Dutchmen fall 3-2 to RPI in rematch

Box Score

by Ryan Fay

RPI picked up a weekend sweep of Route 7 rival Union with a 3-2 ECAC Hockey win Saturday at the Houston Field House.

Union's Ryan Scarfo scored a goal in the Dutchmen's
3-2 loss to RPI Saturday at the Houston Field House.
(credit: Union College Athletics)

With the sweep, RPI (3-4-0 overall, 2-0-0 ECACH) secured the Capital Skates Trophy for the second straight season.

Much like during their 5-1 win Friday at Messa Rink, the Engineers came out firing in the first period. They outshot the Dutchmen 17-6 in the first 20 minutes, including the last 12 shots of the frame. 

But Union (2-3-3, 0-2-0) goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos kept the Dutchmen in the game by turning aside all 17, a stark contrast to Friday when he allowed three early goals and was yanked for Jake Kupsky.

The Engineers broke through in the second. A miscommunication between Sakellaropoulos and defenseman Noah Henry at the side of the net led to a turnover to RPI's Jake Wood. He sent the puck to Jared Wilson at the left-point, and Wilson beat Sakellaropoulos over the glove at 3:29.

Phil Hampton gave RPI a 2-0 lead three and a half minutes later after his bid from the right-point was knocked in by Union center Spencer Foo.

Union got on the board in the third. While on a power play, defenseman Sebastien Gingras cut RPI's advantage to 2-1 at 4:03 after his shot from the top of the right circle went off the crossbar and in.

The Engineers responded with a power play goal of their own midway through the third when Mark Miller knocked in a rebound of a Riley Bourbonnais shot.

Ryan Scarfo put Union within one at 3-2 with a tally at 12:46, but the Dutchmen couldn't find the equalizer.

Sakellaropoulos finished with 36 saves in the losing effort, while Jason Kasdorf racked up 27 for the Engineers.

Both team's power play units went 1-for-3.

After playing their first eight games of the season in the Capital District, Union will go on the road next weekend to face St. Lawrence on Friday and Clarkson on Saturday.

This and that: Union co-captain Mike Vecchione missed his second straight game. After Friday's game, Bennett said Vecchione is on the physically unable to perform list...

... Bennett made several lineup changes on Saturday. Forwards Theo Di Pauli, Tyler Hynes and Sebastian Vidmar and defenseman Greg Campbell were put in. Forwards Brett Supinski, Nick Cruice and Ryan Walker and defenseman JC Brassard were taken out.

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RPI breezes past Union in league opener

Box Score

by Ryan Fay

Union head coach Rick Bennett has seen a lot of hockey in his 11 seasons with the Dutchmen.

Union head coach Rick Bennett addresses the media
after Union's 5-1 loss to RPI on Friday.

But he hadn't seen a loss as ugly as Friday's 5-1 setback to RPI at Messa Rink, the ECAC Hockey opener for both teams. He said the Dutchmen didn't play hungry and were outplayed.

"This is the worst loss in my time here, hands down," said Bennett, who joined Union as an assistant coach in Aug. 2005 before taking over as head coach after the 2010-11 season. "Not even close."

Early on, the game was even. But things went south for Union (2-2-3) after Travis Fulton gave RPI a 1-0 lead at 10:38 of the first period on a goal from the bottom of the right circle.

"I thought it was going fine," Bennett said. "Then we let in the first goal and it fell apart."

It sure did. Phil Hampton gave RPI a 2-0 lead at 15:22, just under a minute before Kenny Gillespie made it 3-0 and chased Dutchmen goalie Alex Sakellaropoulos.

Jake Kupsky relieved Sakellaropoulos, but it didn't help. Riley Bourbannis pushed RPI's cushion to 4-0 at 18:12. He was left wide open to tap in a rebound after a Union player missed a defensive assignment.

"We just wanted to keep plugging along, keep going and stick to the game plan," Bourbonnais said.

Milos Bubela further iced the win with a shorthanded goal at 2:06 of the third. With Union on a five minute power play, Spencer Foo sent a pass to Nick DeSimone at the point. But DeSimone let it get away, springing Bubela on a breakaway that resulted in a 5-0 lead for the Engineers.

Bubela's shorthanded goal was a microcosm for Union's power-play unit, which struggled all night. It finished 1-for-9 while mustering just 10 combined shots on the man advantage. The only one that went in Mark Dufour's blast from the top of the slot at 17:14 that cut the Engineers lead to 5-1.

RPI (2-4-0) picked up 22 saves from goalie Jason Kasdorf, who would have seen a lot more action had the Engineers not blocked 29 shots.

“Our will, as a group, to block shots, there’s nothing more that says you love your teammates than blocking shots,” RPI head coach Seth Appert said. “Riley Bourbonnais, he’s a goal scorer, and he scored again tonight for us. I mean, man, he’s blocking shots. But everybody is. And that just shows the guys care about each other.”

With such an unsatisfying result, it would be understandable if Bennett wanted to forget about it and just move on to tonight's rematch at the Houston Field House.

But Bennett wants to keep the game fresh in his team's memory.

“I don’t want to forget about this game, to be honest with you. Not one bit,” Bennett said. “I hope it hurts until they come for the 11 o’clock meeting [today], because they’re going to watch it. Hats off to RPI. That was an absolute, great game by RPI. Outcoached, definitely outplayed. That was like a Stanley Cup Game seven to them."

Union, which didn't make its players available after the game, skated without co-captain Mike Vecchione. Bennett said Vecchione was on the physically unable to perform list and offered no further update.

POSTGAME AUDIO

Union head coach Rick Bennett



RPI's head coach Seth Appert, plus players Riley Bourbonnais, Mike Prapavessis, and Travis Fulton



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ECAC Hockey Power Rankings (and playoff schedule)

by Ryan Fay

Before we get to the power rankings, here is a look at the ECAC playoff schedule:

FIRST-ROUND (Friday, Mar. 8 - Sunday, Mar. 10 - Best-of-three games - campus sites)
No. 12 Harvard at No. 5 Dartmouth
No. 11 Colgate at No. 6 St. Lawrence
No. 10 Clarkson at No. 7 Brown
No. 9 Cornell at No. 8 Princeton

Quinnipiac, Rensselaer, Yale, and Union have first round byes.

QUARTERFINALS (Friday, Mar. 15 - Sunday, Mar. 17 - Best-of-three games - campus sites)
Lowest remaining seed at No. 1 Quinnipiac
Second lowest remaining seed at No. 2 Rensselaer
Third lowest remaining seed at No. 3 Yale
Fourth lowest remaining seed at No. 4 Union

SEMIFINALS (Friday, Mar. 22 - Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey)
Semifinal No. 1 - 4 p.m

Semifinal No. 2 - 7:30 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP/THIRD PLACE (Saturday, Mar. 23 - Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey)
Third-Place Game - 4 p.m.
Championship Game - 7 p.m.

Onto the power rankings -

1. QUINNIPIAC (24-5-5 overall, 17-2-3 ECAC) LAST WEEK (LW): 1
The Bobcats had a tremendous regular season, winning the Cleary Cup, finishing 10 points ahead of second place RPI, and racking up the most points in the regular season (37) since Cornell had 38 in 2004-2005. But don't assume Quinnipiac will go uncontested in the league playoffs. The Bobcats are only 3-2-1 over the last six games and have proven to be human after all.

2. RENSSELAER (17-12-5, 12-7-3) LW: 2
If anyone is going to knock off Quinnipiac, RPI isn't a bad choice. The Engineers went 9-1 over their final 10 league contests while outscoring opponents 35-14. Senior defenseman Nick Bailen closed his final collegiate regular season on a high note with two goals and five assists in the last three contests.

3. YALE (16-10-3, 12-9-1) LW: 5
After a five game skid, Yale ended the season strong, winning its final three games. Saturday's 2-1 win over Cornell was the most impressive of the three as Cornell came into the game riding a five game unbeaten streak. Senior forward Andrew Miller has been especially good lately with two goals and three assists over the final three regular season contests.

4. UNION (17-12-5, 10-8-4) LW: 9
Protecting its home ice is one reason why the Dutchmen ended up getting a first round bye. Union went 6-0-1 over its past seven home games, including beating the St. Lawrence and Clarkson by a combined 9-1 score at crunch time over the weekend. The arrow is pointing back up again.

5. BROWN (11-12-6, 7-9-6) LW: 4
The Bears split over the weekend, losing 4-1 to Cornell on Friday ahead of a 5-1 win over Colgate the next night. The split was good enough to give Brown home ice in the first round, something that hasn't happened since 2005. The Bears are 3-1-1 over their past five games at Meehan Auditorium.

6. ST. LAWRENCE (16-14-4, 9-9-4) LW: 3
St. Lawrence entered the weekend in the mix for a first round bye, but those prospects went out the door with a 5-1 loss at Union and a 4-1 setback at RPI. It marked the first time all season that St. Lawrence lost back-to-back road games. Getting Kyle Flanagan (appendectomy) back for this weekend's series with Colgate would only help, but they should advance anyway.

7. CORNELL (12-14-3, 8-11-3) LW: 6
The Big Red closed out the regular season with a 4-1 triumph over Brown and a 2-1 loss at Yale, the latter being their first defeat in three weeks. Sophomore Joel Lowry, who was drafted by Los Angeles in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL draft, is playing some of his best hockey of the year with three goals and three assists in the final six regular season games. Goalie Andy Illes has come on strong as well, not allowing more than two goals in any of his last seven starts.

8. HARVARD (9-17-3, 6-14-2) LW: 10
Harvard became the second ECAC team to beat Quinnipiac this year after the Crimson held on for a 2-1 victory on Friday. Despite playing much better hockey of late (two losses in past six league games), Harvard couldn't escape the league basement and enter the tournament as the 12th seed. The Crimson will take on fifth-seeded Dartmouth and I'll go out on a limb and say Harvard wins in three.

9. DARTMOUTH (13-11-5, 9-9-4) LW: 8
In order to win in the playoffs, you need to string wins together. But the last time Dartmouth won back to back games was way back in mid January. A lot is made of Dartmouth's home dominance (10-4-1 on the year) but the Big Green are just 2-3-1 in their past six games at Thompson Arena.

10. PRINCETON (10-14-5, 8-10-4) LW: 12
Getting home ice in the first round may not be the best thing for the Tigers. Princeton is 0-4 in its past four home contests, but hold a 3-0-1 mark its last four road games. Speaking of road games, Princeton went into overtime in both weekend road games, tying Dartmouth, 2-2, and prevailing, 2-1, over Harvard. In the latter game, Princeton pulled goaltender Mike Condon late in overtime, but Andrew Calouf netted an extra skater goal with 37 seconds left on the clock to win it.

11. CLARKSON (9-18-7, 8-11-3) LW: 7
If Clarkson has any chance to beat Brown, they're going to need to score some goals. It sounds simple enough, right? However, scoring goals has been far from simple for the Golden Knights lately. Clarkson enters the league playoffs with scoreless drought of 141:29, the second longest in program history (167:45, set in 2002). You can thank the Clarkson Hockey Blog for that stat.

12. COLGATE (14-16-4, 6-13-3) LW: 11
The Raiders are the definition of limping into the playoffs. Colgate has all of one victory in the past 10 games and they don't appear all that likely to be playing in two weeks. The Raiders drew St. Lawrence in the first round and will be going on the road, where they have two wins all season. The last time Colgate won a league game on the road was Dec. 1 at Clarkson.

ECAC hockey power rankings (2/25/13)

by Ryan Fay

It all comes down to this. The upcoming weekend marks the end of the regular season, but much is yet to be decided. Remarkably, the only lock is Quinnipiac finishing first. Just about everything else is up for grabs with many teams having a wide range of possible finishes.

Lets take a look at how the teams stack up as the regular season is set to close:

1. QUINNIPIAC (23-4-5 overall, 16-1-3 ECAC) LAST WEEK (LW): 1
Saturday's 3-3 tie against Brown will keep the #1/1 Bobcats from being the first ECAC team with 40 points since Harvard finished with 40 during the 1988-1989 campaign. Even with two wins to close out the regular season, Quinnipiac would max out at 39 points, which would rank as the highest single year point total in the league since Cornell racked up 39 in 2002-2003.

2. RPI (15-12-5, 10-7-3) LW: 2
RPI's eight game winning streak in league play came to an end with Friday's 4-1 loss at Cornell and the four goals allowed were the most given up by RPI in a single game since surrendering four at Princeton on Jan. 12. The weekend was salvaged when Matt Neal scored with ten seconds left in overtime to propel the Engineers to a 3-2 win at Colgate on Saturday. The second place Engineers remain in possession of a first round bye.

3. ST. LAWRENCE (16-12-4, 9-7-4) LW: 3
The Saints have a first round bye to lose and going on the road to conclude the regular season isn't the worst thing. With nine road wins, the Saints have the second most victories away from home in the league (Quinnipiac has 10). Additionally, St. Lawrence is the only team in the league with more road wins (9) than home wins (7).

4. BROWN (10-11-6, 6-8-6) LW: 6
Is there a peskier team in the league than the Bears? According to Dartmouth men's hockey SID Patrick Salvas, Brown has not lost a game to the eventual regular season champ last season (Union) or this season (Qunnipiac). The Bears went 2-0 against Union a year ago and are 0-0-2 versus Quinnipiac this season. On Saturday, the Bears used two late third period goals to tie the Bobcats, 3-3.

5. YALE (14-10-3, 10-9-1) LW: 5
The best news for #13/14 Yale over the weekend was the return of netminder Jeff Malcolm, who stopped 17-of-20 shots in Saturday's 4-3 triumph against Princeton. His return couldn't have come soon enough as the team lost all five games he missed. Another encouraging sign was scoring four goals on Saturday, which was as many as Yale had in the previous four games combined.

6. CORNELL (11-13-3, 7-10-3) LW: 11

That horrific stretch from late December through early February looks like a thing of the past. The Big Red are unbeaten in their past four games (3-0-1) and look like they could be peaking at the right time. Cornell handed RPI its first league loss in six weeks on Friday and used three early goals to take Union out of Saturday's game only 10 minutes into play. Greg Miller, who leads Cornell with 14 goals, has been particularly hot lately with six tallies in the past four contests.

7. CLARKSON (9-16-7, 8-9-3) LW: 7
Which team is tied with St. Lawrence for the second highest goals per game (GPG) average in league play? Quinnipiac? Nah, they comfortably top the list at 3.40 GPG. RPI? Nope, the Engineers are seventh at 2.60. It's Clarkson at 2.90 GPG. The Golden Knights wouldn't have been my first guess, either. According to USCHO.com ECAC columnist Brian Sullivan, Clarkson can finish as high as third and as low as 11th after next weekend. The Knights travel to RPI and Union to wrap up the regular season.

8. DARTMOUTH (13-10-4, 9-8-3) LW: 8
#19/RV Dartmouth is tied with Yale for the final first round bye and return home for a chance to solidify their positioning. The good news? The Big Green protect their home as well as anyone in the league, as evidenced by a 10-3 mark in games played at Thompson Arena this season. The bad news? The clubs coming in, Princeton and Quinnipiac, are 2-0 against Dartmouth this year.

9. UNION (15-12-5, 8-8-4) LW: 4
After two home wins last weekend, there was a feeling the team had righted the ship and looked poised for a strong finish. But this past weekend erased those thoughts. On Friday, the Dutchmen lost, 4-1, to a Colgate team which entered the game on a six game winless streak. The next night, Union essentially lost the game in the first ten minutes after falling behind 3-0 at Cornell. There were some strong spurts later in the contest, but it was an inconsistent effort that left a desire for a full sixty minute effort. I don't think there are many people who know what to expect from #20 Union going forward.

10. HARVARD (8-16-3, 5-13-2) LW: 10
You want your best players to step up late in the season and that's happening for Harvard. Top scorer Alex Fallstrom has a point in six straight contests, his longest streak of the season, and Marshall Everson has scored seven of his 11 goals in the same six game run. In that span, the Crimson are 5-1.

11. COLGATE (14-14-4, 6-11-3) LW: 12
If Colgate has a run in them, it will come from their underclassmen. Five of the team's top seven point getters are either freshmen or sophomores. The top three goal scorers, Kyle Baun, Tylor Spink, and Darcy Murphy are all freshmen. Even if the rest of the season fails to yield desirable results, a nice foundation is in place in Hamilton.

12. PRINCETON (9-14-4, 7-10-3) LW: 9
The Tigers haven't had much roar lately. Princeton has lost its past four contests, and worse yet, all four losses have been at home. Before the slide, Princeton was beaten at home just two times in the first four-plus months of the season. Their regular season ends with trips to Dartmouth and Harvard.

VIDEO: Mayor's Cup Ceremony at City Hall

by Ryan Fay

A ceremony was held at Schenectady City Hall earlier today in honor of Union winning the inaugural Mayor's Cup.

Union beat RPI, 3-2, on Jan. 26 to capture the cup.

Members of the Union community presented the cup to Schenectady mayor Gary McCarthy. Men's hockey players Kyle Bodie, Greg Coburn, and Mat Bodie were in attendance. Additionally, head coach Rick Bennett and Union College president Stephen Ainlay were also present.

ECAC Hockey Power Rankings (2/18/13)

by Ryan Fay

There are only two more weekends of regular season action. But there's a lot more yet to be decided. Lets see how the teams stack up right now:

1. QUINNIPIAC (22-4-4 overall, 15-1-2 ECAC) LAST WEEK (LW): 1

It finally happened. #1/1 Quinnipiac suffered its first league loss of the season after St. Lawrence held on for a 2-1 victory on Friday. There were some close calls earlier this season (i.e 1-1 ties against RPI and Brown) but it was Saints who finished the job. While the loss ruined a chance at an undefeated league season, it wasn't all that damaging. After Union knocked off Yale, the Bobcats clinched the Cleary Cup on Friday anyway. Concerns about a letdown performance on Saturday versus Clarkson were quelled with a 2-1 win.

2. RPI (14-11-5, 9-6-3) LW: 3

With all due respect to Quinnipiac, RPI may well be the ECAC team one would least want to face right now. The boys from Troy have fired off eight league wins in a row and have looked dominant in the process. RPI has allowed three goals or less in every game during the run with two shutouts mixed in. During the streak, the Engineers have outscored their opponents 30-10. You'd hate to be Colgate and Cornell this weekend.

3. ST. LAWRENCE (15-11-4, 8-6-4) LW: 4

If the Saints had any chance to beat Quinnipiac, they were going to need their best players to come up big. And that's what happened. Greg Carey, who leads the nation with 23 goals, scored both St. Lawrence goals on Friday. The junior has at least one goal in nine straight contests dating back to Jan. 19 at Clarkson. Currently tied with Union for third place, the Saints have a chance to solidify a first round bye with Dartmouth, Harvard, and Union coming up on the calendar. St. Lawrence is 3-0 against them this year.

4. UNION (15-10-5, 8-6-4) LW: 6

After starting the month on a three game winless streak, and losing grip on a first round bye, there was some concern the season may be starting to slip away from the two-time defending league champions. But the Dutchmen earned four huge points after beating #9/10 Yale 4-2 on Friday and blanking Brown 2-0 the next night. A week after getting yanked in consecutive starts, Troy Grosenick rebounded and accumulated 61 saves over the weekend. Currently tied with St. Lawerence for third place, Union once again has a first round bye to lose.

5. YALE (13-9-3, 9-8-1) LW: 2

This isn't the kind of stretch run the Bulldogs wanted to have. Yale is 1-5 over their past six games, including four straight losses. The team misses starting goaltender Jeff Malcolm, who is out for an undetermined amount of time. Backup Nick Maricic was pulled after letting up a couple soft goals against Union on Friday and third-stringer Conor Wilson allowed three goals on 21 shots in Saturday's loss at RPI. The offense isn't helping, either. Yale has scored five goals in the current four game skid. 

6. BROWN (9-11-5, 5-8-5) LW: 5

Brown's three game week began on a high note with a 1-0 blanking of Yale on Tuesday, but the weekend was a different story. A 5-1 rout at RPI preceded a 2-0 defeat at Union on Saturday. In the latter, the Bears were outhot 48-23. One concern with Brown is a lack of scoring depth. With 26 points, Matt Lorito has twice as many as any other player on the roster (Garnet Hathaway - 13). Lorito's 14 goals are more than double the next highest figure on the squad (Nick Lappin's six).

7. CLARKSON (8-15-7, 7-8-3) LW: 10

Clarkson handed Princeton just its third home loss of the season with Friday's 3-2 triumph. The next night, they hung tough with league-leading Quinnipiac, but dropped a 2-1 decision. He's no Greg Carey, but Allen McPherson has been on quite the streak himself. Of his nine goals this season, five of them have come in the past six games.

8. DARTMOUTH (12-9-4, 8-7-3) LW: 9

If you want to talk about a bad loss, #17 Dartmouth's 4-2 setback to Cornell on Friday would qualify. Not only did Cornell enter the game 1-10 over its last 11 games, the game was played at Dartmouth, where the Big Green were 9-2 on the season going into the weekend. Dartmouth rebounded on Saturday with a 5-4 win over Colgate and stand tied with Yale for fourth place.

9. PRINCETON (9-12-4, 7-8-3) LW: 7

The Tigers are a tough nut to crack. Last weekend, they picked up two wins on the road after entering that weekend with one road win all year. This past weekend, Princeton brought a 6-2 home record into home games with Clarkson and St. Lawrence. They lost both.

10. HARVARD (7-15-3, 4-12-2) LW: 11

Don't look now, but Harvard is unbeaten in its last four contests (2-0-2). It's certainly a welcome sight after the Crimson had a stretch with one win in 16 games. Harvard put up seven goals on Tuesday in a 7-4 win over #/11/13 Boston University in the Beanpot consolation game. The strong effort was followed by a 4-1 win over Colgate on Friday and a 2-2 draw with Cornell on Saturday.

11. CORNELL (9-13-3, 5-10-3) LW: 12
With a win and a tie, Cornell had its first league weekend with more than two points since picking up four points against Clarkson and St. Lawrence on Nov. 30-Dec 1. Cornell closes out the regular season portion of its home schedule this weekend against RPI and Union.

12. COLGATE (13-13-4, 5-10-3) LW: 8

With four straight defeats, the Raiders are sputtering to the finish line. The recent struggles can at least partly be blamed on a power play unit that has gone belly up after spending most of the season as one of the best in the conference. Over the past four games, the Colgate power play is 1-for-19.

ECAC Media Make Their Top 4 Picks

by Ryan Fay

While Quinnipiac has run away with first place, the other three first round byes remain just about anyone's to take. With only six points separating the team in second place (Yale) from the team in tenth place (Colgate), it's shaping up to be a wild final three weekends in the regular season.

I polled several ECAC media members and asked how they see the top four finishing up. I threw my two cents in for good measure.

For the consensus finishes, I added up each predicted finish. A first place prediction meant four points, a second place prediction meant three, a third place prediction meant two, a fourth place meant one point, and unranked meant no points.

The consensus top four is: Quinnipiac (1st, 36 points), Yale (2nd, 21 points), RPI (3rd, 14 points) and Dartmouth (4th, 11 points). Princeton and St. Lawrence, and Union finished with two points.

Individual ballots are below.

WHAT THEY SAID

USCHO.com ECAC correspondent Brian Sullivan on Quinnipiac: "The Bobcats need two points in their remaining six games to clinch the Cleary Cup. I'm almost positive my beer-league team could accomplish that. But only if we get to wear those yellow sweaters."

Sullivan on Yale: "I'm not putting any money on the Bulldogs to hold onto No. 2. In my eyes, that bet went sour with Yale's 1-0 loss at Brown on Tuesday. Goalie Jeff Malcolm is still out - not sure when or if he'll return this season - and the rest of Yale's game has gone all pear-shaped as well."

Anonymous ECAC broadcaster on RPI: "Surging at the right time and they have the right guy between the pipes. They should have gone to Jason Kasdorf much earlier.

USCHO.com ECAC correspondent Nate Owen on Dartmouth: "The Big Green have dealt with some injuries and inconsistency, but I think they'll have enough to hang on."

Anonymous ECAC broadcaster on craziness of league: "Pretty interesting to note that there's a decent chance that three of the top four from last year (Union, Cornell, Harvard, Colgate) could end up in the bottom four this year. And it's possible ALL four, but since Cornell/Colgate play Union, it would be pretty difficult for all three to end up 9 through 11."

KEN SCHOTT	SEAN MARTIN	MARK DIVVER	JASON KLUMP
1. Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac
2. Yale	Yale	Yale	RPI
3. Dartmouth	Dartmouth	Dartmouth	Yale
4. RPI	Princeton	RPI	Union

JOSH SEGUIN	BROADCASTER	NATE OWEN	BRIAN SULLIVAN	ME
1. Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac
2. RPI	Yale	Yale	Dartmouth	RPI
3. Yale	RPI	Dartmouth	Yale	Yale
4. Union	St. Lawrence	RPI	Princeton	St. Lawrence

AFFILIATIONS

Ken Schott - Daily Gazette
Sean Martin - Times Union
Mark Divver - Providence Journal
Jason Klump - ex College Hockey News / recent RPI radio fill-in
Josh Seguin  - College Hockey News
Anonymous Broadcaster - One of the ECAC teams
Nate Owen - USCHO
Brian Sullivan - USCHO
Me - Union Hockey News

Mayor's Cup Highlights

Here are the highlights from last night's dramatic 3-2 win over RPI in the inaugural Mayor's Cup game. From "GoUnionAthletics" on YouTube.

Jooris returns tonight vs RPI

After missing one game with an upper-body injury, junior forward Josh Jooris returns to the lineup for tonight's Mayor's Cup game against RPI. Jooris will be centering a line with Matt Hatch on the left and Kevin Sullivan on the right.

Daniel Carr moves from the Kyle Bodie and Wayne Simpson line to the Matt Wilkins and Max Novak line. Daniel Ciampni will be with Bodie and Simpson instead of Wilkins and Novak.

Troy Grosenick starts in goal and defenseman Shawn Stuart remains sidelined with an upper-body injury. It will be Stuart's fourth consecutive game missed.

RPI has also released their lines, but without a designated starting goaltender.

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.

AUDIO: Rick Bennett pre-practice 1/24/13

by Ryan Fay

Prior to Thursday's practice, Union men's hockey head coach Rick Bennett spoke with the media.

The second-year head coach talked about Saturday's game with RPI and offered health updates on Shawn Stuart and Josh Jooris.

Stuart has missed the past three games with an upper-body injury. Jooris, who got on the ice today, sat out Tuesday's game against Harvard after taking a stick to the facemask in last Saturday's win over Colgate.

To listen, click here or listen via the player below.

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College Hockey Video of the Week (4/25/11): 1985 National Championship Game Broadcast - RPI vs. Providence

Since Coach Leaman announced that he will be leaving Union for Providence, I figured I'd show Providence videos this week.

These three videos are actual footage from the last time the Friars made the Frozen Four and National Championship game.

The 1985 Frozen Four sounds like it was a classic with both semifinal games being decided in triple overtime, and the championship game was a 2-1 affair won by RPI.

You got to love the old school TV broadcast, the Hannibal Lecter-like facemasks, and definitely the Providence full hockey pants. I think Leaman should definitely bring back the full pants.

Also, take a look at #7 for RPI (1:20 mark of third video). It's Mark Jooris, who is the father of Union freshman forward Josh Jooris. It's definitely a little weird seeing a #7 and the name Jooris on the back of a RPI jersey. And look out for Tim Army, who is the coach that Leaman is replacing at Providence.

Enjoy!

Intro


First Period play


Final Seconds

Video: Union's First Win Against RPI

This upcoming weekend marks the first time that both Union and RPI will be in the NCAA Tournament at the same time.

So, in honor of this historic occasion here are highlights of Union's first win over the Engineers. The game took place in 1988 when Union was still D-III, and RPI won the D-I National Championship just three years prior.

This looks like it was a great overtime game. It's also pretty cool to see how the rink looked back in the 1980s before I was born.

Enjoy!

Taking A Look At The Rankings

Union had this past weekend off because of the first round bye. But, there were still college hockey games this weekend. The Dutchmen will play Colgate this weekend in the playoffs.

Here is where Union sits in the rankings:

USCHO: stay at 4th
INCH: stay at 3rd
USA Today/USAHM: stay at 4th
TCHB: stay at 3rd


PWR: tied for 6th with UNO
RPI: 4th
KRACH: 6th

This weekend the Dutchmen will host Colgate in the ECAC Quarterfinals. Last night the Raiders beat RPI at HFH in overtime in the decisive third game. This was the second year in a row that the Engineers were bounced from the first round of the playoffs. Last season they lost to 11th-seed Brown in three games.

You can read Jeffrey Haff's (Daily Gazette) observations from last night by clicking here.

I watched the post-game interviews with Seth Appert and Chase Polacek on YNN last night, and they were visibly upset. Even though I hate RPI (like most Union students and fans), I feel a little bad for Polacek and am a bit disappointed. Polacek is one of the best players I've seen in the ECAC in my four years, and he deserved to go out on a better note. He's probably my pick for the ECAC MVP. I was also looking forward to Union and RPI meeting up again one more time whether that were in the ECAC Final Four or the NCAA Tournament. The Engineers had a great season until they fell apart in the past few weeks. But, Polacek and York can only do so much. Besides those two stars and a few others, there really wasn't too much after that.

I admit that even a part of me last night wanted to see RPI win so we could play St. Lawrence instead of Colgate. I just feel SLU is a less dangerous team than the Raiders despite their upset of Princeton on the road (something I don't think anyone predicted).

Anyways, all of our focus is now on Colgate. The Raiders seem  to have hit their stride at the right time and have now proven that they can travel to the Capital District and win two games by close scores. Union has won both meetings with Colgate this season and have an outstanding record at home, but it's still very difficult to beat a team four times in one season. I still have the utmost confidence in our guys to win two games at Messa Rink.

Union Keeps Moving Up!!!

This past weekend the Dutchmen demolished Cornell 4-0 and then come from behind to beat Colgate the following night 6-3. As a result Union has moved up into elite company in the national polls.

Here's what Justin has to say on this success:

"I hope everyone is finally realizing we're living the beginning of the golden years for Union hockey. This is truly becoming a historically incredible season. This is why college sports are so special folks. These players aren't getting paid for what they do. We're not paying thousands of dollars to be season ticket holders. Together, we're purely doing this for the love of Union College, the love of college hockey, and for love of enjoying life. It's truly something remarkable."

USCHO: up two spots to 7th
INCH: up three spots to 4th
USA Today/ USAHM: up two spots to 7th

PWR: tied for 7th with Nebraska-Omaha
RPI: 6th
KRACH: 7th

After the weekend I predicted Union to finish 7th and it looks like pretty much everyone agrees with me. I think the INCH ranking is a little too high, but we definitely appreciate the love. Meanwhile, RPI lost two overtime games this weekend and dropped a lot in the rankings. I'm not surprised that they fell, but the amount they fell was a bit surprising to me.

Also, the Jason Klump's report about his incident with Paul Stewart at Messa Rink is up on Without A Peer. According to Ken Schott, ECAC commissioner Steve Hagwell will talk to Stewart about the incident.

College Hockey Video Of The Week (1/31/11): Robert Morris Sweeps #1 Miami in 2010

This past weekend Union and RPI both won their games against #1 Yale making it a Capital District sweep.

Last season unranked Robert Morris swept two games from #1 Miami first in Pittsburgh and then at Miami two days later. Personally, I think this feat is more impressive than the one that took place this past weekend. So, I think this video if fitting.

This video is of highlights from the Colonials' win over the Red Hawks in Pittsburgh. Enjoy!



Bonus Video! RPI goaltender Allen York freaks out on Yale's Chris Cahill at the Big Red Freakout:

Union's Tentative 2011-12 ECAC Schedule

So, RPI's season ticket brochures for next season have been released. It contains next season's schedule in it, and since Union is travel partners with RPI we now have an idea at what the bulk of Union's schedule will look like next year.

Here it is:



Messa Rink

 November
Fri. 4 - at St. Lawrence
Sat. 5 - at Clarkson
Fri. 11 - Yale
Sat. 12 - Brown

December
Fri. 2 - at Quinnipiac
Sat. 3 - at Princeton
Sat. 10 - at RPI

January
Fri. 6 - Harvard
Sat. 7 - Dartmouth
Sat. 14 - RPI
Fri. 20 - at Brown
Sat. 21 - at Yale
Fri. 28 - Clarkson
Sat. 29 - St. Lawrence

Februrary
Fri. 3 - Colgate
Sat. 4 - Cornell
Fri. 10 - at Dartmouth
Sat. 11 - at Harvard
Fri. 17 - Princeton
Sat. 18 - Quinnipiac
Fri. 24 - at Cornell
Sat. 25 - at Colgate

Also, RIT will be playing at RPI on November 25, so maybe the Tigers will be coming to Schenectady the following night.

My only complaint about this schedule is that Union will be playing at RPI when Union students are on break. It's so much better when the students travel, and the RPI game is really the only time students do so.

I'll see what I can do to find out about what non-league games Union will be playing in next season.

Union Drops In The Polls

This past weekend Union split games at the Mariucci Classic as they beat Minnesota but fell to Bemidji State. The second half of the season begins this weekend where Union plays 16 ECAC games, 10 of which are at Messa Rink. There are many more important games to be played and each game will become more important as the season goes on.

Here is where Union stands in the different polls:

USCHO: 15th --> 25th consecutive week
PWR: 16th
KRACH: 17th
USA Today/USA Hockey: 14th
INCH: 12th

These rankings are more realistic than they have been in the past weeks. I felt that the Dutchmen were ranked to high, but #14 - #17 is where I see this team. Union has proven at times to be a national tournament team, but at other times has shown that they unable to beat good teams when they need to. Maybe the return of Adam Presizniuk will help them creep back up the standings. It should be interesting to see where Union ends up in a few months.

On another note, RPI is climbing up the rankings. They have some players that are playing excellent right now such as forwards Chase Polacek and Tyler Helfrich, defenseman Nick Bailen, and goaltender Allen York. As of this moment, the Engineers have proven me wrong and now I think they will definitely be in contention for a Top 3 spot in the ECAC standings. But, don't look too much into their past two games as they beat Alabama-Huntsville (2-18-2) by the score of 2-1 on back-to-back nights. Anything can happen once ECAC play gets underway this weekend...

By the way, USA faces off against Canada tonight at 7:30pm in the semifinals of the 2011 World Junior Championships. The game will be shown on the NHL Network. For complete game notes click here.

College Hockey Video of the Week (12/20/10): ECAC Hockey Bloopers

Even though the ECAC is known for being a league with smart schools, they still make some mistakes. Enjoy!

RPI's Allen York and Clarkson's Nick Tremblay


SLU's Equipment Manager

Captain's Corner with Brock Matheson (11/19/10)

Here is the last episode of "Captain's Corner" for the Fall term. This week Brock sits down in the Union locker room  and talks to us about the weekend with RPI, Adam Presizniuk, Winter Break, etc.

The show will return in the first week of January.