I have the deepest respect for the fans who clapped for Kurk’s effort as he left the ice, but the fans who bad-mouthed the freshman goaltender as he skated to the bench with his head down must be the absolute scum of the earth.

These people would likely defend themselves by saying that that the team already has an excellent goaltender in Marsters, and that Kurk should not have been the starter for the game. I agree that Marsters is a quality goaltender and will have a tremendous career here at RPI if he continues to play the way he has been this season. But at the same time, I witnessed the downfall of a solid goaltender last season, and it is not pretty.

Scott Prekaski was hung out to dry last year, both in the media and by the fans. I will admit to taking a few shots at the netminder myself, but in those situations you hope that the athlete has the mental toughness to bounce back. Last season, the team was lucky that they had a goaltender like Joel Laing, because he single-handedly saved the team from taking a nosedive. This year is different, because these two goaltenders have a long road ahead of them, and it most certainly is not a straight path.

Eventually, Marsters will have a bad game and might even need to be pulled. Who knows, maybe a horrible accident will occur, leaving Marsters unable to play; knock on wood. Unless this team has two reliable goaltenders that the fans are willing to support, the next couple of years are going to be bumpy at best.

After the game, Fridgen said that he felt bad for the goaltender. "There is a situation where you get the nod, but you have to be ready to play. I don’t know what it is and I don’t have any answers right now."

Fridgen is not the type of coach to make decisions on a whim, and he realizes that he has a struggling young goaltender. Kurk got the nod because the coaching staff felt that the he was ready to play. Obviously, Kurk wasn’t at his best Friday night, and in order to get the call again he is going to have to prove that he deserves another chance.

Following the goaltending change, the Engineers realized that they needed to produce some offense —otherwise this game would end like last Saturday’s game in Hanover. The home team started pursuing the puck a little more, and they were rewarded with a penalty against the Big Green. Defenseman Pete Summerfelt was called for obstruction-interference. The Engineers got their power play in motion, and pushed the envelope to get one back. While on the man advantage, Dartmouth was called for another penalty, giving RPI a 42-second five-on-three. Just as Summerfelt’s penalty expired, Matt Murley released a wicked wrist shot that beat Nick Boucher high.

About four minutes later, Murley scored again, this time recording his 19th goal of the season. Murley led a rush into the offensive zone with Freshman Conrad Barnes on the left wing. Murley tried getting the puck to Barnes, but he was checked and the puck slid to the corner. Barnes followed the puck and sent it in front to Murley, who escaped his check. Boucher made the initial save, but Murley banged in the rebound over the goalie’s blocker, tying the game at 2.

"I just stayed high and [Barnes] made a great play. He fought off two defensemen and the puck popped out to me. I got the rebound and put it in, but I give all the credit to Conrad."

"Macpherson came off the ice and I put [Murley] on to take his place," said Fridgen following the game. "I thought he did a good job on the power play, and as you can see, he certainly likes having his two linemates back."

Later in the period, Nolan Graham netted the eventual game-winner by deflecting a hard slapper from the point. On the play, Boucher’s helmet popped of, seemingly caused by the puck, but in fact it was one of the defenseman’s sticks that caused the unmasking.

After Rensselaer secured the lead, the team played disciplined hockey to help secure the win. In the closing minutes of the game, Dartmouth pulled their goaltender in favor of an extra attacker, but that just gave Murley the opportunity to score the hat trick.