Sara Melikian
Senior Reporter
Amid the Rocky Mountains and skating on ice surfaces over a mile above sea-level, the RPI men’s hockey team recently returned from a New Year’s trek out to Denver, Colo., for the Wells Fargo Denver Cup, hosted by the nationally-ranked University of Denver Pioneers. Despite the Engineers’ strong effort, they dropped the opening contest of the tournament to the No. 2 team in the nation, the Boston University Terriers, 6-2, and were narrowly edged out by the College of the Holy Cross Crusaders, sporting former Engineer Jordan Cyr on their roster.
Even though the Terriers were short two of their best players due to the World Junior Hockey Championship, it did not take the team long to figure out how to improvise with its remaining roster. Four unanswered goals starting in the final two minutes of the second period led BU to their 12th win of the season, as their record improved to 12-4-1 overall.
After the Terriers managed to slip the puck past senior netminder Mathias Lange twice in the opening seven minutes of play, the Engineers came back with a goal of their own. Senior captain Matt Angers-Goulet took a shot from the right circle, which was redirected past freshman BU goalie Grant Rollheiser by younger brother and line-mate freshman Alex Angers-Goulet for his first collegiate goal, at 10:48.
“[Playing on a line with Alex] is definitely a great experience, and we have been having success, which makes it a lot better as well. We seem to have a good chemistry along with [senior] Kurt Colling, and hard work seems to be the common theme of our line,” said M. Angers-Goulet.
Within a 10-minute span over the first and second periods, each team saw a member receive a game misconduct for hitting from behind, a serious infraction that has been firmly regulated in recent games. With freshman Josh Rabbani in the penalty box for sophomore defenseman Jeff Foss, A. Angers-Goulet streaked down the ice in a short-handed breakaway, and blasted a shot past Rollheiser for the game-tying goal.
The tie would stand for the majority of the remainder of the frame, before the Terriers began their offensive onslaught. Beginning with a power play goal by senior Jason Lawrence with two minutes remaining in the second period, BU would finish the night with three more goals in the third, all within a seven-minute span.
Boston’s win, coupled with a shockingly close game between Denver University and Holy Cross that saw the Pioneers win in a shootout, set up for a championship game between two nationally-ranked teams. RPI would play the consolation game against the Crusaders.
The Engineers came out shooting in the first, as Colling scored his first goal of the season within the opening four minutes of play. After collecting a rebound from the low slot, Colling was able to bury the puck past junior goaltender Ian Dams for the team’s first lead in the tournament. Minutes later, junior defenseman Peter Merth also tallied his first goal of the season off a pass from Colling to the left point, to put the Engineers up 2-0.
Turnovers at the RPI blue line, however, placed the Crusaders at an opportunity to bounce back, beginning their four-goal offensive drive. Rensselaer freshman Allen York was able to rob Holy Cross freshman Luke Miller of a breakaway opportunity, but succumbed to a shot by sophomore J.P. Martignetti as the Crusaders took advantage of a delayed penalty against the Engineers. Sophomore Everett Sheen tied the game at two with a breakaway goal, and midway through the third junior Rob Forshner scored the go-ahead goal. In an attempt to regain the lead, York was pulled in favor of the extra skater, but this only resulted in Cyr’s game-winning empty net goal. Despite the two-goal lead in the final minute of play, the Engineers came back as Rabbani redirected a shot by sophomore Jeff Foss from the point with 47 seconds remaining, just 19 seconds after Cyr’s tally.
The Crusaders were able to hold on for the win and the consolation victory, bringing their overall record to 6-11-2.
Boston University would go on to take the tournament crown, defeating the Pioneers by a score of 4-1.
“We’ve been seeing some good things in practice for the last six weeks, even though it hasn’t always resulted in wins,” said Head Coach Seth Appert. “Overall, I think we played pretty well on the weekend. We played a solid 40 minutes against BU, but made some mistakes that gave them the lead and eventually the game. In the game against Holy Cross we made some more mistakes which also cost us the game. We’re gaining maturity in our play, and hopefully will be getting better at applying our practices to our game play.”
RPI’s hard work these last few weeks did not go unnoticed, as they returned to the East Coast and to their winning ways. Following a 2-2 deadlock with the Quinnipiac University Bobcats, the Engineers came back to dominate over the No. 10 Princeton University Tigers by a score of 5-1.
In Friday’s contest, both the Bobcats and Engineers skated through a scoreless first period, which saw no RPI shots through the first nine minutes of play. Entering the second frame, Colling netted his second goal of the season off a pass from Foss for the first goal of the game. A mere three minutes later, the Engineers would strike again as senior Seth Klerer added his second of the season past junior goalie Bud Fisher.
Fisher, allowing two goals on only six shots, was pulled by the end of the period in favor of Quinnipiac freshman Dan Clarke for the start of the third.
A few mistakes by RPI in the third led to some good chances for the Bobcats, as junior Mike Atkinson scored six minutes into the period, followed by senior Bryan Leitch at 11:28.
Neither team was able to tally in the overtime session, which saw Lange make six of his 33 saves on the evening. Coming away with a single point in the tie, the Bobcats now sit 11-6-2 overall, and 6-3-2 in the ECAC.
“The team played with intensity, speed, physicality, and discipline. We had a constant aggressive forecheck and the forwards were coming back hard, allowing our defensemen to neglect rushes, and Lange was great in the net,” said M. Angers-Goulet.
Still on the road, the Engineers finished out winter break with a bang as they stole the show against the Tigers, playing a strong game for the entire 60 minutes of play. Princeton is now 13-5-0 on the season, 8-4-0 in the ECAC, while Rensselaer improved to 4-15-2 overall and 3-5-1 in league play.
Junior defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer finished the night with two goals and an assist, as freshman Patrick Cullen, sophomore Scott Halpern, Polacek, and M. Angers-Goulet all ended the game with multiple points.
Rabbani began the Engineers’ offensive threat 1:22 into the first frame for his fourth goal of the season. Continuing on his hot streak, A. Angers-Goulet added a goal of his own just seven minutes later, his sixth point in the last four games.
Pulling ahead 3-0 in the second frame, Burgdoerfer added his first of the night, before Princeton senior Lee Jubinville scored the Tigers’ only goal of the night at 8:09 on the power play.
Rounding out the third, Polacek would add another goal at 7:06, while Burgdoerfer tallied another 90 seconds later, with a helper going to junior Garett Vassel.
Playing another solid game in net, Lange finished the evening with 26 saves, earning him the ECAC Goaltender of the Week honors.
“We had success this weekend by playing a strong, disciplined team game. We kept our feet moving all the time and were great on the forecheck and the backcheck,” said Lange. “It was great to get three out of four points this past weekend, but we need to put that behind us and get back to practicing hard every day.”
In addition to the ECAC award, Lange was also nominated for the 2008–09 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in men’s hockey. “It’s always nice to get recognized and nominated for any award, but it is a great honor for me to be able to represent RPI as a nominee for this award,” said Lange.
Looking to continue on their winning trend, the Engineers face off against the Colgate University Raiders and the Cornell University Big Red this weekend, finally returning to the Houston Field House, with both games beginning at 7 pm.
“These next two games will be big,” explained Appert. “Colgate is just below us in the standings, so this will be a great opportunity to create a gap between us. With a pair of wins, we will continue on our goal of having home-ice advantage come playoffs.”
