RPI got off to a great start against Providence College. The Friars jumped out to leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2, but the Engineers came roaring back to win 4-3, thanks to a solid effort from Jake Luthi, Kevin Broad, and Scott Romfo. With the Engineers down a goal in the third, Luthi carried the puck into the Providence end, and sent it around the short side boards. Broad dug the puck out and scored on his own rebound for the equalizer. Later in the period, Romfo drove to the net having beaten a Friar forward up the ice. Oren Eizenman drove to the net and fired a shot on goal. The rebound bounced to Romfo, who found the mesh and put the Engineers up for good.
Luthi also chipped in a goal, and Vic Pereira had the other tally for the Engineers. The win was RPI’s first one-goal win of the season, and it was also their first win when trailing after two periods.
RPI was unable, however, to carry any momentum over into the next game against the 14th-ranked Terriers of Boston University. Diminutive forward Brad Zancanaro saw to that, with a pair of goals that put the Terriers up 2-0.
First, he zipped through a pair of defenders in the RPI zone and scored on his own rebound. In the second period, while standing in the slot, Zancanaro one-timed a pass from behind the net past goalie Andrew Martin to double the lead. Two more BU goals put the game out of reach for the Engineers, who managed only a Keith MCWilliams goal through traffic late in the third.
RPI’s first games of the new year were in South Bend, Indiana, as the Engineers took on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Pereira scored the game-winner, as seven different Engineers scored a point in the opener, to lead the Engineers to a 3-1 win. Kirk MacDonald sealed the game with an empty net goal, which was his first and only goal since November 6 against St. Lawrence. After roaring out to 16 points in the first 10 games of the season, MacDonald only has four points in his last 14. Jonathan Ornelas had RPI’s other goal in that game, and goalie Jordan Alford stopped 30 of 31 shots in part of a stellar overall weekend effort.
Alford also stopped 30 of 32 the next night, giving him a .952 save percentage in the two games. His second game effort was for naught, however, as the Engineers only managed a goal of their own en route to a 2-1 loss. Luthi scored the only marker for RPI, while T.J. Jindra and Tim Wallace struck for Notre Dame.
