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Strong performances from defenseman Kazimier Sobieski and Rensselaer's goaltenders let the Engineers collect their first series sweep of the season, beating Long Island University 2-1 and 3-2, respectively. Rensselaer entered the weekend after a promising series split against Ohio State, buoyed by excellent saves from goaltenders Nate Krawchuk and Ethan McCallum. While LIU does not play with as much skill as Ohio, the series tested how the usually opportunistic Engineers approach a team with a different playstyle.
Penalties were a double-edged sword for the Engineers
Friday’s game lost its rhythm for large spans of time as the match devolved into a physical, chippy affair. “[Ohio State] comes in last weekend—they're a Big Ten team and they try to play [with] a lot more skill. LIU is a bigger, slower team, but they throw their weight around,” explained forward Jagger Tapper.
Three Engineers headed to the penalty box in the first period alone, and five more entered it over the rest of the match. While the Engineer’s penalty kill was suffocating, Rensselaer is yet to allow a goal shorthanded, even though their stagnated offense was outshot eleven to five in the first period.
Tapper noted that the physicality “kind of helps our brand of hockey as well…There's a large contrast [between Ohio and LIU], but I felt like we can handle that well because we're used to it in these days.” The physicality of the game eventually wore down the Sharks. Five LIU players—including former Engineer Lucas Lemieux—were charged with penalties in the second period, including one five-minute major for elbowing after a successful Rensselaer challenge.
Rensselaer opted to play conservatively on their power plays. “On the power play, we [did] try to find a lot of ‘Grade-A’ looks tonight. I feel like those weren't there as much, so we're going to start fumbling a lot more… trying to create chaos around the net.” said Tapper. Rensselaer’s winning goal did admittedly come on a power play, slowly maneuvering around the LIU defense until an open Tapper fired the puck into the back of the net.
A shooting-happy Rensselaer on Saturday
Rensselaer responded to Friday’s match with a torrent of shots on LIU’s goal. Rensselaer kept the puck in Sharks defensive zone for much of the first period; by the time LIU registered their first shot of the game the Engineers had already shot twelve. Rensselaer felt much more structured than Friday’s game. The defense held strong as well, many of LIU’s shots missed the frame or were blocked by Rensselaer defensemen.
While the first period ended scoreless, the second period told a much different story. Seconds into the period, Sobieski slipped past two Sharks before firing the puck past the keeper to give the Engineers the lead, kickstarting a five-goal frenzy within the period.
Rensselaer continued their strong play; about six minutes after Sobieski’s goal Alfred Lindberg found an open Ian Scherzer to double the Engineer lead. However, LIU began to find their footing and scored their first goal of the night, cutting the lead to 2-1. Sobieski responded just over a minute later, squeezing a shot from the faceoff circle past the goaltender’s near post. The Sharks again fought back, breaking past the Engineer defense and scoring to reduce the Engineer lead to 3-2.
LIU continued to search for an equalizer for the rest of the game, but Rensselaer kept control of the lead well, blunting the Sharks’ attack.
Rensselaer’s goaltenders continue strong performances
Goaltenders Nate Krawchuk put in another stellar performance on Friday. LIU finished the match with an expected goals (xG) rating of 3.3 to Rensselaer's 2.4 according to College Hockey News, but Krawchuk kept the Sharks at bay. Krawchuk weathered the storm of LIU power plays, saving eleven shots while Rensselaer was shorthanded. Krawchuk rose to the occasion again in the third period when a LIU forward slipped past the Rensselaer defense to set up a one-on-one with Krawchuk, only for the sophomore goalie to deflect the puck just wide of the net. Krawchuk ended his night with thirty saves for an impressive 0.986 save percentage.
Freshman McCallum rotated in for Krawchuk in Saturday's game for his first start as an Engineer. Besides the two LIU goals, McCallum held steady and ended the night with 24 saves. The rookie came up big in the third period while the Engineers were protecting their 3-2 lead, making a diving save on an LIU power play and blocking another from point-blank in the dying moments of the game to secure an Engineer victory.
The series sweep sees Rensselaer improve to 3-1-0 on the season. Sobieski ended the weekend with two goals and two assists, and forwards Ian Scherzer and Rainers Rullers each scored a goal and assist apiece. Rensselaer will travel to Rochester to play RIT this weekend before hosting Union College for Blackout! on October 30th. The box score for the Friday game can be found here, and the box score for the Saturday game can be found here.
