Dutchmen players weigh in ahead of Mayor's Cup game vs RPI

by Ryan Fay

The much-hyped inagural Mayor's Cup game between RPI and Union will be played tonight at 7:30 pm at the Times Union Center in downtown Albany. 

Though it's a non-league game, and thus doesn't count in the league standings, there is plenty at stake. Union will look for its eighth win a row against their Route 7 rivals while RPI will be looking for their first win over the Dutchmen since November 2010.

Over the past couple days, I've collected various thoughts from a few Union players ahead of the game.

Daniel Ciampini played some of his best hockey this season against RPI. In the previous two meetings this year, the sophomore had three goals and four points. He offered some thoughts on what kind of game it will be tonight:

"It's going to be a good game -- good old fashioned, hard hockey. We're both hard-nosed teams and we both like to grind it out. RPI is riding a high and we're coming off a pretty decent weekend. Both teams are in a groove and will be ready for it."

What are the keys to a Union victory? Kyle Bodie, second on the team with 25 points, weighed in:

"Sticking to our game plan and being disciplined. In these games, you're right on that line, so you have to be careful not to cross it because both teams have good specialty teams."

Barring a postseason matchup, tonight's game will be the last Union-RPI game for the seniors. I asked a couple of them about their memories of playing RPI over the years.

Said Greg Coburn: "A lot of the games stand out. But going back to freshman year, that first time I played them, I think it was at our barn... the fans were electric and it was a lot of fun to feel that experience."

Said Bodie: "My first goal was against RPI in my freshman year, so that's a good memory. So was beating them in their own tournament (same year). Last year was probably the best one when we swept them in the playoffs. Every game we play against RPI, both sides get up, and they're probably the best games of the year." 

One wildcard in tonight's game is the probable RPI goaltender, freshman Jason Kasdorf. Union only saw him in the third period in their second game against RPI in November. But Kasdorf, who has a 1.60 goals against average, is one of the biggest reasons for RPI's turnaround in the past couple months. I asked Bodie and Coburn, Union's top scoring defenseman, about facing a goaltender against whom Union has limited experience.

Said Bodie: "If he's starting as a freshman, he must be doing something right. We have to get a lot of pucks and bodies to the net. We know that if we want to get pucks by him we have to put a lot of rubber on net. That's something we've been focusing on and something we'll try to get done [tonight]."

Said Coburn: "We just have to feel him out and get a lot of shots on him. We have guys who can put the puck in the back of the net and we have to rely on that."

On most weekends, Union plays two different schools. But not so this weekend, having only tonight's Mayor's Cup game. I asked Bodie about the differences in preparation when there's one school on the weekend schedule.

Said Bodie: "As you prepare during the week, even if you're going against two teams, sometimes you're only looking at the Friday night game. But we received the scouting report a little earlier this week and guys know we only have one game this weekend. We don't have to hold anything back."

END NOTES

Kelly Zajac (Albany-AHL) scored his second goal in the AHL this year in Friday's 4-1 win over Adirondack. The former Union star has two goals and an assist in five games with Albany. He graduated last spring following a four year career that put him in second place on the program's Division I career points list (128).....  If you missed it previously, I did a Q&A with RPI head coach Seth Appert ahead of the game. You can find that here. Appert talked about the improvement of his team, Union's success against RPI, and some of his players who could be factors tonight.