In a game defined by special teams, revitalized power play led RPI to a 4-1 non-league victory over Merrimack in a Sunday matinee game at the Houston Field House. The win continued the Engineers’ impressive start (4-1-3) to the 2006-07 campaign, and lifted them to 16th nationwide according to the USCHO.com/CSTV Poll.
“We were very intense and came out ready to play,” Head Coach Seth Appert said. “I thought we out-executed our opponents on special teams—not only our power play but our penalty kill as well.”
All four Engineer goals came on the power play, capitalizing with the man-advantage consistently after having difficulty finding the back of the net earlier this season. “I wouldn’t say we’ve been struggling on the power play, but we felt like we haven’t been scoring as much as we’d like to,” explained senior Oren Eizenman, whose three points in the game moved him into the lead for team scoring. The penalty kill successfully held off all 13 Merrimack man-advantages.
The Engineers jumped out to an early lead on a 5-3 advantage just 2:16 in the game when Eizenman poked a rebound in from near the right-side post. Just 36 seconds later, junior Jake Morissette took advantage of the remaining 5-4 power play when he gave RPI a 2-0 lead with a tricky shot from the point that fooled Warrior goaltender Patrick Watson.
Midway through the second, after nearly scoring moments beforehand, Eizenman dished the puck right across the crease for an open sophomore Matt Angers-Goulet to shovel it past Watson for another power play marker. Eizenman added his second goal of the night in the third after senior Jake Luthi and sophomore Seth Klerer set him up for a shot from the point.
The lone goal the Engineers’ junior netminder Jordan Alford allowed came on a screened shot from the point shortly after RPI took a 3-0 lead. Alford was solid throughout the game, especially while trying to kill off freshman Peter Merth’s five-minute major for checking from behind in the third—he finished the game with 23 saves.
“This was a big game for us,” Appert explained after the game. “It’s a Sunday afternoon and the crowd is not what it normally would be because of that and it’s a non-conference opponent. These are games you are always concerned about as a staff of let-down. It all comes down to those 26 guys in the locker room and the leaders ready to go. They did a good job of that tonight.”
These thoughts were echoed by Eizenman. “We just came out and approached it as if it was Black Friday or the Big Red Freakout!,” the forward explained. “We understood going in that it would be somewhat of a mellow atmosphere but the fans did a great job. We just decided we wanted to play our brand of hockey no matter what and that’s a big step for us.”
The Engineers play this coming Friday at the Houston Field House against Sacred Heart. The puck drops at 7 pm.
