Tigers trample Engineers

Rensselaer’s goal scoring woes continued in a 4-0 loss to the surging Princeton University Tigers to close out the first half of their regular season. Rensselaer entered the game intending to bounce back after a heavy 5-1 defeat from Quinnipiac. Princeton meanwhile sought to continue their strong record against divisional opponents after dismantling a woeful Union College, also 5-1.

Rensselaer would begin the first period on par with Princeton, with the latter slightly outshooting the Engineers 10-9. Despite this, Rensselaer’s offense failed to meaningfully test Princeton, lacking communication in many sequences and unable to string together consecutive passes to gain any momentum.

Rensselaer would come to rue their missed opportunities. Princeton was constantly quicker to the puck, diminishing the Engineers ability to develop plays down the ice. The dam finally broke halfway through the period, when Princeton capitalized on a poor pass to score and take the lead 1-0.

From there, the floodgates opened and RPI was unable to keep up. Princeton went on to score three more goals in the third period and the Engineers seemed resigned to a 4-0 loss. After keeping pace with the Tigers, the Engineers would be outshot 26-12. With the loss, the reeling Engineers head to the holiday break with much to improve on from this performance. The Engineers will hope to rebound against the University of Vermont on January 3. The box score can be found here.