“We played how we wanted to play,” explained Head Coach Seth Appert after his first regular season (albeit non-ECACHL) game at Rensselaer. “We were aggressive, we were up-tempo, and we attacked. Our defensemen activated in the play. We took calculated risks. We made some mistakes, but that happens. I thought that in how we wanted to be a team, what we want to be about, I thought they did a great job. More than anything was the belief they had in each other, especially after being scored on right away.”

Despite facing powerful opponents, the Engineers came out flying from the first drop of the puck. RPI stuck to its aggressive game plan, even after they fell behind a mere 55 seconds into the game, as Boston University forward Brandon Yip deflected a puck past starting goaltender sophomore Mattias Lange. Just 20 seconds later (before the PA announcer could finish declaring the BU goal), senior Jake Luthi took a shot from the point, and junior Tyler Eaves managed to lift the puck into the roof of the net after an initial attempt by junior Jonathan Ornelas.

As many fans were still piling into their seats, RPI made it a 2-1 game at 2:22 of the 1st. The goal was scored in similar fashion to its predecessor, as junior Jake Morissette fired another puck past Terriers’ standout goaltender John Curry. The goal was assisted by freshman Paul Kerins, who took the initial shot from the point, and by the team’s captain, senior Kirk MacDonald, whose deflection redirected the puck to an open Morissette.

With both teams skating four aside due to matching minors late in the period, Terriers rookie defenseman Brian Strait drilled Luthi into the end boards in the RPI zone. Luthi was a little slow to get up, but was fine for the remainder of the contest. Strait was issued a five-minute major and a game misconduct for his actions, drawing a roar from the crowd. Getting his revenge, Luthi gave the Engineers a 3-1 lead at 18:54 of the 1st, on the ensuing 4-3 powerplay; when he redirected home a rebound on a shot from MacDonald, which was set up by Ornelas.

RPI’s up-tempo style kept Boston University off its game throughout the 1st period. The heavily-favored Terriers managed just three shots on net on Lange, who was solid when needed, whilst the Engineers peppered Curry 12 times.

The second frame was much closer between the teams, as the Engineers failed to capitalize on the remainder of the five-minute major on subsequent powerplays for the remainder of the period. Still, RPI put lots of pressure on Curry and the Terrier defense, producing numerous scoring chances. After BU took a timeout midway through the period, the Terriers rebounded and created better offensive chances against Lange by making plays in front of the net and trying to create odd-man rushes. Despite several solid saves by Lange, BU pulled to within one on the powerplay at 12:32 of the 2nd when Chris Higgins scored on a rebound from the point.

At 4:38 of the 3rd the Terriers tied the game. Ryan Weston centered the puck right across the crease to Steve Smolinski, who quickly redirected into the net for a tie game. The Engineers, inspired by the very vocal, capacity crowd kept up the pressure on BU as the game became evenly matched. Eventually, their efforts were rewarded when Boston University was charged with yet another penalty. On the ensuing powerplay, Jonathan Orenelas took a pass from Jake Luthi, but was unable to take a strong shot was he was pressured from behind by a BU defender. The rebound trickled to Curry’s left, however, and Oren Eizenman was able to pick up the puck and shovel it into the BU net for a 4-3 lead, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

The lead didn’t last long however, as just over a minute later BU’s Chris Higgins scored his second goal of the night on an odd-man rush. His tricky shot found a way through Lange’s legs, knotting the score up at 4-all.

Despite quality efforts by both squads for the remainder of regulation, with the final minutes of the period being played before many standing spectators, the game remained tied. Both teams had short powerplays in the 5 minute overtime period, but neither could muster quality scoring chances. The game ended in a 4-4 tie, with Mattias Lange making 17 saves in total, as compared to the 33 by his counterpart John Curry.

After the game, Appert expressed that he was ““very pleased with the effort and the execution but disappointed with the result. Our players were as well. That’s no slight to BU. They are a great program and we have a tremendous amount of respect for them, but our players were disappointed. They believe they could have won that game.”

Captain Kirk MacDonald, whose name couldn’t be heard over the thunderous roar of the crowd during his pre-game introduction after missing all of last season as a medical redshirt, had two assists in the season opener. “It was definitely the longest pre-game I’ve had ever, today,” MacDonald explained, speaking of the hours leading up to the contest. “I’ve been up since the break of dawn just sitting around thinking about it. Its good to get it over with and it’s a lot of fun and it was a great atmosphere. It would be nice to have the “W” but I guess you can’t have everything.”

Still, after what legendary BU coach Jack Baker explained that his 3rd ranked Terriers “were very fortunate to get out with a tie after trailing 3-1” things could certainly be far worse for the Engineers as them embark on the 2006-07 campaign.