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.
Showing posts with label seth appert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seth appert. Show all posts
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Same old story for RPI in 3-2 loss to Union (plus 3 postgame videos)
For postgame videos, click here or scroll down. There's three - RPI coach Seth Appert, Union coach Rick Bennett, and Union players Josh Jooris/Matt Wilkins/Troy Grosenick.
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by Ryan Fay
ALBANY -- There are some things that never seem to change.
Take the RPI-Union series. After losing to their route 7 rivals, 3-2, in Saturday's inaugural Mayor's Cup game, RPI's loss was just more of the same.
Earlier this week, I asked RPI head coach Seth Appert about Union's success against his team. One the things he said was "we've taken some ill-advised penalties against them and they have an absolutely lethal power play."
Saturday's loss, RPI's eighth in a row against 19th-ranked Union, was a continuation of that. RPI's Nick Bailen, a senior, took what most would call an "ill-advised" penalty when he went off for interference with 97 seconds left in regulation of a tie game. After the game, Appert offered "no comment" on the penalty.
At the time of the penalty, RPI had recently tied the game at two off the stick of Mark McGowan, so the last thing the Engineers wanted to do was give the country's best powerplay (27.1%) a chance to win the game.
Matt Wilkins, who turned 22 on Saturday, proved why Union's powerplay is "absolutely lethal" when the freshman forward scored the game-winning goal on the powerplay with 37 seconds left in the game.
"I was driving the net, I saw Jooris go wide, and their defensemen was sort of flat footed," Wilkins said of the game-winning play. "I drove the net and Jooris made a great pass."
Said Appert of the goal, "at the end of the day, [Wilkins] made a play. We had two guys that didn't execute very well. It was a play that should have been pretty easily defended. We had two guys that made mental mistakes in big moments and they have to grow up from that."
It was the second goal of the night for the Union powerplay, which finished 2-for-4. After Guy Leboeuf was called for cross checking just two minutes into the game, Daniel Ciampini opened the scoring by knocking in a rebound at 3:34.
"It always seems like we take a penalty early and get scored against them, and we did,” Appert said after the game. “It played out, pretty much, how you anticipate [it]."
Earlier this week, Appert also pointed out Union's penalty kill as another reason why Union has had its run of success against his club. On Saturday night, the Dutchmen killed off all five RPI powerplay opportunities, including two in the third period. The Engineers, who outshot Union 38-20, had 15 of their shots on the powerplay including 11 in the first.
Troy Grosenick stopped all 15 powerplay shots and 36 of the 38 overall. When I spoke with him on Tuesday, Appert credited "very good" goaltending as yet another factor behind Union's recent edge in the series.
Grosenick was the biggest reason Saturday's game came down to the third period. For a good portion of the night, RPI was outskating the Dutchmen. The junior netminder kept Union in the game with several spectacular saves, including a couple on Ryan Haggerty, RPI's top goal scorer. The sophomore, who has ten goals this season, did beat Grosenick on one of his five shots, a goal that tied the game at one only 16 seconds into the middle period.
Union head coach Rick Bennett graded Grosenick's performance as "exceptional" and added Grosenick "kind of bailed us out when we needed him to."
Bennett also came away impressed with RPI (8-11-5, 3-6-3).
"That's a good hockey club," he said of RPI, which won the faceoff battle, 37-25. "They've been making strides this season just like they did last year. Whoever faces them in the playoffs better buckle up."
Greg Coburn scored Union's other goal, a long-range rocket early in the third period that momentarily gave the Dutchmen a 2-1 lead.
Union (13-8-4, 6-4-3) resumes play on Friday night at Messa Rink against #12/13 Dartmouth (11-7-2, 7-5-1). The game, a 7:30 pm faceoff, will be nationally televised on NBC Sports Network.
POSTGAME VIDEOS
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by Ryan Fay
ALBANY -- There are some things that never seem to change.
Take the RPI-Union series. After losing to their route 7 rivals, 3-2, in Saturday's inaugural Mayor's Cup game, RPI's loss was just more of the same.
Earlier this week, I asked RPI head coach Seth Appert about Union's success against his team. One the things he said was "we've taken some ill-advised penalties against them and they have an absolutely lethal power play."
Saturday's loss, RPI's eighth in a row against 19th-ranked Union, was a continuation of that. RPI's Nick Bailen, a senior, took what most would call an "ill-advised" penalty when he went off for interference with 97 seconds left in regulation of a tie game. After the game, Appert offered "no comment" on the penalty.
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| Wilkins (Union Athletics) |
Matt Wilkins, who turned 22 on Saturday, proved why Union's powerplay is "absolutely lethal" when the freshman forward scored the game-winning goal on the powerplay with 37 seconds left in the game.
"I was driving the net, I saw Jooris go wide, and their defensemen was sort of flat footed," Wilkins said of the game-winning play. "I drove the net and Jooris made a great pass."
Said Appert of the goal, "at the end of the day, [Wilkins] made a play. We had two guys that didn't execute very well. It was a play that should have been pretty easily defended. We had two guys that made mental mistakes in big moments and they have to grow up from that."
It was the second goal of the night for the Union powerplay, which finished 2-for-4. After Guy Leboeuf was called for cross checking just two minutes into the game, Daniel Ciampini opened the scoring by knocking in a rebound at 3:34.
"It always seems like we take a penalty early and get scored against them, and we did,” Appert said after the game. “It played out, pretty much, how you anticipate [it]."
Earlier this week, Appert also pointed out Union's penalty kill as another reason why Union has had its run of success against his club. On Saturday night, the Dutchmen killed off all five RPI powerplay opportunities, including two in the third period. The Engineers, who outshot Union 38-20, had 15 of their shots on the powerplay including 11 in the first.
Troy Grosenick stopped all 15 powerplay shots and 36 of the 38 overall. When I spoke with him on Tuesday, Appert credited "very good" goaltending as yet another factor behind Union's recent edge in the series.
Grosenick was the biggest reason Saturday's game came down to the third period. For a good portion of the night, RPI was outskating the Dutchmen. The junior netminder kept Union in the game with several spectacular saves, including a couple on Ryan Haggerty, RPI's top goal scorer. The sophomore, who has ten goals this season, did beat Grosenick on one of his five shots, a goal that tied the game at one only 16 seconds into the middle period.
Union head coach Rick Bennett graded Grosenick's performance as "exceptional" and added Grosenick "kind of bailed us out when we needed him to."
Bennett also came away impressed with RPI (8-11-5, 3-6-3).
"That's a good hockey club," he said of RPI, which won the faceoff battle, 37-25. "They've been making strides this season just like they did last year. Whoever faces them in the playoffs better buckle up."
Greg Coburn scored Union's other goal, a long-range rocket early in the third period that momentarily gave the Dutchmen a 2-1 lead.
Union (13-8-4, 6-4-3) resumes play on Friday night at Messa Rink against #12/13 Dartmouth (11-7-2, 7-5-1). The game, a 7:30 pm faceoff, will be nationally televised on NBC Sports Network.
POSTGAME VIDEOS
Scoring Summary
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Thursday, January 24, 2013
Q&A with RPI men's hockey head coach Seth Appert
by Ryan Fay
Union and RPI are set to renew their heated rivalry with Saturday's 7:30 pm "Mayor's Cup" game at the Times Union Center.
It will be the third meeting between the schools this season and the first since Union's 7-3 win on November 3rd. Union has a seven game winning streak against their Route 7 rivals, but RPI still has the all-time series lead in Division I play at 29-26-9. RPI last beat Union, 4-3 in overtime, on November 13th 2010.
On Tuesday afternoon, I conducted a phone interview with RPI men's hockey head coach Seth Appert. The coach dissects the recent improvement of his team, Union's success against RPI, a few of his players who could loom large in Saturday's game, and more.
UNION HOCKEY NEWS (UHN): If someone hasn't seen your team play yet this season, what style of team will they see on Saturday?
SETH APPERT (SA): What we try to be is a hard, fast, disciplined team. We've been turning into a very good defensive team. I think we're doing that not by being passive and sitting back, but by being aggressive, forechecking well, and being physical. We're at our best when we're playing fast, hard, and physical -- taking time and space away from our opponents when we don't have the puck so we can get it back.
UHN: Your team has won or tied five of its past six league games, including handing Quinnipiac its only non-win in league play this year (a 1-1 tie on Jan. 11). You also split a non-league series at now #16 St. Cloud State in late December. What's fueling the improvement?
SA: We're playing pretty good hockey these past two months in league and out of league. Even in the games we have lost, we've played very well either for large portions or all of the game. Day in and day out, and game in and game out, we've been real committed to playing the right way and doing little things that give us a chance to win hockey games.
UHN: After the first game with Union earlier this season, you thought your team showed a lack of maturity. Has more maturity been another factor in the recent improvement?
SA: We're growing up slowly. We still show some moments of immaturity as evidenced by being a little sloppy in the first period against Princeton but we had a dominant 40 minutes after that. Our captain, C.J Lee, is doing a fantastic job of getting the guys on the same page. Lee and I are in sync in terms of how we see things and what we value. That consistency is starting to take hold a little bit. We were immature in that Union series and we continued that immaturity the next weekend at Harvard and Dartmouth, but since then, we've been a real good hockey team. We've done a lot of things the right way. We're not perfect, and we still have things to improve upon, but we are slowly turning into a very physical, disciplined, tough hockey team.
UHN: Union has been successful against a lot of teams in the past few years, including yours. What's made them especially dangerous in the games against your team?
SA: They've kept their composure better. We've taken some ill-advised penalties against them and they have an absolutely lethal power play. They have very good combined special teams (power play and penalty kill) and they receive very good goaltending. You combine those things together and they've found their way to quite a bit of success against us these past few seasons.
UHN: Union has had its share of struggles in the past couple months. Is it fair to say you could be getting them at the right time?
SA: I'm more concerned with our team. It looks like Union played pretty well last weekend, having a lead on Cornell late in the game and beating a pretty good Colgate team the next night. Union has a very good team and I still believe they're a top 15 team in the country. Every team goes through ups and downs at some point of the season. In terms of getting them at the right time, the schedule is what it is, and all you worry about is the next day of practice and the next game in front of you.
UHN: What can you say about your freshman goaltender, Jason Kasdorf? A sixth round pick of Winnipeg in the 2011 NHL draft, he's played in nine games and has a 4-1-2 record.
SA: He's given us a good swagger and a good belief in ourselves. We have three very good goalies, but he's been able to separate a bit, and the numbers bear that out. His winning percentage (.714) and save percentage (.943) are higher [than our other goaltenders]. All goalies at this level have very good athleticism and ability to make big saves. What he's done a good job of in his freshman year is limiting the number of soft rebounds and soft goals. Bad rebounds lead to goals and goals deflate a team. He's done a good job at making big saves when necessary and taking care of the little details that add up to big things.
UHN: Milos Bubela, a native of Slovakia, is tied for second on your team in goals (seven) despite being a freshman. What has stood out about him?
SA: We were pretty excited about him with his international background (he played in the World Junior Championships last year). It's been a big transition -- he's coming to college hockey, he's coming to college, he's learning another language, and a different style of play compared to what experienced in Europe. What Bubela has done a good job of is quickly buying into the more physical play of North American hockey. He's had a willingness to compete for loose pucks, to be physical, to finish checks, and to win battles. When you do those things, you have the puck more. When Bubela has the puck, like most good offensive players, he's very dangerous and can do a lot of great things. Where some offensive players struggle is that they don't work hard enough to get the puck. Bubela has done a good job in the past few months of understanding that and getting the puck more through his efforts. Because of that, he's been rewarded with more offensive opportunities.
UHN: Matt Neal, Ryan Haggerty, and Jacob Laliberte, have (at times) formed what's known as your "N-H-L" line. They all came to your program with big expectations, but now in year two, they're your top three scorers. What can you say about their development?
SA: They're all making steps in their sophomore year. They all have a lot of growth left to go - not only the rest of this season, but into the future. They've shown a good willingness to buy into the coaching and a desire to get better. A big jump from your freshman to sophomore year is how hard you train in the summer because now you know what it takes to be a Division I hockey player. All three had good summers in the weight room and showed a high level of commitment and discipline towards their offseason training. They have a little more maturity and understanding of their abilities.
UHN: How do you see the game going on Saturday night?
SA: As a coach, you never predict those things. All you do is prepare your team the way it needs to be prepared to give your young men a chance to go ahead and have success. We're really focused on having good practices and getting guys back into the swing of things academically with school starting up this week. We're just making sure we continue to take steps forward as a team like we have the past two months. We'll put the guys out there Saturday night and they'll dictate it from there.
Special thanks to Kevin Beattie and to Coach Appert.
Union and RPI are set to renew their heated rivalry with Saturday's 7:30 pm "Mayor's Cup" game at the Times Union Center.
It will be the third meeting between the schools this season and the first since Union's 7-3 win on November 3rd. Union has a seven game winning streak against their Route 7 rivals, but RPI still has the all-time series lead in Division I play at 29-26-9. RPI last beat Union, 4-3 in overtime, on November 13th 2010.
On Tuesday afternoon, I conducted a phone interview with RPI men's hockey head coach Seth Appert. The coach dissects the recent improvement of his team, Union's success against RPI, a few of his players who could loom large in Saturday's game, and more.
UNION HOCKEY NEWS (UHN): If someone hasn't seen your team play yet this season, what style of team will they see on Saturday?
SETH APPERT (SA): What we try to be is a hard, fast, disciplined team. We've been turning into a very good defensive team. I think we're doing that not by being passive and sitting back, but by being aggressive, forechecking well, and being physical. We're at our best when we're playing fast, hard, and physical -- taking time and space away from our opponents when we don't have the puck so we can get it back.
UHN: Your team has won or tied five of its past six league games, including handing Quinnipiac its only non-win in league play this year (a 1-1 tie on Jan. 11). You also split a non-league series at now #16 St. Cloud State in late December. What's fueling the improvement?
SA: We're playing pretty good hockey these past two months in league and out of league. Even in the games we have lost, we've played very well either for large portions or all of the game. Day in and day out, and game in and game out, we've been real committed to playing the right way and doing little things that give us a chance to win hockey games.
UHN: After the first game with Union earlier this season, you thought your team showed a lack of maturity. Has more maturity been another factor in the recent improvement?
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| Appert (RPI Athletics) |
UHN: Union has been successful against a lot of teams in the past few years, including yours. What's made them especially dangerous in the games against your team?
SA: They've kept their composure better. We've taken some ill-advised penalties against them and they have an absolutely lethal power play. They have very good combined special teams (power play and penalty kill) and they receive very good goaltending. You combine those things together and they've found their way to quite a bit of success against us these past few seasons.
UHN: Union has had its share of struggles in the past couple months. Is it fair to say you could be getting them at the right time?
SA: I'm more concerned with our team. It looks like Union played pretty well last weekend, having a lead on Cornell late in the game and beating a pretty good Colgate team the next night. Union has a very good team and I still believe they're a top 15 team in the country. Every team goes through ups and downs at some point of the season. In terms of getting them at the right time, the schedule is what it is, and all you worry about is the next day of practice and the next game in front of you.
UHN: What can you say about your freshman goaltender, Jason Kasdorf? A sixth round pick of Winnipeg in the 2011 NHL draft, he's played in nine games and has a 4-1-2 record.
SA: He's given us a good swagger and a good belief in ourselves. We have three very good goalies, but he's been able to separate a bit, and the numbers bear that out. His winning percentage (.714) and save percentage (.943) are higher [than our other goaltenders]. All goalies at this level have very good athleticism and ability to make big saves. What he's done a good job of in his freshman year is limiting the number of soft rebounds and soft goals. Bad rebounds lead to goals and goals deflate a team. He's done a good job at making big saves when necessary and taking care of the little details that add up to big things.
UHN: Milos Bubela, a native of Slovakia, is tied for second on your team in goals (seven) despite being a freshman. What has stood out about him?
SA: We were pretty excited about him with his international background (he played in the World Junior Championships last year). It's been a big transition -- he's coming to college hockey, he's coming to college, he's learning another language, and a different style of play compared to what experienced in Europe. What Bubela has done a good job of is quickly buying into the more physical play of North American hockey. He's had a willingness to compete for loose pucks, to be physical, to finish checks, and to win battles. When you do those things, you have the puck more. When Bubela has the puck, like most good offensive players, he's very dangerous and can do a lot of great things. Where some offensive players struggle is that they don't work hard enough to get the puck. Bubela has done a good job in the past few months of understanding that and getting the puck more through his efforts. Because of that, he's been rewarded with more offensive opportunities.
UHN: Matt Neal, Ryan Haggerty, and Jacob Laliberte, have (at times) formed what's known as your "N-H-L" line. They all came to your program with big expectations, but now in year two, they're your top three scorers. What can you say about their development?
SA: They're all making steps in their sophomore year. They all have a lot of growth left to go - not only the rest of this season, but into the future. They've shown a good willingness to buy into the coaching and a desire to get better. A big jump from your freshman to sophomore year is how hard you train in the summer because now you know what it takes to be a Division I hockey player. All three had good summers in the weight room and showed a high level of commitment and discipline towards their offseason training. They have a little more maturity and understanding of their abilities.
UHN: How do you see the game going on Saturday night?
SA: As a coach, you never predict those things. All you do is prepare your team the way it needs to be prepared to give your young men a chance to go ahead and have success. We're really focused on having good practices and getting guys back into the swing of things academically with school starting up this week. We're just making sure we continue to take steps forward as a team like we have the past two months. We'll put the guys out there Saturday night and they'll dictate it from there.
Special thanks to Kevin Beattie and to Coach Appert.
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