Preview: RPI vs Minnesota State
RPI closes out its first half at home against the CCHA's top team
This weekend, RPI will complete its first half of the season when they welcome Minnesota State to Troy. The Mavericks are currently 7-7-2 and 29th in the pairwise, which is the highest among all CCHA teams. They’ve played some really tough opponents and have some quality results. They swept St. Cloud to begin the year and tied North Dakota, so they are experienced against top tier opponents like RPI. Let’s get into it.
Team Breakdowns
Just a reminder since this is the first time we are bringing these back that all numbers are per 60 minutes and at even strength (unless specified otherwise).
Minnesota State is an interesting team. Their strengths are goal scoring and their power play due to their good amount of talent. They don’t create a ton of chances at both even strength and on the power play and have below average marks in both. However, they excel at putting the chances they do get into the back of the net. Their shooting percentage at even strength being 12th in the country is good evidence of that.
Defensively, they are average pretty much across the board at even strength. The penalty kill is a different story though. The PK has been a big weakness for Minnesota State just like it has been for RPI.
The keys for RPI are pretty straightforward. They have done fairly well at scoring at even strength. They will need to continue that. Additionally, they have been doing better on the power play recently after their long cold stretch. They had 2 PP goals against Princeton and will have to take advantage of Minnesota State’s weaker penalty kill.
Minnesota State is also somewhat weaker in xG meaning RPI should be able to fare okay in terms of scoring chances, both getting their own dangerous ones and preventing them defensively. If they can do that, they’ll have a pretty good shot at coming away with wins on the weekend.
Roster Breakdowns
Minnesota State has a lot of really good players. Up front, that top line is elite. Sam Morton is currently leading the team in goals and points with 12 and 16, respectively. Sowder and Carrabes have combined for 20 points on his wings. The three of them complement each other well.
Evan Murr has been elite as a freshman on the blue line. He has 12 points in 16 games and has excellent play driving numbers to go with it. His partner, Brandon Koch, has also been productive offensively with 9 points in 15 games, but his play driving numbers haven’t been quite as good.
Outside of those players, Minnesota State has pretty good depth through the lineup, but it’s not overwhelming like a Quinnipiac or BC. RPI is definitely capable of sticking with them and winning these games. They have now played a number of quality teams and come close to winning against them on multiple occasions. Providence and UNH were both 1 goal games (without ENGs), and they tied Northeastern. Let’s hope they can get over that hump against a strong opponent to finish the first half strong.
Let’s Go Red!