RPI Series Recap

Clinched the series during our weakest game

It took 3 games, but the team eventually earned their ticket to Albany, after what became a thriller Sunday night in Lynah.

Friday night's game featured only one goal, and it came off of the other team's stick, late in the 3rd. It was not a great shot from what I hear, though I could not see it well [the goal was on the section-G end of the ice, I sit on the other side]. Otherwise, the name of the game was York. Or, I suppose, York-plus-posts-plus-why-cant-we-bury-the-darn-puck.
We played really strong in the 1st. The 2nd was kind of weak. The 3rd, our offense started buzzing, and our defense...looked as though they got excited by our offense, and started being more interested in trying to help generate chances than they were in trying to stop RPI chances.
Take-away messages from that game: Our defense needs to settle down and get the job done. Our offense needs to capitalize when given an opportunity [or 10].

Another result of Friday's game was the famous Schaefer suspension. If you have not yet, check out CHN's blogger's take on the suspension. Its interesting. I personally did not think friday's officiating was any worse than a standard ECAC game, but then again I do not particularly think any ECAC game is called well. Anyway, whether this was the cause or not, saturday saw 2 new refs. And they were whistle-happy.
59 minutes of penalties later, Cornell walked off the ice with a win. 2-for-18 on the powerplay, that basically says it all. To be fair, though, we earned a number of those powerplays. Not all, some were really weak calls. But a number of them were a direct result of our players outskating, outpositioning, and outsmarting the RPI guys. The [Puckmen/Engineers/red?]s only defense was to take penalties. Working hard and drawing penalties is an excellent way to win hockey games. 2/3 of the game in the box may be a bit absurd, but the guys played the way they needed to to win. Plus, they solved York, and got the offense rolling a bit, both good things. And in all honestly, Scrivens didn't even have enough action to determine whether he was having a good game or not. He must've been so bored.

Game 3. Schaefer back behind the bench, and the league goes with 1 Friday ref and 1 brand new one (Feola, who I think does a very solid job regularly). I don't know if the teams got a talking-to after saturday's game, I don't know if they realized the season was on the line and they needed to shape up, I don't know if they were just too plain exhausted to play the same style, but Sunday's game was much cleaner. Not as many penalties, not as many missed calls. What it came down to though, York looked very mortal. Cornell took a quick lead on a not-very-strong shot. Traffic in front, but it was slow and along the ice. RPI tied it at 1 in the 2nd, but Cornell responded with 3 quick goals, putting the game away. The team looked tired by the end; maybe that contributed to RPI's comeback to make the game close on the scoreboard. Ben Scrivens had a solid game, better than he's had in 3 weeks. Michael Kennedy had some huge faceoff wins, including one with 30 seconds left deep in RPI territory that kept York on the ice, effectively for the rest of the game.

Next weekend's ECAC final-four matchup will be interesting. Princeton, like Cornell, limped through the spring, and needed 3 games to move on to Albany. Like Cornell, Princeton's strength starts from the net, with ECAC goalie of the year Zane Kalemba. During the regular season, each team only netted 2 against the other over 2 games. Opening night of the season, we shut them out 1-o in NJ, and then in the Spring the tigers came to Lynah, and put away 2 in the final minute of regulation to win 2-1. This is playoffs though, both teams will be playing for their season's future. And unlike this past weekend, we only get one shot at it this week.

The defense needs to show patience. The offense needs to show intensity. They are not gonna get many chances, they need to capitalize on the ones they do get. And Ben Scrivens needs to show what he had in November and December.

See you in Albany.

LETS GO RED!