Entering the weekend, the men’s hockey team possessed an unusual statistic. In games where the Engineers scored first, the team was only 1-2, but in games where they allowed the first goal, they were 2-0. The trend continued on Friday, as RPI overcame a 4-0 first period deficit to the Huskies of Northeastern University to win, 7-5. RPI fell behind 1-0 and 2-1 on Saturday to the Merrimack Warriors before taking a 3-2 lead, but eventually lost the game 5-3.
Northeastern came out hard against RPI. Jimmy Russo had a pair of goals in the first period to lead the Huskies’ four-goal effort, which they achieved on only 14 shots. “We were basically standing around watching them,” said Rensselaer Head Coach Dan Fridgen. “I was surprised that nobody fell coming to the locker room afterward … they should have been dizzy.”
“We weren’t doing anything,” added junior forward Oren Eizenman.
Sophomore Jonathan Ornelas scored less than three minutes into the second period to start the comeback. Eizenman and senior Kevin Croxton assisted on the goal. “We were just trying to stay positive,” said Croxton. “I remember sitting on the bench and saying, ‘All we need is one. That’s all we need.’”
RPI’s second score came on a failed clearing attempt by the Northeastern defense. Ornelas picked off a defensive-zone pass and dished to senior denfenseman Scott Romfo at the point. Romfo took a shot, and his classmate, forward Chris Hussey, was there to sweep in the rebound. The Engineers halved the lead on a similar play. Senior Mark Yurkewecz intercepted a pass which led to a goal by sophomore Jake Morissette.
Oren Eizenman streaked up the ice on a breakaway later in the period. His initial shot took an odd bounce off of Northeastern goalie Adam Geragosian. Eizenman stopped before crossing the goal line and swung at the rebound.
“Coach makes us do 10 push-ups every time we skate by the goal line,” said Eizenman. “I guess I’m hard-wired now.”
He batted the puck to the slot where Croxton, who was trailing the play, came up with it. Rather than shooting, Croxton slid a pass back across to Eizenman, who easily batted it into the open net. “Ninety percent of the best hockey players in the world would try to take a shot there,” added Eizenman. “And he had the presence of mind to pass it back to me, which is amazing.”
Senior Brad Farynuk gave RPI the lead with only one second left in the period. Croxton held the puck along the left wing boards as time ran down. He sent the puck across the middle, and Farynuk whipped a quick backhand shot that crossed the goal line just before time expired. “You’re not really supposed to throw him that blind into the middle, but he was calling for it,” said Croxton. “I knew there wasn’t much time left and it wasn’t going to hurt us, so I gave it to him in the middle.”
Northeastern tied it up early in the third, but good puck movement allowed RPI to retake the lead. Romfo fired a shot from the right point that hit Ornelas on its way to the twine. “I saw the shot coming, but I lost it for a bit,” said Ornelas. “Before I knew it hit me in the chest and was in the back of the net.
“It didn’t even touch my stick. It hit me in the chest.”
Croxton added an empty-net goal with under a minute—his first of the game after tallying four assists—to seal the game. “I thought he had an outstanding game,” said Fridgen of Croxton. “He’s been doing an excellent job from day one.”
RPI sought to carry its momentum into Saturday’s game against Merrimack, but the Warriors had other ideas. Merrimack’s Matt Johnson had a pair of goals in the first period—sandwiched around one by Yurkewecz—en route to a 2-1 lead after the first frame. “We really have to play smarter and come out harder in that first period of play,” said Fridgen. “This is the second game here where we didn’t dictate play like I would have liked to in the first period.”
Farynuk tied it up in the second on a shot that hit goalie Jim Healey and trickled under him and into the net.
Later in the period, Eizenman held the puck in the offensive zone. His centering pass moved through the slot, and senior Alexander Valentin took possession at the left point. He moved behind the net and passed across the crease to Croxton, who had an easy goal to give RPI the lead.
“We took the lead going into the third period, and that’s a position you want to be in at home,” said Fridgen.
Merrimack, though, scored three goals in the third for the win. First, Johnson tallied his hat-trick goal. Then, good pressure allowed Hank Carisio to take an open shot from the right face-off circle that beat sophomore goalie Jordan Alford.
Any hope of an RPI comeback was swept away in the third when the Warriors notched an empty-net goal with 38 seconds left.
The problems started in the beginning when RPI fell behind. “We didn’t come out in the first period the way we should have,” said Farynuk. “Before the game, I thought we were prepared, but apparently we weren’t.”
“We’ve got to quit doing that,” added Croxton, about falling behind. “It’s going to catch up with us eventually, and it caught up with us tonight against a good hockey club.”
RPI starts its ECACHL games this weekend at Clarkson and St. Lawrence. The Engineers, who last year swept the North Country trip for the first time in 20 seasons, look to kick off league play with a pair of strong showings. It won’t be easy, though.
“If we play like that against Clarkson, they’re going to do the same thing,” said Croxton. “They’ll beat us.”
