Engineers go down against the Big Green

The first period began with intensity but quickly turned into a lopsided affair. After a couple of great missed shots by the Engineers, Dartmouth struck first, scoring on a broken play. Less than a minute later, RPI gave up another goal, putting them down 2-0 before they could blink. The rest of the first quarter didn't go much better for the Engineers; RPI was unable to clear their own zone to go on the attack, hampered by several penalties. They exited the first period down two goals.

The second period began with more of the same; the Engineers consistently stuck defending their own goal. Even when the first Dartmouth penalty occurred midway through the period, RPI still could not capitalize on even attempting a shot at the goal even after Dartmouth’s first penalty midway through the first period. The game seemed to have really gotten out of hand when Dartmouth scored yet another goal and pushed the deficit to 0-3. However, this seemed to breathe some life into the Engineers; they immediately got on the board with a score by Max Smolinski, and three minutes later, Jeremie Payant drove it through making just a one score game. However, a minute later Dartmouth responded with another goal, keeping the game just out of reach for the Engineers as they headed into the third period with a 2-4 deficit.

Penalties opened the third period, keeping both teams from getting any rhythm. After over ten minutes of battling, it was Smolinski again, scoring a long-range goal from center ice to get it back to within goal. It looked like the Engineers had seized back momentum. Unfortunately, the game was sealed on a broken play; the puck bounced off the wall and past the goal only to be smacked in from point-blank range by Dartmouth, closing the door on RPI in a 3-5 loss. Rensselaer has a huge game coming up, facing Union in the Mayor’s Cup at MVP Arena. Scores can be found here.