Recap: RPI gets a split in the North Country
The Engineers bounced back from a loss to SLU to upset #19 Clarkson
RPI went up to the North Country on Friday and Saturday and came out with a hard earned split for what is always a challenging weekend. Let’s talk about the games!
Friday 4-1 Loss to SLU
Against St. Lawrence on Friday night, RPI just couldn’t really get the bounces they needed to get the win. It was a frustrating and annoying game. They didn’t play bad, but ultimately it just was not their night.
I’d say RPI was a little sloppy, but overall, the teams played about evenly. The difference in the game was that Dominic Basse was playing out of his mind and stopping practically everything. It was still a winnable game heading into the 3rd period with the score being just 2-0.
The Engineers came out hot to start the 3rd as well with some great zone time and scoring chances. But right after a shift with lots of zone time, St. Lawrence was able to get an odd man rush, and Giesbrecht allowed a soft goal through the five hole that he probably wants back.
Caron got a 6 on 4 goal to make it 3-1, but 30 seconds after that, RPI let up a fluke goal. McDermott lost an edge and slid right into Giesbrecht, taking him out of the play. SLU was able to score easily on the mostly open net. That play was pretty symbolic of the night.
Saturday 4-1 Win at #19 Clarkson
It was easy to assume that losing to the weaker of the two teams meant this would be a lost weekend with no points, especially since Clarkson is a top 20 team. RPI was determined to not let that happen though and came out with a win. Lots of credit belongs to the team for bouncing back in a big way.
RPI played well and earned that win. I think they controlled play the first two periods before Clarkson made a push in the third period. It was a full team game. They outcompeted Clarkson and battled hard all game. RPI won the majority of the puck battles in the game, and they were frequently the first to loose pucks. This helped them get more offensive zone time because they were great at retrieving pucks in the offensive zone after shots to keep possession. This in turn led to many quality scoring chances too. The defending was pretty good, and Giesbrecht had a great game in net as well.
The only real negative from the game was the third period was not good. Clarkson made a push, and the Engineers weren’t able to get as much going offensively. They also struggled to stay out of the box and took a few bad penalties that gave Clarkson multiple chances on the power play, which they eventually capitalized on. That gave Clarkson some life, but the defense and Giesbrecht held strong to get the upset.
ECAC Outlook
This weekend didn’t change much for RPI for their ECAC outlook. If they split the rest of their series, they’re probably looking at 8th in the league and home ice in the first round. If they can get one extra win in there to make it 7/12, they’re looking at either 6th or 7th in all likelihood. Both are pretty doable, but they have to make sure that they’re getting at least 3 points each weekend. Anything less than 6 wins in the 12 remaining games will likely send them on the road for the playoffs.