The Engineers split a pair this weekend losing to Clarkson 3-2 on Friday and coming back to defeat St. Lawrence 6-4 on Saturday. Just about every aspect of these games were different.

The Clarkson game could best be called ugly. I found the game very tense with Clarkson returning to the style they made famous back in the 60's, using their sticks to check instead of their bodies. The Knights seemed to key on RPI's two most prolific scorers, Matt Murley and Marc Cavosie and, together with some creative non-referee-ing on the part of John(?) Murphy, the game very nearly got out of control in the first period.

That being said, let me state for the record that this game was played by two mediocre teams and that Clarkson won, not by virtue of the the referees, but rather through hard work
(especially in the 2nd and 3rd periods).  As ugly as their style was, the Knights defense kept the Engineers out of scoring situations and time after time turned the Engineers back
at center ice. On the offensive side, Clarkson always sent a man
to the crease and the Engineer defense was often unable (or at least unwilling) to move him out .  Eventually, this strategy paid off as Dave Evans scored the winning goal in the third by parking himself in front and was left unmolested by the RPI defense.

This loss was especially disappointing to me since Dave Evans is a neighbor of mine (he and my son  used to be on the same youth soccer team) and this is the second year in a row that Dave has scored the winning goal against RPI.  (I guess this means I have to avoid his father for yet another year..  ;-)

When leaving the Field House on Friday, one got the feeling that  both teams took this game personally and the players just have an intense dislike for one another.


The SLU game Saturday was just the opposite. If anything, I found the RPI and SLU to be even harder checking than the RPI - Clarkson game.  Yet, when the whistle blew, the two teams separated immediatley and just skated away from one another. It was a welcome relief after the nastiness the night before.

The SLU game see-sawed all night with RPI taking the lead and SLU tying it 3 times before RPI finally pout it away in the third.  I found the game more enjoyable, not only because of the outcome but because there were 10 goals scored as opposed to 5 on Friday and there was a lot more wide open skating and passing. The goal tending was spotty for both teams with Symington of SLU and Marsters from RPI both making a number of spectacular saves, but both also let in a few soft ones.

An interesting side note from the start of the Saturday game:
as was mentioned earlier, the fans were livid with the officiating of John Murphy on Friday night. On Saturday, the announcer announced that the head referee was Dan Murphy as the officials skated out on the ice and the 4000+ people in  attendance immediately started cat calls (and worse) not realizing that this was a different Murphy.  Dan Murphy was clearly confused that he was being boo'ed even before the game began.

RPI finishes up their non-league schedule next weekend when they travel to Ohio to battle Bowling Green of the CCHA coached by former RPI mentor, Buddy Powers.