On the heels of three straight losses, including one at their home opener, the RPI Engineers were looking to come back and gain momentum going into ECAC league play. On Friday and Saturday night, the Engineers did just that with shutouts against the Iona Gaels and the Army Black Knights.
The first noticeable thing about the RPI versus Iona game was how quickly RPI established physical dominance. The minute the puck dropped, the Engineers were making clean hits all over the ice, punishing the Gaels’ offensive lines. In establishing their physical dominance, RPI created a solid defense as well as many good rushes into the offensive zone. The first period was a great indication of how the game would play out for the remaining 40 minutes, as RPI played tough, physical hockey to control the game.
The team defense, after a poor showing at the previous home game, showed a much grittier side this Friday as they refused to give Iona any reasonable scoring chances. Kevin Kurk, who started the game for the Engineers, played solidly throughout the period, making every save. Another remarkable thing about the Engineers on Friday was how they refused to let the Gaels get to them mentally.
It was evident through the first period that the Gaels wanted to get under the skin of some of the key players in hopes of earning a power play off undisciplined play. However, the Engineers were able to fight off the pesky tendencies of the Iona team, and were retroactively awarded the power plays for the undisciplined play of the Gaels. However, despite the positives about the Engineers’ play through the first period, they were repeatedly stopped by Gaels’ goaltender, Ivan Vigier, who inevitably proved to be Iona’s most valuable player in the game, keeping the Engineers at bay as much as physically possible.
One of the more remarkable moments in the first period was a monstrous hit by sophomore forward Vic Pereira in the RPI defensive zone, which clearly demonstrated RPI’s unwillingness to allow any chances in their own zone. Despite the rather unremarkable scoreboard after the first period, the Engineers looked incredibly solid and confident on the ice, and knew that they were controlling the game.
The second period of play proved to be livelier, as the ice was opened up by the myriad of penalties given to each team. After taking a number of shots on Vigier throughout the first and the beginning of the second period, the Engineers finally broke the scoreless tie when Ryan Shields managed to knock in a loose rebound past an out-of-position Vigier at 4:00 into the second period. As in the first period, Iona continued taking undisciplined penalties, and it would prove costly when at 11:01, Iona forward Chris Connerty was hit with an obstruction interference penalty. A minute into the power play, RPI struck again, this time with a shot from rookie defenseman Brad Farynuk past the screened Gaels goalie to bring RPI’s tally to two goals at the 12:01 mark. Iona’s frustrations began to show even more as they continued to take penalties.
The third period was one that saw penalties being awarded to both teams in equal doses, as Iona’s frustrations racked up while RPI played even more physically than before. The story of the third period, however, was the goaltenders. Iona’s Vigier tried to keep his team’s hopes alive by stopping every puck that came at him that period, while RPI’s goalie Kurk kept the Gaels off the scoreboard by making a total of 13 saves in the game, including a beautiful glove save on a penalty kill to keep his shutout. In the end, RPI’s rock-solid defense and blistering offense proved to be the game-breakers, as they shut out the Iona Gaels 2-0, with an impressive shot advantage of 52-13.
After the game, RPI Head Coach Dan Fridgen was all smiles as he gave his thoughts on the Engineers’ win. The first thing Fridgen mentioned was how RPI got a good start to the game right from the first faceoff. He stated how the team had good speed on the ice, and how they were finishing all their checks. Fridgen also mentioned how taking as many shots as the Engineers did was great, although he admitted that he would have liked for the shots to have finished better, which would have resulted in more goals. He added that the squad created many scoring opportunities for themselves, and how the forechecking was very solid. Fridgen was also happy with the game played by Kurk, and noted that the defense was not going to allow a goal get past him, ensuring the monumental first shutout for the junior.
