RPI-Yale
Friday Feb 11
Houston Field House, Troy, NY
attendance 3201
officials: Taylor,Shea,Sullivan
 
period 1
G  4:24 YU (0-1) Deschenes(Quenville,Stafford)
P 13:32 YU  Lawson (elbow)
P 18:12 RPI Vickers (interference)
 
period 2
G  8:16 RPI (1-1) Gardiner(Murley,Caley)
P  8:28 YU  James Chyz (interference)
P 12:19 RPI E. Cavosie (high stick)
P 13:11 YU  Stafford (high stick)
G 14:22 RPI Pothier(Gardiner,Shepherd) ppg
 
period 3
P  1:20 RPI Tapper (unsportsmanlike conduct)
P  9:38 YU  Noe (interference)
G 17:28 RPI (3-1) Tapper(Shepherd)
G 18:43 RPI (4-1) Butterwick(Pothier)
 
saves:        1   2   3   t
Prekaski(RPI) 9   6   7   22
Lombard(Yale) 10  7   5   22
 
RPI moves to 9-4-1 in the ECAC and into a tie with Colgate for second place. Although the score was 4-1, the game was actually much closer as the last two goals came within the final 2 1/2 minutes of the 3rd period.
 
RPI's star goaltender, Joel Laing, was not dressed for tonight's game. The official word was that he was out with an "undisclosed medical problem". No further information was available.
 
Yale got on the board just 4 1/2 minutes into the game on a goal by Nick Deschenes. Yale pretty much dominated the entire first period, by hard checking and outworking RPI along the boards and in the corners. The RPI offense couldn't get much going and seldom got more than a single shot off as the Yale defense covered any rebounds given up by their goaltender Dan Lombard.
 
Yale continued having the upper hand through the beginning of the second but RPI adjusted to the fact that the referees were allowing the physical game to be played and adjusted accordingly adapting to that style. RPI finally got the tying goal at 8:16 into the second on a goal from Pete Gardiner from Matt Murley and Steve Caley.  With most of the ECAC concentrating on the Tapper-Shepherd-Cavosie line, the Gardiner-Murley-Caley line has stepped up with their 3rd goal
in the last two games. With Steve Caley back in the lineup after being out for 4 weeks with an injury, this line is adding a second scoring punch that was missing during January.
RPI took the lead at 14:22 of the second when Brian Pothier scored a power play goal just 3 seconds after Eric Cavosie came out of the penalty box to put the Engineers up 5 on 4.
 
The game remained tight and close checking through most of the third until 17:28 when RPI's Doug Shepherd pushed the puck into the Yale zone in front of a racing Brad Tapper. The puck wound up in the high slot with Tapper racing in and Yale goaltender Dan Lombard racing out. Tapper won the race and poked the puck over Lombard as Lombard watched the puck trickle into the vacant net behind him, giving RPI a 3-1 lead. Just over a minute later, Carson Butterwick took a pass on the point from Brian Pothier and lifted an easy wrister towards the Yale net. Lombard must have been screened as the puck found its way through a rats nest of players in front and went in giving RPI their 4th goal of the night.
 
All in all, this was not a blowout nor was it necessarily a pretty game for the Engineers. Yale came in with a game plan of close checking in order to keep the speedy Engineers from breaking loose. Yale succeeded in forcing RPI to play this type of game and RPI successfully adjusted and won the game.
RPI plays Princeton Saturday night and then travels to Colgate and Cornell next weekend to battle Colgate for 2nd place and to the unfriendly confines of Lynah to face a tough Cornell team that is fighting to break into the top 5 spots for home ice in the playoffs.  Then the following weekend, RPI returns home to face arch-rival Clarkson and first place St. Lawrence.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
--
Mark Lewin
RPI  class of '69
--
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.