Each team entered the weekend deadlocked at 5-6-3 in the conference and looked to put some distance between itself and the other. In Friday’s tilt, the Dutchmen scored twice in a 15-second span to take a 3-2 lead that they would carry all the way to the final buzzer. On Saturday, the two teams combined for 59 shots, as goalies Mathias Lange and Kris Mayotte put on a clinic en route to a 1-1 tie.

The first game saw a myriad of penalties in the early going. The teams killed off a combined six power plays in the first period, but Union struck first at 5:41 of the second in a five-on-three situation. When junior Jake Luthi and senior Chris Hussey took simultaneous penalties—interference and boarding, respectively—the Dutchmen were awarded two full minutes with a two-man advantage. They did not waste it; captain Scott Seney scored through traffic exactly one minute into the power play.

Senior Keith MCWilliams tied the game with a point shot on the power play at 12:47 of the period, on a pass from junior Oren Eizenman. The goal, MCWilliams’ sixth in his last 11 games and his eighth of the season, hoisted him to fourth on the team in scoring. Luthi gave the Engineers a 2-1 lead on another power play at 15:22 when his point shot found its way through traffic and past Mayotte.

The Dutchmen exploded back into the lead in a quick outburst of offense that caught the Engineers flat-footed. Jonathan Poirier scored at 16:23 from Seney and Augie Dimarzo, and Chris Potts added his unassisted tally just 15 seconds later. While RPI Head Coach Dan Fridgen cited a mishandled transition as the cause for Poirier’s goal, he was not too upset about Potts’ score. “The go-ahead goal—that was just a nice shot,” he said.

The third period saw three RPI power plays, none for Union, and a number of near-misses for the Engineers, including a chance where Croxton had the puck skip just over his stick in front of Mayotte, and another where Eizenman shot it just wide of an open net in the waning seconds. “Jonny [junior Jonathan Ornelas] saw me on the back door there and he snapped it over,” said Croxton. “Right as their guy turned, he almost kicked it into his own net. It just stayed out and he made a great defensive play.”

Croxton did tally an assist in the loss, his first points since the game against Dartmouth on January 6. Croxton missed the last four games with an ankle injury. He was the ECACHL’s scoring leader when he left, but he now sits tied for fifth.

Croxton—along with several others—could have picked up a few points in Saturday’s contest, but missed opportunities and bad bounces plagued the Engineers all game long. Several Engineers had chances right in front of the goal on a wide open net but could not capitalize. Eizenman hit a post and sent a shot wide and freshman Kurt Colling put a shot right into Mayotte with most of the top of the net to shoot at.

“That’s supposed to be a goal right there,” said Colling about his close chance. “I thought it was bouncing a little too much to put in the net right away. I waited a little too long. Even then when I waited, I should have lifted it a bit. That’s the game right there for us. There’s not much excuse for it.”

“I probably had three or four chances that I would normally put in,” Eizenman added. “Tonight, I didn’t, and that’s the difference.”

Ornelas also had a prime chance of his own when he broke free from the defense and took a pass from Eizenman. The puck then hopped over his stick and bounced harmlessly away.

Sophomore Andrew Lord scored RPI’s only goal of the game, unassisted, at 5:03 of the third period. Amidst a mass of players in the neutral zone, Lord stole the puck along the right-wing boards and burst up the ice on a two-on-one with classmate Dan Peace. Lord ripped a shot over Mayotte’s shoulder for the lead.

The Dutchmen tied it up at 7:47 of the period when Lane Caffaro one-timed the puck past Lange on a two-on-two rush. Ornelas was right with Caffaro but couldn’t tie up his stick, and the Dutchmen defenseman took the cross-ice pass from DiMarzo and found the twine. “We had the coverage, we just didn’t have the stick,” said Fridgen.

“I thought for sure Jonny was going to have that pass across,” added Lange. “By the time I realized Jonny wasn’t going to get that, I was a split second too late. It was a good shot, I’ve gotta give him credit for it.”

With so many missed opportunities, the Engineers missed a chance to get even with the Dutchmen once again. “Anytime you come out of a game, especially in our barn, without a win, it’s unsatisfying,” said Ornelas,“especially since we weren’t getting the bounces.”

“It’s tough,” added Croxton, about the opportunities that fell by the wayside. “But as long as we’re getting the chances, they’re going to start going in eventually. If we weren’t getting any chances, I’d start to worry.”