Despite recording the most losses in the program’s history, the men’s hockey team can at least say this on their season: They weren’t the worst. Following two losses to close out the season, the Engineers ended the year 7-25-2 overall and 6-15-1 in the ECAC, enough to take the 11th of 12 seeds in the upcoming ECAC playoffs next weekend. The only team to perform worse on the season was Brown University, which posted only three wins on the year.
On Friday night—Pink at the Rink at the Houston Field House—the Engineers fell 4-2 against the Clarkson University Golden Knights. Clad in special black and pink jerseys to support the American Cancer Society, the Engineers put on one of their most dismal performances of the season as Clarkson netted two goals in both the first and second periods to take command the game. “We didn’t come out ready to play against Clarkson,” explained sophomore Chase Polacek. “It took us two periods and being down 4-0 before we stepped up our game, and by then, it didn’t matter.”
The Knights posted two power play goals in the opening frame to take the early lead. While on a 4-3 advantage, Clarkson sophomore defenseman Bryan Rufenach grabbed the puck from outside of the RPI crease and swept it under freshman goaltender Allen York at 13:01 for his ninth of the season. Almost an exact minute later, freshman Louke Oakley drove a wrist shot from the slot past York for his third of the year for the 2-0 advantage.
Midway through the second period, the Golden Knights made it a 3-0 lead after freshman Nick Tremblay capitalized on an error by York. In an attempt to clear the puck behind his own net, York clipped the right post with the puck, deflecting it into the crease. Rushing into the zone, Tremblay buried the puck into the open net before York or any RPI defenders could knock it away. Sophomore Brandon DeFazio, while skating down the right side of the ice, ripped a snap shot past York for his seventh of the season at 14:11 to finish the scoring for Clarkson.
RPI, who was outshot 19-7 through two periods of play, stepped up its game in the third frame to score twice on 12 shots.
Polacek and sophomore Tyler Helfrich found the back of the net within four minutes of each other to mount a late-game comeback for the Engineers. Polacek buried a wrist shot past freshman goaltender Paul Karpowich into the upper right corner at 10:44 for his team-leading 10th goal of the year. At 13:29, Helfrich notched his fifth of the season off a backhand shot from the slot over Karpowich’s shoulder. “It was nice to get score two points [one goal and one assist], but they mean nothing. I’d rather not score and win the game,” said Helfrich. “That was not a game we were happy about.”
The rest of the period would remain scoreless, although the Engineers had several opportunities to cut their deficit.
York made 19 saves in his 11th appearance of the season, while Karpowich had 17 stops on the evening. Clarkson finishes the year 10-16-7 overall and 8-9-4 in the ECAC, good to secure the seventh-place seed in the ECAC playoffs.
“I think we have to improve our consistency and play with a little more urgency from the start of the game to the final buzzer,” said senior captain Matt Angers-Goulet of what the team needs to work on. “We have to create more scoring chances by attacking the net a little more. Even though we were down this weekend, the guys kept battling, which showed some resiliency.”
Saturday’s game against No. 17 in the nation St. Lawrence University fared much better than the evening before, even though the Engineers dropped 2-0 against the Saints, who finished fourth in the ECAC. The game, marred by poor officiating, ended with a brawl in the Saints’ zone after frustrations bottled up throughout the night exploded.
“We created offense all night,” said Head Coach Seth Appert, who was pleased with his team’s improvement from the night before. “We had some guys who were flying out there and attacking offensively. Defensemen were activating in the play, we hit three posts but just couldn’t find a goal.”
Appert believes one of the biggest differences between the two games was how the team handled certain situations. “We hit posts and pucks were all over their net and then the other team comes down and make a great play. And that didn’t shake us,” explained Appert. “Friday night it took us 10 minutes to respond to those situations, tonight it took us a shift. That’s the resilience you need to win in the playoffs.”
The game also marked Senior Appreciation Night, which recognized forwards Kurt Colling, Seth Klerer, Andrei Uryadov, and M. Angers-Goulet, and goaltender Mathias Lange for their contributions to the program over the past four seasons. “It was definitely emotional to play one last time at the Houston Field House,” said M. Angers-Goulet. “It is a special place to play and I will never forget that feeling. I believe we have the best fans in college hockey, and can’t be thankful enough for their unbelievable support throughout my four years here.”
The Saints opened up the scoring midway through the first period with a goal from star defenseman senior Shawn Fensel. The puck ricocheted out to Fensel off a rebound; his shot from the point snuck between Lange and the post for his fourth goal of the year. Freshman Mark Armstrong and sophomore Jared Keller assisted on the power play tally.
Late into the second period, St. Lawrence increased its lead to two with junior Mike McKenzie’s 15th of the season. Again on the power play, Fensel took the puck from senior Brock McBride low in the RPI defensive zone, and made a cross-crease pass to McKenzie, who sent the biscuit over Lange’s left shoulder directly under the crossbar.
Both teams fought an evenly-matched battle throughout the entire third period, which saw neither group score. Freshman Jordan Watts had the best opportunity of the night for the Engineers, as he one-timed a shot over the Saints’ open net at 7:35. Several missed calls on dangerous plays in the closing minutes of the period led to a fight in the St. Lawrence zone. RPI received a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct when the referees failed to call a penalty against the Saints after an RPI player was driven head-first into the boards, which caused Appert to make his concerns known. With one minute remaining in the game, Rensselaer pulled Lange in favor of the extra skater, but could not convert on the man advantage despite having two good chances to score and an eventual six-on-three advantage.
Junior goaltender Alex Petizian stopped 31 shots for his second consecutive shutout for the Saints, who clinched fourth place in the ECAC and a first-round bye in the playoffs. Lange had 27 saves on the evening and finished the regular season with a record of 5-17-2.
Even though the Engineers did not come out with a win this game, Appert was not disappointed: “I thought it was just a great hockey game that easily could have been 5-4 instead of 2-0. Both goalies were outstanding.”
Next weekend, RPI travels to Dartmouth College to face the sixth-seed Big Green in the ECAC playoffs in a best-of-three series. All games will be played at Thompson Arena, with the puck drop at 7 pm. As the team prepares for the series against Dartmouth, it has one thought in mind: winning. “We’ve spent some more time together than usual to get into that playoff mentality. We have a lot of guys in our dressing room that have won championships at different levels, so we know how to win,” explained Helfrich.
Despite having fallen to the Big Green twice this season, the Engineers feel confident in their chances this weekend. “Dartmouth is a good hockey team with good offensive players, but we are confident we can beat them this weekend,” said M. Angers-Goulet. “It will be important to be disciplined in our system and play a physical game against their talented players.” Polacek agrees: “They are a young team like us, but I believe if we follow up on what we know we need to do, we will have success.”
so both teams will be going hard. It will all come down to which team wants it more, and I have confidence that our team can put it all on the line.”
