officials: John Murphy, Bill Jones, Brian Shea
attendance: unannounced 1500-2000 estimate
period -1-
G 4:17 RPI (1-0) Tapper(Riva,Murley)
G 4:36 Pr (1-1) Meredith(Campbell)
P 9:33 Pr Shirreffs (major hitting from behind +
game misconduct)
G 11:28 RPI (2-1) Tapper(St.Hillaire,Murphy) ppg
period -2-
P 3:26 RPI Caley (charging the goalie)
P 8:37 RPI Murray (late hit)
G 10:49 RPI (3-1) Gardiner unassisted
P 14:41 RPI Murray (tripping)
P 19:41 RPI Murphy (holding)
P 19:55 RPI Pothier (late hit)
P 19:55 Pr Bertoli (late hit)
period -3-
P 1:51 RPI St. Hillaire (holding the stick)
P 3:09 RPI Riva (slashing)
P 6:22 Pr Zavodny (tripping)
G 9:45 RPI (4-1) Murley unassisted
P 17:43 Pr JP Acosta (cross check)
P 19:58 RPI Caley (late hit)
P 19:58 Pr JP Acosta (charging)
saves 1 2 3 total
Rankin(Pr) 10 2 5 17
Laing(RPI) 10 17 13 40
How times have changed. Just 2 short years ago and
the words Princeton and hockey would have been considered
oxymorons. On Sunday night, the Princeton Tigers came to
Troy having won the Mariucci Classic earlier in the week,
having defeated Union the night before and sitting alone
on top of the ECAC. The Engineers, who haven't had a bad
week themselves, having beaten Yale last night and having
won the RPI Invitational earlier in the week, were ready
to move into the heart of their ECAC schedule.
Dismal weather in the Troy area (sleet and freezing rain)
kept the crowd size down to under 2000 fools (present
fool included).
RPI opened the scoring at 4:17 of the 1st when defenseman
George Murray carried deep into Princeton's zone. He had the
puck poke checked away but Matt Murley picked it up, fed Danny
Riva at the point who stepped left and let one rip toward the
net. Brad Tapper deflected the puck past goaltender Nick Rankin.
Just 19 seconds later, before the RPI goal was even announced,
Princeton struck back when Shane Campbell dug the puck out of
the corner and fed it to Brad Meredith behind the RPI net.
Meredith skated behind the net, came out front and somehow found
a clearing between the post and Joel Laing's forearm to tie
the score.
At 9:33, Princeton defenseman Steve Shirreffs pushed RPI's
Pete Gardiner to the ground as Gardiner was heading toward the
bench. It certainly didn't look like a hit that was dangerous
or with an intent to injure, but Gardiner did go down very close
to the boards and I guess referee Murphy wanted to send out a
message that he wouldn't stand for that crap as he gave Shirreffs
a major for hitting from behind and a game misconduct.
Although RPI controlled much of the play during the major
penalty, they only managed to put one on the board when Brad Tapper
beat Rankin with assists from St. Hillaire and Mark Murphy.
With 3 goals against Yale on Saturday and 2 tonight, Tapper
has to be a favorite for ECAC player of the week.
At 10:49 of the second, Pete Gardiner picked off a Princeton clearing
pass just inside the blue line and carried the puck toward Rankin.
Rankin made the stick save on Gardiner's shot but the rebound went
back to Gardiner who buried it giving RPI a 3-1 lead.
The highlight of the game came at 15:00 of the second period when
I bagged my first game puck in 28 years as a season ticket holder.
I'd like to brag that the puck came shrieking into the stands and
I made a spectacular catch saving several damsels in distress
from imminent injury. Actually, the puck deflected off the top of
the glass, hit a railing and rolled to a stop under the seat next to
me. (For those who care, I gave the puck to a little kid sitting
in the same row with me).
The only other scoring came at 9:45 of the third when Matt Murley
stole the puck from a Princeton defensman behind the net and
skated through two forwards, spinning around a third and softly slid
the puck through Rankin's legs to give RPI a 3 goal lead.
I don't mean to make it sound like RPI gave the Princeton
team a thrashing. This is a talented Princeton squad and they
controlled the play most of the evening. They checked well, skated
well and controlled the puck well most of the game. Witness the
saves, with Princeton outshooting the Engineers 17-3 in the second
and 13-6 in the 3rd. But, for the second night in a row, the
Engineers defense hung tough, played 3 solid, consistent periods
and the forwards pitched in, digging along the boards and
back-checking. Meanwhile, the offense took advantage of the few
mistakes the Tigers made. Overall, it was an outstanding weekend
for RPI, playing two solid games on defense.
Meanwhile, Joel Laing has been superb. Laing won the MVP in
the RPI Invitational with a 50 save effort against UMD, shut out
Yale on Saturday 3-0 and beat 1st place Princeton on Sunday with
a 40 save effort. If Tapper is a favorite for ECAC player of the week,
Laing has to be an odds on favorite for goaltender of the week.
So, moving into January and the ECAC standings get bunched a little closer.
Next week, the Engineers head east to face Harvard on Friday and
Brown on Saturday.
Mark Lewin
RPI '69
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