For the Engineers, the games marking the end of the season painted a fairly accurate picture of the season as a whole; not quite enough. RPI saw its 11th place campaign conclude this weekend, as the Bears of Brown University swept the best-of-three series at Providence, R.I., 7-4 and 4-3.
In the first game, RPI found the offense that had been eluding it for spells during the season, but the other parts of the game—defense and goaltending—suffered. “Everything they shot went in the net,” said Head Coach Dan Fridgen in regard to the first game. “I thought we definitely outplayed them. As you well know, at this time of season, goaltending is critical, and Andrew [Martin] didn’t have his best game.”
The game was close, and the scoring reflected that—Brown and RPI alternated goals eight times. With the score knotted at four, Brown got the eventual game-winner mid-way through the third.
RPI defenseman Alexander Valentin was backing out of the offensive zone, when he ran into a Brown player and fell down, taking himself out of the play. This allowed Brown forward Brian McNary to sneak behind Valentin’s defensive partner, Keith MCWilliams. McNary was then hit with a home run pass and came in on a breakaway. His backhand shot went high to the stick side for a 5-4 lead. The goal came just 68 seconds after Kevin Croxton had scored to tie things up.
“[Valentin] collided with their guy, he goes down, and that’s what allowed them to get some space between,” said Fridgen. “Alex was backing up, runs into their guy, goes down, their guy takes off out of the zone, and Keith was staying up on his man and didn’t realize it, the guy makes a nice play and goes down to score.”
Shortly after that goal, Brown doubled its lead. Forward Mike Meech tore down the ice on a two-on-one with forward Rugo Santini against Matt McNeely. McNeely played the pass, and Meech instead ripped a wrist shot that beat Martin cleanly. The final coffin nail was driven home courtesy of Chris Swon, who lofted an empty-net goal from mid-ice with 1:11 left in the game.
Despite the loss, the team was still encouraged by its offensive performance heading into the next game. Kevin Croxton, who had a three point night and extended his goal-scoring streak to three games, said “It’s nice to see the forwards get some good looks. Guys were buzzing down low and cycling the puck real well.”
Part of the offensive effort was spurred by the effectiveness of the power play. The Engineers had three power play goals on the night. Kevin Broad got the first on his own rebound. Valentin struck when driving toward the net and firing a hard one-timer. Defenseman Jake Luthi also tallied when he tipped a centering pass that barely eked into the net.
The offensive effort also made Fridgen optimistic. “I thought our power play was working real well…five-on-five, too, I thought we had some real good chances.”
With the season on the line, the Engineers knew what they had to do on Saturday night. They went punch-for-punch with the Bears, but lost in overtime.
The power plays for each team got things started. Jeff Prough got a rebound goal off of a Sean Hurley point shot for the Bears early in the first. Valentin tied it later in the period on a very strange goal. He was caught on the opposite side of the ice from where he usually plays, and shot a fluttering backhand from the top of the face-off circle that goalie Adam D’Alba never saw.
Meech added a goal late in the first for the Brown lead. After a scoreless second—that included a disallowed Brown goal—RPI came out firing in the third, playing like a team whose season was in fact on the line.
Kirk MacDonald attempted a wraparound shot and then scored on his own rebound eight minutes into the period. RPI took the lead just a minute and eight seconds later. Croxton, who was in possession of the puck, took a hit in the corner of the offensive zone and was knocked to the ice. He was slow getting up, but Brown’s clearing attempt never left the zone.
The puck caromed back to Croxton, who had the puck at the face-off circle and no defenders within forty feet of him. He charged to the net, faked D’Alba down to the ice, and went high on the backhand for RPI’s first lead of the series. RPI looked primed to force a decisive game three.
Brown had other plans. They took possession of the puck after the ensuing face-off, and held it in the Engineers’ zone. The defense looked a little lost, and the Bears were able to cycle at will. The puck was moved along the boards, and to the point, where Brown assistant captain Gerry Burke ripped a shot that found its way to the mesh through traffic.
RPI put some sustained pressure on Brown for the remainder of the period, but the score held, and the game progressed to overtime.
In the extra frame, McNeely ripped a solid shot that looked like it would force a game three. It beat D’Alba clearly, but then rang off the post. Shortly after, a defensive zone turnover by RPI led to the game-winner. Santini’s forecheck paid off, and he intercepted a clearing attempt. He got the puck to freshman Chris Poli, who went to the top shelf for the game and the series.
“That happened so fast,” said Fridgen. “I think the guy made a great shot. He put it upstairs; there wasn’t much there. He found the room. It was a situation where I thought we should have been coming forward with the puck instead of going back into our own end with it.”
Poli had three goals in the series, after scoring none all season long. “the kid made a nice play,” said Brown coach Roger Grillo. “It’s one of those things where it’s a great way to springboard into the next series.”
Brown will head to Colgate this weekend for another best-of-three series. RPI’s season is now over. The Engineers bid farewell to seven seniors: Nick Economakos, C.J. Hanafin, Martin, Matt McNeely, Vic Pereira, Blake Pickett, and Cody Wojdyla.
