THIS WEEKEND, THE ENGINEERS LOST the Black Saturday game against Union College in front of a sold out crowd. (file photo)The Black Saturday hockey game occurred during Family Weekend when the Engineers played Union College, eventually losing 4-2. The game was played in front of a sold-out stadium and was the sixth game of the season.
Union managed the first goal of the game 11 minutes into the first quarter, and Rensselaer was unable to answer for the rest of the quarter. On top of this, the Engineers faced two Union power plays in the first quarter alone. It took until the middle of the second period for Rensselaer to answer the first goal by Union.
At 11:04 in the second quarter, the Engineers answered with a shot by Jake Marrello ’20, assisted by Matt Harris ’21 and Brady Wiffen ’19. Wiffen passed out to Harris, who sent the puck across the ice to Marello near the goal. Nearly nine minutes later, Wiffen scored a goal of his own, bringing the Engineers to a 2-1 lead. This was the end of the Engineers’ scoring potential, however, and Union opened the third period with a shot to tie.
The third period saw three goals by Union. The first was only three minutes into the opening. Ten minutes later, Union followed with a goal during a power play, and they ended the quarter with a final goal at 19:57.
The game saw a clear advantage by Union, who had 22 extra seconds in power play, with two more power plays than RPI. The deficit is more apparent in the goalie statistics. Rensselaer goalie Chase Perry ’19 had 25 saves, while Union’s goalie only had 13, reflecting fewer shots on the Dutchmen’s goal.
The Engineers play Clarkson and St. Lawrence away this weekend on Friday and Saturday.