Four key points were at stake for the Engineers as they departed for their last regular season road weekend. Upon their return, they had only taken two to the bank with ties at Princeton and Quinnipiac, but still assured themselves of a first-round playoff series at home. Currently, the team sits tied for seventh but can finish anywhere between fifth and eighth.
Kevin Croxton, one of the team’s senior captains, had a breakaway goal late in the third period on Friday against Princeton to tie the game at four. After Croxton deked, Princeton goalie Eric Leroux got a piece of the shot with his blocker, but it bounced up in the air and barely trickled over the line. “He read it unbelievable,” said Croxton. “He got the blocker on it, and that’s what sent it up over top.”
Croxton’s goal capped a two-goal rally for the Engineers that started when senior Keith MCWilliams scored on the power play just a few minutes earlier. RPI was up two early in the first period but surrendered four goals to the Tigers in a 25 minute span and fell behind. None of Princeton’s goals came on the power play, but the Engineers had to kill off two five-on-three opportunities that lasted more than a minute each. “I thought we did a real good job killing off those five-on-threes,” said RPI Head Coach Dan Fridgen, but he added: “I thought we spent a lot of energy killing penalties instead of on offense.”
Engineer penalties did not directly result in a goal but fatigued the team and kept the players scrambling on defense. “In the second period, we came out and just watched them play,” said Fridgen. “They outworked us. We took stupid penalties and some lazy penalties, which got us into trouble. They stormed back and took the lead going into the third. … Once they went up 4-2, I thought we did a real good job, again, fighting back. It showed good character, but we should have not been in that situation to begin with.”
Junior Oren Eizenman and senior Chris Hussey scored for the Engineers in the first before the Tigers rallied for the 4-2 lead. Freshman Mathias Lange made 33 saves for RPI in the tie, and Leroux made 25 for Princeton.
Penalties proved problematic for RPI on Saturday against Quinnipiac as well. RPI led 3-1 after two periods on goals by sophomore Andrew Lord, freshman Matt Angers-Goulet, and junior Jake Luthi. The Bobcats, though, scored a pair of power play goals to tie things up in the third.
Eizenman tipped in a shot from senior Brad Farynuk on an Engineer power play at 13:12 of the period, but RPI took a penalty just seven seconds later. The Bobcats scored on the ensuing power play to tie things at four. After the tying goal, the Engineers took another penalty—this one eight seconds after the goal—but the Bobcats could not find the go-ahead goal. The teams skated to a 4-4 tie.
“We just didn’t play smart,” said Fridgen. “They were just lazy penalties. That was the problem all weekend long. You’re not going to win games in this league if you keep going to the penalty box.”
“There’s not much good I can say about it,” he added.
Farynuk had a pair of assists in the game but was not pleased with the team’s overall effort. “I expected to have three out of the four points after two periods tonight. I think we kind of got fat and happy,” he said. “Guys came into the dressing room real high on themselves. You have to be real disciplined … you have to realize what made you successful that period. We didn’t do that in the third period.”
The Bobcats’ Brian Leitch and Jamie Bates had four points apiece. Defenseman Reid Cashman also had two assists—the first of which was the 100th point of his collegiate career.
The ties ran RPI’s conference record to 7-7-6, which marks a school record for ties in a season. The Engineers will host conference leaders Cornell and Colgate this weekend and will jockey for position and a favorable match-up in the first round of the playoffs.
