Eric Przepiorka recorded a hat trick, and six other Dartmouth players had multiple points to lead the Big Green to a 9-1 victory in RPI’s first conference game. RPI came out firing early, but was stonewalled by goalie Sean Samuel. The Engineers gave up two goals in the first period in a similar fashion; a defenseman was taken out of the play along the boards, leaving an odd-man break down low for Dartmouth. The first time, Lee Stempniak got the goal, and the second, defenseman John Ostapyk pinched from the point and ripped a shot that beat Alford.
Alford was pulled later in the game, after giving up three goals on only eight shots. Martin, his replacement, fared little better, giving up four goals on 11 shots, and was replaced again by Alford. “I wasn’t anticipating that third period,” said Coach Dan Fridgen on the five goals the Big Green put up in the third frame. “Tonight was a low night for us.”
The team looked to rebound against the nationally-ranked Catamounts the next day, but Vermont refused to give RPI a glimmer of hope as Vermont handed down a 3-0 blanking. Having shut out Union the night before, Vermont held opponets scoreless on back-to-back nights for the the first time in the Catamounts’ history at the Division I level.
Matt Syroczyinski scored two second-period goals after Chris Smart notched one in the first for the Catamounts. Vermont native Travis Russell got the win in net, saving all 16 of RPI’s shots.
As if playing the nationally-ranked Catamounts wasn’t enough of a challenge for the Engineers, the team had to play Colgate and Cornell the next weekend, each of whom was ranked higher than Vermont.
RPI’s scoring woes didn’t improve much against Colgate, as the team only managed a pair of goals, with each coming on a two-man advantage. The Engineers struggled with just a single man advantage, too, allowing two goals to the shorthanded Raiders, and scoring none. Colgate also got two goals from forward Tyler Burton in the win, as the Raiders triumphed 4-2.
RPI was also handed a 5-0 defeat by the Cornell Big Red in the final game of the break. Shane Hynes had a goal and two assists for Cornell, and Byron Bitz added a pair of assists in the win. Goalie David McKee got his third shutout of the season, and the eighth of his career.
The Engineers look to fix their scoring woes this weekend, as they head up to the North Country to take on Clarkson and St. Lawrence. In order to do so, the team will need better contributions from their forwards; RPI has not had a goal from a forward since the Notre Dame game on January 2.
