 7-3-1 all-time record against Michigan. That's pretty nifty. Let's extend it, eh?
It's been a while. Let's go retro this weekend, just for fun (as always, if you have any killer pumpup ideas, feel free to tweet at us). Ann Arbor's likely to be fixated on its hatred of Ohio State this weekend, so let's slip on into Funkytown and slip out with a couple of good results.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Bull Durham
We've already learned that Luke Curadi is not only back in the lineup, he's dressing as a forward tonight.
This will be interesting.
The Engineers tackle the second of four consecutive non-conference contests tonight on the frozen lake that is the Whittemore Center in New Hampshire.
Most of the team that has been injured or sick are now back - missing only Lou Nanne and Zach Schroeder. With any luck, we'll see them back out on the ice by next Friday, when the ECAC schedule gets underway again.
In the meantime, here's crunk to get you pumped up or something. Another round of shots!
This will be interesting.
The Engineers tackle the second of four consecutive non-conference contests tonight on the frozen lake that is the Whittemore Center in New Hampshire.
Most of the team that has been injured or sick are now back - missing only Lou Nanne and Zach Schroeder. With any luck, we'll see them back out on the ice by next Friday, when the ECAC schedule gets underway again.
In the meantime, here's crunk to get you pumped up or something. Another round of shots!
Friday, November 21, 2014
BOHICA
We got two up close and personal examples of Rule 83.5 this past weekend in Troy. One was an exercise in how to apply it. The other was an exercise in how to royally screw things up in ways only the average ECAC referee can.
This is known around these parts as the "Second Union Rule" or the "National Union Rule," as it was adopted following the Union-Michigan State game in the 2012 national tournament where a goal for the Spartans was waved off because Union's Josh Jooris, apparently intentionally according to the NCAA, lifted the net off its moorings just before the puck went in (the "First Union Rule" or the "ECAC Union Rule" provides for all 12 ECAC teams making the post-season tournament).
The rule was redefined as such in the summer of 2012:
First, there's a defined difference between "may award a goal" and "shall award a goal." The referee is given leeway to award a goal but is not required to when this happens with the goaltender in the net. If it's an empty net, he's required.
This is pretty standard, it allows the referees to use judgment when it pertains to the other elements that we're about to discuss.
In order for the goal to be awarded, three things have to be true. First, the goal has to have been dislodged by the actions of a defending player. This would include a defending player pushing an attacking player into the net - the reverse would be cause for disallowing a goal. Second, the puck must have been already shot, or the shooting player must already be in position to shoot, when the net is dislodged. Third, the puck must be determined to have crossed the line where it would have counted had the net been in the proper position.
Let's examine this first in the Princeton game, where a Princeton goal was disallowed.
With RPI leading 1-0, Princeton's Ryan Siiro took a shot toward the RPI cage from the top of the right faceoff circle that was saved by Jason Kasdorf, the rebound falling just to his right. Princeton's Ben Foster worked it free and came around behind the net to the left side.
Foster beat out Jimmy DeVito to grab the rebound, but Craig Bokenfohr and Phil Hampton skated into the area to try and help out - Bokenfohr into the mix with Foster and DeVito, Hampton into the crease. Princeton freshman Eric Robinson arrived late to the party and ultimately checked Hampton into the cage, knocking it loose.
At this point, Foster had the puck to the left of the cage. He passed it to Siiro, who moved into the slot, and Siiro one-timed it into the cage, which was off both of its moorings at that point.
This goal was rightfully disallowed because the circumstances met only one of the three criteria for it to be upheld. Siiro's shot did go where the net would have been, but it was the actions of an attacking player - Robinson checking Hampton - that dislodged the net, and the shot was not imminent when the net was dislodged - Foster had the puck behind the cage and passed it in front only after the net came loose.
Referee CJ Hanafin got this one right from start to finish. He did the right thing by awarding a goal on the ice, then reviewing the play. Under Rule 83.5, this is not a goal, so he disallowed it. For anyone who might still be on the fence, Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty agreed after the game after reviewing video that the goal should not have been awarded. (We like Hanafin a lot because he's an Engineer. Some of us here were crestfallen when we heard he'd become an ECAC referee, but he seems to be raising the bar. He's done well so far and he's been fair.)
Compare this with the disallowed RPI goal the next night against Quinnipiac.
On the power play and with RPI down 2-1, Mike Prapavessis digs the puck out of the corner to the left of the net. He brings it up and around through the faceoff circle and the slot, waiting for his opportunity to catch QU goaltender Michael Gartieg off balance. He gets it when defenseman Connor Clifton, also trying to defend against Prapavessis, falls to a knee and into Gartieg. Prapavessis takes his shot and rings it off the post, the rebound coming straight back out.
Meanwhile, once Clifton and Gartieg collide, QU forward Matthew Peca, standing at the top of the crease, makes a bee-line for the net, sliding into the right-side post to dislodge the net shortly after Prapavessis' shot rebounded off the post. Drew Melanson, now standing over Clifton, does not move with the puck coming directly back to him, and simply puts the puck into the open but dislodged cage.
The goal was awarded on the ice, and it met all three requirements. First, the cage was dislodged by the actions of Peca, who skated straight into the cage unaided. Second, while the shot by Melanson did not come before the cage was dislodged, the rebound from Prapavessis' shot (which happened and hit the post before the dislodging) was coming straight to him already and he did not have to move to take the shot, which occurred a split-second after the net was dislodged. Third, the puck clearly enters the net in a way that it would have been in had the goal been in the proper place.
And despite all of this, the tying goal was waved off. In a search for justification, there are some very, very thin arguments that can be made. All four were posited by our researchers in an attempt to find something that would rationalize the goal being waved off.
1. Melanson is near Clifton just before the latter takes out his own netminder, but he doesn't appear to do anything that would cause Clifton to go down. He does push through Clifton, who is impeding his progress forward, in the bottom of the slot with his stick on the ice. If he'd shoved Clifton into Gartieg, that could be goaltender interference (which was never suggested anyway), but it doesn't seem to be there.
2. While Peca is moving to the net, Melanson's stick is in his vicinity, but it's tough to make even a cursory argument that Melanson did anything to put Peca into the net. It's possible, even likely that Peca was only trying to get himself in a position to defend Prapavessis' initial shot, but he's honestly lucky that he wasn't called for delay of game.
3. One could try to make the argument that Melanson wasn't yet preparing to take his shot at the moment the puck was dislodged, but the shot, based on the trajectory and speed of the rebound and the fact that Clifton and Gartieg were taken out of the play, was clearly imminent at the time the net was dislodged by any reasonable definition of the word.
4. The last question is whether the whistle had blown, or whether there was "intent to blow." That's rendered fairly irrelevant by the fact that the referee behind the net never came close to blowing the play dead (he had his arms at his sides the whole time), and in fact signaled a goal on the ice.
Ultimately, this is exactly the type of situation that the Second Union Rule was intended to fix, and the referees blew it. Compounding the error, it was called a goal on the ice, and then waved off without clear evidence to support a reversal.
By the way, this was not the first time last weekend that Quinnipiac got away with one on a bad call by the referees that directly impacted the scoreline. The previous night in Schenectady, the Bobcats notched the game winner on a play in which the goal-scorer was offsides.
No coach is going to get overly upset over calls that are blown this badly, because most teams still have other opportunities to rectify the problem themselves. Bad calls are part of the game and referees are human, but you'd think they'd at least get the call right with the opportunity to review the play. It's true that the Engineers had other chances before and after this call to get a goal and they didn't. This goal being disallowed wasn't the reason they lost on Saturday. Who knows if QU then goes down and scores off the ensuing faceoff or something. But there's no team that wouldn't prefer to be in a 2-2 situation than down 2-1, and the missed call changes things for the worse for the team being dealt a raw deal. Union in particular had less than a minute to make up for the bad call that put them behind.
So now the league has a team in first place, half of whose wins were assisted by the men in stripes. Are we happy?
This is known around these parts as the "Second Union Rule" or the "National Union Rule," as it was adopted following the Union-Michigan State game in the 2012 national tournament where a goal for the Spartans was waved off because Union's Josh Jooris, apparently intentionally according to the NCAA, lifted the net off its moorings just before the puck went in (the "First Union Rule" or the "ECAC Union Rule" provides for all 12 ECAC teams making the post-season tournament).
The rule was redefined as such in the summer of 2012:
83.5 Goal Cage Dislodged - In the event that the goal post is displaced, either deliberately or accidentally, by a defending player, prior to the puck crossing the goal line between the normal position of the goalposts, the Referee may award a goal.
In order to award a goal in this situation, the goal post must have been displaced by the actions of a defending player, the puck must have been shot (or the player must be in position to shoot) at the goal prior to the goal post being displaced, and it must be determined that the puck would have entered the net between the normal position of the goal posts.
When the goal post has been displaced deliberately by the defending team when their goalkeeper has been removed for an extra attacker thereby preventing an impending goal by the attacking team, the Referee shall award a goal to the attacking team.
The goal frame is considered to be displaced if either or both goal pegs are no longer in their respective holes in the ice, or the net has come completely off one or both pegs, prior to or as the puck enters the goal. This rule also applies to other types of net anchoring systems.So there are a few elements to examine here.
First, there's a defined difference between "may award a goal" and "shall award a goal." The referee is given leeway to award a goal but is not required to when this happens with the goaltender in the net. If it's an empty net, he's required.
This is pretty standard, it allows the referees to use judgment when it pertains to the other elements that we're about to discuss.
In order for the goal to be awarded, three things have to be true. First, the goal has to have been dislodged by the actions of a defending player. This would include a defending player pushing an attacking player into the net - the reverse would be cause for disallowing a goal. Second, the puck must have been already shot, or the shooting player must already be in position to shoot, when the net is dislodged. Third, the puck must be determined to have crossed the line where it would have counted had the net been in the proper position.
Let's examine this first in the Princeton game, where a Princeton goal was disallowed.
With RPI leading 1-0, Princeton's Ryan Siiro took a shot toward the RPI cage from the top of the right faceoff circle that was saved by Jason Kasdorf, the rebound falling just to his right. Princeton's Ben Foster worked it free and came around behind the net to the left side.
Foster beat out Jimmy DeVito to grab the rebound, but Craig Bokenfohr and Phil Hampton skated into the area to try and help out - Bokenfohr into the mix with Foster and DeVito, Hampton into the crease. Princeton freshman Eric Robinson arrived late to the party and ultimately checked Hampton into the cage, knocking it loose.
At this point, Foster had the puck to the left of the cage. He passed it to Siiro, who moved into the slot, and Siiro one-timed it into the cage, which was off both of its moorings at that point.
This goal was rightfully disallowed because the circumstances met only one of the three criteria for it to be upheld. Siiro's shot did go where the net would have been, but it was the actions of an attacking player - Robinson checking Hampton - that dislodged the net, and the shot was not imminent when the net was dislodged - Foster had the puck behind the cage and passed it in front only after the net came loose.
Referee CJ Hanafin got this one right from start to finish. He did the right thing by awarding a goal on the ice, then reviewing the play. Under Rule 83.5, this is not a goal, so he disallowed it. For anyone who might still be on the fence, Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty agreed after the game after reviewing video that the goal should not have been awarded. (We like Hanafin a lot because he's an Engineer. Some of us here were crestfallen when we heard he'd become an ECAC referee, but he seems to be raising the bar. He's done well so far and he's been fair.)
Compare this with the disallowed RPI goal the next night against Quinnipiac.
On the power play and with RPI down 2-1, Mike Prapavessis digs the puck out of the corner to the left of the net. He brings it up and around through the faceoff circle and the slot, waiting for his opportunity to catch QU goaltender Michael Gartieg off balance. He gets it when defenseman Connor Clifton, also trying to defend against Prapavessis, falls to a knee and into Gartieg. Prapavessis takes his shot and rings it off the post, the rebound coming straight back out.
Meanwhile, once Clifton and Gartieg collide, QU forward Matthew Peca, standing at the top of the crease, makes a bee-line for the net, sliding into the right-side post to dislodge the net shortly after Prapavessis' shot rebounded off the post. Drew Melanson, now standing over Clifton, does not move with the puck coming directly back to him, and simply puts the puck into the open but dislodged cage.
The goal was awarded on the ice, and it met all three requirements. First, the cage was dislodged by the actions of Peca, who skated straight into the cage unaided. Second, while the shot by Melanson did not come before the cage was dislodged, the rebound from Prapavessis' shot (which happened and hit the post before the dislodging) was coming straight to him already and he did not have to move to take the shot, which occurred a split-second after the net was dislodged. Third, the puck clearly enters the net in a way that it would have been in had the goal been in the proper place.
And despite all of this, the tying goal was waved off. In a search for justification, there are some very, very thin arguments that can be made. All four were posited by our researchers in an attempt to find something that would rationalize the goal being waved off.
1. Melanson is near Clifton just before the latter takes out his own netminder, but he doesn't appear to do anything that would cause Clifton to go down. He does push through Clifton, who is impeding his progress forward, in the bottom of the slot with his stick on the ice. If he'd shoved Clifton into Gartieg, that could be goaltender interference (which was never suggested anyway), but it doesn't seem to be there.
2. While Peca is moving to the net, Melanson's stick is in his vicinity, but it's tough to make even a cursory argument that Melanson did anything to put Peca into the net. It's possible, even likely that Peca was only trying to get himself in a position to defend Prapavessis' initial shot, but he's honestly lucky that he wasn't called for delay of game.
3. One could try to make the argument that Melanson wasn't yet preparing to take his shot at the moment the puck was dislodged, but the shot, based on the trajectory and speed of the rebound and the fact that Clifton and Gartieg were taken out of the play, was clearly imminent at the time the net was dislodged by any reasonable definition of the word.
4. The last question is whether the whistle had blown, or whether there was "intent to blow." That's rendered fairly irrelevant by the fact that the referee behind the net never came close to blowing the play dead (he had his arms at his sides the whole time), and in fact signaled a goal on the ice.
Ultimately, this is exactly the type of situation that the Second Union Rule was intended to fix, and the referees blew it. Compounding the error, it was called a goal on the ice, and then waved off without clear evidence to support a reversal.
By the way, this was not the first time last weekend that Quinnipiac got away with one on a bad call by the referees that directly impacted the scoreline. The previous night in Schenectady, the Bobcats notched the game winner on a play in which the goal-scorer was offsides.
It's not possible to tell with 100% surety from this camera angle because of people standing on the Union bench, but unless the 5'7" Travis St. Denis (bottom of the screen) has abnormally sized legs, he's totally offside right before he takes a pass he ends up putting in the net for the winning goal.
So now the league has a team in first place, half of whose wins were assisted by the men in stripes. Are we happy?
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Men's Hockey - Princeton/Quinnipiac, at UConn (14/15, 18 Nov)
Three games in five nights is difficult enough under the best of circumstances. When your team is battling illness and injury, it tends to make things worse, especially when that team is still trying to get into an offensive groove. With all of that as the backdrop, it makes the 1-1-1 record the Engineers put together in that three game stretch pretty easy to accept, especially considering the manner in which the only loss came about. After taking down Princeton 3-1 on Friday night, RPI fell by the same score against Quinnipiac in somewhat controversial fashion, bouncing back with an even more depleted roster on Tuesday night with a 1-1 draw against Hockey East's UConn.
Princeton
Fulton-DeVito-Bourbonnais
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Laliberte-Schroeder-Wood
Leonard-Prapavessis
Hampton-Bokenfohr
Wilson-Reno
Kasdorf
We got a little more clarity on some of the absences seen the previous week - Chris Bradley has been sidelined with a shoulder injury, Luke Curadi out with a concussion, and added to that list for the ECAC weekend was Matt Neal, who was sick.
The Engineers managed to score the game's first goal for only the second time all season as Mark Miller rocketed a pass from Drew Melanson to the back of the net at 8:45 of the first period to give RPI a 1-0 edge. Three minutes later on the power play, another one-timer from just about the same part of the ice put the Engineers up 2-0 as Jared Wilson blasted a pass by Milos Bubela for his second goal of the season.
Princeton almost halved the RPI lead late in the first period, but the apparent goal was waved off due to the net being disloged by an Engineer checked into the cage by a Princeton player.
RPI carried the 2-0 edge into the third period, pretty much sealing things up with a second goal by Miller midway through the final frame. Like the first two goals, it was an a one-timed shot from near the top of the slot, and this feed came from the stick of Riley Bourbonnais.
The Tigers pulled back within two just under two minutes later with a power play goal by Ben Foster that ended Jason Kasdorf's shutout bid, but Princeton would get no closer. The Engineers managed 35 shots on goal, a big improvement from their outing a week prior against Harvard, and Kasdorf stopped 24 of 25 shots for the victory.
Quinnipiac
Fulton-DeVito-Bourbonnais
Liljegren-Schroeder-McGowan
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Wood-Laliberte-Gillespie
Leonard-Prapavessis
Hampton-Bokenfohr
Wilson-Reno
Kasdorf
Late in the Princeton game, the Engineers lost Milos Bubela to a concussion, leaving the already short-staffed Engineers with just 12 healthy forwards. Freshman Kenny Gillespie was inserted into the lineup, seeing his first collegiate action.
As with Friday night, it was RPI who struck first. A centering pass by Wilson was tapped home by a speeding Lou Nanne for his team-leading fourth goal of the season, putting the Engineers ahead 1-0 just 5:22 into the game.
RPI continued to dominate play in the first period until a tripping call against Craig Bokenfohr put them on the penalty kill. That kill did a pretty decent job, but late in the Bokenfohr penalty, a dicey tripping call against Mike Prapavessis put the Engineers down two men for 18 seconds. That danger zone was killed off without much of a problem either, but then an even dicier call against Parker Reno for high-sticking generated yet another two-man advantage for Quinnipiac, this one 17 seconds long. The Bobcats ultimately cashed in for a goal, but it came 19 seconds after the Reno call, officially coming 5-on-4, but tying the game nonetheless to the great displeasure of the home fans.
A deadlocked and fairly uninteresting second period gave way to a more interesting third period, and the Bobcats took the lead just under six minutes into the third with some sustained pressure in the RPI zone. The Engineers spent a good 90 seconds trapped in their own end, getting the puck out once but not far enough out to change the line that had been stuck out there for some time, and Quinnipiac eventually converted to take a 2-1 lead.
The Engineers did not back down. Despite struggles on the power play all night, they were the beneficiaries of a holding call with just over five minutes left to play. Early in the advantage, Prapavessis dug the puck out of the corner and then skated through the slot, trying to outwait Bobcat goaltender Michael Gartieg. When Gartieg went down, Prapavessis took a shot that rang off the post, and in the immediate interim, Quinnipiac's Michael Peca slid into the net to dislodge it. Immediately after the net was dislodged, Drew Melanson picked up the rebound and put it into the open cage for what should have been his first collegiate goal. Called a goal on the ice, the officials reviewed it and disallowed the goal for reasons that were not made abundantly clear.
The 2-1 lead for Quinnipiac intact, the Engineers pulled Kasdorf from the net late, but gave up an empty-netter to seal the victory for the Bobcats.
All told, RPI played a brave game despite some horrendous officiating practically from start to finish, and despite missing some very key players. They also lost another two important forwards during the game, as Lou Nanne was boarded behind the Quinnipiac net in the third period (no call), leading to him skating off favoring his surgically repaired shoulder, while Zach Schroeder picked up an ankle injury during the night.
UConn
Liljegren-Neal-McGowan
Melanson-Miller-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-DeVito-Wood
Fulton-Bokenfohr-Gillespie
Leonard-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Bell-Hampton
Diebold
Now with only 11 healthy forwards following the loss of Nanne and Schroeder and the return from illness of Matt Neal, Kenny Gillespie was again in the lineup, joined on the fourth line by Craig Bokenfohr. The Engineers dressed literally every healthy skater they had available for their mid-week non-conference road game, and reports got out after the game was over that defenseman Phil Hampton was battling an illness himself despite playing.
After an uneventful first period, UConn got themselves on the board first in the cavernous XL Center (which is almost literally across the street from the RPI Hartford campus) about three minutes into the second period, shortly after the Engineers killed off their second penalty of the game. The Huskies pounced on a turnover in the RPI zone and put it past Diebold to go up 1-0, but it was the only goal the senior would allow on the evening. He eventually stopped 33 of 34 shots that he faced.
RPI pulled back within one late in the period, with Drew Melanson making up for the power play goal he was deprived of three nights earlier, officially notching his first collegiate goal from Neal and Curtis Leonard with just 2 ticks remaining on the clock to make it 1-1.
UConn dominated the third period almost completely, outshooting the Engineers 13-4, but Diebold was rarely tested beyond his capacity. The Huskies came close on a couple of occasions to taking the lead, but were unable to convert on one-timers or put shots wide. To some extent, RPI was lucky to get to the overtime period.
In that overtime period, however, it was all RPI as they poured on the output. They managed 7 shots in the extra five minutes, more shots than they managed in either the first or the third periods, and only two shy of their second period production. However they weren't able to find the winning goal, having to settle for a 1-1 tie, a draw that undoubtedly goes into the book as a "good" tie considering that they scored the game tying goal and fielded a less than ideal lineup.
RPI is off this weekend, but is back in action this coming Tuesday as they travel to play a struggling New Hampshire team in Durham ahead of a trip to Michigan against the equally struggling Wolverines. Most of the injured players are expected to be back in the lineup by the time the team gets to Ann Arbor.
By the way, the #1 team in the nation right now? 10-0-0 Michigan Tech. If anyone ever tells you that RPI's never going to get back to where they once were, they're lying.
Current ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 8 points (4-0-0)
2. Harvard - 8 points (3-1-2)
3. RPI - 8 points (4-2-0)
4. St. Lawrence - 6 points (3-1-0)
5. Colgate - 5 points (2-1-1)
6. Yale - 5 points (2-1-1)
7. Dartmouth - 5 points (2-3-1)
8. Clarkson - 4 points (1-1-2)
9. Union - 3 points (1-4-1)
10. Princeton - 2 points (1-3-0)
11. Cornell - 2 points (1-3-0)
12. Brown - 0 points (0-4-0)
Princeton at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/14/14 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Princeton 1
Fulton-DeVito-Bourbonnais
Liljegren-Bubela-McGowan
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Laliberte-Schroeder-Wood
Hampton-Bokenfohr
Wilson-Reno
Kasdorf
We got a little more clarity on some of the absences seen the previous week - Chris Bradley has been sidelined with a shoulder injury, Luke Curadi out with a concussion, and added to that list for the ECAC weekend was Matt Neal, who was sick.
The Engineers managed to score the game's first goal for only the second time all season as Mark Miller rocketed a pass from Drew Melanson to the back of the net at 8:45 of the first period to give RPI a 1-0 edge. Three minutes later on the power play, another one-timer from just about the same part of the ice put the Engineers up 2-0 as Jared Wilson blasted a pass by Milos Bubela for his second goal of the season.
Princeton almost halved the RPI lead late in the first period, but the apparent goal was waved off due to the net being disloged by an Engineer checked into the cage by a Princeton player.
RPI carried the 2-0 edge into the third period, pretty much sealing things up with a second goal by Miller midway through the final frame. Like the first two goals, it was an a one-timed shot from near the top of the slot, and this feed came from the stick of Riley Bourbonnais.
The Tigers pulled back within two just under two minutes later with a power play goal by Ben Foster that ended Jason Kasdorf's shutout bid, but Princeton would get no closer. The Engineers managed 35 shots on goal, a big improvement from their outing a week prior against Harvard, and Kasdorf stopped 24 of 25 shots for the victory.
Quinnipiac
Fulton-DeVito-Bourbonnais
Liljegren-Schroeder-McGowan
Melanson-Miller-Nanne
Wood-Laliberte-Gillespie
Leonard-Prapavessis
Hampton-Bokenfohr
Wilson-Reno
Kasdorf
Late in the Princeton game, the Engineers lost Milos Bubela to a concussion, leaving the already short-staffed Engineers with just 12 healthy forwards. Freshman Kenny Gillespie was inserted into the lineup, seeing his first collegiate action.
As with Friday night, it was RPI who struck first. A centering pass by Wilson was tapped home by a speeding Lou Nanne for his team-leading fourth goal of the season, putting the Engineers ahead 1-0 just 5:22 into the game.
RPI continued to dominate play in the first period until a tripping call against Craig Bokenfohr put them on the penalty kill. That kill did a pretty decent job, but late in the Bokenfohr penalty, a dicey tripping call against Mike Prapavessis put the Engineers down two men for 18 seconds. That danger zone was killed off without much of a problem either, but then an even dicier call against Parker Reno for high-sticking generated yet another two-man advantage for Quinnipiac, this one 17 seconds long. The Bobcats ultimately cashed in for a goal, but it came 19 seconds after the Reno call, officially coming 5-on-4, but tying the game nonetheless to the great displeasure of the home fans.
A deadlocked and fairly uninteresting second period gave way to a more interesting third period, and the Bobcats took the lead just under six minutes into the third with some sustained pressure in the RPI zone. The Engineers spent a good 90 seconds trapped in their own end, getting the puck out once but not far enough out to change the line that had been stuck out there for some time, and Quinnipiac eventually converted to take a 2-1 lead.
The Engineers did not back down. Despite struggles on the power play all night, they were the beneficiaries of a holding call with just over five minutes left to play. Early in the advantage, Prapavessis dug the puck out of the corner and then skated through the slot, trying to outwait Bobcat goaltender Michael Gartieg. When Gartieg went down, Prapavessis took a shot that rang off the post, and in the immediate interim, Quinnipiac's Michael Peca slid into the net to dislodge it. Immediately after the net was dislodged, Drew Melanson picked up the rebound and put it into the open cage for what should have been his first collegiate goal. Called a goal on the ice, the officials reviewed it and disallowed the goal for reasons that were not made abundantly clear.
The 2-1 lead for Quinnipiac intact, the Engineers pulled Kasdorf from the net late, but gave up an empty-netter to seal the victory for the Bobcats.
All told, RPI played a brave game despite some horrendous officiating practically from start to finish, and despite missing some very key players. They also lost another two important forwards during the game, as Lou Nanne was boarded behind the Quinnipiac net in the third period (no call), leading to him skating off favoring his surgically repaired shoulder, while Zach Schroeder picked up an ankle injury during the night.
UConn
Liljegren-Neal-McGowan
Melanson-Miller-Bourbonnais
Laliberte-DeVito-Wood
Fulton-Bokenfohr-Gillespie
Leonard-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Bell-Hampton
Diebold
Now with only 11 healthy forwards following the loss of Nanne and Schroeder and the return from illness of Matt Neal, Kenny Gillespie was again in the lineup, joined on the fourth line by Craig Bokenfohr. The Engineers dressed literally every healthy skater they had available for their mid-week non-conference road game, and reports got out after the game was over that defenseman Phil Hampton was battling an illness himself despite playing.
After an uneventful first period, UConn got themselves on the board first in the cavernous XL Center (which is almost literally across the street from the RPI Hartford campus) about three minutes into the second period, shortly after the Engineers killed off their second penalty of the game. The Huskies pounced on a turnover in the RPI zone and put it past Diebold to go up 1-0, but it was the only goal the senior would allow on the evening. He eventually stopped 33 of 34 shots that he faced.
RPI pulled back within one late in the period, with Drew Melanson making up for the power play goal he was deprived of three nights earlier, officially notching his first collegiate goal from Neal and Curtis Leonard with just 2 ticks remaining on the clock to make it 1-1.
UConn dominated the third period almost completely, outshooting the Engineers 13-4, but Diebold was rarely tested beyond his capacity. The Huskies came close on a couple of occasions to taking the lead, but were unable to convert on one-timers or put shots wide. To some extent, RPI was lucky to get to the overtime period.
In that overtime period, however, it was all RPI as they poured on the output. They managed 7 shots in the extra five minutes, more shots than they managed in either the first or the third periods, and only two shy of their second period production. However they weren't able to find the winning goal, having to settle for a 1-1 tie, a draw that undoubtedly goes into the book as a "good" tie considering that they scored the game tying goal and fielded a less than ideal lineup.
RPI is off this weekend, but is back in action this coming Tuesday as they travel to play a struggling New Hampshire team in Durham ahead of a trip to Michigan against the equally struggling Wolverines. Most of the injured players are expected to be back in the lineup by the time the team gets to Ann Arbor.
By the way, the #1 team in the nation right now? 10-0-0 Michigan Tech. If anyone ever tells you that RPI's never going to get back to where they once were, they're lying.
Current ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 8 points (4-0-0)
2. Harvard - 8 points (3-1-2)
3. RPI - 8 points (4-2-0)
4. St. Lawrence - 6 points (3-1-0)
5. Colgate - 5 points (2-1-1)
6. Yale - 5 points (2-1-1)
7. Dartmouth - 5 points (2-3-1)
8. Clarkson - 4 points (1-1-2)
9. Union - 3 points (1-4-1)
10. Princeton - 2 points (1-3-0)
11. Cornell - 2 points (1-3-0)
12. Brown - 0 points (0-4-0)
Princeton at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/14/14 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Princeton 1
RECORD: 5-6-0 (4-1-0, 8pts)
#20 Quinnipiac at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/15/14 - 7:00pm
RESULT: Quinnipiac 3, RPI 1
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/15/14 - 7:00pm
RESULT: Quinnipiac 3, RPI 1
RECORD: 5-7-0 (4-2-0, 8pts)
RPI at UConn
Non-conference Game - XL Center (Hartford, CT)
11/18/14 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 1, UConn 1 (OT)
Non-conference Game - XL Center (Hartford, CT)
11/18/14 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 1, UConn 1 (OT)
RECORD: 5-7-1 (4-2-0, 8pts)
Upcoming games
25 Nov - at New Hampshire
28 Nov - at Michigan
29 Nov - at Michigan
05 Dec - at Yale
06 Dec - at Brown
25 Nov - at New Hampshire
28 Nov - at Michigan
29 Nov - at Michigan
05 Dec - at Yale
06 Dec - at Brown
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Women's Hockey - at Quinnipiac & Princeton (14/15 Nov)
RPI continued looking for their first league win in a set at Quinnipiac and Princeton this weekend. Quinnipiac ran their unbeaten streak to 9 straight with a 6-1 thrashing of the Engineers on Friday, then RPI rallied late but came up short in overtime Saturday in a 2-1 loss to Princeton.
Quinnipiac
Horwood/Tomlinson/Svoboda
Rooney/Wash/Mankey
Mahoney/Gruschow/Renn
Walsh/Raspa/Hylwa
Kimmerle/Schilter
Middlebrook/Behounek
Godin/Banks
Piper
Quinnipiac has been on a roll to start the season and the train showed no signs of letting up as it rolled over RPI 6-1 on Friday night. Erica Uden Johansson had a goal and two assists while Nicole Connery scored two more for the Bobcats.
Nicole Kosta struck first for Quinnipiac, capitalizing on a sustained period of pressure in the RPI end and winning a puck battle in the corner before carrying the puck into the slot and firing it past Brianna Piper.
Uden Johanssen scored at 11:07 of the second, making the most of a 2-on-1 opportunity to double the Bobcats' lead.
Shiann Darkangelo added a power play tally late in the second, parking in the slot, taking a feed from the point and turning to put it home before the penalty killers could react.
Connery scored her two goals about six minutes apart early in the third period. The first was a quick redirection on a pass toward the crease, the second coming on a quick break back into the zone after RPI was unable to get the puck down ice.
Laura Horwood broke the Bobcats' shutout bid at 16:15 of the third, crashing the crease the put the puck past Chelsea Laden to cut the lead to 5-1.
Taryn Baumgardt put a cap on the evening for the hosts, scoring at 17:13 to make it a 6-1 lead which would hold up as the final score. The Engineers were outshot 32-13 on the night, including 12-3 in the first and 8-1 in the second.
Princeton
Horwood/Tomlinson/Svoboda
Rooney/Wash/Renn
Mahoney/Gruschow/Raspa
Walsh/Mankey/Hylwa
Kimmerle/Schilter
Middlebrook/Behounek
Godin/Banks
O'Brien
After taking a drubbing on Friday night, RPI looked for redemption against Princeton on Saturday and came close, but eventually fell short in a 2-1 overtime loss.
The Engineers rallied in the third period to erase a 1-0 Princeton lead, with Horwood scoring her second of the weekend, but Cristin Shanahan's tally at 2:18 of overtime would give the Tigers the win.
Morgan Sly also scored for Princeton, her 2-on-1 goal giving the Tigers the 1-0 lead midway through the second period.
While Saturday's effort was much better for the Engineers, they now find themselves in an 0-4 hole to start conference play, and have now lost six in a row.
After a week of rest which may prove helpful in getting some players rested and healed from injuries, RPI will host RIT for a nonconference series on Thanksgiving weekend, launching a stretch of nine straight home games which will last into January.
-----
RPI at Quinnipiac
ECAC Hockey Game - TD Bank Sports Center (Hamden, CT)
11/14/14 - 7:00pm
QU 6, RPI 1
BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wquiren1.n14
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4434
RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2014/11/14/WICE_1114144912.aspx
QU: http://quinnipiacbobcats.com/sports/wice/2014-15/releases/201411148u9pws
Complete Game Video: http://quinnipiacbobcats.com/QU_Women-s_Ice_Hockey_Video_vs._Rensselaer
RECORD: 1-9-2 (0-3-0 ECAC)
-----
RPI at Princeton
ECAC Hockey Game - Baker Rink (Princeton, NJ)
11/15/14 - 4:00pm
Princeton 2, RPI 1 (OT)
BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wprnren1.n15
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4435
RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2014/11/16/WICE_1116142846.aspx
Princeton: http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209767549
Video Highlights: http://ecachockey.com/women/video/2014-15/20141115_Princeton_WH
RECORD: 1-10-2 (0-4-0 ECAC)
-----
Upcoming Schedule
Nov. 28 - RIT (7pm)
Nov. 29 - RIT (4pm)
Dec. 5 - Brown (7pm)
Dec. 6 - Yale (4pm)
Quinnipiac
Horwood/Tomlinson/Svoboda
Rooney/Wash/Mankey
Mahoney/Gruschow/Renn
Walsh/Raspa/Hylwa
Kimmerle/Schilter
Middlebrook/Behounek
Godin/Banks
Piper
Quinnipiac has been on a roll to start the season and the train showed no signs of letting up as it rolled over RPI 6-1 on Friday night. Erica Uden Johansson had a goal and two assists while Nicole Connery scored two more for the Bobcats.
Nicole Kosta struck first for Quinnipiac, capitalizing on a sustained period of pressure in the RPI end and winning a puck battle in the corner before carrying the puck into the slot and firing it past Brianna Piper.
Uden Johanssen scored at 11:07 of the second, making the most of a 2-on-1 opportunity to double the Bobcats' lead.
Shiann Darkangelo added a power play tally late in the second, parking in the slot, taking a feed from the point and turning to put it home before the penalty killers could react.
Connery scored her two goals about six minutes apart early in the third period. The first was a quick redirection on a pass toward the crease, the second coming on a quick break back into the zone after RPI was unable to get the puck down ice.
Laura Horwood broke the Bobcats' shutout bid at 16:15 of the third, crashing the crease the put the puck past Chelsea Laden to cut the lead to 5-1.
Taryn Baumgardt put a cap on the evening for the hosts, scoring at 17:13 to make it a 6-1 lead which would hold up as the final score. The Engineers were outshot 32-13 on the night, including 12-3 in the first and 8-1 in the second.
Princeton
Horwood/Tomlinson/Svoboda
Rooney/Wash/Renn
Mahoney/Gruschow/Raspa
Walsh/Mankey/Hylwa
Kimmerle/Schilter
Middlebrook/Behounek
Godin/Banks
O'Brien
After taking a drubbing on Friday night, RPI looked for redemption against Princeton on Saturday and came close, but eventually fell short in a 2-1 overtime loss.
The Engineers rallied in the third period to erase a 1-0 Princeton lead, with Horwood scoring her second of the weekend, but Cristin Shanahan's tally at 2:18 of overtime would give the Tigers the win.
Morgan Sly also scored for Princeton, her 2-on-1 goal giving the Tigers the 1-0 lead midway through the second period.
While Saturday's effort was much better for the Engineers, they now find themselves in an 0-4 hole to start conference play, and have now lost six in a row.
After a week of rest which may prove helpful in getting some players rested and healed from injuries, RPI will host RIT for a nonconference series on Thanksgiving weekend, launching a stretch of nine straight home games which will last into January.
-----
RPI at Quinnipiac
ECAC Hockey Game - TD Bank Sports Center (Hamden, CT)
11/14/14 - 7:00pm
QU 6, RPI 1
BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wquiren1.n14
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4434
RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2014/11/14/WICE_1114144912.aspx
QU: http://quinnipiacbobcats.com/sports/wice/2014-15/releases/201411148u9pws
Complete Game Video: http://quinnipiacbobcats.com/QU_Women-s_Ice_Hockey_Video_vs._Rensselaer
RECORD: 1-9-2 (0-3-0 ECAC)
-----
RPI at Princeton
ECAC Hockey Game - Baker Rink (Princeton, NJ)
11/15/14 - 4:00pm
Princeton 2, RPI 1 (OT)
BOX SCORES:
College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1415/boxes/wprnren1.n15
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=whock&id=4435
RECAPS:
RPI: http://rpiathletics.com/news/2014/11/16/WICE_1116142846.aspx
Princeton: http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209767549
Video Highlights: http://ecachockey.com/women/video/2014-15/20141115_Princeton_WH
RECORD: 1-10-2 (0-4-0 ECAC)
-----
Upcoming Schedule
Nov. 28 - RIT (7pm)
Nov. 29 - RIT (4pm)
Dec. 5 - Brown (7pm)
Dec. 6 - Yale (4pm)
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Next Man Up
It's the first of two consecutive Tuesday matchups for the Engineers, and if you're healthy, you're probably playing tonight.
Lou Nanne (shoulder) is out tonight, but should thankfully be back next week. Also missing tonight will be Chris Bradley (shoulder), Luke Curadi (concussion), and Milos Bubela (concussion). Zach Schroeder (ankle) is questionable.
With the dressing room resembling a MASH unit, perhaps now's the best time to get back into non-conference games. Tonight, RPI faces off in Hartford (home of an RPI campus!) against UConn, a team that beat Boston College, tied Boston University, and lost to Sacred Heart. If that makes sense to you, we have a number of questions about life to ask you.
So... with so many players out of the lineup... who's going to be the man?
Lou Nanne (shoulder) is out tonight, but should thankfully be back next week. Also missing tonight will be Chris Bradley (shoulder), Luke Curadi (concussion), and Milos Bubela (concussion). Zach Schroeder (ankle) is questionable.
With the dressing room resembling a MASH unit, perhaps now's the best time to get back into non-conference games. Tonight, RPI faces off in Hartford (home of an RPI campus!) against UConn, a team that beat Boston College, tied Boston University, and lost to Sacred Heart. If that makes sense to you, we have a number of questions about life to ask you.
So... with so many players out of the lineup... who's going to be the man?
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Suddenly, A Newfound Respect For Mike Schafer
"You wonder why the guys were pissed at the end at center ice. It's not the kids. They take the lead from us, so yeah, I contributed to it because I'm pissed off at their coach at the end of the game for being such an a**hole." - Mike Schafer, November 8, 2014, after a 1-0 loss at Quinnipiac.
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